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Is this true? dealer told me something that sounds strange to me


brianbmw

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Is it normal for my 05 1200 ST to use a quart of oil every 1000 miles. I just brought my bike in for the 6000 mile service. The mechanic told me it was low on oil and that these bikes normally use about a quart every 1000 miles. All my previous bikes were liquid cooled hondas that never burned oil, so this sounds strange to me.

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Not unusual. Anywhere from a 1/2 quart to 1 quart is normal until the engine breaks in. I'm at 14,500 and it barely uses any now. If you go on trips take a couple of quarts with you and enjoy!

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A full quart every 1000 miles is a lot of oil and I wouldn't exactly call that normal, but you probably aren't experiencing anything like like that. Some oil consumption in the oilhead/hexhead bikes is normal though and it's very common to have to add some oil between changes (and if you added no oil in 6k miles then no doubt it was a bit low.) But I think the dealer is exaggerating at a quart per thousand miles... probably just that he knows you bike is going to use some oil and wants to set a high (or low) bar so that he doesn't have to hear about it. But unless your oil consumption seems really excessive it probably is normal for the bike and nothing to be concerned about, and it will probably continue to lessen over the next 10-20k miles... these bikes take a long time to fully break in.

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Then there are those odd boxers, that don't burn any oil either. My 06 RT doesn't use any oil, at least not enough to ever notice a drop in the site glass between oil changes.

 

How did you break it in? I don't "ride it like I stole it", but I also sure didn't baby it. I think the oil burners are the ones broken in "by the book".

 

Here's how I have broken in my bikes (and cars/trucks):

Motorcycle BreakIn

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Don_Eilenberger
Then there are those odd boxers, that don't burn any oil either. My 06 RT doesn't use any oil, at least not enough to ever notice a drop in the site glass between oil changes.

 

How did you break it in? I don't "ride it like I stole it", but I also sure didn't baby it. I think the oil burners are the ones broken in "by the book".

 

Here's how I have broken in my bikes (and cars/trucks):

Motorcycle BreakIn

Given the following statement from the URL you pointed us to:

 

I believe when breaking in a new engine you have several things to accomplish, and several things to avoid. Your new engine is not perfectly machined, and in the course of running for the first few hours a fair amount of metal will be worn off various engine parts and wind up in your oil. These metal chips will quickly overwhelm your oil filter, which is really not made to handle the volume of junk that happens in the first couple hours. You don't want to drive around a for a long time with a lot of metal chips in your oil

 

I can't believe I've ever heard of an oil filter being overhelmed by metal chips unless an engine is actually blowing up.

 

Has anyone? Ever opened one of the oil filters that was removed at 50 miles? I'd sure be interested in some photos of what was found.. (I suspect almost nothing.. BMW is very GOOD at machining their engines - and chunks of metal aren't going to be floating around the oil system.. AND their engines are started/run/drained at the factory before the bikes are shipped to us..)

 

As a counterpoint: I broke in my R1200R "by the book" - at 8,200 miles - it uses NO oil. It's had synthetic in it since 6,000 miles, before that it used the BMW 20W-50. It hasn't "used" any oil since around 3,200 miles, and before that - it used about 1/2 quart total.

 

Take your choice - the engineers who designed the engines (and I can't imagine why they'd make up bad break-in techniques) or "internet wisdom"..

 

I'll stick with the engineers and "by the book"..

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Dick_at_Lake_Tahoe_NV

Section 8 of my owner's manual lists Maximum permissible Oil consumption as 1.7Quarts/1000 miles. I've never seen anything close to that posted on this site. For my R1200RT it's about 1/2 quart every 4000 miles. BMW also says don't go to synthetic until 6,000 miles.

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Sorry, I should clarify. I use most of that breakin method. I always post that link but figure people would do what I did and make my own decision based on the information I had, including reading my owners manual. I completely agree about the oil/filter change and only change it at the scheduled interval, 1000kms. Here's the parts I agree with and use to break in my vehicles:

- The bike should be started and allowed to warm up at an idle for about two minutes (I believe warm up is crucial, not just break in, but every start)

- Stay off freeways or anywhere else that would make you maintain a constant speed.

- Don't lug the engine - run the engine in the mid-range rpm band, roughly 1/3 to 2/3 of the red line rpm.

- You want to be accelerating and decelerating, and using the engine as a brake to slow you down at times

- Make sure to accelerate and decelerate a lot, using full throttle and using the engine as a brake.

- I recommend you try to avoid lugging the engine or running at a constant speed on the freeway for long times until after your next oil change.

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Section 8 of my owner's manual lists Maximum permissible Oil consumption as 1.7Quarts/1000 miles.
eek.gif I would think that at that figure you'd be leaving a smoke screen behind you...
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I wish that I could have avoided the highway with my brand new ST,but to ride it home from the dealer meant 300 miles of highway riding.The best that I could do was to vary my speed and slow down and accelerate frequently.In the spring ,I will once again have to ride it back to the dealer for the 600 mile service.Hopefully,the engine will still break in properly.

