How much oil?

[tmoyer]

We went out for a ride on Saturday and once again, my oil light came on. (2009 1200GS) The oil level was fine two weeks ago when I checked it and I haven't ridden since. It seems that I am using alot of oil and I'm not sure why. Someone told me that the engine was not broken in properly and I should red-line it once or twice but I don't understand how that would be good.

(using my best girly voice) Can one of you more knowledgeable folks help me understand why this is happening? I'm kinda clueless about this.

 

[roborider]

Lot's of posts on oil usage and oil heads/hex heads. How many miles on the GS?

I think most of us see high oil usage until about 10k-15k miles, depending on the poster. My oil usage was very high, a good quart for 6000 miles, maybe a bit more, and gradually declined and became tight in the high teen thousand miles.

Redlining won't hurt it at all, I redline all the time and tend to run high RPMs on the R12 when riding aggressively, 5k+ rpms.

Finally, the sensor can be awfully sensitive. I find mine will warn me of low oil when riding hard and the sight glass is half full. Add a bit of oil and it goes away. Or, use it as an indication to keep an eye on it. As I get to near the bottom of the glass, it comes on a lot. I think this is fine for me.

Remember to check the oil when it is hot and has been running. Say at a gas stop during a riding day. Give it a few minutes to settle and check it on the center stand. I fill up, pay, then check. If you can see it in the sight glass, it's good. Whether you prefer it lower, center, or higher is up to you.

 

[sailorlite]

Tracy - I used to think my "oil light is on" when I saw the <!> symbol on the display. Eventually I learned that the real oil light is a yellow triangle on the same screen. FWIW.

 

[Firenailer]

Tracy,

This has been an ongoing discussion on the boards here for awhile. They seem to use oil until somewhere between 10 and 20,000 miles depending on who you listen to. Someone has even timelapsed the proper site level for your oil checking pleasure.

Just check it after every ride, and add as needed. The hard ride, high rev, red line advice might not be bad either. I'm not sure if it was here, BMW Luxury touring or the BMW Sport touring site, but someone reported he cured his low mileage used bikes oil thirst by taking it out for a day long, higher reving day in the mountains.

How many miles are on your bike now?

 

[gunderwood]

If it's using oil because the piston rings haven't been broken in properly, then yes, a bit of high RPM riding may fix that. The proponents of such a break-in technique suggest that you have a narrow window accomplish this. However, the BMW boxer engines seem to take well to it well beyond inital break in. For example:

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

As long as you have let the bike warm up and have sufficient fluids, there is no harm in running an engine hard. The redline is really an electronic fuel cutoff that keeps your engine from exceeding a certain RPM. If you hit it, it will just "bounce" off the redline without harming anything. In reality, the engines power starts to drop off due to the valvetrain beginging to loose control of the valves long before it becomes dangerous. Thus, many engines can actually exceed their redline without harm; I wouldn't advise it, but there is a good deal of margin. E.g. mechanically overdriving an engine by forcing it into too low of a gear. Obviously if you go too far you will likely end up with the piston striking the valve and ruining the top end of the engine, but you aren't going to do that from waiting too long to upshift.

Running an engine hard can actually be good for it, but that's another topic. Play with it a bit, quit worrying, and enjoy.

 

[roborider]

And don't lug the engine. I cruise at about 4k RPM and shift at 5k minimum. Don't baby it.

 

[tmoyer]

The bike currently has just over 20K miles. And I can't say I lug the engine much. I tend to settle in around 4500 rpms, closer to 5000 on a good winding road.

Thanks for the info, everyone. Maybe I'll see the oil use drop now that I'm past the 20K mileage mark.

I'll also search (like I should have done earlier) and read up on some other oil threads.

 

[akbeemer]

We went out for a ride on Saturday and once again, my oil light came on. (2009 1200GS) The oil level was fine two weeks ago when I checked it and I haven't ridden since. It seems that I am using alot of oil and I'm not sure why. Someone told me that the engine was not broken in properly and I should red-line it once or twice but I don't understand how that would be good.

(using my best girly voice) Can one of you more knowledgeable folks help me understand why this is happening? I'm kinda clueless about this.

When you checked the oil how did you do it? Have not heard mention of using the sight glass. The dash warning is not an acceptable substitute for getting down and using the sight glass.

 

[jaherbst]

The bike currently has just over 20K miles. And I can't say I lug the engine much. I tend to settle in around 4500 rpms, closer to 5000 on a good winding road.

Thanks for the info, everyone. Maybe I'll see the oil use drop now that I'm past the 20K mileage mark.

