[vulch]

HI i just finished my first oil change i read the manual it says 4 l with filter so i put in 3.78 l one full jug looked to full let some out went for a ride checked when hot too full then i read a thread on checking oil HOLY CRAP what to do. by the way i don"t want to start a thread on OIL .first of all i used 5w 40 syn i was sweating bullets when pouring it in thinking what a mistake im making .i didnt think owning this bike was going to be so stressful with final drive failures.abs pump failures .switches .and everything else im reading .but the worst of all is i need to learn a new langauge ..Pillion whats wrong with back seat ...Panniers ? saddle bags/and Tyres what the hell... Heck i just finished learning Japanese

 

[TWheels]

Don't think I could learn Japanese. Seems like you put in the right amount of oil. Why do you think you have put in too much? With the engine warm and the bike on level ground and on the center stand look at the sight glass. You should see the oil level in the glass. (A line near the top of the glass). If you have the bike on the side stand, it will look like there is too much oil because the bike is on an angle.

 

[vulch]

hi like i said i dont want to start a oil thread but it was on the center stand i let some out when i go for another ride i will check hot

 

[MattWhite]

Oil thread, yeah. :snork
There are plenty of them here.
Crack a beer and take some time to read them.

These engines are good at hiding oil. Period.
There will be allot of people on here that will jump
all over you and say that you should go by the book.
Center stand, 15 minutes, yadda, yadda.
Or you do the "waggle". Tires on the floor w/ a warm engine,
lean side to side slow as to drain oil out of heads and center stand.
My experience with beemers is - they hide oil. Period.

Getting to know your bikes oil is allot like getting to know
your ladies oil. I do not mean to sound crude here, but when she's
low on something - you'll know. I ride pretty much 5 days a week on commute
and I can hear when she's low. Get to know your lady.

Worst thing you can do in my opinion is over fill your bike.
Everyone has done it.

You'll need to tell everyone what year your bike is and how many miles.
If it's new, and not to break in yet, syn is not what you should be putting
in your bike for "break-in" oil.

As for the language barrier - just go with it dude.
I found that there is enough experience on this forum that someone will know
what your talking about - even if you don't know it's proper name.

Just ride and enjoy........


(Dam, I wanted to be the first one to respond. This will
be be a 2 pager at least.) :histerica

 

[TWheels]

Matt, great reply but I hope you know what you have done .... I kept the detail to a minimum. Now someone will comment on your detail and then an engineer type will bring up the effect of the moon on tides (and therefore the level of oil) and before you know it this will be a multipager. This is my last post on this thread (until the next one)
Cheers
Peter

 

[MattWhite]

Matt, great reply but I hope you know what you have done .... I kept the detail to a minimum. Now someone will comment on your detail and then an engineer type will bring up the effect of the moon on tides (and therefore the level of oil) and before you know it this will be a multipager. This is my last post on this thread (until the next one)
Cheers
Peter

Just pulling the band-aid, Pete.
Just pulling the band-aid......... :abduct:

 

[vulch]

sorry about the oil question /observation its a 06 rt with 32000 km

 

[bikerj]

HI i just finished my first oil change i read the manual it says 4 l with filter so i put in 3.78 l one full jug looked to full let some out went for a ride checked when hot too full then i read a thread on checking oil HOLY CRAP what to do. by the way i don"t want to start a thread on OIL .first of all i used 5w 40 syn i was sweating bullets when pouring it in thinking what a mistake im making .i didnt think owning this bike was going to be so stressful with final drive failures.abs pump failures .switches .and everything else im reading .but the worst of all is i need to learn a new langauge ..Pillion whats wrong with back seat ...Panniers ? saddle bags/and Tyres what the hell... Heck i just finished learning Japanese

speaking of a new language- is panniers Japanese for panty liners? Just askin' :stupid:

BTW, don't interpret the emoticon suggesting I think you're stupid.

 

[ka5ysy]

Too much oils in your RT will cause planetary wobble, thus disrupting orbital mechanics in the galaxy and eventually earth will fall into the super massive black hole at its center. All this assumes you used the correct weight non-synthetic oils, otherwise the whole mess accelerates the process and the Mayan calendar end of days occurs earlier than the end of this year.


Oh... If all this is not enough, your final drive will probably go supernova on the Dragon on a great weekend ride thus causing everyone here to be really upset .


All the above assumes you have not messed with the canbus. If you did that... Holy crap!

