After a rough week, I decided to take on some maintenance tasks to make myself feel like I can actually ACCOMPLISH something...waiting for Tony Kay to get back from frollicking in California to help me with the Valve check and spark plug swap to finish the rest of the "12,000 mile service."

I gathered the necessary parts and goodies from the BMW dealership, but decided to give Royal Purple synthetic fluids a try (http://www.royalpurple.com/prodsa/cycle.html), max-cycle for the engine at $10.99 a quart (same price as BMW synthetic, went with 20W50 which fell within spec according to the maintenance manual for the LT) and syncromax for the trans and rear drive.

Autozone had the perfect-fit oil filter "socket" for $4.99, instead of $35 at the BMW shop.

First off, if I ever meet Hans or Gunter or whoever turned the wrench on my '04 which now has 17K miles on it, I am kicking his ass, because I had to put a two foot pipe on the end of my ratchet to break loose the bolts on the exhaust hanger and engine skid plate, and I think I gave myself a hernia opening up the transmission and final drive drain plugs.

The rear drive fluid looked like raw sewage, I was glad I ran the beast first to warm everything up...I also attached an inflation nozzle for an air bed to the end of my tire inflator and put it into the fill hole after it drained for a bit, turned it on to blow out a few extra tablespoons of old fluid. Trans fluid was ugly as well, conventional oil was definitely overdue for a change.

Nice thing about the Royal Purple syncromax is that it comes in essentially a quart-sized squeeze bottle with a pointed tip that fits inside of the fill plug hole perfectly, squeezing the bottle puts the fluid into the resevoir without need for a special funnel (oh, cut it out, you sickos...I'm talking about engine lubricants!!!).

Check, double check, followed the EXCELLENT advice in the "hall of wisdom" on how much goes in the rear drive, the fantastic "oil change checklist" (thank you much!), etc, no drips, no leaks, etc.

Also followed the advice of another forum member and took off the left footpeg assembly and tightened the first link in the gearshift, uh, linkage? Tightening it two full turns...and voila, no more fumbled first to second gear shifts.

The verdict?

I LOVE THIS STUFF.

I am not sure how much of the MASSIVE improvements I've seen is due to the fact that I've gone from conventional to synthetic, and how much is because it's "Royal Purple" brand synthetic fluids, but instantly the beast is like a brand new machine. Engine runs 100% smoother, vibration is smoothed out...smooth as glass. Even the tell-tale buzziness that always popped up at 4,200 to 4,300 RPM in any gear (it's a 2004 LT) disappeared. Feels stronger, throttle response is better.

Previous bike was a used California Highway Patrol RT with over 60K miles, when I switched from conventional to all synthetic, I didn't notice any difference save for slightly smoother shifts on that miserable getrag transmission.

I don't know about RP's claims of cooler running engines, or increased horsepower. I'll give an update in a thousand miles or so as to whether I see an increase in gas mileage. But I'm definitely sold on this stuff.

You can read about Royal Purple Max Cycle in a 26 named oil comparison using 10 ASTM test methods at http://www.amsoil.com/lit/g2156.pdf .

what a neat document and great post!

I still like my results, next time I'll try another one on the list you provided, thanks much for sharing!

Pete.. I run the RP in my wife's Yukon.. I had Amsoil until it was not available and a change was due.

When I have to change again, I'm going back to Amsoil.. no diff... same fuel mileage, etc, etc.

I guess it's like toothpaste.. whatever tastes best, run it.

Royal Purple is good stuff... Always has been. I use it in the rear end of my truck...

But that test summery did re-enforce my choice to use BMW oils and products on my bike......Pete

I guess it's a toss-up...there was one category I saw that rated RP 50-weight as "did not pass" where it degraded to 40-weight (doesn't really concern me all that much) because of zinc content, but a handful where it rated higher than BMW synthetic. So it kinda' is a matter of which of the dozen or so categories you give more weight to. Like I typed in the original post, I'm not sure how much of the noticable improvement I got after swappin' lubricants in the LT was due to putting "a synthetic" in the beast and how much was due to putting "royal purple synthethic" in her.

And since they don't give me money to endorse them, I'll try something different next time, if the smoothness degrades and that vibration returns, then I'll know my answer!

I've seen amsoil oils at a shop near me, not sure if it was synthetic or not, and the document didn't talk about transmission fluids.

Chan...congrats on the grandkiddo, I'll have that care pkg to you by the end of the week.

Pete

All of Amsoil's engine and transmission fluids are 100% synthetic except for one synthetic blend diesel oil, most of them PolyAlphaOlefin. I also use the Amsoil 75W90 Severe Gear Lube at double the BMW recommended oil change interval, and the shifting is also better with a full parts and labor warranty should the oil ever fail. Amsoil is supposed to release a name brand comparison of transmission/gear lubes also using one of the best independant non-profit automotive laboratories using standard ASTM test methods. I'll post as soon as it is available.

yeah, but it's really hard to come up with a cutesy thread title like "color me (royal) purple" that fits with amsoil...