where can i get 20/50 oil

[red1200]

yes the bike is feeling thirsty and wants a little drink of oil, but i cant find any 20w50, near me! (and the manual says avoid synthetic for x thousand k's)

Do the very large Halfords stock it, or is it a trip to the dealer? I havent got a clue whats in it at the moment but i'm assuming all these oils mix together as long as they have meet the relevant standards.

I'm in Newcastle BTW so if anyone knows somewhere then please post it. Westgate Road were as useful as a not very useful thing. I know i can go to the dealer but its miles in the opposite direction to the way i normally go!

Thanks in advance.

 

[Trippy]

I just changed my oil yesterday and used Halfords classic car 20/50, bloke in the shop said they sell alot to bikers. Mind you I have a 97 1100 and not a expensive posh 1200.
cost 13.99 for 5 ltrs

 

[red1200]

yeah i just realised after a bit of searching that as the BMW's dont have a wet cluth then car oil is fine Doh!

One trip to halfords coming up then

 

[Mouse]

Halfords also sell an own brand 15W/50 for about 12 quid a gallon, rated suitable for the GS.

 

[mitch]

20/50 oil

http://www.castrol.com/castrol/subsection.do?categoryId=9000407&contentId=7002485

Free delivery if you order enough

Mitch

 

[Graham G]

Halfords also sell an own brand 15W/50 for about 12 quid a gallon, rated suitable for the GS.

Mouse - do you use this for your 1200? If so, I check this out before I do my next oil change. That's a nice saving. Does bike mileage make a difference? Semi-synthetic / Synthetic / Mineral?

Thanks.

 

[Talltree]

Mouse - Does bike mileage make a difference? Semi-synthetic / Synthetic / Mineral?

Good thread .. I was wondering myself where I could buy the correct oil for the bike (GS1200).

My understanding is that one should not use Synthetic oil until the bike has covered at least 12K This is to enable the piston rings and bores to seal correctly and not to be just polished. I believe BMW bores are made of a particularly hard substance which takes a lot of use to bed in properly.
I think this is one reason why most GS1200's use oil and have higher petrol consumption in early days which levels off later.


My plan is to follow the book to the letter and use 20/50 non synthetic .. thus if anything serious does go wrong, BMW will have no comeback if I need to make a warranty claim.

Synthetic oils are more robust ... the stuff doesn't break down so easily under heat and stress, however unless you use the bike extremely hard or regularly ride in extreme conditions where the engine gets very hot, my opinion is that in the UK synthetic oil in a BMW is probably not required .. but I am open to suggestions.

 

[nomad]

Due to nickasil bores the bikes use 20/50 or 15/40 until around 12k. by which time everythings bedded in nicely,oil consumption stabilises and you can use synthetic or semi synthetic.(mines a 16k 2004 1200gs using gps.in a VERY economical manner).

 

[red1200]

got some from BMW dealer today. As i was off this afternoon, thought i would go for a ride via the dealers. A fiver for a litre of lovely BMW 20/50 oil which i thought was ok, and at least i know the right stuffs going in!

 

[Alphason]

got some from BMW dealer today. As i was off this afternoon, thought i would go for a ride via the dealers. A fiver for a litre of lovely BMW 20/50 oil which i thought was ok, and at least i know the right stuffs going in!

Mr BMW is probably very happy that the 'right stuff' is filling his wallet!

 

[orca the porker]

Oil Please help!
Some of you guys use 20/50 , my dealer gave me 10/40 . Which is the best and what are the differences.
Thanx ORCA.

 

[Mouse]

Mouse - do you use this for your 1200? If so, I check this out before I do my next oil change. That's a nice saving. Does bike mileage make a difference? Semi-synthetic / Synthetic / Mineral?

Yes I use the Halfords 15/50 in my 1200, although prior to that I was using Silkolene 15/50 and before that Castrol GP 10/40.

To answer orca the porker as well - if you check the bike's handbook there's a chart showing what oil you should use for different climates. for the sort of temperatures we get in the UK (especially right now!) 10/40 is not sufficient, 15/50 or 20/50 is. 15/50 will perform slightly better in cold temperatures (winter starts).

For the first 18,000 miles my bike was using quite a lot of oil (10/40), at that point I started using the heavier (correct!) grade, and the consumption dropped right off. Whether that was due to the engine running in or the change in oil, or a combination of both I can't say.

I can say however that the comments on nikasil bores are right on - I recently had need to take the heads off mine, and after 27,000 miles the honing marks on the bores are still very visible

 

[grant5435]

synthetic or not synthetic thats the question...

Just a quick question.......... im not too clued up on the going's on inside my bikes engine, ive just had my 1200 adv put thru the 6000 mile service, and had the synthetic oil put in on recomendations from the garage, is that a bad move or just a more expensive one? was it better to wait till 12000 miles, any advice would be most welcome.

cheers

 

[orca the porker]

Cheers Mouse for your reply. Down to Halfords tomorrow, does it matter which brand i buy and am i buying semi sythetic.
thanks for your reply.ORCA

 

[Mouse]

The whole mineral / semi / fully synth question is a prickly one, and everyone has an opinion. Well maybe not you, as you're asking

Some people will say use the best oil you can afford. Others say, the mineral oil is rated to the appropriate API specification for the bike, so spending extra on posh oil is just money down the drain. Then the first lot will say, I want the best for my engine so it lasts. But then the retort is "when did you ever hear of a GS engine failing due to being run on mineral oil". And then the first lot chip in "An air cooled engine runs hotter so needs synthetic oil". Reply: "But the API specification guarantees a certain minimum life even of mineral oil" ...

And so on and so on

My personal opinion, for what it's worth, is that the bike's handbook tells you what API spec oil it requires. And it's not a very high specification, by today's standards. So I use a reasonably cheap oil that meets the spec, and the best value I've found so far is the Halfords mineral 15w/50.

It's a bit like buying helmets. You might feel that a 400 quid Arai will protect your noggin better than a 50 quid FM. But they've both passed the same tests, both are certified to the same standard. Whole new can of worms opened there!

 

[Yoda]

+1 on what Mouse said.

 

[orca the porker]

Cheers again Mouse v helpful.
ORCA