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2013 R1200RT how much oil gulping is too much?

dave

New member
I can't believe how much oil is being consumed. Between my 600 mile service and now (about 1,000 miles or so) I will have gone through half a quart! I see no evidence of a leak, no extra smoke from the exhaust, no smell... It just drinks oil for lunch! I just keep opening it up and adding oil until it's about 3/4 up in the sight glass and a few hundred miles later it's at the bottom again... Today while riding I even saw the warning icon turn on while I was stopped on an uphill grade. Sure enough the oil is back at the bottom again.

I tried to search the forum for "oil" but couldn't find anything... Is this typical?

Dave
 
I've got on '09 RT with about 17k miles and I'm not noticing any oil consumption. I'd won't be happy with the bike needing oil like that. I'm interested in what others will have to say.
 
Just out of curiousity, how have you been breaking in the bike so far? I just got mine in December and did the "ride it like you stole it" technique as advised from my dealer. Let it fully warm up, then off to the twisties focusing on a lot of long pulls up through the revs and lots of engine breaking to seat the rings. I burned about a quart in the first 6k and since I changed it and switched to synthetic is hasn't burned a drop.
 
Some bike use (a lot) more oil than others. When this is discussed the topic of break in and riding style come up. Bikes that are babied may use more oil than bikes that are not. :dunno

Have you started exceeding the 5K (or was it 4K?) break in RPM yet?
 
I babied the bike until the first 600 mile service. Now I take it well above 4-5k rpm between gears and ride it like all my previous bikes... There is a lot of commuter traffic here and the land is very flat, not hilly.

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oil gulping

my 2012 R1200RT,did the same thing,a quart very 10000 miles,for the first two 1000 miles,stopped using it at about 8000 miles,it has 28000 on it now.and uses none at all,have heard of 1200s going 20000 miles before stopping,I realer would worry about it,
 
I babied the bike until the first 600 mile service. Now I take it well above 4-5k rpm between gears and ride it like all my previous bikes... There is a lot of commuter traffic here and the land is very flat, not hilly.

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My non-expert advice would be to do a little more spirited riding. Run it through the gears all the way to 7-8k then decelerate the same way, punching down the gears to get some good engine braking. You could even push it to red line a couple times. Do this for a little bit and see if the oil consumption stops.
 
Well, the dealership told me not to redline it for the first 600. Sounds reasonable.

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I tried to search the forum for "oil" but couldn't find anything... Is this typical?

Dave

I bought my 2013 at the end of September. I didn't notice it using any oil until about 8,000 miles and then it was about a cup low twice in a couple of rides. After the 12,000 mile service through today at 15,899 it hasn't used any oil.

So it doesn't sound typical to me. I would have the dealer check it out.

Oh by the way...I kept within the break-in rpms and my bike has yet to get close to redline. I don't think I could hold on if I hit redline. :)
 
i have a 2013 R1200RT i bought @ end of januaury. i broke it in as how manual suggested. 2000 miles after the 600 mile service (2600miles), my oil light warning popped on. I shoved the bike on the centerstand, waited maybe 5 minutes for the oil to drain from the oil cooler, and sure enough, the oil is barely visible in the sight glass.

That's about half a quart.

I went to the dealership, bought some oil, let hte bike stand on the centerstand for half an hour this time to doulbe check... and it is still half a quart low. Filled it up, rode it hope, checked online, and found a bazillion threads about how its normal to burn thru that much oil ... all up till maybe 12K miles, with some members stating it takes longer for the boxer engine to fully break in.

I do long commutes, shifting at lower RPMs.

I'm not too concerned with it seeing how its a) Oil Cooled so yeah, i expect it to burn some oil, b) other users have stated that within their fir 6K miles that they went thru a bit of oil consumption, c) my subaru STI did the same thing at 2600 miles, burnt thru a quart of oil (i know, apples and oranges - but knowing that my car went thru some oil as being normal in the least makes feel like this is fine too). after several thousand miles and several oil changes, it has drastically dropped in oil consumption.

a google search on r1200rt burning oil resulted in several threads, this one reassured me i was ok:

http://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?56179-oil-burning-2011-R1200RT
 
Well, the dealership told me not to redline it for the first 600. Sounds reasonable.

