600 Mile Service

[touchton]

I'm not quite there yet, but sometime next week I'll need to do my 600 mile service. Looking at the list of things to perform, it looks quite simple. It's not much more than an oil change and verifying the torque on some fasteners. For the oil change it appears to use the same filter as the R1150R. What size crush washer is used on the drain plug? I haven't looked for the drain plug; I assume it's obvious.

Has anyone found a good source for torque values? I ordered a service manual from eBay, but haven't received it yet.

Thad

[CycleRob]

touchton,

Yes, it is just an oil&filter change and tighten nuts-n-bolts. What a contrast to the 1150R where it's at least a 4 hour affair. I drained mine's oil into a well cleaned pan to check for glitter. There was very little with a few tiny Aluminum squiggelies from the clutch.

The silver oil filter is shorter and different internally, w/o that extra plastic mesh bypass filter you see when you look in the OilHead filter's opening.

Most of the torque values, except the frame bolts, are in the owner's manual. Is the E-Bay purchase the BMW DVD?

[touchton]

The silver oil filter is shorter and different internally, w/o that extra plastic mesh bypass filter you see when you look in the OilHead filter's opening.

Most of the torque values, except the frame bolts, are in the owner's manual. Is the E-Bay purchase the BMW DVD?

So the oil filter is different. I'll have to get one on order. What oil did you use?

I hope the eBay DVD is the BMW version. I hope to know in the next few days.

[Boxer]

Over at the F800 forum the guys have been complaining about the BMW oil filter costing like $25 or something! Let us know when you find a suitable alternative.

[CycleRob]

The oil filter was $14.56 with a 10% discount.
p/n 11427707217
Unlike the OilHead filter's additional bypass filter visible thru the filter's big center hole, it does not appear to be anything special.

Castrol GTX 10W-40

BTW, at over 1,100 miles, it is not using any oil. There is no smoking either, on start-up or even after a screaming sequence of downshifts on a hot motor.

[touchton]

I'm at 500 miles and mine isn't using a bit of oil either. The oil is so clean it looks new.

I know with the R1150R we could use regular automotive oil, but with the wet clutch on the F800ST I thought we would need something more specific to motorcycles. In the Rider's Manual is specifies API classes SF to SH. Castrol GTX is all the way up to SM. The only Castrol product I could find in the recommended range is the GPS 10W40 Synthetic. It's at SG, but it's much more expensive. How much oil did it take for the oil change? I've read where 3 quarts is a little too much.

I installed the GPS and the electrical portion of the Motolights. They sent the wrong bolt for the caliper bracket so I have to wait for the correct bolts to arrive. I like the zumo 660. I may need to get a bit longer RAM arm to get it at the perfect angle. I tested the waterproofness of it last night. I ran through a real downpour. The faring on the F800ST provides a little more protection from the elements than I had with the R1150R, but in the end, you get soaked.

Thad

[CycleRob]

touchton,

I looked in the manual for the recommended oils and knew that the Castrol GTX wasn't ideal because of the wear additives they removed to further protect catalysts. If I was doing track days it would matter, but ridings been tame enough for my avg MPG display to show sixty seven! That was riding in the mountains yesterday, mostly 5th & 6th gear with speeds below 60. That sounds slow until you see the sign on route 60 that said "Warning: Sharp curves and steep grades the next 33 miles." Sharp really was sharp! Those crazy twisties are 24.7 miles from my house and because the roads are wider and a longer thrill ride, better than the Dragon. There's even a nice shaded parking, running water rest stop on top of Blood Mountain.

Oils: The best, most readily available reasonably priced oils IMEO are at your Honda dealer:
http://www.hondapartsworld.com/pro-hond ... wmoly.aspx
The GN-4 has all those extreme pressure additives necessary for the transmission gears and a wet clutch. Go for the PRO HONDA HP4 10W40 after the 6,000 mile oil change as most engines become fully broken in around 4,000 miles.
With a filter it takes ~3.2 qts. When the oil drain slows to drops, tip and hold the bike both ways and more keeps coming out.
Filled the new filter completely and quickly tilted/spun it onto the threaded post w/o spilling any. I smiled when he red oil pressure lite went out in under 2 seconds.
About the oil staying so clean, water cooling's tighter clearances and the sophisticated engine management system that can attain 70 MPG with a 798cc twin has a lot to do with it. Only sustained 70+ MPH speeds drop the instantaneous MPG reading to the low/mid 50's.

