How much oil should I bring on a 1200 mike trip?

IMHO, if you see oil covering the sight glass on the side stand ride. If not pick up a quart of the closest oil you can find to what you run and drop in 8oz and ride.

Olive oil is for those cutesy little Italian scooters you see Gina Lollobrigida and Sophia Loren riding around on.

Even if your bike is using the maximum acceptable by BMW standards (1 liter/ 1000 kilometers) there is no reason to carry oil. Get it at truck stops along the way.

If you need oil in 1200 mile trip, go take a 100 mile ride in the 6k+ RPM range and that should seat your rings... no more worries

Where's the fun in that? You, sir, are being far too reasonable!

FWIW, my GS used a litre in 1700 miles when new. Now, at 29K miles it uses so little I hardly check it. I'm going on a 2400 mile road trip in a coupla weeks and I'll probably take 8 or 16 ounces of Mobil 15-50 with me. A) I may need it, B) that specific oil is harder to find in Podunk, USA and C) I hate to have our group stop, mid-trip in some congested metropolis, because I didn't prepare properly.

Sight window on my bike [all ?] reflects 500 ml red line to red line [8oz JVB mentioned]..on a recent off road ride of 2,067 miles, many in 1st gear/2nd gear and high temps, I used perhaps 50-75ml....nothing really. But was also carrying 500 ml of oil in an MSR bottle...oil Redline Motorcycle 20-50.

Simple thing to check with a sight window....

I always carry a 1/2 qt in my bags during a road trip. Have only needed for riding buddy's to borrow. Other reason I carry some is for a tip over that could crack the valve cover. I also have JB weld with me to fix the cover but I may need some oil after the repair. I actually did crack a cover off a rock years ago so it's good to be prepared.

For the same reasons I carry 1 quart with me on trips.

Jon

One litre (one quart) will do you fine. Enjoy the trip!

Realistically, it's down to your bike and how you know it. Clearly from the answers, some don't use, some use a fair bit.

I find my usage of oil varies on my usage of the bike. Low revs, cruising highways is very easy on oil usage. Adv Riding, clutch slipping, varied throttle position etc, and I can chew through oil.

If you know you can buy it from any normal store en-route, no problem. Otherwise, carry it with you. My non-existant scottish heritage hates buying a 1L bottle when 4L is cheaper per L, but no way I'm carrying a 4L bottle for the rest of the trip, therefore, I take my own.

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My bike..running 15W-40...will use half a quart over the course of a week..if running 90+ mph..in high ambients...if riding sane..it uses none...or, if cool out..it uses none..or..if I put 20W-50 in it, it will use none...

It has 88,000 miles on it..


All of that has zero bearing on your bike...you should know your bike..like I know mine...

Just completed two moto marshaling gigs..high ambient, high loads (steep, slow) 14 days all together..with high speed transfers between stages..including a run from Salt Lake to Denver..bike on verge of overheating several times. Used about a quart.

I suppose if you boink your crankcase on a rock and get a small crack that slowly weeps/seeps oil it might be nice to have an extra quart on hand. Other than that, use the space in the case for booze.

So OP, with all this in mind, what have you decided? Once I know your decision, I'll give you my opinion....not before.

I ran for 10k miles between the oil changes once without adding any oil.

I can if it isn't HOT...and I run 20W-50..

I ran for almost two years with the same engine oil. I did add about 1/2 cup about 4 months before I changed.

So now the question is, what oil were you using when you ran for 10K miles?

Agreed however, I tend to be less throttle aggressive during hot rides. So my oil use is nominal regardless of ambient temperature.

If one selects good oil and doesn't abuse the throttle, these boxer engine use little if any oil between changes once you've got in excess of 20,000 miles on them.

But, I'm confused, which oil do you use, 20w-50 or 15w-40?

Mine seems to run 85 everywhere I go..or, like this last month..one third the speed of smell while following bicyclists up severe grades, in 90 degree temps...

Mine has always had minor consumption at high temps...with the 15-40..less so with the 20-50 but the cost difference more than makes up for it..

If you boink the engine case, carrying oil or not will likely be down the list of priorities. My first would be to get the bike home where I can work on it.

It was Mobil1 15W50 from Walmart. Usually I follow the 6k intervals, but didn't want to change oil in a middle of a trip. I think that mileage is not very accurate measure of the oil life. One has count the engine hours, number of the heating and cooling cycles, overall time of the oil being out of the jar and exposed to the oxygen. I'm fairly certain that 10k miles in one month wear the oil less than 6k in a year. Furthermore, it is very likely that both the synthetic oil and 6k change interval are overkill- it is very hard to damage a modern engine with a modern oil. How often do you see blue smoking cars on the road?