BMW Brand Oil

[Bob_Roller]

Had to replace the battery on my oilhead today, just about left me stranded last night .

On an oilhead, you need to remove the fuel tank to get to the battery, a bit of a job compared to an R65 .

While I had the tank off, I looked at the air filter, it needed replacement, so I stopped and went to the local BMW dealer for an air filter .

While I was already there, I might as well get an oil filter and four quarts of BMW 20w50 oil (it's made by Spectro Oils), I've got an oil change coming up at the end of the month on the oilhead .

The parts manager told me they just got 1 gallon containers of the 20w50 oil in, the cost was the same as three quarts, if you purchased them in quart bottles .

I don't know how many members here use BMW oil, but thought I'd let you know it was available, at least here in North America .

[montmil]

What was the price for the gallon jug and is it API-SG rated?

[Bob_Roller]

The oil is SG/SH rated .

Cost is $32.00 per gallon, the single quart bottles are $10.95 each .

BMW part number : 07510038648 .

[nhmaf]

Jiminy friggin crickets!   That oil costs as much per gallon as maple syrup!   And, I know what I'd rather spend that kind of money on..

Even back when I had a six figure annual salary, I wouldn't spend that kind of money on motor oil - maybe I'm just cheap.

[Barry]

I've got to admit I have never paid that much for oil in my life and I'm not likely to when I change the oil every 2000 miles

Problem with oil is it got fashionable.

What I mean by that is when 20W 50 was all there was, oil was cheap.

Now that all new cars use fancy synthetic 5W 30 oils it's become fashionable for all oil to be expensive.  It's mostly marketing. I can remember years ago when the same oil in Europe was vastly more expensive than in the UK. There can't have been any good reason other than marketing. They just price what they think the market can stand.

I've been looking into 15W 40 dual purpose oils that meet the  European ACEA A3/B3 standards for both petrol and light duty diesel engines. These are reckoned to be more demanding standards than the API rating. Not used any yet though

[Bob_Roller]

I don't like paying that much for oil, but with the extreme temperatures that I ride in for around six months a year, I really think it's a must .

I've got a temperature indicating dipstick on the '81 R65 .

The average 'hot season' air temps are in the 105-110 F (41-43C) range (in the shade) .

At those air temps, the oil temperature is routinely in the 250-275 F (121-135C) area at highway speeds .

Not uncommon for me to have to reduce my speed, to keep the oil temp out of the red zone on the dipstick (275 and above), if I am out for an extended ride .

When it decides to get really hot, 115-118F (46-48C), I cannot ride at posted speed limits (usually75 mph) on limited access highway, 60 mph is about the maximum .

I mentioned before, some of the temps I routinely encounter, road surface temps of 180-190 F (82-88C), the air temp at about cylinder height on expressways in the late afternoon are usually in the 145 F. (63c) area .

I don't feel comfortable with standard oils in the bikes .

Our daytime highs have finally fallen out of the 90's F. (low to mid 30's C) this week . 

[Barry]

Bob

With those operating conditions I can see why you would want the best.

Most of the time my oil only gets as hot as your road surface !

[Adrian]

Like Bob I often ride in high temperatures in the good weather that average around 30 - 35 celcius and sometimes get up to 40+. Oil here in Oz is around $70 aussie for decent bike oil but I do use a synthetic based oil not a mineral oil.
I recently read in an Aussie bike mag that it was more beneficial to all road bikes to use only straight mineral oils. Would anyone like to comment on this as I would like to know others experiences and perhaps someone might have - in simple terms - technical info/experience as to why one type of oil is better to use. Thanks guys.

[nhmaf]

Adrian -
http://www.bmwr65.org/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1313516829

[Adrian]

Thanks nhmaf for the link - I'll get reading soon.

[Bob_Roller]

The oil temps I quoted, are with an OEM BMW oil cooler installed .

[wa1udg]

You might want to look at Rotella T6 synthetic in 5w-40.  It's rated SM as well as for diesels.  

[nhmaf]

If it is rated "SM" then it has practically no ZDDP in it, which is a problem for these old flat tappet engines - I'd use ZDDP additive running in those conditions if I had to use SM rated synthetic in my airhead.

[Bob_Roller]

I had rear main seal leakage problems when I tried Mobil 1 motorcycle oil about 10 years ago .

I'm not overly enthusiastic about trying full synthetic oil again .

There are riders that have not had any issues with Mobil 1 in their airhead bikes, sadly I'm not one of them .

[Graeme]

I, too, fitted an oil temp dip stick last weekend and spent the afternoon out & about in traffic. Ambient was about 23 deg C and the oil temp was at 120 deg C; just on the red line. What temperature should the oil be at, please?

EDIT: I should mention that I had new rings fitted 1000k's ago. It might still be a bit tight.

2nd EDIT: The mechanic at the workshop that passed "Dexter" for registration tald me that you can use any sort of car oil in them. Dexter has to share a garage with an Hyundai Getz; I'm not sure how he will take to sharing the same oil.