I have 35k km on my bike now and everytime i rode the bike above 190km/h continuously for 15 minutes in the highway, the oil temp rises until the maximum level. Cruised for 160km/h and it dropped back to normal range. Any views on this? And if anyone share the same experiences? The bike is maintained by local bmw workshop since day 1. Checked with them on this issue and was told that the bike shouldnt be ridden at that speed continuously as it is air cooled. Is this true? Advise, if any is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
I only once reached the speed over 190Km and that lasted not more than 5 seconds, for many reasons including me thinking what if a small bumblebee hits me at this speed, didn't even have time to think of a larger animal :)))) Didn't have time to look at the temp but I don't think it went any higher.. Slow down and enjoy the ride
You say your cruising at 120 MPH for extended periods? I would suggest that you have plenty of life insurance in effect for those you love 'cause you and your BMW aren't going to last that long at that speed.
I dont normally ride that fast.. this is occasionally and this issue was what i noticed. Anyway its along a very long stretch of straight wide highway with minimal traffic. Just wanna see if anyone else experience the same. Tks again.
I too experience higher operating temperatures while riding at high RPMs/speeds for extended periods. The temperature gauge never goes above the second arrow, but it does get up there. It's much more pronounced when it's warm out. You're probably OK. -acs
Oh, for gawd's sake! That is just retar...um...ridiculous. The old rule for air cooled bikes was to avoid constant, long sustained, WFO at low speeds like when slugging it out in a sand wash. At the very least, you should cease high speed operation when you hear the engine pinging. Pinging can be a by-product of high cylinder/cylinder head temps. Were your bike mine then I would be checking that the oil thermostat is opening at the right temp and fully. I would also check that the oil cooler fins weren't damaged and restricting air flow. And, I would check that there are no other air flow restrictions to the oil cooler; add-on farkles, etc. Look at both the inlet and exhaust air paths for the cooler.
The sad fact of the matter the GS is a very blunt instrument aerodynamically. High speed in top gear puts a significant load on the engine and subsequent the the oil heats up. I see it on my old GS, if I run a sustained 5000 rpm (about 150 kph) I'll watch the oil temp rise from the normal 5 bar up to 7 bar where I'll back off to 4000 rpms and watch the temp go back to 5 bar. It's kinda annoying but the price ya pay for riding these blunt beasts. I'll only ride those speeds with a blocker ie a big Mercedes saloon on these highways in Thailand. But I can't stay with them long, I usually catch them up in truck traffic and pass them. I've seen 8 bar a couple of times in thick Bangkok traffic, that's when I pull over and shut her down for a spell, drink some water, relax. Even taking care like that I've had to redo the head gaskets once because of oil seepage. They're due again soon.
If you're going to ride at high throttle settings in hot climates, I would opt for synthetic engine oil with a high NOACK score. Also, make sure the engine is not detonating. The Nikasil cylinder walls don't much care for detonation.
Oooh Bangkok traffic..thats bad. Love the bike but noticed the temp when going fast. I would understand start and stop heavy traffic building up the temp...still learning here. Anyway, tks for sharing guys. I guess its normal then.
That's good to know, we had a spell for a few years only gasohol 95 being available and the engine knocked under hard load. Now we can get pure benzine 95 in all the main towns. It likes that fuel. Still my heads gaskets began seeping again a little while back and that restricts my speed. Over 4000 rpm the seeping is more noticeable. I tried using synthetic and this engine doesn't like it, seeped and used a lot of oil. I found premium 20-50 dino to work best. When I keep the speed down it hardly uses any oil between 3000 mile changes. I'm coming up on 100k miles, and will send the heads off the San Jose BMW for the twin plug set up. I hope to run this bike for another 20 years.
If you do a lot of high speed riding you might need a second bike like a ZX14R or a Busa. I'd love to have either one but they are too fast. What great about the GS is that it's fun at lower speeds.
Make sure your oil radiator is clean. I cleaned mine recently, it did not look that dirty but there were some bugs/dirt in there. Since i cleaned it i notice the engine runs one dot cooler on the dashboard (on a 2007 GS). Probably even more important at high speed when you need all the cooling due to the load on the engine.
well, i was maybe on the lowest side of the higher bar, and now on the highest side of the lower one.... on average, i'm one bar down after the cleaning (and was surprised about it myself).
Yeah.. I'd agree for high speed riding, the ZX14 or Busa is a better choice. Still prefer the GSA though as an all rounder for me. At times, there will be those long stretches of straight roads and thats where I noticed this issue. Just checking if its normal. All inputs appreciated and noted