Have a nice day

 

[05Train]

HI i just finished my first oil change i read the manual it says 4 l with filter so i put in 3.78 l one full jug looked to full let some out went for a ride checked when hot too full then i read a thread on checking oil HOLY CRAP what to do. by the way i don"t want to start a thread on OIL .first of all i used 5w 40 syn i was sweating bullets when pouring it in thinking what a mistake im making .i didnt think owning this bike was going to be so stressful with final drive failures.abs pump failures .switches .and everything else im reading .but the worst of all is i need to learn a new langauge ..Pillion whats wrong with back seat ...Panniers ? saddle bags/and Tyres what the hell... Heck i just finished learning Japanese

Take a deep breath and relax.

The simple answer is, "follow the manual". Nothing you do during an oil change can't be undone. If you overfill the oil, you can always take some out. If you underfill, you can always add more. You will not hurt anything test riding your bike a quart low, then using the sight glass to determine the proper fill level.

BMW is maddeningly vague when it comes to viscosity. My manual lists 6 different ones for 3 different temperature minimums. What that says to me is that the Boxer isn't particularly picky when it comes to viscosity. I've got a bunch of 20W-50 gathering dust in the garage, so that's what'll be used at the first change. I've got 10W-40 I'll use in the winter. I may use Mobil1 15W-50 when I need to restock.

It's unfortunate that it's impossible to have a decent, educational oil thread. Between the people who insist you have to use the manufacturer's labeled stuff (even though no manufacturer makes their own oil), the Ams0il zombies, the dino/syn war, and the people who have nothing to add other than mocking the oil thread itself, it's impossible to get good information. Hence the reason I did the UOA on my last bike. I'm satisfied that motor oil is motor oil, and as long as the viscosity's in the right range, the factory change interval is adhered to for warranty purposes (because oil will go much, much longer), the API grade is correct, and the fill level is in the right ballpark, my engines will never suffer from any oil-related failure.

As for everything else, you need to remember that you're on an internet forum, you're not talking to BMW engineers. No vehicle forum is immune to Internet Hysteria, and this one is no exception. People like to bitch about things, especially when the bitching is free and anonymous. While the internet has probably helped get a few legitimate issues rectified, by-and-large, people worry about nothing, To read the forums, you'd think that every vehicle on the road was a few short miles away from violently self-destructing. It ain't so. Print yourself out a factory maintenance schedule and follow it. That's all you need to do. If something breaks, fix it. Go ride. Lather, rinse, repeat. It's not rocket science, no matter what some people may lead you to believe.

As far as the language thing......You live in North America, as do the majority of other people on the various BMW forums. Our passengers aren't pillions, the black things on our rims are tires, and we throw our stuff into saddlebags. The North Americans who insist on using the overseas terms are trying to live the lifestyle....It doesn't do any harm, so I let it go with a smile.

 

[New2rt]

Take a deep breath and relax.

The simple answer is, "follow the manual". Nothing you do during an oil change can't be undone. If you overfill the oil, you can always take some out. If you underfill, you can always add more. You will not hurt anything test riding your bike a quart low, then using the sight glass to determine the proper fill level.

BMW is maddeningly vague when it comes to viscosity. My manual lists 6 different ones for 3 different temperature minimums. What that says to me is that the Boxer isn't particularly picky when it comes to viscosity. I've got a bunch of 20W-50 gathering dust in the garage, so that's what'll be used at the first change. I've got 10W-40 I'll use in the winter. I may use Mobil1 15W-50 when I need to restock.

It's unfortunate that it's impossible to have a decent, educational oil thread. Between the people who insist you have to use the manufacturer's labeled stuff (even though no manufacturer makes their own oil), the Ams0il zombies, the dino/syn war, and the people who have nothing to add other than mocking the oil thread itself, it's impossible to get good information. Hence the reason I did the UOA on my last bike. I'm satisfied that motor oil is motor oil, and as long as the viscosity's in the right range, the factory change interval is adhered to for warranty purposes (because oil will go much, much longer), the API grade is correct, and the fill level is in the right ballpark, my engines will never suffer from any oil-related failure.

As for everything else, you need to remember that you're on an internet forum, you're not talking to BMW engineers. No vehicle forum is immune to Internet Hysteria, and this one is no exception. People like to bitch about things, especially when the bitching is free and anonymous. While the internet has probably helped get a few legitimate issues rectified, by-and-large, people worry about nothing, To read the forums, you'd think that every vehicle on the road was a few short miles away from violently self-destructing. It ain't so. Print yourself out a factory maintenance schedule and follow it. That's all you need to do. If something breaks, fix it. Go ride. Lather, rinse, repeat. It's not rocket science, no matter what some people may lead you to believe.

