tok-tokkie
Race Dog
The F650 site- The Chain Gang- issues a quarterly bulletin to subscribers. I recently got the latest which has a snippet about the editors bike and how long lasting the Rotax engine is (and the clutch). He has ignored the BMW imperative to not use synthetic oil. I have edited the imperial measurements to metric.
Page 64 of 'Maintenance Instructions F650GS F650GS Dakar':
"! Attention Do not use synthetic oils."
Page 3 'Sprockets Issue #37 August 2007':
"Slick & Slicker
With 192,000 and more on my 1997 Classic I am a bit concerned about prolonging engine life. At 96,000 km I began using a Swiss oil, a synthetic, that has served me well.
Recently I received a new brand of stnthetic, Panolin. I changed oil and filter just before I left for the MOA rally in Wisconsin. I towed a trailer, so the gross weight was 470 kg and I rode hard; the return ride was 2240 km in two days at 120 kph. I am pleased to say that after 6400 km the oil seems to have performed well. The bike has the original clutch.
...."
I use semi-synthetic but will probably change to fully synthetic on the strength of this when I get to about 50,000 km.
Page 64 of 'Maintenance Instructions F650GS F650GS Dakar':
"! Attention Do not use synthetic oils."
Page 3 'Sprockets Issue #37 August 2007':
"Slick & Slicker
With 192,000 and more on my 1997 Classic I am a bit concerned about prolonging engine life. At 96,000 km I began using a Swiss oil, a synthetic, that has served me well.
Recently I received a new brand of stnthetic, Panolin. I changed oil and filter just before I left for the MOA rally in Wisconsin. I towed a trailer, so the gross weight was 470 kg and I rode hard; the return ride was 2240 km in two days at 120 kph. I am pleased to say that after 6400 km the oil seems to have performed well. The bike has the original clutch.
...."
I use semi-synthetic but will probably change to fully synthetic on the strength of this when I get to about 50,000 km.
