reduced oil change intervals for 1150s?

dizave · Aug 24, 2003

I was talking to a friend who just purchased an 80th ed rockster. Nice bike. Anyway, she mentioned she was going in for an oil change, which surprised me, because I didn't figure she'd ridden 5400 miles in the last two weeks without me noticing. And she hadn't. She said they are recommending 3K oil changes for the bike.

1. Is this correct?
2. Is there something different with the rockster than all the other r1150s?
3. WTF???? This would mean an oil change every week for some people. It can be hard enough doing it every 6k.

Can anyone set me straight on this?

fish · Aug 24, 2003

Sounds like a dealer revenue-generator. What does the manual say?

knary · Aug 24, 2003

2nd point, if you're riding enough to 3k happens once a week or two, you're riding in such a way that you don't need to change the oil very often.

On a long long trip, you can easily extend that service interval, IMHO, without worry. The clearest way I think of it is that you need to change the oil after a certain length of time or after a certain number of cold starts.

99007 · Aug 25, 2003

Nobody told me any different

I bought a Rockster July 8th. My dealer (in Grand Rapids, MI) did not tell me a different schedule for oil changes. It was the same as my 01 R1100RL. 600 miles, 6k, 12k etc.
I will check my manual when I get home tonite, but I think your friend might be getting a bunch of hooey from the dealer.

I just went over 3k this weekend and I am not changing the oil!

MarkF · Aug 25, 2003

A lot of guys brag about doing an oil change every 3,000 miles, like it's a virtue. Some dealer probably jumped on the band wagon. As far as I know all oilheads are every 6,000 miles or every year, whichever comes first.

MarkF

richc · Aug 26, 2003

reduced oil change for 1150's

My dealer (Beaudry in Post Falls, ID) mentioned the 600, 6k, 12 change to me and then suggested I change it in between those scheduled changes. He said the oil is cheap (don't know, haven't bought any) so why not do it.

'04 GS

JERRY · Aug 26, 2003

wow! hasn't this been going on long before we started riding? think the key word here is "recommending".
if you want to change it @ 1000, 3000, or 6000, then that's what you should do.
any of the above works just fine.
comfort level.. folks.

RIDERR1150GSADV · Aug 26, 2003

oilchanges

IMHO I think that 6 K is a normal interval for an oilchange on R bikes. My dealer did suggest to change the oil at 3 K in addition to the 600 mile change, since I was braking the engine in. This was the only additional oil change I ever needed to do

. I did the same with my truck and 4 stroke outboard.

In any case withe the modern oils available it is not nessecary to overdo the changes and dumping extra oil in the environment. If a Porsche can get a 15 K interval on synthetic oil, our bikes ought to do well at 6 K.

TooManyToys · Aug 27, 2003

I'm more comfortable with 3K changes. Heck, most cars are 7500 normal service / 5000 'rough' service for oil changes.

I go with the "oil is cheap" theory, changing it myself between the 6K, 18K, 24K, etc. services.

GIZMO · Aug 27, 2003

The BMW service interval including oil & filter changes is 600mi, 6K & 12K. I believe your friends dealer was only "recommending" changes every 3K. This is not bad advice, because the acids that accumulate in the oil are removed sooner. With K & R motorcycles you do not have to change the oil filter during these between service oil changes because there is very little metal debris produced. Where as in the F650 series there is a higher content of metal filings produced and therefore a good idea to change oil and filter on in-between oil changes. If however changing every 3000 K is too onerous, you will still be compliant for warranty purposes with BMW if you meet the 600 mile, 6K & 12K service intervals and many folks have had their motorcycles last many miles using the required service schedule.

flash412 · Aug 27, 2003

Where as in the F650 series there is a higher content of metal filings produced and therefore a good idea to change oil and filter on in-between oil changes.

Where did you get that silly idea and does anyone have any evidence to back it up? I've cut open a dozen or more used airhead filters and three F650 filters. I found LOTS more swarf in airhead filters at 3,000 miles than I've ever seen in a F650 filter at 6,000 miles.

BTW... if you think you need to change your oil at reduced intervals, you are probably wrong. Why not do an oil assay and find out? Here's one of mine with 7000 miles on the 5W50 Castrol Syntec oil from my F650 http://flash412.home.comcast.net/Lubriport-0211.jpg.

RIDERR1150GSADV · Aug 27, 2003

oilchanges

Well it seems that most people agree that changing oil more frequently than recommended is not bad thing.

If you change oil more than the manufacturers recomended service intervals, it certainly will not hurt. It actually may help you if anything goes wrong with the engine if you keep all receipts.
The only thing I always do is also change the filter anytime I change oil. On my Suzuki outboard motor that is recomended too but on my Yamaha outboards it was ok to leave the filter in for another 100 hrs of operation, something I never did. I never understood why and the dealer could not explain this either.