I need to buy a case of that HP4.

.

[boxermania]

I have to agree with Robbie......with wet clutches, I will definitely consider the Honda HP4 or the Suzuki oil as they are specially formulated not to affect the operation of the clutch. Both the Honda and the Suzuki are good oils.

Doesn't the F880ST manual make any recomendations, as to BMW oils? What do they run on the K bikes?

[touchton]

Doesn't the F880ST manual make any recomendations, as to BMW oils? What do they run on the K bikes?

The Rider's Manual specifies 15W40 mineral engine oils of the API classification SF to SH.

[touchton]

Did my 600 mile service yesterday. Pretty simple. The only surprise was my old oil filter wrench doesn't work on the F800ST filters. Another 'special tool' that's needed for regular servicing of this bike is a 'E10' socket. It's an 'External Torx' socket. I purchased a small set of External Torx sockets at Sears.

I used my GS-911 to check for faults. There were no faults on any of the controllers. I logged about 3 minutes of run time with the GS-911 for a baseline.

Now that the 600 mile service is done I can play above 5000 RPM. What fun that's turned out to be! This bike is smooth. I did have one little blip today. While approaching a traffic signal I pulled in the clutch and the engine died. Looked at the odometer and it was on 666. Apparently, this bike has a sense of humor, too!

[CycleRob]

touchton,
Check your battery terminal bolts for tightness. If they are really loose, it's likely your mysterious stalling fault.

Never had any engine stalls or any other running anomaly. I even mistakenly took off in 2nd gear one time in noisy traffic and it was smooth without much RPM's . . . . inexcusable because there's a huge one inch tall "2" in the LCD gear indicator display. My 600 mile check turned up battery terminals that were just over finger tight. I grumbled a few choice words intermixed with the dealer's name. Checking them again weeks later when I added a battery lifesaving hi density foam piece under it, they were not as tight as I (really) tightened them!! Apparently the bolts need a SS lock washer to stay tight. Realizing no foul, I then retracted all those bad things I said about the dealer.

During the battery removal I did not want to loose all the stored data or info so I repeated what I did on my truck when the terminals needed cleaning and I didn't feel like reprogramming the 18 stored radio stations, the clock or wait for the EFI to relearn the fuel curve. Hook it up to a spare battery with speaker wire and aligator clips. I connected my OilHead's retired WestCo battery to the starter solenoid terminal left side of the airbox (and a ground) to keep the BMS-K data, OBC data, the clock time and the 2 tripmeter's readings alive and intact. Everything, terminals, lugs and bolt threads got assembled with a good coat of Silkolene waterproof red racing grease.

"Now that the 600 mile service is done I can play above 5000 RPM. What fun that's turned out to be!"

Yeah! Power is good even at 2,500 RPM in 6th, but it comes on really strong after ~6,000. There's a surprisingly loud intake roar at full throttle. Not just loud for a BMW, loud for any bike. Just cruising, the exhaust can be heard at any road speed and I really like that. MP3's my ass! It does not sound like any stock BMW decibel level. No sewing machine sound there! A nice deep muffled sound for it's 798cc's and one of the bike's best attributes. The `09 model also has a classy satin finish SS muffler instead of the chromed older versions. I guess there are different sound rules for it's water cooling and Rotax manufacture.

.

[CycleRob]

I just past over 6,400 miles and will do the 6,000 mile check after the next time it runs . . . tomorrow. The word "Service" shows all the time now, just to the right of the "Trip 1" label. It first appeared just after 5,500 main odometer miles saying "Service due 600 Mi", then counting down by 100 mile increments. It just displays for about 6 seconds after a start up. My GS-911blu that can reset that warning, service dates or intervals still has not been received. I ordered it well over a week ago.

An important reminder about the F800 battery bolts . . . they both need a SS (StainlessSteel) lock washer under the bolt heads, otherwise they'll both come loose, even after being really tightened! I don't know if it's the dealer or the factory who is at fault, since both my ST and Boxer's GS800 did not have the battery terminal lock washers and both bikes came from the same reputable dealer. Besides a possible play dead no start, those sputtering/sparking terminals could very well damage the regulator/rectifier. They definitely do need those lock washers! Add them to the battery on your F800 . . . . ASAP!

.

[sweatmark]

Thanks for the lock washers tip.

Doing the aux wiring this afternoon for Mrs. Sweatmark's F800S.

Finally getting some riding weather in the Pacific Northwest.