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Oil Filters for Hexheads

Use the BMW brand Oil Filter. save money by doing the oil change yourself at least while the bike is under warranty
 
Gee whiz I guess I'm really stupid. I buy OEM filters from my local dealer (90 miles away). I buy OEM oil from the same dealer. I only use Chevron Supreme 92 Octane fuel, in a pinch I'll use Exxon/Mobil Premium. Why? because I know how filthy mini mart tanks get from lack of maintenance, water intrusion, stale fuel bought surplus from the cheapest source. Gee whiz, do you think that's why my old SAAB 900 Turbo want over 400,000 miles on the original fuel pump, never needed a fuel filter, and the injectors were all original with no problems in the thirteen years I drove this beast? Thanks, just the same but I'll pass on cheap crap imitation filters, I look at it like an insurance premium, exchanging a known small loss for an unknown large one.
 
Somewhere in a different thread this past week was a letter from one of the members that lost his repair warranty on something to do with a piston or cylinder, can't remember which, but it was because he didn't have a BMW filter on the bike when he took it in for warranty work. Anyway he lost his case. BMW filters seem cheaper all the time.:deal
 
"The cheapest part on any BMW is the rider"

Always has been and always will be.

When I was a young man I worked for my uncle, cleaning windows. One thing we regularly observed was that the customers who had the biggest, fanciest houses, had us there least often and took the longest to pay.
They were the most likely to be "call only" business, calling a day or two before they were entertaining and insisting we come out ASAP, and then being left a bill, and mailed notices, taking sometimes three months to send a check. Where as the majority of our middle/working class customers would just have a regularly scheduled visit (once a month or two) and meet you at the door with cash, often a hot or cold drink based on the weather, and a tip at Christmas.

The point is, a lot of people who seem to have more like to spend it on assets only, and get miserly regarding services or other "out of sight" items.
The big house and decor are impressive, but the people who clean it are not at the top of the spending list. The people who fix it are even less so, the plumber is only called out after the flood, not before when he could have updated the aging pipes.
Some of the same folks who get thrifty with parts and services on this forum are riding loaded RTs & LTs, etc. wearing Aerostitch and Schuberth, navigating by Zumo and chatting on Bluetooth... Geez, get you're priorities straight!

Beemer riders are often the cheapest thing on a beemer, when it comes to parts you can't see or services rendered... while simultaneously proving they don't need to be.
 
He put an oilhead 1150 filter on a hexhead 1200

I know of several who use the 1150 filter on 1200 bikes. Other than hanging down a bit, no issues.
I'm not condoning this, but I can't think of why it would result in a scuffed cylinder.
I have also heard of a few 1200RTs with 1200 oil filters and scuffed cylinders.
There has to be more to the story.
 
Compare springs

Here's where I need a suggestion: Assuming that the bypass valves use springs to do their thing, what's the best way to measure the force of a spring? I'm envisioning putting the spring on a scale and taking the reading with the spring compressed to a certain measurement. Anybody got a better idea?

The best way to compare springs (coil) is to stack the 2 springs with a washer between them. Put them in a vise and compress the stack to approximately the normal service compression. While compressed, measure the length of the two springs. This provides a comparitive measure.
 
Paul is right on here about the bypass valve, anti drain back is not an issue when filter is applied with the open end up. I worked for a oil company for 15 years, we did not make oil filters, but I had seen many of them cut apart in the lab. Some made by the same vender with different brand names, and they were not all the same, the vender will make what ever you want. I saw what was left of a cheap filter that was installed on a big block Chevy, in a boat, the can blew off the backing plate because it did not meet the burst pressure spec. All of the OE filters I saw in the lab, no matter who the vender was, were of good quality. Were there better filters? Yes, They may have had a better filter media, or more of it, metal in place of cardboard, better glue, higher burst pressure, better valves, and mabe none of these, just a higher price because of advertizing. So be careful when you buy aftermarket filters because many are of varying quality.

Ken G.
 
P Glaves is exactly right. I, along with many others I'm sure, have cut apart quite a few oil filters (cars, trucks, motorcycles) and have yet to fine one that had more than a small amount of debris in it Seems to me it would take a lot more junk in the filtering media to even come close to causing the bypass valve to operate. Those boys that go hammering around on the GS's out in the desert sand and etc, now that might be a different story.
I don't suppose this oil filter and oil filter price discussion will ever get a rest. I do think that a lot of guys overthink this, however.
 
I use BMW oil if it’s presently (they keep changing brands) 100% synth or Mobil 1. Usually Mobil 1

IFAIK BMW Advantec is semi synth:

BMW Motorcycles 15W50 Advantec Pro Semi-Synthetic Engine Oil 1L. The ADVANTEC PRO and ULTIMATE engine oils were specifically developed for BMW Motorrad high-performance engines.

I'm not sure about Mobil 1 being full synth either. AFAIK US laws allow products to be labeled as synth oil even if they're not "Full" synth.

I prefer Motul 7100 which is truly full synth:
Motul 7100 Ester 4T Synthetic Oil

100% Synthetic with ester 4-Stroke engine oil. Formulated to meet the newest in motorycle manufactuerer specifications in terms of JASO and API. Designed with the perfect synergy for less oil comsuption, reduced engine internal friction and extreme pressure performace, for more power.

I use Mahle filters from Beemer Boneyard (Same filters and 1/2 the price of OEM)

YMMV
 
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