A few comments
1) Any R1200 with the OEM battery will start better in cold/cool weather with synthetic oil lighter than 20W/50 dino. The 15W-50 BMW syn is noticeably better and lighter grades better yet. Reason is the OEM battery is a mediocre and marginal design that can't deliver optimal current in colder weather. The preferred replacement in the US is the Odyssey PC 680 which starts the bike better, lasts a lot longer, and is cheaper by 40% but there are many other good choices from Westco, Yuasa, and others- all substantially less $ the BMW one.
2) 75-140 in the gearbox is recommended by various dealerships, mostly in places with hot summer weather. A lighter grade is what comes in the bike. The biggest differences you would notice are increased drag on the gears which improves shifting a little bit (but not nearly as much as an exact technique) and allows the rear to rotate faster if jacked off the ground in neutral. No negative impacts I know of in the gearbox but not suggested for the FD.
3) Re the FD, most premature failures seem to originate from bad fitting parts or seal leaks not caught soon enough by the owner. Best preventatives are regular inspection, frequent lube changes looking for wear bits in the oil and a good magnetic plug to pull wear bits out of the oil. I change mine with every rear tire change as it is less than a 5 min job but every 12-15K miles should work about as well. Remember the fill volume is a very small 180 ml. not much volume for debris to "get lost" in. The R1200 "big hole" FD has several design improvements over earlier versions and the most recent years have a larger bearing as well- so far they look better than their predecessors but there have been a number of early failures- especially when the factory was calling them "lifetime fill"- talk about an obvious fantasy....
1) Any R1200 with the OEM battery will start better in cold/cool weather with synthetic oil lighter than 20W/50 dino. The 15W-50 BMW syn is noticeably better and lighter grades better yet. Reason is the OEM battery is a mediocre and marginal design that can't deliver optimal current in colder weather. The preferred replacement in the US is the Odyssey PC 680 which starts the bike better, lasts a lot longer, and is cheaper by 40% but there are many other good choices from Westco, Yuasa, and others- all substantially less $ the BMW one.
2) 75-140 in the gearbox is recommended by various dealerships, mostly in places with hot summer weather. A lighter grade is what comes in the bike. The biggest differences you would notice are increased drag on the gears which improves shifting a little bit (but not nearly as much as an exact technique) and allows the rear to rotate faster if jacked off the ground in neutral. No negative impacts I know of in the gearbox but not suggested for the FD.
3) Re the FD, most premature failures seem to originate from bad fitting parts or seal leaks not caught soon enough by the owner. Best preventatives are regular inspection, frequent lube changes looking for wear bits in the oil and a good magnetic plug to pull wear bits out of the oil. I change mine with every rear tire change as it is less than a 5 min job but every 12-15K miles should work about as well. Remember the fill volume is a very small 180 ml. not much volume for debris to "get lost" in. The R1200 "big hole" FD has several design improvements over earlier versions and the most recent years have a larger bearing as well- so far they look better than their predecessors but there have been a number of early failures- especially when the factory was calling them "lifetime fill"- talk about an obvious fantasy....
