which oil ?

[babulin2002]

hi all.
this summer there were days with temperatures well above 30 celsius here, and i noticed that the 10W40 oil i have in the machine was getting too thin, leading to increased vibration.
so i was thinking of switching to 15W40. but i came across many threads on the web with discussions about that, is it proper, which one etc. is any of you using a 15w40? which brand? is it supposed to be 'light' ?(the 10w40 i use is 'leichtlauf' in german, which translates into lightrun, or light). does it have to be motorcycle-specific (came across a discussion about differences between oils that are designed for motorcycles and others being for cars etc, nothing conclusive though). any opinions much appreciated!
thanks a lot, cheers !

[Arbee]

First figure is for the cold second figure is for the hot 10W40

Maybe you require 10W50

I am still have trouble with the statement that the thinning out of the oil made the bike vibrate
as there could be binding brakes, tyres, throttle bodies, TPS sync or valve clearances will all do
the above as well.

If you are still convinced its the oil the manufacturer selection may be more important than the grade

E.G. Valvoline is known to thin out quicker than other brands...

Are you using a motorcycle oil or a car oil?

[philbytx]

I would run 20w50 dino or 15w50 synthetic...both weights are listed in your owners manual.
FYI - I live in Texas where the temps are regularly 30+ !!
I use 20w50 Castrol GTX in my R1100R and 15w50 Mobil1 in my R1150RT. The RT is well broken in and I use Mobil1 in that, the R only has 7k miles on it, so I am using 20w50 dino until I notice the motor smoothing out, then I will also switch to 15w50 Mobil1

[nevada72]

I use 20w50 Castrol GTX in my R1100R and 15w50 Mobil1 in my R1150RT. The RT is well broken in and I use Mobil1 in that, the R only has 7k miles on it, so I am using 20w50 dino until I notice the motor smoothing out, then I will also switch to 15w50 Mobil1

I use Castrol GTX 20/50 in my R1100R for now too. My Beemer experience is limited, but my air-cooled experience is significant, having owned a whole bunch of bikes and a number of 911s. There may be differences, but I believe air-cooled engines, in general, have similar requirements seperate from water-cooled designs. There are threads sucking up massive bandwidth on a variety of Porsche forums and the debate is heated. Some of those in the know favor running motorcycle specific (air-cooled) oils in their 911s which aint cheap considering the 12 QT capacity of a 911. I believe the favored brands were Mobil 1 V-twin, Brad Penn, Shell Rotella, Swepco, among others. If you have a few (dozen) hours to burn check out this thread -

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthre ... il&page=12

That should keep you busy for a while with such terms as "synergistic". If not, there are links to other threads buried in that thead that will have your head spinning.

Once I'm sure the seals are up to it, I'll probably run 20/50 Rotella synthetic with a pint of GM EOS additive.

[philbytx]

I really like Rotella oils and used them in our RV. Unfortunately, they only have 15w40 dino and 5w40 Rotella Synthetic weights available. Friends of mine use 5w40 Rotella T in their RT's but in my hot TX climate I go with BMW's recommendation to run a 50 weight summer oil in both the RT and the R. I also have a BMW E34 cage in which I run 15w50 Mobil1 year round and use synthetics in the gearbox, diff and power steering.

Oil is almost a religious subject but I go with the manufacturers weights.

[nevada72]

I really like Rotella oils and used them in our RV. Unfortunately, they only have 15w40 dino and 5w40 Rotella Synthetic weights available.

Dang! I forgot. 5w40 was fine in my 911, but I'll stick with 20w50 in the R1100R. I guess I'll have to pony up for the Mobil 1 V-twin synth.

[philbytx]

Save your hard earned dosh mate
Just run Mobil1 15w50.....!!!

I really like Rotella oils and used them in our RV. Unfortunately, they only have 15w40 dino and 5w40 Rotella Synthetic weights available.

Dang! I forgot. 5w40 was fine in my 911, but I'll stick with 20w50 in the R1100R. I guess I'll have to pony up for the Mobil 1 V-twin synth.

[roadglide]

Redline or Mobil 1 V twin 20-50 in both my R1100 and Electra glide . I just started with the Mobil one as my local auto parts store just started stocking Mobil One V Twin Syn Oil. My Bikes absolutely runs cooler with the synthetic oil

[Commainz]

I would recommend as well to stick with the 20W-50 Oil. Most machines do run with this specific oil. Mineral Quality is sufficient, but other specs such as 15W-50 will be suitable as well. Others do prefer 10W-50, but BMW specifies 20W-xxx for temperatures above -10.0 Celsius, where my bike will rest in the garage .

Regards
Stefan

[omg1010]

This is a never-ending dispute. If you have a better feeling use and of the top brands like castrol the go ahead and spend the money ... For my part I am taking the cheapest no-name supermarket oil providing it is 20W50. Ever since almost 60 000 kms no problemo ...

Kind regards
Oliver