justinguitar
Registered user
great post - why not sticky?
Oil
- Thread starter Wapping
- Start date
Suppose it could be stickied... although in the font of all wisdom its easy enough to find... 'OIL' typed into search brings it up at the top
Agree - stickying this might go some way to avoid all the noob "what oil?" questions. I found it by searching "oil" in FOAW (and reckon that it's probably the most helpful oil article I've found on here), but it'd be even easier to find if it was stickied at the top; some folk may not bother searching - new tossers popping up all the time, no?
Either way, thanks to OP for posting those many moons ago.
Either way, thanks to OP for posting those many moons ago.
Oddly enough despite the age of the original post it was all perfectly valid until the LC's appeared on the scene with their newfangled gearbox lying under the cam chain in the sump(ish) and wet clutches. So whereas the answer to tailscookie's question about diesel spec oil was almost certainly "yes" it's no for a LC.
Gecko
Registered user
In case you were wondering what happens to oil when it gets cold, this shows quite graphically how it responds to low temperature.
https://m.facebook.com/groups/653585104738096?view=permalink&id=928355820594355
https://m.facebook.com/groups/653585104738096?view=permalink&id=928355820594355
Great post, thanks.
My R1250GS (~4k miles) seems to be getting through oil tho I was mindful of the running in process. I'd intended to get some BMW Advantec oil but a) it seems relatively hard to get hold of online and b) given the above, it doesn't sound as if it's really necessary and an equivalent will suffice.
My R1250GS (~4k miles) seems to be getting through oil tho I was mindful of the running in process. I'd intended to get some BMW Advantec oil but a) it seems relatively hard to get hold of online and b) given the above, it doesn't sound as if it's really necessary and an equivalent will suffice.
Agree - stickying this might go some way to avoid all the noob "what oil?" questions. I found it by searching "oil" in FOAW (and reckon that it's probably the most helpful oil article I've found on here), but it'd be even easier to find if it was stickied at the top; some folk may not bother searching - new tossers popping up all the time, no?
Either way, thanks to OP for posting those many moons ago.
*** Bump
Agreed, this was incredibly useful! Thank you
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Many Many years ago….
I got advice for my then new R1100GS from the head of BMW motorcycles (U.K.) was NOT to use synthetic oil, not because it was bad, but the exact opposite, that it was far too efficient and the bike would take longer to run in.
I know thing have moved on but it still amuses me.
I got advice for my then new R1100GS from the head of BMW motorcycles (U.K.) was NOT to use synthetic oil, not because it was bad, but the exact opposite, that it was far too efficient and the bike would take longer to run in.
I know thing have moved on but it still amuses me.
AberdeenAngus
Registered user
Many Many years ago….
I got advice for my then new R1100GS from the head of BMW motorcycles (U.K.) was NOT to use synthetic oil, not because it was bad, but the exact opposite, that it was far too efficient and the bike would take longer to run in.
I know thing have moved on but it still amuses me.
We’ve all heard tales of some bikes being run-in ‘hard’, and seem to be the better for it.
Running in is another dark art, combined with the dark art of oil, makes for the grand masta ecky thump of dark arts 
My take on running in is that 1) I never ran a bike in usually specified to run on synthetic actually on synthetic, ever since when at 6K miles my old trumpet trident 750 got so hot, the header pipes started glowing cherry red. Tight as a gnat's arse. I switched to semi synthetic and carefully ran the bike another 4 k miles. I then changed to oil, dumped more semi in it and ran it for another 6K miles before switching to fully synthetic. All was well for 35K miles when I eventually sold it on.
I would rather run a bike on semi synthetic and change it more often that advised in the service schedule, so every 3K miles or annually as a minimum. Overkill? Perhaps but I've had big mileages from engines treated this way with very little engine wear or oil burning ever noted.
RE the boxer LC bikes. I bought mine at 5K miles just over a month ago and it's now registering 6.2K miles. It still runs a litttle too hot for my liking and still feels a little tight. I'm guessing the previous owner ran it very gently. This doesn't help in the long run. Once the first 3 or 4K miles are done, I tend to run the engine up and down the gearbox using lots of A and B road work and moderate speeds and every few hundred miles, up the revs and load a little, perhaps 500 to 1000 revs more and hold higher revs/speed for a little longer. In every bike I've run in this way it just seems to be happier and run a little cooler once run in. I'm currently running on 10W40 semi synthetic and whilst the engine feels a little looser than when I first got it, I treat it fairly gently avoiding sustained high engine loads and will continue to until 10K miles. Main thing with oils is use anything you like as long as it's rated for gearbox use and wet clutch use on these. Synthetics and semi synthetics designed as bike specific oils, tend to have greater sheer resistance than pure mineral based oils (generally speaking) but I, for one, won't run mine on fully synthetic at such low miles as it's too good and doesn't help the engine bed in as readily as semi synthetics. Everyone has their own way to go about it. This is just what I do and I'm not claiming it's right or wrong but has worked for me for 30 years with low miles bikes, and allowed some very high mielages without any serious engine issues. With these days of Euro4 and euro 5 engines, they tend to operate at increasingly higher temperatures so sensible advice is just change the oil regularly and the boxer will run the course.
My take on running in is that 1) I never ran a bike in usually specified to run on synthetic actually on synthetic, ever since when at 6K miles my old trumpet trident 750 got so hot, the header pipes started glowing cherry red. Tight as a gnat's arse. I switched to semi synthetic and carefully ran the bike another 4 k miles. I then changed to oil, dumped more semi in it and ran it for another 6K miles before switching to fully synthetic. All was well for 35K miles when I eventually sold it on.
I would rather run a bike on semi synthetic and change it more often that advised in the service schedule, so every 3K miles or annually as a minimum. Overkill? Perhaps but I've had big mileages from engines treated this way with very little engine wear or oil burning ever noted.
RE the boxer LC bikes. I bought mine at 5K miles just over a month ago and it's now registering 6.2K miles. It still runs a litttle too hot for my liking and still feels a little tight. I'm guessing the previous owner ran it very gently. This doesn't help in the long run. Once the first 3 or 4K miles are done, I tend to run the engine up and down the gearbox using lots of A and B road work and moderate speeds and every few hundred miles, up the revs and load a little, perhaps 500 to 1000 revs more and hold higher revs/speed for a little longer. In every bike I've run in this way it just seems to be happier and run a little cooler once run in. I'm currently running on 10W40 semi synthetic and whilst the engine feels a little looser than when I first got it, I treat it fairly gently avoiding sustained high engine loads and will continue to until 10K miles. Main thing with oils is use anything you like as long as it's rated for gearbox use and wet clutch use on these. Synthetics and semi synthetics designed as bike specific oils, tend to have greater sheer resistance than pure mineral based oils (generally speaking) but I, for one, won't run mine on fully synthetic at such low miles as it's too good and doesn't help the engine bed in as readily as semi synthetics. Everyone has their own way to go about it. This is just what I do and I'm not claiming it's right or wrong but has worked for me for 30 years with low miles bikes, and allowed some very high mielages without any serious engine issues. With these days of Euro4 and euro 5 engines, they tend to operate at increasingly higher temperatures so sensible advice is just change the oil regularly and the boxer will run the course.
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