I'll take a shot at what he was saying...it's the age old debate about non-detergent and detergent oil.
In the "old" days, they had only non-detergent oil. Typically, after running the bike, all of the contaminants were stirred up but they settled to the bottom of the pan. Those types of oil didn't hold things in suspension. Thus, those contaminants didn't continue to circulate to get collected by the slingers. On routine occasions, the pan was dropped and the sludge was cleaned out. I've heard people like Duane Aushermans say that no one worried about slinger cleaning early on...they just rode the bikes for 80-100K miles before there was any thought to the slingers.
Along comes detergent oil which probably does a better job of cleaning but also holds particulates in suspension so that a filter can pull them out. But the /2 has no filter, so now that it is in suspension, and doesn't settle to the pan, it's more likely to get into the slinger. Thus slinger cleaning every 30-50K miles.
The other thought is that if the bike's previous life was all on non-detergent oil and now you use detergent oil, the new oil might pull all that stuff out and make it subject to the cleaners.
My opinion is:
- use a good quality oil with a good amount of ZDDP already built in...I don't put much hope in being a petroleum engineer and adding things myself
- change the oil on a regular basis...maybe every 1000 miles
- install several rare earth magnets in the oil pan
- drop/clean the oil pan every so often
- if you're worried about using a detergent oil now, run the oil one or two heat cycles and drop the oil, changing to fresh...all the bad stuff will be gone
I figure by the time I can put 30K on my R69S it will be another 20-30 years...probably time for some other major maintenance anyway...or it might become someone else's problem!
As for engine oil in the tranny and final drive, there might be some consideration for that. It depends on when/if the seals were replaced. BMW stated in service bulletins at which VINs the seals should have been changed at the factory which were compatible with Hypoid gear oil. The use of GL4 or GL5 is another whole debate...not sure I really have seen the issue play out in the life of these bikes...doesn't seem to be that big of an issue.
In the "old" days, they had only non-detergent oil. Typically, after running the bike, all of the contaminants were stirred up but they settled to the bottom of the pan. Those types of oil didn't hold things in suspension. Thus, those contaminants didn't continue to circulate to get collected by the slingers. On routine occasions, the pan was dropped and the sludge was cleaned out. I've heard people like Duane Aushermans say that no one worried about slinger cleaning early on...they just rode the bikes for 80-100K miles before there was any thought to the slingers.
Along comes detergent oil which probably does a better job of cleaning but also holds particulates in suspension so that a filter can pull them out. But the /2 has no filter, so now that it is in suspension, and doesn't settle to the pan, it's more likely to get into the slinger. Thus slinger cleaning every 30-50K miles.
The other thought is that if the bike's previous life was all on non-detergent oil and now you use detergent oil, the new oil might pull all that stuff out and make it subject to the cleaners.
My opinion is:
- use a good quality oil with a good amount of ZDDP already built in...I don't put much hope in being a petroleum engineer and adding things myself
- change the oil on a regular basis...maybe every 1000 miles
- install several rare earth magnets in the oil pan
- drop/clean the oil pan every so often
- if you're worried about using a detergent oil now, run the oil one or two heat cycles and drop the oil, changing to fresh...all the bad stuff will be gone
I figure by the time I can put 30K on my R69S it will be another 20-30 years...probably time for some other major maintenance anyway...or it might become someone else's problem!
As for engine oil in the tranny and final drive, there might be some consideration for that. It depends on when/if the seals were replaced. BMW stated in service bulletins at which VINs the seals should have been changed at the factory which were compatible with Hypoid gear oil. The use of GL4 or GL5 is another whole debate...not sure I really have seen the issue play out in the life of these bikes...doesn't seem to be that big of an issue.
