09 R1200RT oil level

I did my first oil and filter change on my new to me 2009 R1200RT.

Much easier and cleaner to do than any of my previous bikes.

Manual says 4liter with filter.

I put in 4qts and ran the bike for a few minutes and oil level was in the center of the site glass. All seemed good.

5min after the first real ride since the oil change, I check oil site glass and its over the top edge.

I recheck 1/2hr later its still to full.

What gives?

shoen1200 said:

I did my first oil and filter change on my new to me 2009 R1200RT.

Much easier and cleaner to do than any of my previous bikes.

Manual says 4liter with filter.

I put in 4qts and ran the bike for a few minutes and oil level was in the center of the site glass. All seemed good.

5min after the first real ride since the oil change, I check oil site glass and its over the top edge.

I recheck 1/2hr later its still to full.

What gives?

Click to expand...

Nothing gives. 4 quarts with a fresh filter is fine. I don't even look at the sight glass after an oil change any more.

BTW, that's hot (not sorta warm) engine, five minutes, and on the center stand. If you looked at it on the side stand it will seem way overfilled.

But don't overthink it. If you can still see oil in the sight glass you're good to go.

JayJay

Thanks JayJay.

I always check on center stand - not side stand.
When I changed the oil the temps were in mid 40's.
I had it on the center stand and only had it idle for about 5min.
I let it sit for about 5min and oil was at mid point in site glass.
Road the bike to work yesterday and temps in 60's when I got home.
Checked the oil level after about 10min and oil passed the top off the site glass.

Checked oil level this morning with garage temps around 50deg before I took the bike to work and oil level just below very top edge of site glass.

Seems crazy that outside temp and engine temp cam make such a big difference in oil level.

None of the Japanese or British bikes I have ever owned had oil level swings like this.

So no worries of blow by puking oil in the air box due to high oil level??

I guess I will leave it alone with the 4qts of 20w50 I put in it for now...

Don't worry.
I always put 4L every oil change and don't look at it after. I usually start keeping an eye on it when the (!) starts to appear on the display.
I don't now what is the measure of the sight glass on other bikes but the sight glass level from top to bottom of an RT is only 1/2 a quart / 500ml (if you ever need to top it off between oil changes)

Dann said:

Don't worry.
I always put 4L every oil change and don't look at it after. I usually start keeping an eye on it when the (!) starts to appear on the display.

Click to expand...

That presumes that the oil level sensor is as accurate and reliable as the world renowned BMW motorcycle fuel strips, right?

shoen1200 said:

Thanks JayJay.

I always check on center stand - not side stand.
When I changed the oil the temps were in mid 40's.
I had it on the center stand and only had it idle for about 5min.
I let it sit for about 5min and oil was at mid point in site glass.
Road the bike to work yesterday and temps in 60's when I got home.
Checked the oil level after about 10min and oil passed the top off the site glass.

Checked oil level this morning with garage temps around 50deg before I took the bike to work and oil level just below very top edge of site glass.

Seems crazy that outside temp and engine temp cam make such a big difference in oil level.

None of the Japanese or British bikes I have ever owned had oil level swings like this.

So no worries of blow by puking oil in the air box due to high oil level??

I guess I will leave it alone with the 4qts of 20w50 I put in it for now...

Click to expand...

Yeah, leave it alone.

Next time you change the oil, to give you a better feeling about it:

-- Prefill your new oil filter from a fresh quart before installing (good idea anyhow). Set aside the rest of that quart.

-- Fill with the remaining three fresh quarts.

-- Ride the bike for a bit to get it really hot, center stand, wait five, then look at the sight glass.

-- Fill to your pleasure from the remaining open quart. I suspect you'll find that you use most if not all of it to get to the top of the sight glass.

Another trick you can use to be sure you haven't overfilled it is to lean the bike over to the right while having someone else watch the sight glass to make sure the oil level comes down.

But don't obsess about it.

BTW, since this is a new-to-you machine, you might want to look at the sight glass every few hundred miles so you get a feeling of how much oil it uses. BMW's spec says up to a quart per 1000 miles is acceptable (not to me, but that's the factory line!). Many hexhead owners report significant usage up to around 18-20K miles while the engine breaks in, but little to no oil use after that. My 2009 (at 75K miles) uses about a half quart per 3000 miles, or a quart per oil change. I pretty much plan to add a half quart per half oil change interval, but it's not a huge deal if I don't get to it exactly at that point.

JayJay

PGlaves said:

That presumes that the oil level sensor is as accurate and reliable as the world renowned BMW motorcycle fuel strips, right?

Click to expand...

Of course..

jayjay said:

Nothing gives. 4 quarts with a fresh filter is fine. I don't even look at the sight glass after an oil change any more.

BTW, that's hot (not sorta warm) engine, five minutes, and on the center stand. If you looked at it on the side stand it will seem way overfilled.

But don't overthink it. If you can still see oil in the sight glass you're good to go.

JayJay

Click to expand...

You mentioned the manual calls for 4L then you say you added 4q. I'm guessing you meant you added 4L.

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romany said:

You mentioned the manual calls for 4L then you say you added 4q. I'm guessing you meant you added 4L.