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Big diff between "babying it" and "do not redline"! Would more likely like to see at least 3/4 throttle on routine basis when getting up to speed. Then lay off throttle to let oil scrub back up, cruise for a tad and then throttle again. On a '13 you need not baby, just don't abuse (holding at steady speed for long distance or full throttle for more than a few seconds.) Idea is to use allotted RPM range at varying throttle openings and durations. Scrub those rings in!
 
Ok thanks guys... So my consumption sounds reasonable I suppose. I did a Google search and notice a lot of variations too so that's good. It's a fine running machine! My first 1200 and damn it's powerful.

As far as RPM range, I commute with it a lot and there's just so much I can even get it out of second gear around here. I'd love to twist it around the Alps but I live in New York so whatcha gonna do...

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I do long commutes, shifting at lower RPMs.

Try to spend more time with your revs up above at least 3000. The bike will be more responsive, run smoother, stop burning oil sooner and get better gas mileage. I put several thousand miles on mine before I figured this out. Third gear usage generally starts between 25-30mph, fourth around 40mph, fifth above 50, sixth at least 65mph but only if I'll be cruising at a steady speed for a few miles. I used to run down around 2000 rpm but found acceleration was poor if I needed to maneuver quickly. Better mileage at higher rpm confused me for a while but I think the engine just runs more efficiently if it is not straining at a lower rpm.
 
Be patient and put some harder miles on it. Heat cycles (as from hard up-hill runs at varying RPM and coasting down) seem to do the trick. Eventually it will probably stop using so much oil, as mine has done tho at 13K it still uses some. I wouldn't hurt to register your concern with your dealer just to get it on record.

pete
 
I have a 2013 RT. Broke it in per guidelines in the Owners Manual. It used about half a quart per 750 miles for the first 6K miles and then tapered off. At 13K miles now, oil use is negligible. I run semi- syn 15W50.
 
I have a 2012 RT bought new. The bike burned approx 1 quart of oil from 17,800 to 24,700 (6900 miles) on my last trip. I cannot complain as the oil consumption is improving as the miles add up. I tried to break it in hard but living in SE Michigan, it's flatlander territory, so the engine loafs even at 70-80 mph. I believe this motor needs to be broken in riding some good hard mountain passes. Lots of up, down, acccelerate up long grades and compression braking on long downhills. I think my oil consumption would be better if I had not switched to synthetic at 12K miles.

I sure am enjoying the ride tho.
 
my 2013 RT purchased last July used near nothing in the first 600 miles....then about 1 qt to 6000miles....3/4 qt to 12000miles...less than 1/2 qt to 18000miles and now at 20000miles it has not used any measurable amount....i do ride the bike pretty hard and accelerate pretty hard, love the power...last oil purchased from the dealer was BMW branded full-syn from Spectro.....previous was BMW branded semi-syn prolly from Castrol....
 
As far as RPM range, I commute with it a lot and there's just so much I can even get it out of second gear around here. I'd love to twist it around the Alps but I live in New York so whatcha gonna do...

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Ride up-state. You have mountains in New York, a bunch of them. I had to drive from WI to enjoy your mountains. I found the rides absolutely beautiful. You're lucky to live there.

My 2011 RT burned 1/2 quart every 1000 mikes then suddenly stopped at 16,000.

Joel
 
When i picked up my GS last year it had 14 miles on it, i took it to the local HD shop and put it on the dyno rig. (high dollor rig), locked it in at 5000rpm with a 70% load on the rear wheel, another words the grip was twisted 3/4 throttle and the motor was working its but off for 3hrs. (250 miles), it used a half a quart of oil during that time. now no oil consumption at all, zip nada. run em like ya stole em and speed safely, it might work for your bike to. they only charged me 50 buks. not only that, talk about piece of mind. i know without a shado of a doubt that the bike will carry me from the southern most tip of mexico on up to prudoe bay AK without any hicups.
 
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