Changing the Oil & Filter
Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 2:16 am
This is the 4th one, at 18,000 miles. The 24mm hex drain bolt was really tight!! Apparently the Aluminum/Aluminum thread interface breakaway torque increases after time. There was almost zero "fuzz" on the stock BMW drainplug's magnet. I tipped the bike, off both stands, about 45 degrees to the left and then right, with long pauses in each position to allow the draining oil to drain down lower (going right) or for the stream to stop (going left). Quite a bit more came out. I let it continue draining over night on the sidestand. Next day, same thing . . . . tipping both ways to get a few extra big drops of dirty oil. Filled up the new oil filter with oil and let it set. Put it on the centerstand, tightened the drainplug and added the 3.2 quarts of Castrol-Actevo-X-TRA-Synthetic-Blend-Engine-Oil. Spin on and tool tighten the oil filter, re-attach the wicked powerful metal strip magnet (removed from a dead 3.5" computer hard drive) to the oil filter's underside. I get my wristwatch's stopwatch ready, turn on the key, press the starter and timer start buttons at the same time. The engine starts, camchain clatters loudly, until the oil light goes out at 5 seconds. It then runs quiet and smooth. Job done. Will check the level tomorrow, top it off then safety wire the dipstick - - - until the next oil change.
To save time and answer your questions:
--Yes, tipping & holding it WAY over BOTH ways does get a lot more dirty oil out of it. Pockets of oil in the valve train area, alternator area, clutch area and crankcase internal webs store the stowaways. Hold the front brake when you do so and be aware of the drainpan's new location when doing so. Use an empty drainpan to see just how much YOU can get out of it, then imaging adding that yuck back into the engine with the new oil! This anal extra procedure works on ANY bike. The benefits are real and show on the dipstick as out-of-the-bottle-clean oil.
--Yes, filling the oil filter saves time running the engine on zero oil pressure until the oil pump can fill the filter up . . . . before the oil finally does go to the spinning-without-oil-pressure crank, rods, camshafts & camlobes.
--This is my first use of Synthetic Blend Oil in it. Water cooling means the oil is not stressed like it would be in a literally uncontrolled air cooled Boxer engine. The first 2 oil changes got Castrol 4T conventional MotorCycle oil (for wet clutches and transmissions).
Now 5W-40 Shell Rotella T6 Full Synthetic is the new hero! Even though it is a Diesel oil, which has stress/pressure requirements greatly exceeding gasoline engines, many bikers have changed over to it. Shell website: "Provides excellent low-temperature flow, even at -30 degrees Fahrenheit . . . unsurpassed protection against shear-stability degradation" (gears meshing). If you check, it also passes the specific test requirements for wet clutches. Buy the Gallon jug at WallyMart.
--NO, I will not ever use a cheaper non BMW oil filter. Just not worth it, considering the value of 6,000 miles of premium engine protection. Plus, the BMW F800 engine oil filter, like the Boxer filters, also has the bypass blow-off secondary filter screen to "filter" bypassed oil that conventional car oil filters do not have. Bypass occurs on a cold engine at too high of an RPM generated oil flow rate and pressure for the paper media to filter the oil. That higher pressure activates a blow-off valve, redirecting oil, bypassing the filter media. Regular car filters just bypass it unfiltered. BMW bike filters pass that bypassed oil thru an extremely fine mesh synthetic screen before sending it to the engine.
--No, I do not need to change the oil more frequently than the recommended 6,000 mile interval. I NEVER do short trips -and- the water cooled engine warms up to full operating temp very quickly, within 3 miles, even in winter. Besides, BMW only recommends conventional oil.
--No, the engine does NOT use ANY oil!! That's why the dipstick can be safety wired, providing peace-of-mind tamper proofing.
--Yes, I recycled the old engine oil . . . into a heavy plastic Arizona Ice Tea gallon jug that feeds the chainsaw 1qt bar oil container. The used oil was good enough for the engine crankshaft, so with the addition of a little STP oil treatment it makes an excellent chainsaw chain lube. Then it gets flung everywhere, into the woods, mixed with sawdust.
I even washed the bike afterward. Given the new oil, clean bike psychological change, the ride tomorrow sure is gonna seem extraordinary.
.
To save time and answer your questions:
--Yes, tipping & holding it WAY over BOTH ways does get a lot more dirty oil out of it. Pockets of oil in the valve train area, alternator area, clutch area and crankcase internal webs store the stowaways. Hold the front brake when you do so and be aware of the drainpan's new location when doing so. Use an empty drainpan to see just how much YOU can get out of it, then imaging adding that yuck back into the engine with the new oil! This anal extra procedure works on ANY bike. The benefits are real and show on the dipstick as out-of-the-bottle-clean oil.
--Yes, filling the oil filter saves time running the engine on zero oil pressure until the oil pump can fill the filter up . . . . before the oil finally does go to the spinning-without-oil-pressure crank, rods, camshafts & camlobes.
--This is my first use of Synthetic Blend Oil in it. Water cooling means the oil is not stressed like it would be in a literally uncontrolled air cooled Boxer engine. The first 2 oil changes got Castrol 4T conventional MotorCycle oil (for wet clutches and transmissions).
Now 5W-40 Shell Rotella T6 Full Synthetic is the new hero! Even though it is a Diesel oil, which has stress/pressure requirements greatly exceeding gasoline engines, many bikers have changed over to it. Shell website: "Provides excellent low-temperature flow, even at -30 degrees Fahrenheit . . . unsurpassed protection against shear-stability degradation" (gears meshing). If you check, it also passes the specific test requirements for wet clutches. Buy the Gallon jug at WallyMart.
--NO, I will not ever use a cheaper non BMW oil filter. Just not worth it, considering the value of 6,000 miles of premium engine protection. Plus, the BMW F800 engine oil filter, like the Boxer filters, also has the bypass blow-off secondary filter screen to "filter" bypassed oil that conventional car oil filters do not have. Bypass occurs on a cold engine at too high of an RPM generated oil flow rate and pressure for the paper media to filter the oil. That higher pressure activates a blow-off valve, redirecting oil, bypassing the filter media. Regular car filters just bypass it unfiltered. BMW bike filters pass that bypassed oil thru an extremely fine mesh synthetic screen before sending it to the engine.
--No, I do not need to change the oil more frequently than the recommended 6,000 mile interval. I NEVER do short trips -and- the water cooled engine warms up to full operating temp very quickly, within 3 miles, even in winter. Besides, BMW only recommends conventional oil.
--No, the engine does NOT use ANY oil!! That's why the dipstick can be safety wired, providing peace-of-mind tamper proofing.
--Yes, I recycled the old engine oil . . . into a heavy plastic Arizona Ice Tea gallon jug that feeds the chainsaw 1qt bar oil container. The used oil was good enough for the engine crankshaft, so with the addition of a little STP oil treatment it makes an excellent chainsaw chain lube. Then it gets flung everywhere, into the woods, mixed with sawdust.
I even washed the bike afterward. Given the new oil, clean bike psychological change, the ride tomorrow sure is gonna seem extraordinary.
.