Moxie
Member
Due to weather and work schedule, have only put 302 miles on the R 18 since November 2020, should I change my oil and filter now or waited until I rack up more miles?
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I change the oil in my bike every season, or 3k whatever comes first.Due to weather and work schedule, have only put 302 miles on the R 18 since November 2020, should I change my oil and filter now or waited until I rack up more miles?
change it, or do it at the 600mile service.Due to weather and work schedule, have only put 302 miles on the R 18 since November 2020, should I change my oil and filter now or waited until I rack up more miles?
Agreed!Being on top of your maintenance, is the best thing, you can do for your vehicle imo. I do a similar maintenance schedule.
BMW spec is for SAE 15W-50, API SJ / JASO MA2. As long as the oil meets those specs it is fine no matter the brand.On the issue of oil change, is a 20w-50 weight oil similar across all brands? It would seem to me to be so.
Yes the R18 is a dry clutch. I was trying to illustrate that motorcycles in general have different oil needs than cars, so following the manufacturer’s specs is important.I thought the R18 had a single plate dry clutch, more like a car than most motorcycles with their multi-plate wet clutches.
Thanks for the input, I remember when I use to ride all over the nation on a 650 Triumph, I used, used oil, recycled oil just about anything except cooking oil to keep it on the road. lol. I plan on keeping the r18 for along time so I am being a bit more careful about the oil. Thanks again.My thoughts.... we are in the world of air cooled engines.. ie R18... so "generic" words used in the modern engine world are less relevant than manufacturer and bike model "specific words" in the context of a large, slow reving air cooled thing.
Fwiw... lots in the modern air cooled boxer owners world think that for the first 20,000km or so a non synthetic oil is best to "run in" the motor.
If worried about warranty... just use the BMW product... unlikey to send you poor.
At least by me, the BMW oil is ~$16, not $60 per quart. A full oil change kit with filter, crush ring & 5 quarts is $98. Assuming you were referring to the the total cost for 5 quarts, it is a good savings, but put it in the context of how often you change the oil, $34 saved every 6000 miles is ~1/2 penny a mile. Is that worth the risk of a warranty denial?Hi, after looking on the internet to find out if an alternative cheaper oil is available that meets the spec's BMW requires for the r18 I ran across the following.
The book says the oil in 2022 r18 should meet this spec...15w50 API SJ/JASO,MA2
Well I did not know what the "SJ" meant so I went searching and found this...
What does API SJ mean?
API Service Category
API Service Category SJ was first introduced in 1996 for use in gasoline engines and is not suitable for use in engines introduced after 2001. API SJ oils are typically high HTHS (≥ 3.5cP) SAE 10W-40, 15W-40 and 20W-50 based on API Group I or Group II base oils.
And I see "is not suitable for use in engines introduced after 2001" so I'm like what the heck has BMW lost their mind? My was built in 2020???
I continued to search cause I see Mobile one Synth has a API of SN and meets all the other criteria...
Can I use SN oil instead of SJ?
For recent oil, the higher specification will supersede the lower letter grade. For example, if we have an oil with specification SN, it can also be used for vehicles which request API SM, SL and SJ; it is backward compatible.
Jan 9, 2021
SO looking at Mobile one full synthetic for $26 instead of $60 for BMW labeled oil that appears to be a lower spec oil sounds like a good deal to me.
https://www.amazon.com/Mobil-Advanc...d_r=7d5b6137-f8d8-4f1e-828a-c2527d92bb7f&th=1
I asked the service guy what he thought and all he said is keep every single receipt for oil and filters that I purchase cause if anything goes wrong I will need to prove I used proper oil.
What do you guys think am I way off or is it miller time