2017 1290 Super Adventure R engine oil analysis

(I posted this in the big SAR thread, but thought I'd start a new thread to keep all the posts in one place.)

Results from the lab on the OEM oil at the first service interval:

2017-06-09 unit 258 test 1 by Blake Sobiloff, on Flickr

Normal levels of wear particles and sealants for a new motor. Water was a little high, but fuel dilution was nonexistent and the nitration showed excellent combustion and air flow into the engine. With much relief there is NO DIRT in the oil, meaning that the airbox seems to be sealing well. (I might not need a Rottweiler or PowerCell kit after all.) I live in a desert area with a constant level of sand and dirt suspended in the air. If dirty air is getting past the filter and into the engine it shows up immediately in my oil, but this bike is filtering the air better than any other vehicle I own (a 690 Enduro and an F-250).

The biggest surprise is that the oil was a 10W-30! I assumed that the factory put in a 50-weight oil, but if so it sheared like crazy (which would be really hard to do in this short an interval, especially with no fuel dilution), or they ship the bikes with some other weight oil. Anyone have any technical data on what KTM ships in the bikes?

Here is my oil analysis after my 9500 mile trip to Alaska last year. I changed the oil just before leaving. This was with 14,500 miles on the bike. I will be changing my oil shortly and that will be at about 22,500ish, so 8,000 miles between changes. I have only used KTM filters and Motorex 10-50, per the manual. Note that the manual allows 9300 miles for oil changes.

at 739 miles, maybe the airbox lid hasn't had time to warp yet?

at 13000km my airbox is perfectly ok, intakes spotless.

I'd be cautious about visual airbox inspections, as significant dirt can get into the system while leaving no visible trace. It depends on the environment you ride in.

My understanding is that the air filter was losing its seal with the airbox under vacuum pressure, not that the airbox was warping from the heat. (Heat warp happened on my 690, though!) Someone posted a youtube video showing the new ledge that prevents that from happening. He was using a metal pointer/punch to show how the filter could break seal under vacuum. Of course I can't find it again.

your stealership put in the 10-30, the bikes are shipped dry from my undertanding

No, at least the street-legal bikes come from the factory with sumps full of break-in oil.

Here's mine for comparison. My intake had a thin coat of fine dust unfortunately.

Here is my oil analysis. This was after 8000 miles. Note the comment about lead. I will probably change the oil next around 5000 miles and see what things look like. Note that they included last years to compare side by side.

I have previous samples from a 990 with Motorex 10W50, it shears down to a heavy 30wt very quickly and stays there. 5000km on the one interval and it was down to CST of 10.9 at 100C. KTM does spec it, so it cant be that bad having low viscosity if its within the interval they are aware of, ill see if I can find any samples for comparison.

Where are you getting these oil analyses done and how much does it cost?

Blackstone sends you a collection kit for free. If you send it back to them to actually do the analysis- it's $28

Just picked up a new 2018 SAR and reading all the posts on airbox failures before I joined, I have ordered and received the Rottweiler filter system. Also put the Rottweiler system on my Super Duke as the factory one just looks cheap and not a big fan of dusting engines. Haven't installed the SAR yet but heres the Duke with it. Anyone hesitating to install it, its really easy. Just use common sense and take your time.

Some of the 4T engines that have a hard time breaking in get Motorex Legend 20-50 from the factory. This is a non-synth oil. I know the 690 motors come with it, if these use oil KTM recommends going back to Legend for 1k miles to finish break-in. (which works, BTW)

I’m using Motul 300V 5W-40 but next swap going to Mobil 1 0W-40

I have been thinking about something slightly lighter than the Motorex 10w50 I have been using. My cam chain tensioners are scary at cold startup for thirty seconds or more at times. I have used Maxima 10w40 in my racing dirtbikes for many years with good results

maybe I just need to ditch the questionable tensioners

Started using the zero weights in superbike and superstock in 03, now it’s OEM in tons of new cars for better cold start and reduced parasitic loss from viscosity, all checks go in the plus column.

This is correct about motorex shearing down to a 30w very quickly. The oil sucks in a sump that shares oil with the gearbox.

Redline holds up way better.

For long term / high mileage ownership I would be tempted to change the oil sooner, I tend to do no more than 6k a year on any one bike (I have 3 bikes and a car right now which keeps mileages down) but if I was clocking up much more I would just add a mid-term oil change as I still am not convinced any engine oil will stand up too well in a motorcycle where it also has to deal with the gearbox and a wet clutch.

Fairly certain the bikes will not blow up at particularly low miles with the recommended interval, but suspect at higher mileages bikes with more regular changes will hold up better, I personally would rather use a lower price point oil and change it twice as often as opposed to buying the most expensive "snake-oil" available and hope it really does alter the laws of physics as the marketing blurb implies.

You can read the charts and actually see how oil holds up. Actual scientific evidence shown but you aren't convinced. What would it take to convince you?