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Click to expand...

i'm with JayJay....i add 4 quarts with a new oil filter and walk away.....sight glass is to the top with a very slight bubble...

do not over think this...

wyman

edit....oh yeah, i have over 60k miles on my RT (10 oil/filter changes)...now with near zero oil consumption, been that way from about 20-25k miles.....

wyman.winn said:

i'm with JayJay....i add 4 quarts with a new oil filter and walk away.....sight glass is to the top with a very slight bubble...

do not over think this...

wym/

edit....oh yeah, i have over 60k miles on my RT (10 oil/filter changes)...now with near zero oil consumption, been that way from about 20-25k miles.....

Click to expand...

Mine has about the same mileage as yours (110,000km,bought it at 46,000) and still uses a bit more than 1l between oil changes using either 20w50, 15w50 or 10w50.
I will try 10w60 next oil change.

If this doesn't solve the problem, I'll stop worrying about it and keep adding oil when needed which is not a big deal anyway.

romany said:

You mentioned the manual calls for 4L then you say you added 4q. I'm guessing you meant you added 4L.

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Click to expand...

I use oil that I purchase in 5-quart containers. The lines on the jug are in both quarts and liters, but a full jug turns out to be more like 4.75 liters. I pour in until the jug is at the 1 quart left mark. So I guess I add about 3.78 liters.

Don't overthink this!

And no, it ain't about what brand of oil it is. I intentionally didn't mention that.

JayJay

While the oil is hot;
1. Park the bike on the side stand for 10-15 minutes. This allows the oil in the oil cooler to leak down to the sump.
2. Then, put the bike on the center stand and let the oil stabilize in the sump (around 3-5 minutes)
3. Then, check the oil level in the glass.
If you follow this procedure, your readings will be correct and consistent. If you just put the bike on the center stand while the oil is hot (without first putting it on the side stand), your readings will be totally inconsistent.

SCJACK said:

If you just put the bike on the center stand while the oil is hot (without first putting it on the side stand), your readings will be totally inconsistent.

Click to expand...

Why is this?

alegerlotz said:

Why is this?

Click to expand...

Because the oil will not consistently drain to the sump from the oil cooler unless you first put it on the side stand. I've owned four oilheads (and now a hexhead) and every one of them had to be checked this way or you couldn't get a correct level reading.
When I bought my current bike (hexhead), I came home from a ride and put it on the center stand.........let it sit for 10 minutes and it read all the way to the bottom of the sight glass. Then, I put the bike on the side stand, left it there for 10 minutes and then put it on the center stand; let it sit for a few minutes and the oil level was just a smidgen below the top of the glass.
Like I said earlier, every oilhead/hexhead that I've owned does this.

Not something that I came up with; it's been discussed for many years because owners would get inconsistent readings with their oil levels. If you do this each time that you check your oil, you'll know for sure if your bike is using oil.

SCJACK said:

Because the oil will not consistently drain to the sump from the oil cooler unless you first put it on the side stand. I've owned four oilheads (and now a hexhead) and every one of them had to be checked this way or you couldn't get a correct level reading.
When I bought my current bike (hexhead), I came home from a ride and put it on the center stand.........let it sit for 10 minutes and it read all the way to the bottom of the sight glass. Then, I put the bike on the side stand, left it there for 10 minutes and then put it on the center stand; let it sit for a few minutes and the oil level was just a smidgen below the top of the glass.
Like I said earlier, every oilhead/hexhead that I've owned does this.

Not something that I came up with; it's been discussed for many years because owners would get inconsistent readings with their oil levels. If you do this each time that you check your oil, you'll know for sure if your bike is using oil.

Click to expand...

Interesting. I only recall the owners manual mentioning the center stand. I'll try your method from now on.

The owners manual says to put the bike on the center stand.............BUT...............this subject has been bantered around on various BMW forums for some time. Some owners do it one way and others do it the way that I suggested. I've read threads where people become pretty nasty with each other re. this subject. I have owned enough oilheads and have seen the results "first hand" so I tend to stay with what works for me. Personally, I like to know the true oil level in my bikes.
As I mentioned in an earlier post in this thread: "When I bought my current bike (hexhead), I came home from a ride and put it on the center stand.........let it sit for 10 minutes and it read all the way to the bottom of the sight glass. Then, I put the bike on the side stand, left it there for 10 minutes and then put it on the center stand; let it sit for a few minutes and the oil level was just a smidgen below the top of the glass."
The difference is approximately 1/2 quart between the bottom & the top of the sight glass.

Two things I can tell you from my own experiences;
1. If you ride the bike and park it on the center stand while the oil is hot, your oil levels in the sight glass will vary from check to check. It may read the same for several times in a row and then the next time, it will read higher or lower than it has been showing. Then, the next time, it will be back to where it was before. i.e., your levels will vary.

2. If you use the side stand method to drain the oil from the cooler to the sump while the oil is hot and then check it on the center stand, your readings will not vary UNLESS your bike is using oil.

So, with my 1100RT I keep the oil to the middle of the sight glass and all is good, top of glass and engine not as happy

With the 1200RT this is not the case? Top of sight glass is ok?