w2ge Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Please bear with me... if this has been asked a hundred times before! I had a shop do my 6K service (2010 R1200RT bought in Jan of this year- BAD WINTER)(BMW service-guy at this shop is a 35+ year BMW master mechanic, highly recommended.) He used Spectro full synthetic 15w50 @ $15.90 per quart.. If (and when) I need to add oil.. what else is on the market that I can add, instead of paying $16 for a quart? (or do I just bite the bullet and buy a quart of exactly what he used?) Before everyone goes all postal, I plan on doing the 12K myself... but I wanted to establish a relationship with these people (bike did not come from them and they helped me find the bike... "payback") TIA, Phil Link to comment
dirtrider Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Afternoon Phil Technically you can use any oil of the proper viscosity & proper additive package but using a conventional oil will reduce some of the benefits of that expensive oil you have in there. As long as you use a good synthetic oil in the proper viscosity & additive range you should be good to go. Most common motor oils are tested to be compatable with other like motor oil's. Personally I'm not a big fan of mixing motor oil's if I can at all avoid it so personally I would look for a similar Spectro synthetic at a discount. Some discount auto parts stores carry Spectro as well as some motorcycle shops that won't charge you $16.00 a quart. Even Mobil-1 silver cap 15w50 should be a fairly close match if you don't mind mixing brands. Link to comment
RTJohn Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Jeez...even BMW 15W-50 Syn is $12.83 a quart. Pep Boys sells Mobil1 V-Twin for $9.49 a quart. They're just as good. Link to comment
racer7 Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Spectro actually makes the oil BMW NA sells under the BMW brand (look at the bottle next time you have one in your hand). They are one of the oldest and best known makers of motorcycle oils in the game. It is in fact not so dissimilar to Mobil V-twin oil (additives and a bit thicker) or the the BMW oil. All 3 of those synthetics are made from Exxon Mobil PAO base stocks so start with similar / same stuff. And sythetics are less dependent onadditive pckages tomaintian multi-viscosity properites in use than dyno juice (in addition to being more heat resistant, etc) Link to comment
w2ge Posted October 25, 2011 Author Share Posted October 25, 2011 just to get this straight.. BMW is a dry clutch so any "slipperiness" additives are okay? Where do you guys get the Mobil Silver oil? A motorcycle shop? Is it motorcycle specific or can you find this at Pep Boys, etc? Link to comment
dirtrider Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Evening Phil Pretty difficult to find an acceptable motor oil with the proper ZDDP content that also contains friction modifiers (slipperiness" additives). So that isn't usually a problem. Yes, you should be able to find Mobil-1 15w50 (silver cap) atPep Boys, a lot of WalMarts, most discount auto parts stores, even Meijers. I usually get mine at Meijers as they will honor most sales adds from competitors. Link to comment
Sonor Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 I use Amsoil - it is full synth and works wonderfully. Since I buy it directly from them, it is around $8.75 a quart. Link to comment
redman2 Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Was told by dealer to use dyno for a while then switch to synthetic. Is that info correct and if so at what mileage should I switch? Link to comment
dirtrider Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Was told by dealer to use dyno for a while then switch to synthetic. Is that info correct and if so at what mileage should I switch? Evening redman2 LOTS of speculation & opinions on when to switch. My personal rule is to switch when the engine positively quits using oil. That could be 1000 miles or 15,000 miles, kind of depends on the break in procedure & engine dynamics. Link to comment
Ponch Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Was told by dealer to use dyno for a while then switch to synthetic. Is that info correct and if so at what mileage should I switch? Evening redman2 LOTS of speculation & opinions on when to switch. My personal rule is to switch when the engine positively quits using oil. That could be 1000 miles or 15,000 miles, kind of depends on the break in procedure & engine dynamics. The owners manual for my 2009RT says no synthetic until after 6K miles. I don't know what the newer bikes call for. I will keep conventional until about 14K and then switch to Mobil 1. Link to comment
