oil consumption ?

[Woody R]

I apologize if this has been beat to death but couldn't find any threads .. My 04 1150RT continues to use oil and it now has 6000 miles. It is not leaking. I have read that oil usage is normal during the break-in but still? I have owned several MC over the years and never had oil consumption like this. I estimate it must burning about .5qt every 2000 miles. Does this sound normal or excessive? When should it stop?

Thanks for the replies

Woody

[Bob Palin]

Perfectly normal, hard to say when it will stop, some never burn oil, some do it for 10-20K, mine still burns a little at 96K.

[Ken/OC]

.5qt every 2000 miles...

 

What Killer said.

[BobFV1]

Mine stopped at about 11000 miles or so - I took it in a long trip (3000 miles) with about 11K on the bike and didn't burn any oil. BTW - had the 12K service done before that trip last August.

[Jim VonBaden]

I apologize if this has been beat to death but couldn't find any threads .. My 04 1150RT continues to use oil and it now has 6000 miles. It is not leaking. I have read that oil usage is normal during the break-in but still? I have owned several MC over the years and never had oil consumption like this. I estimate it must burning about .5qt every 2000 miles. Does this sound normal or excessive? When should it stop?

Thanks for the replies

Woody

 

There's your problem, you aren't riding it nearly enough!

 

My 2 month old 12GS still uses 3/4 quart per thousand miles, and it has 4500 miles on it. If I weren't gone so much it would have double that!

 

It is well within the normal range.

 

Jim

[Mr. Frank]

Mine didn't really settle down until about 15,000 miles, and it got progressively better after that. At 44K oil consumption is negligible.

 

You should also be aware that lots of engine braking as would be common in the twisties or heavy traffic increases consumption.

[Waltman]

Woody, don't feel bad. Mine is also a 2004. Yours is not the only one. Mine has the same problem. Until the last major service (12k) my bike averaged a quart of oil every 1k miles Now it's almost at 13K and had already sucked up another quart I had also been told to wait for at least until 15K miles for the "problem" to go away

[ShovelStrokeEd]

Can we change the wording here? Oil consumption is normal for an operating engine, therefore there is no problem. Degree of oil consumption will vary from engine to engine. BMW states thta oil comsumption of less than 1 liter / 1000km is to be considered normal. That's one quart/588.03 miles. Don't expect any sympathy from the dealer.

 

There is an article up in the FAQ on engine wear in that should be required reading for every new board member. It would save us from having to repeat the suggestions over and over again. Try your search again and look for rdfrantz as the user name. Go back at least a year.

[BFish]

i just did my 16,000 mi oil change and switched to synthetic. the oil consumption diminished greatly and i felt it was good time to change over. just keep riding and and eventually the usage will drop. do a search and you will find numerous discussions on this topic.

[Woody R]

Everyone, Thanks for the replies. I have owned about 8 new Harleys over the years and none of them ever lost this much oil- leaking or burning so I was concerned. It sounds like it's just the nature of the beast..

Thanks again

Woody

[BobFV1]

Unless the H-D's had aux oil coolers, they would have different oil-burning, (and oil-leaking ) characteristics than your oil-and-air-cooled BMW.

 

Also - it's good to note that our stock oil filler cap assemblies are notorious for developing leaks. The oil that leaks out of the cap sometimes shows up on your left pant cuff or the front of your left system case, but not on the ground under your bike. Keep your left cylinder cover wiped up and see if perhaps you might not be spewing a little out of the plastic cap - if so, moto-techiques and others make some good after-market fixes.

[peterbulgar]

"BMW states that oil consumption of less than 1 liter / 1000km is to be considered normal. That's one quart/588.03 miles. Don't expect any sympathy from the dealer."

 

If your bike is out of warranty when the clutch splines and rear drive bearings self-destruct at 25K miles, you may find that BMW considers that to be normal, too. (sorry, couldn't resist)

 

My R75/5 never used oil between 2K miles changes. My R90/6 used about half a quart in the same interval. My '04 R1150RA used about a quart every 2500 miles until the 18K service when synthetic was put in. After that it used less than half a quart on a 3K mile trip. It uses a little more in my normal combined city/freeway commute.

 

Many people on this and other lists have said that if you break the bike in by "riding it like you stole it" the engine will never use oil. Of course this is completely contrary to the break-in instructions in the owner's manual.

 

Based on responses to similar questions on previous threads, whether a bike uses (consumes, burns, whatever) oil or not seems to be as random as whether clutch splines break up at 20K miles or last for 100K miles.

 

I suspect that if a bike does "use" oil to a normal extent (setting aside for the moment BMW's Exxon Valdez definition of "normal") - say a quart every 3K miles or so - then you'll be looking at a top end decarbonization rather sooner than later.

peter '73 R75/5, '04 R1150RA

[BUSTED]

I have had a couple new 1100RT's. I never added oil between changes after the first regular service. I run Mobil 1 in both. I skipped a change on a 3 week tour once. I did 9400 miles and added 8oz, the amount needed to bring the oil to the dot. I got the oil from a guy carrying a spare qt. I think you might be a little too nice to your bike. Ride long and ride hard. The bike will love it!

 

 

I had a couple HD's over the years and they regularly left oil on me and the ground!

[baggerchris]

When I got Bonbon, she had 14K+ on her, and the previous owner said she used oil. At 16 K, I took her on a long high speed 800 mile trip (as per instructions gained here), and that did it. She hasn't used hardly a drop since. Ride Hard and Prosper!