I do think however that the service life of synthetic oil is much better than that of natural oils and I personally don't have a problem leaving the oil in a little longer than 3000 miles. The oil is not what breaks down but the additives do and there in lies the problem. So buy a good quality oil and enjoy the ride.
BTW I think it was sportbike magazine that did an extensive test on oils in their Sept issue. :dunno

I hope I got the right magazine I just got a glimpse of the article.

GIZMO · Aug 28, 2003

flash412 said:
Where did you get that silly idea and does anyone have any evidence to back it up? I've cut open a dozen or more used airhead filters and three F650 filters. I found LOTS more swarf in airhead filters at 3,000 miles than I've ever seen in a F650 filter at 6,000 miles.

BTW... if you think you need to change your oil at reduced intervals, you are probably wrong. Why not do an oil assay and find out? Here's one of mine with 7000 miles on the 5W50 Castrol Syntec oil from my F650 http://flash412.home.comcast.net/Lubriport-0211.jpg.

Two sources, a couple of well respected mechanics in my area who have taken the time to cut open some F650 filters and have found them to be more laden with metal filings. Second, From personal experience with two F650's, a K1200LT and a R1100S. When I change the oil there has routinely been a good deal more metal filings attached to the magnetic drain plugs of the F650's than on my recent K1200LT and R1100S both of which also had magnetic drain plugs.

RIDERR1150GSADV · Aug 28, 2003

Maybe there are more filings on a single cylinder engine than on a two or four cylinder engine as the single needs to work harder than the others to perform the same . :dunno

, I don't know for sure but if one feels more secure by changing the oil more often, than by all means do it.
I will monitor what goes on in my engine and act accordingly but so far I have not found any shavings or particles at all and that is good :wow

.
In any case everyone should keep an eye on their engine and act accordingly to prevent major surgery later on.
Well that was my 2 cts.

flash412 · Aug 29, 2003

BBowens said:
Two sources, a couple of well respected mechanics in my area who have taken the time to cut open some F650 filters and have found them to be more laden with metal filings.

Did they ever cut open other filters and NOT find them to have metal filings? As I said before, I cut open lots of filters, F650 and airheads. I certainly don't see any more swarf in the F650 than the airheads.

From personal experience with two F650's, a K1200LT and a R1100S. When I change the oil there has routinely been a good deal more metal filings attached to the magnetic drain plugs of the F650's than on my recent K1200LT and R1100S both of which also had magnetic drain plugs.

Your anecdotal comparative evidence for oilheads and K-bikes does not match my anecdotal comparative evidence for airheads. The first few oil changes on any motor have the most swarf in the filter and on the drain plug. A later increase in the amount of swarf is an indication of wearing off a part, such as hardening suddenly going away. Obviously this varies on a case by case basis. So much for anecdotal evidence. No blanket statements are accurate without a significant statistical sample, which clearly neither of us has.

fish · Aug 29, 2003

flash412 said:
Your anecdotal comparative evidence for oilheads and K-bikes does not match my anecdotal comparative evidence for airheads.

dlearl476 · Aug 29, 2003

Re: oilchanges

rider1150RT said:
If a Porsche can get a 15 K interval on synthetic oil, our bikes ought to do well at 6 K.

I would like to point out that a 911's dry sump holds 3 GALLONS of oil. My F650's hold 2.2 QUARTS. Don't know how much an R bike holds. In MY mind, this makes a difference, as does the fact that I regularly ride my F 2.5 miles to work and back. I rarely drive my Porsche less than 30 miles when I start it.

saab93driver · Aug 30, 2003

One way to determine what an optimum drain interval will be is an oil analysis which lets you see what wear particles are in the engine and what is left of the additive package. Anything else is speculation.

RIDERR1150GSADV · Aug 30, 2003

Reduced oil change intervals for 1150s?

To David#476,
I realize that a Porsche has 12 qts of oil which obviously is more than an oilhead has. This however is also relative to engine size as a Porsche is a 3.3 Ltr six cylinder and an oilhead is a 1.1 ltr two cylinder. Ofcourse the more oil the better but in my mind I think that BMW has done their homework and tested these engines in all kinds of conditions. I know for a fact that several bikes were tested in Algeria and Tunesia for hot weather endurance testing back in the Eighties when a friend of mine saw these bikes there

. This was a while ago of course but I don't think that BMW has changed much when it comes to testing their bikes, and cars for that matter. :clap

Like I said earlier in this forum:If you feel more comfortable changing the oil more often than by all means do so. And if you really want to know what goes on than an oil analyses is the way to go.
We can disuss this topic forever :snore

but the fact is there are thousends of beemers worldwide with a lot of miles on them.
Maybe BMW or someone can provide some statistics? Oilchanges vs mileage?? :idea

Anyway keep the rubber down

reduced oil change intervals for 1150s?

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