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Well, my ST at 1000 miles was down by 3/4 of a quart. I put in more oil and we will see how long it takes to drop it.

 

As to break in, I generally think that today's modern machined engines don't really need much of a break-in; they are not loosely built engines with sloppy tolerances. That being said, I avoid droning highway speeds (i.e. cruise control) for the first XXX miles and try to vary the throttle load and rpms for a while. I'm not slavish and I certainly dont lose sleep over it.

 

JT

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I have a 1200RT with 9000 miles on it and it doesn't burn any oil. Just came back from a 3000 mile trip and didn't need to add oil. When I broke it in I road the shit out of it! If it blows up let BMW fix it!

GT clap.gif

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Brian, you didn't tell us how low the oil was. If you had been burning one quart/1,000 miles and hadn't added any since your 600 mile service, you would have been down over 5 quarts at 6,000. As the capacity is only 4 quarts or so this is definitely not a good thing!

 

I also came from a Goldwing which never burned any oil between the 8~10k changes, but air/oil cooled boxers may use some oil. At 18,000 miles, my 1200RT is using about 3/4 of a quart between 6k changes, which is not enough to worry about, but enough to check the level regularly - which I assume you have now started doing.

Tom

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With only 5000km on it, my RT is just settling in nicely, and uses no oil whatsoever.

 

Re the 'metal particles' bit, new engines can be expected to generate a bit of metal as they run in, regardless of who makes them. My Cessna's all required Red Band oil for the first 50 hours of operation after an engine overhaul, and a filter check would always show some degree of contamination. I don't expect my cars or bike engines to be any different, and am more than happy to spend a few $$ on a good oil and a filter change on a regular basis.

 

Money well spent, IMHO thumbsup.gif

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Our '07 RT used two ounces of oil on a 1,500 mile trip after we logged in 6,000 miles.

 

The first 600 miles were 95% in the twisties...

RPM ranging from 3,300 to 5,000

 

It works for me clap.gif

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Section 8 of my owner's manual lists Maximum permissible Oil consumption as 1.7Quarts/1000 miles.
eek.gif I would think that at that figure you'd be leaving a smoke screen behind you...

 

Nope. That is what you would expect, but not what you see. I asked this same question a month or so back. The responses indicated that while individual experiences ran the gamut, what I consider to be excessive oil consumption is not unusual. My dealer likewise told me not to worry about it.

 

I had the oil changed at 1396 miles cuz I felt like it. In the next 2300 miles I've added 4.2 quarts of oil. No smoke, ever. No burning smell, ever. The oil is just...gone. Guess what I keep in the panniers, always?

 

bws

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In the next 2300 miles I've added 4.2 quarts of oil.

 

That is a lot.So for a 3000 mile trip you would have to carry at least 5 quarts of oil.I will be extremely disappointed if my ST uses that much oil.

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I used about that much for the first ten thousand miles, it has tapered off slowly since then.

 

At 38K miles I use about half a quart between 6K services. I ride hard, and lots of engine braking seems in accelerate oil use, but I am comfortable with what I use.

 

Jim cool.gif

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In the next 2300 miles I've added 4.2 quarts of oil.

 

That is a lot.So for a 3000 mile trip you would have to carry at least 5 quarts of oil.I will be extremely disappointed if my ST uses that much oil.

 

For a 3000 mile trip, unless it was a looping tour of the Gobi desert, no, I wouldn't take 5 quarts of oil. There's bound to be a Wal-Mart or gas station within a quart of riding.

 

I can't say I'm happy, but it is what it is. I just have to trust what others tell me, that it will get better. If it doesn't, I'll be sure to have dealer conversations before the warranty runs out.

 

bws

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In the next 2300 miles I've added 4.2 quarts of oil.

 

That is a lot.So for a 3000 mile trip you would have to carry at least 5 quarts of oil.I will be extremely disappointed if my ST uses that much oil.

 

For a 3000 mile trip, unless it was a looping tour of the Gobi desert, no, I wouldn't take 5 quarts of oil. There's bound to be a Wal-Mart or gas station within a quart of riding.

 

I can't say I'm happy, but it is what it is. I just have to trust what others tell me, that it will get better. If it doesn't, I'll be sure to have dealer conversations before the warranty runs out.

 

bws

Where are you filling it to? Have you tried running it at the middle of the site glass instead of the top. I know lots of guys with Buells who can't run their oil at the "Full" mark, or they "burn" oil. They run it right in the middle of the range and all of a sudden they don't use any oil between changes. Just something to try.

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For the original poster... my R12 at 7500 miles "burned" about 20 oz in the last 1000 miles.

 

I was also concerned and since then have been convinced that it is "normal" and I expect it to slow down.