As far as the language thing......You live in North America, as do the majority of other people on the various BMW forums. Our passengers aren't pillions, the black things on our rims are tires, and we throw our stuff into saddlebags. The North Americans who insist on using the overseas terms are trying to live the lifestyle....It doesn't do any harm, so I let it go with a smile.

What he said.
See, we can agree

 

[srgilmore]

Take a deep breath and relax.

The simple answer is, "follow the manual". Nothing you do during an oil change can't be undone. If you overfill the oil, you can always take some out. If you underfill, you can always add more. You will not hurt anything test riding your bike a quart low, then using the sight glass to determine the proper fill level.

BMW is maddeningly vague when it comes to viscosity. My manual lists 6 different ones for 3 different temperature minimums. What that says to me is that the Boxer isn't particularly picky when it comes to viscosity. I've got a bunch of 20W-50 gathering dust in the garage, so that's what'll be used at the first change. I've got 10W-40 I'll use in the winter. I may use Mobil1 15W-50 when I need to restock.

It's unfortunate that it's impossible to have a decent, educational oil thread. Between the people who insist you have to use the manufacturer's labeled stuff (even though no manufacturer makes their own oil), the Ams0il zombies, the dino/syn war, and the people who have nothing to add other than mocking the oil thread itself, it's impossible to get good information. Hence the reason I did the UOA on my last bike. I'm satisfied that motor oil is motor oil, and as long as the viscosity's in the right range, the factory change interval is adhered to for warranty purposes (because oil will go much, much longer), the API grade is correct, and the fill level is in the right ballpark, my engines will never suffer from any oil-related failure.

As for everything else, you need to remember that you're on an internet forum, you're not talking to BMW engineers. No vehicle forum is immune to Internet Hysteria, and this one is no exception. People like to bitch about things, especially when the bitching is free and anonymous. While the internet has probably helped get a few legitimate issues rectified, by-and-large, people worry about nothing, To read the forums, you'd think that every vehicle on the road was a few short miles away from violently self-destructing. It ain't so. Print yourself out a factory maintenance schedule and follow it. That's all you need to do. If something breaks, fix it. Go ride. Lather, rinse, repeat. It's not rocket science, no matter what some people may lead you to believe.

As far as the language thing......You live in North America, as do the majority of other people on the various BMW forums. Our passengers aren't pillions, the black things on our rims are tires, and we throw our stuff into saddlebags. The North Americans who insist on using the overseas terms are trying to live the lifestyle....It doesn't do any harm, so I let it go with a smile.

I couldn't agree with you more. Great advice. I try to use common sense, enjoy the companionship and the ride. Life is short, so I try to worry less, be there to help others and have as much fun as possible. Be safe out there, and ride as much as you can. I'm heading out on my bike in about 30 minutes and plan to be gone all day. The yard work can wait.

 

[vulch]

Thanks for replies I was mostly joking around with the langauge thing

 

[OU812]

Any oil is better then none!

 

[TWheels]

I read through the thread quickly and may have missed it. Vulch, did you resolve the problem with the oil level or was it OK? This is indeed a great forum with many sincere and knowledgeable people contributing great advise. Sorry if the thread got diverted to "discussing" oil threads and not your particular problem.

 

[vulch]

I read through the thread quickly and may have missed it. Vulch, did you resolve the problem with the oil level or was it OK? This is indeed a great forum with many sincere and knowledgeable people contributing great advise. Sorry if the thread got diverted to "discussing" oil threads and not your particular problem.

HI yes i went for a ride got a coffee then put the bike on center stand oil was towards the upper area of the sight glass abit more than 3/4 i think that good i will check when cold just for reference Thanks

 

[Ponch]

I buy 4 quarts of Castrol 4T 10W-40 or 20W-50, depending on the time of year for $4 a quart and buy my filters from BBY. With a 6K mile oil change interval for dino, it's pretty simple. May be too simple.

 

[biometrics]

Autozone had the Castrol 20/50 on sale last week or the week before for only $2.99 !! I love it when oil is on sale when I have to do an oil change

 

[JayJay]

HI yes i went for a ride got a coffee then put the bike on center stand ...

This seems like a proper way to deal with this or most any issue.

When returning to home replace "coffee" with "beer".

JayJay

 

[jrhSeattle]

This seems like a proper way to deal with this or most any issue.

When returning to home replace "coffee" with "beer".

JayJay

Best advice I have seen lately.............on or off this forum.