Seating rings to cylinder R1100RT (break in engine)

I'll chime in what some others have mentioned. Not my opinion but the advice of experienced mechanics I trust. First off, 20/50 is the correct viscosity. Take a look at the recent oil test data published in the Owner News and in the airheads thread by Kurt for more info. It's great info. Secondly, break in for oilheads is best done by maniacs. I bought a 96 R1100RT a few years back and was duped into buying a bike that had a cracked cylinder. It had been taken apart and the needed repairs were not done. Instead someone gooped it up with sealant and sold the bike. To me. She started to knock on the way to Red Bluff CA and got so loud I called Ozzies BMW in Chico where the top end got rebuilt. Their advice to me when I left the shop regarding the new rings and break in was to repeatedly red line the bike and constantly vary speed for the first several hundred miles. I headed home down HWY 36 to the coast and did exactly as told and that bike never burned oil after one or two oil changes.

The guys at Ozzie's have rebuilt countless oilheads and given the fact that they service a ton of CHIP bikes they see every type of failure there is. Low RPM babying of oilhead engines will turn them into oil slurpers. The cylinder coatings are incredibly hard and smooth so you need to really put the spurs to your bike to break it in properly. Believe it.

Oil useage

Here is a break-in procedure given to me by an old airhead rider:

Take cylinders off
wash them in the sink with dish detergent
let them air dry
put a drop of oil on the piston skirts-1 drop per skirt
put the engine back together, torque to spec and adjust valves
start engine and get oil pressure up
Hold tachometer at 6000 rpm for 2 minutes
shut down and let cool for 24 hours
re-torque and adjust
highway run @ 5500 rpm for 30 minutes
pull over and idle for 2 minutes
highway run @ 5000 rpm for 30 minutes
idle for 2 minutes
Highway run @ 4500 rpm for 30 minutes
idle 2 minutes
Highway run @ 4000 for 30 minutes
Go home, dump oil and change filter
put in fresh oil and let cool for 24 hours
re-torque

Should have seated the rings.

hope this helps.

Regards,

Will

here is an exemption for zinc content on 15W and 20 50 oils, and good SN type oils with over 1000 PPM zinc do exist. This was done for some of the older diesel engines. So a modern rated oil "might" be OK. But as stated, the correct oil ratings are available and common so why tempt fate.

Rod

Sign up for a dozen track days, it will make the bike run better and you a better rider!

That said, it seems hit and miss on how much oil they use, break in doesn't seem to matter. You hear the anal guys that have 3 page spread sheets of time, rpm, gear selection graphed against acceleration curves and throttle angle, heat cycles and ambient temperatures. Then you get the guys that just ride normally, and the ones that rode it like they stole it.

And in the end, some burn lots, some burn a little, none of it mattered.