Please tell me this bike is going to quit using oil!

[Carroll]

My 03RT now has 16,000 on the odometer, and still uses a lot of oil. I know "they all do that", but it makes me nervous. On friday & Saturday I put 750 miles on the bike, and had to put 20 ounces of oil in it. I know the oil checking dance well, so it is being checked correctly, and there has never been oil in the airbox. I know that this is within the acceptable range, but it sure would be nice to see this consumption taper off. Please tell me it gets better!

 

censor46@hotmail.com

 

2003 Silver R1150RT

[snod]

I have HEARD of folks still using oil at 30K? My 1997 (R1100RT) quit at 24K. My 1978 (R100RS AirHead) quit at 22k. My 1976 (R75/6 AirHead) quit at about 20K. My 1974 (R60/6) still burns a bit, but then it only has 5k on it. Ride hard, and don't worry! My RT does use a bit if I stay at high (100 BMW mph) for "long" periods. I think I used 1/2 quart coming accross US50 2 years ago. This year Nova Scotia and back with 0 oil added.

[Carroll]

Thanks Mike. It is a comfort to know that other people experience this. I guess I am used to Toyota cars, which seldom ever need oil added between oil changes. I want to do a 5,000 mile ride out west and back this year and I don't want to be worried about having enough oil.

 

censor46@hotmail.com

[270]

Carrol,

 

I see you're in Maryland, so this might not help, but if you could get out West where there's lot's of room...

 

If you can get somewhere and right the p*ss out of it, like about 5K to 6.5K for a while, up and down, that would be good. Try using 10w-40, which I believe is the factory fill.

 

I did something similar after the 600 mile service and with about 1,200 miles on it. I don't know if it helped, but I just returned from a quick 1,300+/- mile trip and used no oil. Bike has 7.7K on it.

 

FWIW...

[SC_Jack]

I agree with Allen. If you haven't been running it between 4500-6500 rpm............you need to start. If you have already been doing this and it is using oil...............it shouldn't!

[Carroll]

I do run the bike around 4500 rpms mostly, but have never done a sustained run of 5000 plus. Maybe I should take it out on the Interstate and give it a good thrashing.

 

censor46@hotmail.com

 

2003 Silver R1150RT

[another David]

I have an '04 R1150RS with 18k on the clock. It continues to drink oil at the (acceptable, but annoying) rate of about 1qt per 1k miles. Within BMW spec, I know, but annoying nevertheless. I broke it in according to the book; conventional wisdom (search on "breaking in motor") is pretty contrary to the book but seems, anectdotally, to result in no oil usage.

 

I'm not ready to resign myself to this, but if oil usage doesn't taper off by, say, 24k miles, I'll have to start coming to terms with the fact that my bike uses oil and maybe think about breaking in the next one (in another 100k or so) according to conventional wisdom.

 

Stock fill, btw, is 20w50.

 

David

[k7qz]

Well maybe I'm the exception here, but I'm currently "wearing in" my third boxer and none of them use oil (maybe an ounce every 5 K miles).

 

I attribute this to this board and its resources. I've followed the wisdom posted here from day one with these engines-

 

http://bmwsporttouring.com/faq/breakin.htm

 

and all of my boxers have been perfect in the oil consumption respect.

 

I heard the head mechanic for team Kawasaki say a motor won't fully break in until it's run hard. BMW's do like to rev, so I agree with the posts above, now that you have 16K on the clock, you ought to let your bike stetch its legs by sustained runs of 6 or 7 K rpms, with some brief excursions gradually working towards redline.

 

JMO-

 

Mike

[ShovelStrokeEd]

Sure is a lot of misinformation floating around here.

 

First off, revs have almost nothing to do with the rapidity of break in other than the early rev limits.

 

The thing that gets rings to seal is varying cylinder pressures through variation in load on the motor. The trick is to use increasingly large throttle openings and sustain them for longer times to achieve higher revs. By now, the mechanical parts should be well and truly familiar with each other so its just a matter of getting the rings to seal to the cylinder walls.

 

Try, starting in 4th gear at 3500 RPM or so and run the engine at wide open throttle right up to 7000 or so then coast back down.

Next do the same thing in 5th gear. Watch out for LEO's.

If you have a 6 speed, do it again in 6th.

 

Repeat as needed at least once or twice a week until oil consumption goes down.

