2013 RT is thirsty

[Jharpphoto]

My bike burns a lot of oil (in my opinion). It always has and I guess always will.  While this is mildly annoying it is part of who this bike is I guess. My bike has 24K miles and a couple of thousand miles ago it underwent major engine work.  It used a lot of oil before the engine work as well BTW.  I use 20W-50 mineral oil in the bike (per my local BMW service shop).  I need to buy some oil to keep on hand for the regular topping off that I need to do.  I'm curious if switching to synth 20W-50 or a different oil weight might diminish the frequency of oil top off.  Approx every 400 miles I need to add 4-6 oz of oil (after this number of miles the oil is at the very bottom of the sight glass).  I've been using Spectro 4 20W-50 mineral engine oil in the bike.  Would an oil "upgrade" make any difference in the amount of oil my bike burns?  Mineral vs Synth?  

[dirtrider]

3 hours ago, Jharpphoto said:

My bike burns a lot of oil (in my opinion). It always has and I guess always will.  While this is mildly annoying it is part of who this bike is I guess. My bike has 24K miles and a couple of thousand miles ago it underwent major engine work.  It used a lot of oil before the engine work as well BTW.  I use 20W-50 mineral oil in the bike (per my local BMW service shop).  I need to buy some oil to keep on hand for the regular topping off that I need to do.  I'm curious if switching to synth 20W-50 or a different oil weight might diminish the frequency of oil top off.  Approx every 400 miles I need to add 4-6 oz of oil (after this number of miles the oil is at the very bottom of the sight glass).  I've been using Spectro 4 20W-50 mineral engine oil in the bike.  Would an oil "upgrade" make any difference in the amount of oil my bike burns?  Mineral vs Synth?  

Afternoon  Jharpphoto

 

Switching to synthetic is probably not a good thing as that could make it worse & will definitely hinder piston ring wear-in.

 

But you might try a different brand (or a couple of different brands) of 20w50 oil, some oils are better than others at slowing oil usage.

[Jharpphoto]

Thanks for the insights @dirtrider  I think I'll try some liqui Moly 20W50.  

[Jharpphoto]

@dirtrider How much oil should a 2013 RT need for the sight glass to be filled?  I think I saw somewhere that approx 4 oz would take the oil level from almost empty in the sight glass to the top of the glass.  As I've whined about previously, my bike uses a lot of oil.  After approximately 300 miles the oil in the sight glass goes from almost full to empty in the sight glass on my bike.  About 100 miles ago I topped off the oil w/ 4 oz almost filling the sight glass. Today (100 miles later) when I got on the bike I got a low oil warning. After a couple of minutes the low oil light went off but I checked the level and after 100 miles the oil in the sight glass was over half way down. That seems pretty low after 100 miles doesn't it?

[Ponch]

On 8/20/2023 at 12:50 PM, Jharpphoto said:

Thanks for the insights @dirtrider  I think I'll try some liqui Moly 20W50.  

As from the other forum, Liquid Moly is SN. You probably should try an oil that is SG rated. On the other forum, I said Castrol GTX, but they changed their formula to SN. Whatever the case, avoid synthetics in that engine for at least 6k miles. 

[Jharpphoto]

This is the Liqui Moly I've been using. Is this not the right oil for my 2013 RT.  It was recommended.

[greenrider]

Heres is my experience

Bought my 2011 in 2020 with 6000km. Owned by older gentleman.  It had been stored at a dealer every year and have receipts showing all the oil changes.

It used a lot of oil. Over 1liter between oil changes.

Read somewhere to ride it hard.

Finally at 30000km it's not using oil. l don't have to add any oil between oil changes.

Using the castrol oil recommended in the owners manual. 

 

[Hadabadachada]

I picked up a 2013 1200R with 3500 miles, and I feel like my bike eats oil too. 
I just don’t think much about and put some in every so often. I use 15-50 Mobil one. 
 

i don’t know much, but I tell myself it’s from the unbearable heat in Miami. The bike gets so hot, it eats oil. Not sure if that’s true, maybe it still needs broken in, but that’s what I tell myself.

[lkraus]

On 10/14/2023 at 9:02 AM, greenrider said:

Heres is my experience

Bought my 2011 in 2020 with 6000km. Owned by older gentleman.  It had been stored at a dealer every year and have receipts showing all the oil changes.

It used a lot of oil. Over 1liter between oil changes.

Read somewhere to ride it hard.

Finally at 30000km it's not using oil. l don't have to add any oil between oil changes.

Using the castrol oil recommended in the owners manual. 

 

I bought my bike with about 16K mi on it, and was disappointed that it needed about four ounces of oil every other tank of gas.  Came back from a trip using the twisty back roads in the WV mountains and got a bit, umm,... let's say, frisky.  Running 5000--7000 rpm instead of my more typical 3000-4500 rpm, accelerating hard, braking hard on the short straights between curves.  I got home with around 18,500 mi on the bike, and that's when it stopped needing oil between changes. Maybe a coincidence, maybe it finally broke in, maybe a sticky ring came unstuck...

[Hank in WV]

My 2010 Rt burnt a bit of oil until almost 30k miles. The 2013 I just bought with 15k doesn't burn any. Go figure.

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