www.boxertrix.com

Had my R1100ss nearly a year so took it for an mot today to an old bike racer, I have known for years, he has a bike repair business; it passed as expected. However whilst chatting about bikes he told me that Mobil One is too thin for my engine and that the balance shaft chain tensioners would be noisy because of this and that BMW now recommend semi-synthetic 20/50w?

I had thought it was my imagination that the engine seemed a little noisier since I changed to Mobil One; I upgraded the left cam chain tensioner at the same time so it was I thought probable that I could just hear more of the other engine sounds after the camchain was silenced.

Has anyone got any ideas about the use of semi-synthetic 20w/50w in a R1100ss?

Ps any advice on getting the gearbox drain plug out without paying BMW for their tool?
Thanks. Bryan

This is one of many oil threads. You don't need semi synth in the 1100. You definitely don't need fully synth. Your mate is correct. It's too thin.

I think the drain plug is a 14mm hex from memory. Get a 14mm hex and cut 20mm (i think) off it then gaffer tape that to a 14mm spanner. Hey presto, a sump plug tool. I 'did' have one for mine. I would have posted it to you but I've not seen it for at least a year now. Sorry.


http://www.boxertrix.com/phpBB2/viewtop ... ght=harley

Not wishing to fuel the fire too much there is what I believe is decent information in here http://ferrarichat.com/forum/faq.php?faq=haas_articles

Interested by the comment 'synthetic is too thin'?

i run all my bms on detergent diesel oil ,,, good old mineral oil , and never a pick of bother ,, might think again if i ever get a 1200 though.

jeznewsome wrote:Not wishing to fuel the fire too much there is what I believe is decent information in here http://ferrarichat.com/forum/faq.php?faq=haas_articles

Interested by the comment 'synthetic is too thin'?

OK, 'too thin' is probably the incorrect term. as a much more efficient oil and being not as gloopy as mineral on startup I 'personally' wouldn't have put fully synth in my 1100 as its an older air cooled engine and although relatively modern doesn't have the tolerances that necessitate fully synth. Mobil One has been mentioned in the past for making the 1100 engine noisier. My 1200 however gets 10/40 semi synth.

interesting read on the oil link ,,, now where do i get synthetic detergent oil ,
a lot of other info about the additives and long chain molecular structure geting shredded in mineral oils has been written too , im thinking that if the answers were easy there would only be one type of oil.
but it would put you off ignoring service intervals though.
great link.
many thanks.

I use Motorex Formula 4T 15W/50, was told not to use full synthetic as may cause seals to leak.

Mitch1100 wrote:I use Motorex Formula 4T 15W/50, was told not to use full synthetic as may cause seals to leak.

I worked for ten years in the industrial gearbox industry and the company I worked for used synthetic gear oil extensively in their gearboxes. The gearboxes used "standard' nitrile oilseals, without issues. Having said that i have read that esters can attack nitrile rubber.

If we are up against Chinese rubber then that is chewing gum anyway, so game over.

The use of synthetic gear oil meant that the gears would tolerate a generally higher load and therefore transmit a generally higher torque than if used with mineral oil. Also they would transmit a higher power due to being able to withstand higher temperatures. Extreme temperatures would require the use of Viton oilseals, as would an environment with harsh chemicals.

Ok, we are talking about motor oils here, so that is different.

The thinness of an oil is its viscosity, in centistokes or centipoise etc, which will vary with temperature. Generally speaking a higher viscosity will carry a higher load, but synthetic oils change things along these lines also. Problem is, we are talking about engine oil so we need something that will pump easily and flow between hydrodynamic bearing surfaces, yet at the same time carry as much load as possible. We don't ask much.

The idea, generally, of multi grades is to try to get the oil to behave like a much lower viscosity single grade oil when cold, then morph into behaving like a higher viscosity single grade oil when hot. We don't ask much.

It's a bloody minefield! Follow the manual!

jeznewsome wrote:Not wishing to fuel the fire too much there is what I believe is decent information in here http://ferrarichat.com/forum/faq.php?faq=haas_articles

Interested by the comment 'synthetic is too thin'?

Wow, Thanks for the link, what an article, I was trained by Rolls Royce as an engineer a very very long time ago and have always puzzled over exactly how engine oils were chosen, I believe I now have a better understanding.

Steve Parry coincidently posted about, Hank, who has run his GS1100 on Mobil 1 for just shy of 500,000 miles with all the original engine components (3 clutches, hall sensors and drive train repairs excepted). Thanks Steve.

I now feel quite content keeping my thin oil in my engine! Thanks for all the help. I now must see if changing to synthetic gear oil in the drivetrain silences some of the noises.

Ps I am sure that with the amount of riding I do these days it probably doesn't make much difference either way with my engine oil choice.
Pps I always new oil thickened with cold which was why car engine heaters were sold for use under cars in garages to enable easier starting in cold weather and reduce wear but I did not know that even a 0w,XX oil is not ideally thin enough for engine startup from cold!

Just in case you missed Steve's post which refers to Mobil 1 use in a 500k GS1100.

"http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=889016

and here the owner describes how he's only on the 2nd clutch .... in 486,000 miles!

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showpost ... ostcount=8
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Steve Parry"