 

Ed

[Carroll]

I have been doing the wide open throttle, coast back down routine some. However most of my riding is backroads, and some US highways, with very little interstate travel. Here in MD it's tough to find a strip of highway to run up to 7,000 in 5th or 6th gear. I will give it a try.

[ShovelStrokeEd]

I-95? Just do it late at night.

 

I hate to make pessimistic predictions but, you may need to bite the bullet and throw a set of rings into the thing to get it to stop. PITA but not too expensive and the good news is you can get to go through the up and down portion of the break in all over again.

 

You shouldn't have to go to that extreme if you can content yourself that your bike might just have a bit of high oil consumption. Bikes are machines and they can and will differ. My GS uses about 6 oz in 3K miles with 50K on the clock. My 1100S has not used 6 oz of oil since I bought it new in Jan of 03. 22K on it now. I broke the GS in according to the principles outlined by Dick Frantz (Master Yoda) and I just flat beat the heck out of the 1100S but basically followed the same deal.

 

If you can't do the full 5th and 6th gear thing bring it up as fast as you dare go. The big thing is lots of cycles, wide open throttle to closed throttle. The longer you can sustain either and the higher the gear you do this in, the better off you will be. Revving the snot out of the motor with light loads is worthless.

 

Ed

[Paul Mihalka]

I think oil usage varies by the kind of riding you do.

Example: My '99 R1100RT reached bottom of oil use at around 50K miles, and has not gotten worse since then, now at 170K miles. But my oil usage varies on my kind of riding. I think a lot of it happens at every cold start. When I'm staying around home, 25 mile commutes and 300 mile Sundays, it uses about a quart each 3000 miles. OTOH, on my summer trip to the west coast, it used 1 quart in the 8000 mile trip. On a ride like that I start it in the morning and it does not cool down until I stop in the evening, which can be 400 to 800 miles.

[Parrothead]

54K on my 96RT, still uses oil. Much rather use oil than eat metal...............

[270]

I had a K-bike that I bought with 34K on it and it used 1 qt every 1K. Very aggrevating! The more I rode and rode it hard, it used less...in fact, it used about 1/2 quart every 1.5-2K at 150K!

 

It wasn't broken in like it should have been, IMO...

[bmwscoot]

54K on my 96RT, still uses oil. Much rather use oil than eat metal...............

 

It's not an either/or situation, however. Many machines do not use oil between changes, but still wear well.

[bendbill]

Carroll,

 

ShovelStokeEd echoes what my independent BMW mechanic recommends: it's not the revs alone, but sustained revs under load.

 

I find nice lonely uphills and roll it wide open in 4th from 4000 to rev limiter. In 5th also if road is deserted. The oil consumption has tapered off

[Carroll]

Thanks again to everyone. I will try all of the suggestions, except the new rings. The rings will only get replaced if the dealer elects to take that action. I have the oil consumption well documented with my dealer, just in case it still has a thirst for oil when warranty period is close to the end.

 

censor46@hotmail.com

 

2003 Silver R1150RT

[Jim VonBaden]

Thanks again to everyone. I will try all of the suggestions, except the new rings. The rings will only get replaced if the dealer elects to take that action. I have the oil consumption well documented with my dealer, just in case it still has a thirst for oil when warranty period is close to the end.

 

censor46@hotmail.com

 

2003 Silver R1150RT

 

Hey Carroll,

 

Come out for a few rides with me, and us, and we will fix that oil use problem of your's!

 

Jim

[Carroll]

Hey Carroll,

 

Come out for a few rides with me, and us, and we will fix that oil use problem of your's!

 

Jim

 

 

Hey Jim,

I will definately have to do that.

 

Carroll

[Global_Rider]

The oil consumption on my 2003 R1150 GS Adventure with 15,000 kms (9320 miles), recently dropped to almost zero.

 

The oil consumption on my 2004 R1150 GS Adventure during the first 1000 kms (600 mile) break-in, used nothing worth mentioning.

 

Take two or more readings before topping up.

[kelly1005]

I think oil usage varies by the kind of riding you do.

 

I totally agree with this statement.

 

For the first 6k I used 1 qt every 1000 miles. By 12k it was down to half that. Now at 19k I'll use that half a quart in 500 miles only if I do 100% commuting miles (20 miles round trip, lots of slow going and lane splitting). If I take it out on a weekend trip and go 500 miles it uses pretty much nothing.

