Oh god, not an oil thread.....

[Royal Tiger]

I'll be doing my first oil changes soon on my two BMW's I picked up in October.  What is the general consensus, especial on hex heads when it comes to Dino, semi synth, or full synthetic?   For the thumper I'm guessing full synth?

On my aprilia I always ran semi.  The Ducati seemed to like full.  My previous thumpers all got Dino in the past but they were no where near the power output of the XC.  All my previous bikes were semi from what I recall.  

I'm just trying to get a feel for what most people like and why.  Same thing with weights.  I have heard hex heads like 15w-50 or even 20w-50.  True?


Thanks guys.

[Scratch33]

20w50 synth.

[Lawn Dart]

BMW HexHead boxers run a dry clutch so the whole "Energy Saving" oils don't have a negative effect on the clutch.

Your easy answer is this:  4 quarts of 20-50 oil in pretty much any flavor and enjoy.  

My GS really preferred the cheap-o chevron 20-50 in the bulk costco packs...

[chesthing]

My '06 RT is very difficult to start and idles terrible for a minute or two in temps below mid 40s with 20w50 oil, using 10w40 those issues disappear. The manual calls for 20w50 for warmer temps, so I'm just going to switch them out accordingly. As far as synthetic vs conventional, I've always used motorcyle specific conventional oil.

[Cablebandit]

Cheap is good since it will blow half of it out the exhaust.


 

[Lawn Dart]

Cheap is good since it will blow half of it out the exhaust.


 

'Bout a quart every 3k or so.  Don't worry, they all do that.  

[radon222]

'Bout a quart every 3k or so.  Don't worry, they all do that.  

yup...that's about right  

[Royal Tiger]

Thanks for the tips guys.  

[Bigpoodle]

'Bout a quart every 3k or so.  Don't worry, they all do that.  

Not sure if true cause and effect was involved, but my old R1100R oilhead eased off to about a half quart disappearing every 6 K miles after I switched to semi-synth at around 40K miles.

[Royal Tiger]

I bought Mobil 1 10w-40 full synthetic for the G650X.

I saw Motorex sells a Boxer specific oil.  It's expensive though.

[coho]

Not sure if true cause and effect was involved, but my old R1100R oilhead eased off to about a half quart disappearing every 6 K miles after I switched to semi-synth at around 40K miles.

This has been my experience with both my 1100R and RT. Mostly with dino/synth.

[Lawn Dart]

I saw Motorex sells a Boxer specific oil.  It's expensive though.

Boxer owners are BMW owners and therefore have more money.

IMO, it's marketing.  Nothing more.

[sprint_st]

I saw Motorex sells a Boxer specific oil.  It's expensive though.

BMW HexHead boxers run a dry clutch so the whole "Energy Saving" oils don't have a negative effect on the clutch. ALSO, engine oil is separate from transmission oil reducing shearing.
Your easy answer is this:  4 quarts of 20-50 oil in pretty much any flavor and enjoy.  

For the reason that Lawn Dart states, there is no mechanical reason for a Boxer specific oil, UNTIL NEXT YEAR.   The new tea kettle coming out next year has both a wet clutch AND runs the same oil in both the sump and tranny.  That is the primary reason I am so glad I have an air cooled model.  Simple design for simple minds  

[Royal Tiger]

Thanks big time guys.  I'll just stick with Mobil 1.