Is it Fooked?

[turboferret]

I've had my S for a few weeks now, and really like it.

However, this morning, when I started it, it belched loads of smoke out of the exhaust, which it has never done. When I checked the oil level, it was below the sight glass, so obviously I hadn't checked it as regularly as I should

Having said that, it was only last week that I did check it, and it was fine, so mine must be quite a heavy drinker.

I do leave her on the side-stand, but it was only around 10 hours since riding home yesterday that she was parked up....

I topped her up, and rode to work, and she seemed to run as normal, but when I got to work, and gave her a coupld of little blips when stationary, it seemed to smoke a bit

What's the likely verdict of what I've manage to do - it seems to run fine, so I'm assuming that all the bearings are fine, might it be the bore, or valve stem seals?

Any help gratefully received.

Cheers, Rich

[sproggy]

If you leave the boxers (or K's, come to that) on the side stand it can result in some oil running 'down-hill' in the left hand cylinder and getting past the rings. This will then burn when you start the engine. It takes only a TINY amount of oil in the combustion chamber to make a HUGE cloud of smoke so it looks worse than it is. Oil will tend to get past the rings when it's hot (less viscous) so it doesn't really matter whether you leave the bike for 10 minutes, 10 hours or 10 days - the outcome will be the same - if any oil's going to get past the rings it'll do it sooner rather than later in my experience.

it seemed to smoke a bit

Did it or didn't it actually smoke?!

Not sure what mileage your bike's done but I wouldn't assume the worst yet. Try leaving it on the centre stand (if you have one) whenever you park up and see if it makes any difference to oil consumption. Top up the oil to a known level and only check it with the bike in the same place (engine at same temperature - preferably cold) - slightly non-level ground can affect the apparent level (in the glass) quite a lot, as can engine temperature.

What grade of oil are you using? Maybe something a bit thicker (you'll find 'oil threads' all over the place talking about this) like 20W50 would reduce consumption if the engine is burning a bit.

[Jason M]

I reckon that's all normal, especially in this hot weather when the oil gets extra hot. I now always make a point of turning off the engine and letting it sit level for a couple of seconds before putting it on the side stand to give the oil under the cylinders a chance to run to the sump and it seems to make a difference.

Jason

[turboferret]

Cheers guys - I hoped that I was just being paranoid, and that it was perfectly normal.

I had a good thrash on the way home and left the bike on the centre-stand last night, and no smoking this morning. I think that I might have been imagining the worst when I thought it was smoking when blipping it - may have just been some condensation.

I do know that I have to keep a good eye on the oil level though, as mine seems to be a bit of a drinker.

Can you rectify this on a bike of my milage - 32k, or is it something I just live with?

Cheers, Rich

[sproggy]

I do know that I have to keep a good eye on the oil level though, as mine seems to be a bit of a drinker.

Can you rectify this on a bike of my milage - 32k, or is it something I just live with?

Live with it unless it's excessive. These engines use more oil than the average Jap bike but how much is yours using per 1000 miles?

Using a heavier grade (i.e. NOT 10W40 in this warm weather) will tend to reduce oil consumption unless you're already doing this - what are you using....?

[turboferret]

Well, the majority will be whatever it had in when I got it, and since it had just been serviced by Park Lane BMW, it's probably got whatever they reccomend.

I topped it up with whatever stuff I had knocking around in the garage, left over from my last jap bike, semi-synth, probably quite thin.

Will buy some slightly heavier oil and keep a good check on levels.

When I got the bike, it was over-filled to the point that you couldn't see the top of the oil level even if you leant the bike way over to the rhs, so I dropped a bit to get it into the window.

Is it a problem to over-fill? I'm assuming that this is how it left BMW....

I've probably done about 1000 miles, and put maybe half a litre in - should I consider this as normal or excessive?

Cheers, Rich

[sproggy]

Well, the majority will be whatever it had in when I got it, and since it had just been serviced by Park Lane BMW, it's probably got whatever they reccomend.

Probably 10W40, then - that's what Sawbridgeworth use even though the owner's manual says it's not suitable above 20 degrees ambient. That's what I used to use on my GS - changing to 15W40 or 20W50 made a huge difference to the smoothness of the engine at idle and reduced noise and oil consumption. Check out page 84 of the 'Service and Technical Booklet' for more info on oil grades.

When I got the bike, it was over-filled to the point that you couldn't see the top of the oil level even if you leant the bike way over to the rhs, so I dropped a bit to get it into the window.

Is it a problem to over-fill? I'm assuming that this is how it left BMW....

Over-filling slightly shouldn't do any damage. On the odd occasion that I've had my bikes dealer serviced (for warranty reasons) they usually come back with the level over the top of the glass. It drops after a while....

I've probably done about 1000 miles, and put maybe half a litre in - should I consider this as normal or excessive?

That's not excessive. Slightly higher than some but it varies from engine to engine and with different usage. Certainly it's nothing to worry about in my experience - my GS used about that much at 30,000 miles but this dropped when I used a heavier grade.