Castrol TWS 10W60 for 2012 R1200R.... (English)

[SAMR1200R]

Hi, first... sorry for the English, sadly my German is terrible! I do travel to Germany for business often but I still speak like a 1st grader!

I recently bought a wonderful R1200R Classic here in the US (Portland, Oregon), and absolutely love it. I'm having a hard time getting the answer I want to this question here in the US however since this oil isn't easily available here (Castrol TWS 10W60, which is the required oil for M series BMW cars).

I have some of this oil from a car I also own and was thinking of using it in my R1200R for it's synthetic oil conversion. I can see nothing wrong with this, but I'm not sure since I have no way to talk to anyone at the BMW factory and the BMW dealers here in the US just want to sell me 20W50, which is fine, except it costs $18/liter and I can get the (I think better) 10W60 for $14/liter.

Anyone have any experience with this oil in their boxer? Am I wrong if I think it's a great oil for this engine? Anyone know someone at BMW Motorrad that might have a good answer on this?

thank you all for reading my question.

Greetings from the USA

Sam

[FRS 3263]

10W60 will definitively not harm. But the oil consumption will be more than with the thicker 20W50.
In consequence of the higher consumption maybe you pay more with 10W60 than with 20W50.

[hixtert]

Hi, try AMSOIL Synthetic Motorcycle Oil. We used it in our two GS1200 on our US trip in 2010 --- even in Oregon

[SAMR1200R]

thanks for the answers gentleman.. I talked to BMW today (here in the USA), and they told me the Castrol TWS 10W60 is actually what is spec'd for the HP2 sport version of the R1200R... so it's very good indeed. I have some in my garage since I also use it in my M5 so I think I will go ahead and change the oil of my motorcycle with this.

[aimypost]

Is it not very hot this year in the United States? I think the 20W is the better option, if is not run in winter. The air-cooled engines anyway so hot

[dirk v]

But the oil consumption will be more than with the thicker 20W50.
In consequence of the higher consumption maybe you pay more with 10W60 than with 20W50.

Nope !!!
The 10w60 is thinner in a cold Engine and it's thicker in a hot engine than 20w50.
My R was running using the 10w60 several years and it reduced the oil consumption significant just because of it's thickness in the hot engine.
This is my experience!

And if it is good enough for M series cars, it might be good enough for a boxer, too

Dirk

[Berni_RR]

Hi Sam
I found a nice and a good detailed information in the web, I am think
All informations are in please have a look

Wish you a nice time and fun with your BMW bike

Greetings from the country where this nice bike coming from,
Take care Bernd

http://www.carbibles.com/engineoil_bible.html

[SAMR1200R]

Nope !!!
The 10w60 is thinner in a cold Engine and it's thicker in a hot engine than 20w50.
My R was running using the 10w60 several years and it reduced the oil consumption significant just because of it's thickness in the hot engine.
This is my experience!

And if it is good enough for M series cars, it might be good enough for a boxer, too

Dirk

that's my feeling too Dirk.... this stuff is amazing oil, made in Germany and spec'd for the highest performance (hp to liter) engines.... The problem with 20W here in the US is its next to impossible to get a pure synthetic 20Wxx oil here... there is a 20W60 from Redline but I don't particularly care for their oils..

[SAMR1200R]

Hi Sam
I found a nice and a good detailed information in the web, I am think
All informations are in please have a look

Wish you a nice time and fun with your BMW bike

Greetings from the country where this nice bike coming from,
Take care Bernd

http://www.carbibles.com/engineoil_bible.html

thanks for the link Bernd... great stuff... And thanks for the welcome! I'm loving my "motorrad" and the attention I get with it here in the US is quite nice, it's not very common place around the masses of Japanese and Harley.. As a side story, I travel to Germany frequently with my job and was recently having an argument with a German mechanic who rides a Harley there in the Frankfurt area while he was working on my airplane. We were arguing about what's better, BMW or Harley! He was defending Harley and I was defending BMW... go figure!


And THANK YOU all for using English for me.... sorry Mein Deutche is sooooo Schlecht!

[AndreS]

Hi Sam,

In the information of BMW the oil should be between 10-20W30-50, meaning W60 is too thick. W50 is given for temperatures over 40 Celsius, at which temperature not many people will drive their bike. For example, the Paris Dakar machines did run on Castrol Power 1 10W50 Racing 4T.
A too thick oil will not circulate enough at the given pressure, causing the overflow to open to wide. This means the oil does not get where it should be. A good synthetic 10W50 is the best you can do for your R.

A prove of the world becoming international, a german Harleydriver discussing with an american Beemerfan. Very funny.

Greeting from Holland,
André

[hoppenstedt]

Best recommendation here from local and regional BMW dealers and mechanics is mostly 10W-50 not depending which manufacturer.
BMW official (and my personal) recommendation is Castrol Power 1 Racing 4T 10W-50.
Germans' special recommendation is LiquiMoly (Racing Synth 10W-50 or 10W-60) or Meguin (Racer 10W-60 VS).

[aimypost]

Look at the manual: >0 degree 15W->40
In what season do you drive?