Oil Change Question

["Tom Brown" <tbrown@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mark:

If you think you're bike is "eating oil" because it is too old, well, just the
opposite is true.   More miles = less consumption.  I learned this from the
guys at Edelweiss.  They have 20 bikes on a tour and part of their routine is
to top them all up first thing in the morning before anyone rides them.   The
ones that use the least amount of oil are always the ones with the most miles
on them.   They use 20/50 BMW non-synthetic oil in all their bikes.

I submit that your oil consumption has more to do with how it was ridden in
the past and how you ride it.  If the bike was babied early in life and you
put the spurs to it, it will use some oil, but if you run it hard early on and
keep the revs up, consumption will lessen steadily until it gets near zero.

Using little or no oil in 500 miles is not unusual for a bike with 34K on it.
The bike should be broken in by now and should be running at its peak.  34K is
not enough for things to be worn out yet, and it's enough for the engine to be
broken in and running fine.

I don't know what "spin" or  "around town jaunts" means to you.   I usually
make a point of getting the revs up (6K or so) at least once a ride just to
keep the cylinder walls from getting too worn at the 3000/4500 area where most
people ride around town.  It also serves to keep my riding skills sharp just
in case I need to use them sometime.  Comes in handy knowing how to drop down
two or three gears smoothly and get some hard acceleration without upsetting
the bike.   Just practicing the use of that riding skill now and then is a
good thing.

Make sure that your engine is completely warm before doing this.  Not just oil
temp, but the block temp as well.  This takes about 20 minutes of riding on my
RT.   I don't advocate wheelies, burnouts and other stupid behavior.  They're
not made for this and you can damage them expensively doing stuff like that,
even if you don't drop them.   The engines, however, are made to be run hard.
Jean Pierre Goy's bikes are all fitted with special oil intakes to allow him
to wheelie without oil starvation.

Every BMW engine I've ever owned (6 BMW cars, two oilhead RTs and one hexhead
RT) has thrived on hard, higher RPM riding/driving.   They were made with this
in mind and work better when you flog them with some regularity.   My 2 M3's
never made any real sense to drive out on regular roads.  At the race track
driver's schools, I've spend whole weekends with them seldom running under
5500 RPMs and often near red line.   I still have the '95.  It runs amazingly
well, and my '89 was running like a top when I sold it.   Better than new.
They're great when running on the street but best when running hard.


- -TB