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"Rode the Sh-t out of it"

Now that's breaking it in. There's a lot to be said about proper break in. Who ever heard of varying speed on a new car?

Run the crap out of it, literally! Your bike is not "your baby". It's average German engineering that wants it's little revmeter pegged. That's why they put one there.

I poop on your 1000 mile oil usage.

I have a 1100 RTP and it runs fine. Ya'll think Mr. motor officer was not nice and gentle when he was issued it?

We only have a limited supply of fossil oil left to function on. At least you are doing your part in putting it to use. dopeslap.gif

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Take your choice - the engineers who designed the engines (and I can't imagine why they'd make up bad break-in techniques) or "internet wisdom"..

 

I'll stick with the engineers and "by the book"..

 

Well said! I broke in my RT exactly "by the book", and it has used mabye 3 or 4 ounces of oil between changes since new.

 

'05 R1200RT

25,000 miles

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I read the manual and chatted with the dealer about the breakin issue. This is what I did per a combination of manual and dealer input.

 

First 200 miles on day one - once started, I got out on a mountain highway and continously opened the throttle smoothly until the engine hit 4k and then released until the engine rpm fell to 3k and continously repeated no matter what gear I was in, except for starting or stopped at a light. There was no steady rpm time other than idle.

 

Second 200 miles on day two - same as above on the same road with occassional runs upto 5k and fall back. I was always moving the rpms so there was no constant rpms other than stopped at idle or at a light.

 

Third 200 miles on day three and four - same as first run with occassional runs to 6k. Above 550 miles, I also had perhaps a dozen smooth run ups to red line in first gear and then fell back to 3k.

 

Now with just over 760 miles and the first service completed at 708 miles (throttle bodies were balanced then as well), the engine runs smoothly. I will check out oil consumption on the 1,000 mile ride starting Tuesday morning.

 

YMMV smile.gifwave.gif

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I read the manual and chatted with the dealer about the breakin issue. This is what I did per a combination of manual and dealer input...

 

You and the dealer are certainly entitled to your own opinions, as there are always plenty to go around. I followed the recommendations of the engineers who designed the engine. I agree that varying the engine speed is important, and but unlike you I was careful not to exceed 4K rpm for the first 600 miles. I then gradually increased the engine stresses and now ride however I please. This strategy worked well with my RT (near zero oil consumption since day 1), and has also worked with my cars through the years.

 

Jay

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Uh - BMW, GM, Ford, Chrysler....

Every new car I've bought in 40 years came with a recommendation to vary the speed for break-in.

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Well, I just got back form my first road trip on my ST. 1300 miles, 3/4 quart of oil.

 

I'm disappointed that it uses so much oil, but I ride very fast, and accelerate hard, and was aware that these boxers might use a bit of oil. Oh well.

 

JT

 

Is it normal for my 05 1200 ST to use a quart of oil every 1000 miles. I just brought my bike in for the 6000 mile service. The mechanic told me it was low on oil and that these bikes normally use about a quart every 1000 miles. All my previous bikes were liquid cooled hondas that never burned oil, so this sounds strange to me.
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My experience with my ST is quite different. I broke my engine in by the book varying the throttle often at about 1/4 to 1/2 throttle at the specified rpms. Also by the book, no restrictions on throttle or rpms after the 600 mile service. It still takes a very long time to achieve total engine run-in on these motors. I've run mine hard at times and it has still been gaining power up to the 11k mile mark. Normal oil consumption for my engine is around a couple of ounces per 1000 miles even during the first 600 miles. It may not be the case but, it really sounds like your bike is being overfilled with oil. With the thermostat going to your oil cooler, it is easy for the oil to read 1/2 way down the sight glass unless the oil is at complete operating temp when parked. Like a previous post I would recommend not adding oil at 1/2 way down the sight glass or above for a bit and see how it does. Good luck as the ST is a super machine! thumbsup.gif

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Where are you filling it to? Have you tried running it at the middle of the site glass instead of the top. I know lots of guys with Buells who can't run their oil at the "Full" mark, or they "burn" oil. They run it right in the middle of the range and all of a sudden they don't use any oil between changes. Just something to try.

 

Actually, much of the time I added oil after a 28 mile commute, doing the oil-checking dance and seeing the oil just barely at the bottom of the sight glass. Add 200ml. Repeat when the next identical check shows the oil not up to middle. Etc. I guess I'll keep a little notebook of conditions and actions, just for the heck of it. Though I do like the advice of the guy who told me (another thread to look for oil, if I see any, ride the snot out of it.

 

bws

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Who ever heard of varying speed on a new car?

Well, I heard exactly that when I took delivery of my Boxster. Since it has a boxer engine, the car shares some similarities with our hexheads (albeit the Porsche is water cooled). For example, if you park the car laterally on a hill, oil collects in the downhill cylinders and a noticable smoke screen is emitted for 5 seconds.

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