Oil Change Interval

[MarkB9]

Hi Folks,
I just bought an 04 R1150RT (in June). It only had 835 miles on the odometer, so I took it in to the dealer for the 600 mile service and to change all the hydraulic fluids. My question is about the 6000 mile recommended oil change interval. I tried following the 7500 mile interval on my first new car (back in the mid 80's) and it was a disaster. Since then, I've been religious about 3000 mile oil change intervals on all my vehicles, including my previous motorcycle, a Honda 750 Shadow. This seems to have worked very well for me.

Is it really ok to go 6000 miles? Or do people throw a quickie oil change in at 3000 miles between the 6000 mile intervals?

Thanks in advance for the advice,
Mark

[bikerfish1100]

with nearly 4 qts of oil floating around in there, i'm totally comfy with the 6K interval. 80K miles on my 2001 R11S, no engine issues at all.
(fwiw, my Jetta TDI has a 10K interval, using synth oil. those motors are known to be easily good for 300K+. yeah, i know, it's apples to oranges, but its more for assessing the relative frequency for changes. btw- that engine runs at 18.5:1 compression!)

[JHGilbert]

I want to know where a guy finds an '04 with 835 miles on it and does it have a sister?

[JimMoore]

6K minimum. Sometimes I go 8K or so if I'm lazy. 217,000 miles on oilheads so far with no oil related problems.

Mobil 1 15-50, btw.

[flars]

Most BMW riders stick with the 6000 interval, because it is easy math. Of course there are some who insist on changing the oil early, in spite of the fact that, to my knowledge, there have been NO oil related failures on any oilhead. (here come the naysayers now - 'I know a guy who knew a guy whose cousin's motor blew up, and the dealer wouldn't honor the warranty because he didn't have the oil receipts')
Also doing the tuneups on these motors is so easy (except for the darn plastic on the RT, of course). I find myself having to resist checking the valves and doing TBS on the RS. On the RT, I am able to resist the temptation more easily.
And, if you go 6000 intervals, there is no reason to use synthetic (although you won't be having that concern for about 20,000 miles, I imagine).