I'll also search (like I should have done earlier) and read up on some other oil threads.

The check oil check mark only means the oil is not full on the sight gage. The oil warning is a yellow triangle and telling you your oil is actually low.(below the bottom of the sight gage.) All engines should use a small amount of oil to be properly lubricating the engine. Six to twelve ounces between oil changes every six thousand miles is nothing to worry about. You will blow by small amounts of oil in excess of seventy or seventy five miles per hour say eighty to ninety. This is normal.

Jack

 

[roborider]

I didn't mean to imply you should have done a search. I only meant this is a question that comes up a lot. I don't see the harm in a new conversation on an old topic. Heck, by this time, most questions have likely been asked once!

Do check the oil with the sight glass and let us know how it behaves. I know mine is very finicky with the <!> warning but the oil level is just fine. And your RPMs are great, nice to see you don't mind making that engine hum.

I bet all is just fine.

 

[Hammam]

In the two years I've had my GS, I had to add 1/4 of a liter of oil only once. And I'm not even sure it was reallly needed. I had bought it new.

You probably know this, but just in case: no matter what you do, do not add oil so that you can't see the top level in the sight glass anymore. You will run the risk to put too much oil, and you don't want to do that. Apparently, this is not at all recommended. Don't ask me why, because I forgot (something about oil going up into the cylinder chamber, and ruining the rings and/or the valves, I think), but I've read this several times from knowledgeable people. I've even read stories of owners who had to drain some excess oil that had been put in by their dealer after a change. It seems that some mechanics don't know, or don't check, exactly how much oil your bike needs.

 

[tmoyer]

When you checked the oil how did you do it? Have not heard mention of using the sight glass. The dash warning is not an acceptable substitute for getting down and using the sight glass.

Yes, my "in-home mechanic" uses the site glass and does regular T-CLOCS on our bikes. I would estimate that my oil light comes on at least monthly when we are riding regularly. During the warmer weather when we are riding several times a week, it happens at least twice a month, sometimes more. Unfortunately, I can't really say how much oil I'm using because he keeps his spare oil canister strapped to his GSA and I'm not up on how often he is filling it. I'll discuss this thread with him tonight.

 

[stkmkt1]

Wow, my '09 GSA has about 28K on it, bought new with 3 miles on it. Rode it hard home form the dealer, about 125 miles away. Made sure after the first ten miles I redlined the engine several times and kept the rpm's high all the way home. Next weekend brought back to dealer for 00 mile checkup. Never needed to add any oil. After the 600 mile checkup, the bike used about a quater-quart of oil in next 3,000 miles. After that oil change, oil consumption began dropping to where it is today. I have not added any oil between my 3,000 mile oil changes.

I believe the "hard" running of the engine when brand new really helped seal the rings early on. i heard several people say the boxer motor needs to be run up near redline every so often to keep it happy. While not really a fast and furious type rider, I do run it up near redline about once a month - in a lower gear obviously. My bike runs fantastically. It's even more happy around home though, because I can feed it non-alcohol fuel at home, something not always easily found on the road.

 

[racer7]

Another cause of oil loss on the R1200 is seals - slow leakage isn't all that rare and doesn't always result in floor stains you'd see.
Take a good look around shaft seals for slow dribbles. If you don't know how, get good tech to do it for you.

 

[Polarbear]

OIL Check on computer???

The computer also has a oil check status at startups you can watch. Mine on the GSA does this oil check every 3rd or 4th start of the bike. Does it say "Oil OK", have you seen it? Randy

 

[jeffkyle]

Tried to search... i bet this has been answered a million times, but I can't find it....

Does anyone know how much oil to add to if the sight glass is at 1/2 ? How much do you add if it is all the way down to bottom of glass? Is it a quart for the whole sight glass?

mine is in the middle now after 2500 - 600 = 1900 miles since last (1st oil change)...

Fun machine !!!! 2012 R1200RT !!!

Updated.... found the thread with answer.. if anyone else cares....

http://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?t=56879&highlight=sight+glass&page=2

 

[PGlaves]

It varies a bit by model but about 8 ounces.

 

[roborider]

I wouldn't bother to add oil if you are at the center of the site glass.

 

[flylow1]

the question no one asked is whether you are using dino oil or synthetic. Synthetic is not recommended until the oil consumption has stabilized. The usual wisdom seems to be after 10K miles for the BMW boxer engine. If you are using synthetic, when did you switch to synthetic? Synthetic can inhibit ring seating.