extended life oils

[steve abella]

I normally change my oil every 5k and every 15 K get an oil analysis done, and they keep telling me that it is fine and could extend the miles between services
http://www.blackstone-labs.com/index.html

I was doing the 20K service onthe S and the 50K service on the GS and as usual bought Mobile 1 but now they claim that I will go 15 K between oil changes
We have come a long way since Castrol was state of the art and these donkey bikes with tractor motors don't seem to stress the oil

I know some of you do oil changes every 1.5/3K miles but with todays oil is it reasonable?
how far is it safe to go ?

[GotRoad?]

I change oil & filter every 6K myself. To my way of thinking if an 8 cylinder engine can go 6K miles between changes then a 2 cylinder ought to be for at least that much.

[motoman]

Originally posted by GotRoad?
To my way of thinking if an 8 cylinder engine can go 6K miles between changes then a 2 cylinder ought to be for at least that much.

That's a pretty strange way o' thinkin' you got there, pardner.

[Chris Geuting]

Strange thinking,indeed...
On watercooled,slower revving car engines 15K mile oil drain intervals are safe.
Changing oil earlier won't hurt nothing either except a) the environement b) the natural resources c) the profits of the oil companies d) your wallet or e) all of the above...;-)
On an oil coled motorcycle engine that gets hotter than an watercooled one it is probably good to change the (synthetic) oil at 6000 miles without hurting the bike and your wallet...
Chris

[Dale Flowers]

No matter how many opinions are given or what the supporting facts are , if any, it will always come down to a personal decision. My thought process is:
1. the new syn. oils have much higher heat tolerance.
2. the multi-grade ensures good flow under all conditions.
3. BMWs are not over stressed hyper bikes.
4. crank case and trans are separate unlike the competitive machines so molecular shear is not an issue.
5. although greater RPM than many cages a 2 cylinder has fewer combustion strokes.

I once listened to a panel of airhead mechanical gurus agree unanimously that you can use any oil you want as long as it is clean. They have never seen failure/wear due to the oil. The point was $1.50 or $8.00/ quart makes no difference.

I use synthetic oil and run it 7-8K max. If I were to run it to 15K and considering the limitations of many or all filters on the market I'd change the filter half way.

[steve abella]

Originally posted by Dale Flowers
I once listened to a panel of airhead mechanical gurus agree unanimously that you can use any oil you want as long as it is clean.

I protest that statement since I have suffered 3 oil related "clutch" failures because of leaking

[steve abella]

Originally posted by Chris Geuting
Strange thinking,indeed...
On watercooled,slower revving car engines 15K mile oil drain intervals are safe.
Changing oil earlier won't hurt nothing either except a) the environement b) the natural resources c) the profits of the oil companies d) your wallet or e) all of the above...;-)
On an oil coled motorcycle engine that gets hotter than an watercooled one it is probably good to change the (synthetic) oil at 6000 miles without hurting the bike and your wallet...
Chris

If I were to extend my change interval ( which I probably won't)
I'd still test every 5k but in the end I doubt I'd Save anything until 2 full cycles or 30K small return on investment

[foobeemer]

I pull the oil and filter ever 3-4K. Always have on any vehicle I've owned. I cross Manhattan and spend alot of time in traffic alot on the bike when I commute so, that type of driving makes it even more important I think.

[Dale Flowers]

I protest that statement since I have suffered 3 oil related "clutch" failures because of leaking

Seal failures are another subject. I've long ago discovered not to fill a BMW crankcase beyond the 1/2 way mark.

[shovelstrokeed]

I just ran the oil in my S for 12K miles. Lazy and no time to change. Most of the miles were highway at speeds in excess of 4500 RPM for hours on end. I wasn't even the least bit concerned.

I refilled the crankcase with the new 15W50 extended life Mobil 1 and did the trans and rear drive with 75@140 Mobil 1 as well. Should be good for another 10K or so.

Once worn in, and ridden like an adult, I really feel that even BMW's 6K interval to be way conservative. I have decided to move my intervals to 10K and see what happens. Betcha I sell the bike long before I wear it out.

