alimey4u2
Registered user
I think an old geezer called Isaac Newton knows.
Actually my Castrol oil is showing evidence of becoming a non-newtonian fluid....
Oil level - I know I know I know
- Thread starter Zoomboxer
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Actually my Castrol oil is showing evidence of becoming a non-newtonian fluid....
I think an old geezer called Isaac Newton knows.
Pretty impressive how someone who's been dead for a few centuries can understand the vagracies of the boxer engine oil system
davedyer
Registered user
When I collected my new 1200GS the dealer told me how to check the oil - warm engine, leave 10 mins etc etc - He also warned me against over filling the oil saying that the sight glasses have been known to blow out by the excess oil pressure
alimey4u2
Registered user
The reality I feel is to stick strictly to the recommended handbook procedure, any deviation from that "may" put your engine at risk.
Engine at working temperature, bike on the centerstand on a level plane, 10 minutes later take a butchers at the glass, somewhere in the red circle is OK....
Engine at working temperature, bike on the centerstand on a level plane, 10 minutes later take a butchers at the glass, somewhere in the red circle is OK....
When I collected my new 1200GS the dealer told me how to check the oil - warm engine, leave 10 mins etc etc - He also warned me against over filling the oil saying that the sight glasses have been known to blow out by the excess oil pressure
I was told by Williams that they'd had a 1200 RT in with double the oil quantity in
The engine wasn't too happy 
HORIZONTALLY OPPOSED
Registered user
Hail a miracle
If somebody has one of those engines I would consider it a near miracle, call the Vatican immediately, the Pope seems to be having a quiet time of it at the moment, possibly declare a holiday he is a German ain't he.
Mike I think the difference here is that my bike uses a bit of oil particularly after a long fast run say down through europe. So I need to keep an eye on it and top up occasionally. If somebody has an engine that goes from oil change to oil change without needing to be topped up then thats great for them.
If somebody has one of those engines I would consider it a near miracle, call the Vatican immediately, the Pope seems to be having a quiet time of it at the moment, possibly declare a holiday he is a German ain't he.
Best get on the blower to the German then and warn him he might need to start thinking about holiday declarations: http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1011326&postcount=9
HORIZONTALLY OPPOSED
Registered user
Miracles do happen
Is this the 1200 or 1150 variety. Just out of interest are there many none oil using oil heads amongst us, as it does appear to be a rare case. If this is more the norm than I suspected best scrub round the holiday then.
Is this the 1200 or 1150 variety. Just out of interest are there many none oil using oil heads amongst us, as it does appear to be a rare case. If this is more the norm than I suspected best scrub round the holiday then.
1200 GSA in fastest white.
About 400 miles have been on the motorway up to Glasgow, and not hanging around either.
HORIZONTALLY OPPOSED
Registered user
Oil Haze
I'm pleased for you John you must be saving a fortune in 10/40 or whatever the latest oil of choice is, hope your spending it wisely. I wish my experience was similar, but looking on the bright side I do have a continuous oil changing process in place & this saves on those messy one off jobbies, with a life time filter this could be perfection. A triumph of German engineering, even the Japs don't have this.
1200 GSA in fastest white.
About 400 miles have been on the motorway up to Glasgow, and not hanging around either.
I'm pleased for you John you must be saving a fortune in 10/40 or whatever the latest oil of choice is, hope your spending it wisely. I wish my experience was similar, but looking on the bright side I do have a continuous oil changing process in place & this saves on those messy one off jobbies, with a life time filter this could be perfection. A triumph of German engineering, even the Japs don't have this.
vfxmark
Registered user
Covered endlessly, agreed, but I will reiterate that boxer engines, lots of boxer engines, airheads, oilheads, etc "use" oil in different ways. One way is that they burn it if it gets past the rings into the combustion chamber. Another way is that they leak it through various little oil seals. The most common way (in my experience) is that they vaporise it with all that churning around of crankshaft and connecting rods and such and blow it out the crankcase breather valve.
A couple of factors affect the rate at which this happens:
1. Viscosity
The thinner it is, the easier it gets atomised....so if you are doing long hot runs, you are likely to make more oil-mist.
2. Oil level
The more oil in the crankcase, the more churning.
Thus, I found with our airheads for many years and now with our oilheads for the last decade or so, that if you fill the oil all the way to the top of the dipstick or sightglass(depending) you will often experience accelerated oil consumption until the level has dropped a bit.
With this in mind, I never intentionally top the oil all the way to the top of the sight glass. I aim for half way up the sight-glass before a long trip and I don't bother adding any oil unless it is lower than the bottom third of the distance between the center dot and the bottom red ring...unless I am going out for an extended ride.
Neither the wife nor myself has ever burned up a motor or had a bike with excessive oil usage... I had about 70k on my last airhead before i sold it (never (intentionally) filling the oil above 3/4 on the dipstick and one of her boxers is well over 120k miles now (though it gets little use these days)
This pre-supposes that you know how to check your oil properly...engine warm enough to have opened the thermostat and sitting for at least 5 to 10 minutes to allow the oil to meander its way back into the sump.
As long as you don't overfill it, it won't hurt anything to fill the oil to the top of the sightglass, but you will be sending more atomised or vaporised oil into the airbox and through the throttlebodies... not the best place for oil in my humble opinion.
A couple of factors affect the rate at which this happens:
1. Viscosity
The thinner it is, the easier it gets atomised....so if you are doing long hot runs, you are likely to make more oil-mist.
2. Oil level
The more oil in the crankcase, the more churning.
Thus, I found with our airheads for many years and now with our oilheads for the last decade or so, that if you fill the oil all the way to the top of the dipstick or sightglass(depending) you will often experience accelerated oil consumption until the level has dropped a bit.
With this in mind, I never intentionally top the oil all the way to the top of the sight glass. I aim for half way up the sight-glass before a long trip and I don't bother adding any oil unless it is lower than the bottom third of the distance between the center dot and the bottom red ring...unless I am going out for an extended ride.
Neither the wife nor myself has ever burned up a motor or had a bike with excessive oil usage... I had about 70k on my last airhead before i sold it (never (intentionally) filling the oil above 3/4 on the dipstick and one of her boxers is well over 120k miles now (though it gets little use these days)
This pre-supposes that you know how to check your oil properly...engine warm enough to have opened the thermostat and sitting for at least 5 to 10 minutes to allow the oil to meander its way back into the sump.
As long as you don't overfill it, it won't hurt anything to fill the oil to the top of the sightglass, but you will be sending more atomised or vaporised oil into the airbox and through the throttlebodies... not the best place for oil in my humble opinion.
Nate
Registered user
So, if we take this through to its logical conclusion... Don't use any oil and you wont use any
Blinding... problem solved... Im off to put my saved money into a F**king ISA
Nate
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