 

It's slowly getting better which is nice. I hated the fact that my spiffy new bike burnt the same amount of oil as my beater car does.

[windtwin]

read about "run in" proceedures, I intend to try these techniques.

Our '03 rt pinged and used some oil and thus had new rings and chamber cleaning. Should I be using run in type oil on a bike w/ 13k miles and a set of new rings? or use what is suggested at this mileage? Did not ask our mechanic what oil was added.

Also 50 mile ride home from shop was not watching rpm's as suggested in the article how critical was that indescretion?

[Tim Yip]

Carroll: also, check the weight of oil you are using. Some of the BMW dealers put in a lighter 10-40w oil in the spring up here in Canada because of the cold weather. A buddy of mine with an R1200CL said the dealer did that to his bike and it used oil. When he switched to 20-50w, the oil consumption was virtually eliminated.

 

Also, I agree with a previous poster who said your riding style can affect oil consumption. If you do lots of trips in town with lots of short trips and starting the engine/turning off the engine, it's my belief this results in increased oil consumption compared to, say, simply doing one long road trip of 6,000 miles (where the engine has fewer opportunities to cool down and the rings 'loosening' up.) That's just my personal theory; I have no idea if it's logical.

[SWB]

My 2001 R1100RT(P) has 54K miles on it, I've owned it since 50K miles, and was shocked to find out that it was using a quart of oil every 1,000 miles. I've never owned any kind of vehicle that used that much oil. I was certain that I had a lemon which would require engine work soon.

 

After reading about oil consumption on this board, I concluded that (a) RTP's used by city LEO's are probably less likely to be broken in properly than those moto's run by the CHP, and (b) the City of Tustin LEO who rode my bike, must have ridden like a ******** <your opinion here> . He probably never had the thing over 45 MPH (i.e. I mean - how fast do ya have to ride to sit by the side of a city street with a radar gun?).

 

But after 54K miles, I expect that it's a little late to try seat the rings. I'll just have to live with it and ** hope ** the rings aren't on their way out. An engine compression check should tell that tale, but the Beemer service guys didn't note a compression problem (next time, I check it myself and then I'll know for sure).

 

I'll ride it hard, though, just in case. It may not help the bike, but it'll do wonders for me.

[kudzu]

My '04 RT, run in by the book, burned almost a quart of oil per 1000 miles, up to 30k miles. At 30k +/-, oil consumption dropped off significantly. At 38k miles, it burns very little.

[hmeiseles]

I found when I had my RT that when I changed away from Dino oil my usage of oil decreased. But in general the spec on the engine says it is going to use some oil and they do.

 

Howard

[jackflash]

Don't know if an '05 R1200RT counts but it's ready for the 6000 mile check up when I get time to take it in. Had the 600 miler done at 550 miles and the bike used exactly one quart of BMW dino. I broke it in per the BMW book for 600 miles then have ridden it very hard since then...as in like it was stolen. I'll take a quart in 6050 miles on any kind of motor vehicle.

 

Suspect the key on a BMW is to run it hard and fast. I live in the twisties FWIW.

[Big_Gray]

My 2003 1150RT now has 24k on it and uses neglible oil. It used about 1/2 a litre in the first 6k then next to nuttin since.

 

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I broke it in as per the owner's manual recommendations . I hadn't discovered this excellent board until some time after I purchased the motorcycle.

 

As much as some folks will swear by different methods for running them in, it seems to me that the results are inconclusive.

 

With the recommended break in, I'm pretty satisfied with oil consumption, mileage and performance of the bike. Sometimes I feel pretty lucky when I read of all the other experiences with bikes and dealers.

 

Nothing but smiles here...so far!

[eakins]

Thanks Mike. It is a comfort to know that other people experience this. I guess I am used to Toyota cars, which seldom ever need oil added between oil changes. I want to do a 5,000 mile ride out west and back this year and I don't want to be worried about having enough oil.

 

censor46@hotmail.com

bring a quart with you. is it that hard? mine has 25K and still uses a little oil on normal use and some more when i push it hard.

[Cali Kid]

Did you happen to notice the date on the post you replied to?

 

I guess we don't have enough to talk about around here. Resurrecting some dead ones in the spirit of Halloween?

[Cali Kid]

My previous post was meant jokingly. I realize that doesn't always translate here. Hey come on, nobodies jokes are good everytime. I'll go stand in the corner now