Burning Oil

["Tom Brown" <tbrown@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Bob:

>Returned today from a weekend camp out.  Total miles 500.  Burned 20
oz. of oil.  That's 5/8 quart.  Relative to our recent discussion about
break in oil useage, it that excessive for a hex head?

>Bob Hadden '05R12S, '62R27

I've seen 'em use a lot of oil when they're new.   Remember, break-in doesn't
end with the 600 mile service, only the 4,000 RPM restriction.  You can ride
normally after that and you should flog the thing just before each oil change.
Find a good road and really wail on it with repeated hard accellerations and
some good revs as well during the last hundred miles or so before you change.
I believe there's something in the IBMWR Oilhead tech area on it.

Eventually, your consumption will come down dramatically, if it's at all like
the 1100s and 1150s.  I see no reason for that not to be.   The real change
comes somewhere above 10K miles.  It will, of course, depend on how hard you
ride it.

I was talking with Edelweiss ride leaders and mechanics on '03 and '04 tours.
They check oil every morning and top up all the bikes...all BMWs and nearly
all Oilheads.   I had an 1100GS with a bit over 40K KM on it.  I was riding it
like a banshee all day, every day and they said it hardly used any.   My
friend had a near new 1150RT and it was going through a lot of it.   They said
the older the bikes are, the less oil they consume.   Some are better than
others, but I think it's more a function of how they're ridden.   I'm a big
fan of riding conservatively until the bike is fully heated up...not just the
oil, but the whole engine...about 20 minutes of riding, then I go like holy
hell.

My 1150 was just getting to the point where it wasn't using much and I'd
switched to synthetic...sold it  last week and now I have this new 1200RT
that's using it like crazy too.

I've got this little symbol that looks like this: " <!> " that comes on the
digital dash when I'm supposed to check the oil.   I get a real warning light
if it's critically low.   The light has never come on, but the check oil thing
has been on a lot.

Last time I rode,  it was coming on intermittently.  I checked the sight glass
when I came in and it was exactly half way up...just where I like it.    I put
a little more in just to get the indicator to quit.

I refuse to run the bike with the level at the top of the glass out of
principal.   I don't want windage and wet airbox syndrome.  Even if BMW has
"fixed" this issue, which I haven't heard about, I still have my pride.

- -TB

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