redman2 Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Thanks guys. It is an 06 bought a couple weeks ago with 1,900 miles on it. Rode it hard from Nashville home to VA. It used about 1/4 Q the first 2 tanks then stopped. So it may be time to switch. Bike has 3,800 on it now. Link to comment
RTJohn Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 When Irv Seaver serviced my bike at 6k, he cautioned me not to use syn until at least 18k. I followed his advice. I'm just about to turn over 31k. So far so good. Link to comment
RTJohn Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Good information. Thanks for informing me. Lots of passion around this. Amazing how folks can really get wrapped around the axle on this. Link to comment
GoldenK9 Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 I was told by my dealer, a long time, well trusted dealer, NOT to use synthetic, even though they sell BMW Synthetic Oil there. Each service they poo poo synthetic and talk me into staying with BMW 20-50 mineral oil. They tell me about leakage, etc. caused by using synthetic oils. I used Castrol GTX, exclusively, for years in my cars (Corvettes, Porsches, BMW) before switching to Castrol Syntec. For the past 5 or 6 years I have been using Mobil 1 in my cars because it was rated the highest in many tests. Ducati, Aprilia, KTM, Porsche, Ferrari, Corvette, etc., all come from the factory with synthetic oil installed. So, what's the real truth? I dislike Exxon Mobil for the ever growing profits they're posting, but I love their oil. Link to comment
lkchris Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 I was told by my dealer, a long time, well trusted dealer, NOT to use synthetic, even though they sell BMW Synthetic Oil there. Each service they poo poo synthetic and talk me into staying with BMW 20-50 mineral oil. Oh, heavens no. Here's the BMW recommended Castrol: http://www.bmw-motorrad.co.uk/media/pdf/70583_A1_BMW_POSTER_MCO00066_low_res.pdf This oil gets a slightly different name when sold in the USA (use 10-50) Never ever listen to a dealer recommendation not backed up by documentation from BMW. Despite that, if I could get it I'd use a Mobil 1 product, as I think they're a better company. I won't put anything in a BMW with "V-twin" on the bottle, however. In addition, I'm pretty skeptical of anything commisioned by BMW North America, as they've yet to live down #10 grease IMHO. Link to comment
dirtrider Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Afternoon Ken The dealers are no smarter than informed consumers when it comes to motor oil. Not a dealer out there (that I know of anyhow) that has run any controlled oil testing or has any documented long term oil testing. At best they are just guessing, or more likely in most cases just like to blow smoke up your rear & SOUND LIKE THEY KNOW SOMETHING to the uninformed consumer. If you ask 10 different dealers you will more than likely get 10 completely different answers, mostly based on no real world data. Once in a while BMW engineering will release a service bulletin or recommendation on oil requirements but even those are usually vague enough to be interpreted in different ways. Your owners/riders manual is what you really need to go by as that has the specifications your oil needs to meet to protect your engine. If your dealer says something that conflicts with the owners manual recommendations (or conflicts with common sense) just ask them to show you the documentation from BMW to back up their claim. If they produce a BMW dated & numbered document then you know you have the straight scoop. In almost all cases they will him & haw around & make up excuses, then you know you are getting BS'd. A dealer saying not to use synthetic oil in your hexhead just doesn't pass my personal BS test. Link to comment
GoldenK9 Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Afternoon D.R. Thanks for the common sense approach. I think I have to agree with you 100%. What I don't understand is why a dealer would not recommend synthetic oil when they have it in stock (genuine BMW/Spectro) and could make twice as much money selling it, rather than the standard BMW/Spectro 20-50 mineral oil. Personally, I think I will seek out some Mobil1 (not the V-Twin specific). Thanks, Ken Link to comment
w2ge Posted October 26, 2011 Author Share Posted October 26, 2011 Went to my local Wally World.. Picked up a quart of Mobil 1 15w50 for $6.47. Now that's more like it... (and they had 5 quart jugs for (I think) $26 bux.) Happy! Thanks Guys Link to comment
I812 Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 I went to a auction for the largest Cycle shop in Chicago as it was going under. Picked up 17 qts of Yahamalube Syn 20-50 and 1 gal of Motul 10-40 for $3.50 a Qt. Link to comment
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