Ed

[jweicht]

I have this weird habit of using my experience to form my decisions. The only motorcycle that I ever bought new was my '82 R65, on which I changed the oil and filter just like the BMW manual said - every 5,000 miles. I figured these guys building them, with BMW's reputation for durability and high miles, maybe knew what they were talking about. Nine years and 124k + miles later when I sold that Airhead, it was still running great using Castrol 20w50 GTX - the only oil that I ever ran in it. Many of those miles were two-up loaded with luggage. I went through two sets of pushrod tube seals, one rear main seal, and had the classic exhaust valve seat recession problem during that time, hardly anything that I would say was due to infrequent oil changes. No other engine issues, period. Similar story with my 225k mile Honda Civic and its 7,500 mile OEM recommended oil changes, but I hate to bring cages into this.

I figure if that lil' ol' aircooled engine went all that way with cheap ol' Castrol GTX, these newfangled Oilheads using most any kind of decent oil should hold up at least as well. In this day and age with synthetics, I think even the OEM 6k recommendations for oil changes are probably conservative, and have to snicker at the frequent oil changers who actually buy into the oil marketers' hype of gloom and doom.

[Nitro]

IS THIS ANOTHER OIL THREAD?

WHAT TIRES SHOULD I GET NEXT?

[steve abella]

Originally posted by Nitro
IS THIS ANOTHER OIL THREAD?

WHAT TIRES SHOULD I GET NEXT?

Yes the question was which oil should you coat your tires with to extend the mileage
I like that Million Mile oil myself

[acidburn]

Originally posted by GotRoad?
I change oil & filter every 6K myself. To my way of thinking if an 8 cylinder engine can go 6K miles between changes then a 2 cylinder ought to be for at least that much.

Same as MotoMan, im thinkin its the opposite?
Now if you had an Amsoil commercial account and got the stuff so cheep, you could change it more often.
The mechanics all seem to agree that 2k is a great time to change it, and give the big nod of approval on lasting forever.
Some of the minor properties start to change arround 3k, i think it is largely academic under 4-5k miles on good synth,
however if you run harder, well makes sense to me sooner is better. and i know its the cheepst and easiest prophilactic service i can do to any of my machines when im a tad bit bored.

[smallj]

AMSOIL is great stuff. In the cage I go 25,000 miles between oil changes. Crazy I know, but the car ('99 VW Jetta VR6) has 143,000 miles on it and does not use a drop.

In the new K1200S I have not decided how often to change to oil yet. I'm thinking I will do it ever 12,000 miles. It was changed at 600 miles and has 2000 miles on it now. Its running dealer oil so far.

[SparkyBlue]

I see lots of you guys choose extended mileage oil changes as the oil lubrication properties can no doubt support that, and w/o wear symptoms. I've always thought that the oil gets contaminated from blow-by pretty quickly from the color change to very dark and change it about every 3k miles. Am I all wet?

[acidburn]

Stevorino, i change the crank case oil about every 1500 miles or so,, track days fresh oil, then run it for a few weeks afterwards and change, diff every year, trans every year, all synth.
Its not reasonable, its excessive and compulsive, but i know its good and is the way safe side if i am in error.
Cheep insurance, the bike gets a serious detailing up on the lift, all is good, full safety inspection, beer, cigar, people stop by, its fun.

[wswartzwel]

Originally posted by acidburn

Cheep insurance, the bike gets a serious detailing up on the lift, all is good, full safety inspection, beer, cigar, people stop by, its fun.

Good point!
I think many people have forgotten that working on your bike is a pleasant way to spend time with it, other than riding.

[Mr. Deltoid]

I use Mobil 1 synth.I was changing it every 2500 miles, damn fool I was.My brother has a 85 K100 with almost 250,000 miles, mobil 1 changed every 5,000 miles.I would wager that he gets 500,000 before the poor beast gives up the ghost.I assume that our R1100's have superior metallurgy when it comes to bores and rings.So 5,000 miles on a high quality synthetic should not be unreasonable.

[steve abella]

I have the crank case oil tested and based on the report with Mobile 1, I can state that 5K is fine on 3 different R1100 motors that I have data on
but I bet but will not fine out that 7 is also ok