OIL fill up

[dave_albany]

Just received a light to add oil. When came home added 10-30. The good stuff. I watched the sight glass filled it til the dot. The started bike. The bike ideled for 5 mins, turned off, NOW I do not see any oil in the sight glass. ?

Do I put more in ?

 

Dave in Albany

[Limecreek]

The 1200’s behave a lot like the 1150’s when checking the oil level. Make sure to fully warm up the bike before checking the oil level. Park it and leave it on the side stand for 10 minutes or so. This will give the oil in the oil cooler a chance to make its way to the bottom of the case.

 

Ok, now put the bike on the center stand, wait a few and check the site glass.

 

Add oil to at least the dot, if needed.

 

Why are you using 10w-30?

[marcopolo]

Why are you using 10w-30?

 

Ditto. How about 20W50?

[dave_albany]

Limecreek,

Thanks, thought I read in the manual for 30-84 degrees 10w-30 was the correct weight. ?

 

I just placed the bike back on the center stand and it now shows approx 1/8 inch below the top of the red circle.

 

Do I now have another issue ?? too much oil?

 

If not what would you suggest? I came from a Yamaha Vstar1100, and never had to add oil, until the service was completed?

Is having to add oil normal ? Only started riding here in NY, have 600 miles.

 

Dave

[dave_albany]

Correction,

Placed the bike back on the side stand...

[Limecreek]

Dave, you're fine--you just want it to be between the upper and lower part of the circle.

 

10w-30 is correct...a little cooler in NY, eh? I've been in TX too long, heck it is 80 here in the winter.

[dave_albany]

Limecreek,

Thanks for the thoughts. Just for the record, last year I burned up our riding mower, .. no oil. So this is where my nevers are comming from.

dave

 

 

 

Dave, you're fine--you just want it to be between the upper and lower part of the circle.

 

10w-30 is correct...a little cooler in NY, eh? I've been in TX too long, heck it is 80 here in the winter.

[Flash1034]

BMW now recommends 10w-40 instead of 20w-50 on the R1200Rts.

[Lawman]

BMW now recommends 10w-40 instead of 20w-50 on the R1200Rts.

 

Can you tell me where you are getting that info.?

[bobiverson]

BMW now recommends 10w-40 instead of 20w-50 on the R1200Rts.

 

Can you tell me where you are getting that info.?

 

Well, the manual has 10w40 listed as the appropriate oil under certain temperature parameters.

 

BOB

[PaulW42]

Over here, they've recently changed to recommending 20-50.

[PaulW42]

Welcome to the black art of Boxer oil levels.

 

Just to reiterate the advice above:

 

Make sure the oil is good and warm (good excuse for a ride ). I suggest at least 10 miles.

 

Find some level ground, put it on the sidetand for a while (I have to confess I normally skip that bit) and then the centrestand. Do not try to measure oil level when on sidestand (though that is OK for a quick check to see if there is oil in there!).

 

Check oil level. If you can see the level between the top & bottom of the circle, all is well. If you are below the dot, you may wish to add a bit (not too much) if only to stop the oil check warning coming up.

 

If the oil level has moved suddenly, then it is almost certainly a false reading unless there is oil all over the back wheel. Go for another ride and check it again.

 

Never check the oil level if it was not warm on its previous run. 9 times out of 10, if you ride, say, 2 miles and then look at the oil level, it will appear to be empty provoking a) major panic and b) overfilling.

 

Basic rule - if you can see oil, go ride.

 

HTH.

[marcopolo]

I live in Canada, and just had my initial running-in service on my '06 RT last week. 20W50 is the weight the dealer used, and it's the weight I used in my Rockster for 3 years as well.

[270]

I'm not an engineer, nor do I play one on TV...

 

I'd wager that 20-50 would be the oil of choice on an air/oil cooled motor in any climate, save the coldest of cold climates (concern at start-up).

[Paul Mihalka]

I simply use 10-50 (BMW for convenience) all year long everywhere. January and August, Phoenix to International Falls, it's all covered.

[steveknapp]

Paul, I thought the BMW blends were 20W50 dino and 15W40 for the synth...

