BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

about how much oil should one expect to consume/use between oil changes on a high mileage motor 100,000 ex -P? As recently aquired 1150RT-P oil went from top of bubble to middle in 1000 miles! Is this normal? Had dino oil! Just changed filter and used Mobil 1 15-50 so will keep eye on! Plugs look excellent, mostly short trips/shopping of less than 10 miles each way. 3 months for the 1000 miles!

Is just top overhaul OK on this model? rings, valve grind, guides check, or piston replacement?

Grab your manual and find the section on checking oil levels. It is not an exact science on the R1150x engines! You may find that you are simply over-filling, and that the oil is just burning down to the correct level. If it keeps holding the mid-glass level, it's probably just an over-fill. If it keeps going lower, then it's a leak or other engine problem.

My money is on the over-fill. Did the same thing with mine for a while in my early ownership days. Hasn't burned a drop in over 110,000 kms since! Used a lot of oil in the first 30,000 kms though. Some was the typical BMW Boxer breaking-in thing, but a lot was me over-filling the damn thing. It kept burning back to the same point on the glass. Funny that.

Welcome aboard. The topic has been discussd many times, in a nutshell:

The proper oil level is in the middle of the window.
Oil at the top of the window will be burned in the engine, not a desirable occurrence as carbon deposits will ensue faster.

To check the oil level:

After a ride, especially if the weather is temperate, set the bike on the side stand for at least 5 minutes, that allows for the oil in the il coolers to drain back into the cranckcase.

Then set the bike on the center stand (level ground) and let it sit for 5 minutes and check the oil level or you can check it the next morning. Add oil as required......

General consumption:

Once the engine is broken in correctly (wil assume that is the case with a Policxe bike) the consumption between oil changes will be nl or a few cc's between changes.

A well broken in engine with 100K miles should not consume more than 300cc (9-10 oz) of oil between oil changes (assume 3,000 mle change)

Mine only has 53,000km on it so can't comment on 100K plus, but I was getting through half a sight glass over approx 1,800km. Interesting thing is that I was using full synthetic (Shell) from when I purchased the bike at 38,000 on the clock. Over the last year I've switched to dyno oil and interestingly the oil consumption has slowly dropped to the point where I don't need to refill between oil changes.

My Rockster has 72,000 on the clock - still burns about 1.5 litres over 6000 miles or so.