[Paul Mihalka]

Paul, I thought the BMW blends were 20W50 dino and 15W40 for the synth...

10W40 and 20W50 dino we had always, synthetic is 15W50, and they have a new (only 2 or3 years ) 10W50 dino.

[smiller]

10W50 dino

Wow, that's a wide viscosity range for a non-synthetic...

[Pictou]

This whole viscosity thing got me curious. So I looked in my manual and found that it states that 20w50 can be used between -10c to over 30C, 15w50 can be used from -15c to above 30C, 15w40 can be used between -15C and 30C (but apparently not over 30C), 10w40 between -20C and 20C and 10w30 between -20C and 10C.

 

It looks to me that 20w50 and 15w50 look like the best choices for most riding. The shop put in 20w50 on my first service. I used 20w50 in my 1150RT as well.

[Paul Mihalka]

The old standard was 20W50 in summer (or Florida/Texas etc) and 10W40 in winter. I'm sure 20W50 is good lubrication any time you want to ride, but oilheads, and I guess hexheads, are harder to start under freezing temps. So having 10Wxx or 15Wxx helps in the cold, and 10W50 or 15W50 does everything.

[mmmoore]

I've used GTX 20-50 for the last 6 years in Houston (and all travels) based on sage advice of my mechanic and other "airheads".

[richnewt]

My owners manual says BMW recommends Castrol oil. I picked up Castrol Syntec (full synthetic)20W-50 at Walmart for $5.00/qt.

It meets the API SL spec. as required by the manual. Just switched at 12,000miles from petroleum based BMW oil (which is made by Spectro by the way).

[St0nkingByte]

Arise dead thread! Arise!

 

I used 15w-50 to top my bike off between the 600 mile service and my 6k service I'm doing today. Unfortunately the 15w-50 is hard to find five of anywhere so today I picked up Castrol 20w-50 synthetic blend. Should be fine for Western WA but the guy behind the counter at the auto parts store was shocked. He asked me what the heck I was buying this oil for and was I sure it was the right stuff? He said only taxi cab drivers ever buy it

[bimmers]

20-50 is ok in most conditions I gather. 10-30 is a little thin in warm or heavy traffic of ie NY etc.

How much oil do you guys actually add (have added) between 600 mile and 6k svc?

I seem to add about a quart per 1k maybe a little less but anyway it seems a lot.

I always try to add when the diamond appearsand the level is in the middle point. Just do not want to look a tdiamond.

 

h

[aggieengineer]

That's a lot of oil. I added about 8 ounces between 500 and 3000 mile oil change, none in the 700 miles since. The bike was very carefully broken in.

[bakerzdosen]

[snip] Castrol 20w-50 synthetic blend. Should be fine for Western WA but the guy behind the counter at the auto parts store was shocked. He asked me what the heck I was buying this oil for and was I sure it was the right stuff? He said only taxi cab drivers ever buy it

See, it seems normal to me. 20/50 is all I ever run (except in the dead of winter) in my old '86 BMW 635csi as that's what the manual asks for. I never realized that it's not all that common.

They didn't even bat an eye when I asked for 20/50 last time I "needed" a bit of oil on a trip last week. They had lots of 20/50 there.

[St0nkingByte]

...How much oil do you guys actually add (have added) between 600 mile and 6k svc?

I seem to add about a quart per 1k maybe a little less but anyway it seems a lot.

I always try to add when the diamond appearsand the level is in the middle point. Just do not want to look a tdiamond.

 

h

I fill mine to the top line in the sight glass, not the middle. This keeps the computer happy with me. I used about 1qt in the 5,400 miles between the 600 mile and the first 6k service.

[loujack]

2...How much oil do you guys actually add (have added) between 600 mile and 6k svc?

 

I purchased by 1200rt in March (2005 leftover) and I'm at 5300 miles now. I've added approx a half quart since the 600 mile service. I've heard of some folks using a lot more - I think it varies from bike to bike, how you wear it in, etc.

[Pictou]

I think mine used about a litre (maybe a bit more) from the 1000km (600 mile) service until I took it in for its 10,000km service (actually it was an 11,000km service since I couldn't get it in on time).