BX Service time

BX Tech talk
mds141
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Re: BX Service time

Post by mds141 »

It's so tough being a motorcycle journalist. :-)

I must admit, I'm a sucker for a big 'adventure' bike. Ever since the original Yamaha Tenere. I've tried the Honda VFR 1200 CrossTourer and it's just too top heavy. I'll be trying out a selection of bikes at the NEC next week. I'm with you on the R1200 RS. I remember the original version, resplendent in Jewish Racing Gold - lovely old bikes. :)
Mark Smith

Is it just me or is everything shit?

1989 BX GTi 16 valve. Blanc Alpine. Completed the Citroen Classic Challenge Ecosse and 1337 miles without a hitch.
2000 XM VSX 2.1 td Auto. Rouge Magenta.
TGD saloon many years ago.

1990 Swift 'Corniche' 12/2 aka BXClub HQ.
Honda Firestorm. Gone, but not forgotten.
2015 Triumph Tiger Explorer XC.
ba_barabus
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Re: BX Service time

Post by ba_barabus »

Who knew a grade of oil could be so interesting :lol: :lol: :lol:

Thanks for all the info guys. Everything is useful. I'm pretty anal about this stuff so it all has to be ready before I start. Any feedback on what brands of plugs, leads, dist cap or rotor arms to buy? Is there any brands to avoid?
mds141
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Re: BX Service time

Post by mds141 »

Sorry for the thread hijack. :-)
Mark Smith

Is it just me or is everything shit?

1989 BX GTi 16 valve. Blanc Alpine. Completed the Citroen Classic Challenge Ecosse and 1337 miles without a hitch.
2000 XM VSX 2.1 td Auto. Rouge Magenta.
TGD saloon many years ago.

1990 Swift 'Corniche' 12/2 aka BXClub HQ.
Honda Firestorm. Gone, but not forgotten.
2015 Triumph Tiger Explorer XC.
ba_barabus
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Re: BX Service time

Post by ba_barabus »

mds141 wrote:Sorry for the thread hijack. :-)
No hijack it's actually nice to see so many different comments and some good discussion :)

I always worry posting on specific model forums that I won't get a reply as they are either dead or a closed shop to new posters.

Keep up the chat folks :D
ba_barabus
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Re: BX Service time

Post by ba_barabus »

citronut wrote:the engine type plate should be on the forward face of the block at/near the gearbox end

you could send me the chassis/VIN No. and i will run it by service citroen to see if it will give me/you the full characteristics list,
this includes engine/box type/code paint/trim colour/s codes and much much more

regards malcolm
Thanks Malcolm, I'll do this in a couple of weeks when i'm back home and can see the car. I'm currently away from it and it's locked up.
Tinkley
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Re: BX Service time

Post by Tinkley »

KevR wrote:Everyone loves the GSs, but I've always thought they were overrated... Rubbish off road (too big, too heavy), and far too tall for most people, so they lower them, usually mostly at the back, which screws the (admittedly very good) handling. And I don't buy the whole adventure bike look, any more than I approve of the current crop of urban 4x4s. I like my bikes to look like bikes, not as if they'd been designed by a scaffolder and a five year-old, using a faulty Etch-a-Sketch...

Have you guessed I'm not a fan...? :wink:

If I were going to buy a GS, it would be the 800. But I still wouldn't.
Me, I'm looking forward more to the new R1200RS - half-faired, fairly sporty, but practical, like my old 1100RS!

Just found out I'm also off to Palm Springs just before xmas to test to the new Ducati Scrambler. It's a hard life! :lol:
To me most of the big Beemers are too heavy, along with the big touring Hondas. In fact my last Pegaso (ie model 2001) at 170Kg was too heavy, the successor model much better all round. The NordWest was great at 140Kg apart from the inevitable vibration from a big single!. If I was looking for a road machine I think the Aprilia 450 and 550 baby V is an amazing engine - just needs to be in a decent road chassis with 200 mile tank range and centre stand.... :wink:

The KTM big V seems to be a very competent machine and I am more partial to an inline V for a road machine. My old Morini was a brilliant little one, I just don't trust the Ducatis' for things like valve guide life and they have not been designed with good enough access for routine servicing especially for relatively high mileage say 15-20k per year.

BTW I remember the older Ducati 'Scrambler' models especially helping a guy bump start one in Rome....yes it was the 450 single version.. :wink:
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Re: BX Service time

Post by Kitch »

Always surprises me how many people get sucked into thinking synthetic equates to a thinner oil. Yes, most synthetic oils are thinner because modern grades are thinner, as engines are more efficient. But being synthetic doesn't mean the oil is thinner, that's just down to the grade. Some of the thickest oils available are fully synthetic - it won't smoke running 10w60!

Mineral vs. synthetic, there is NO argument at all! Get the grade right, and all the only difference the synthetic product will make is to the wear rate of your engine. The XU engines were designed at a time when most oil was mineral, so they can handle it, but that's like insisting on keeping a CRT TV in your living room as it 'worked fine.' Yes, it will, but a flat screen will be better in pretty much every way! :lol:
One third of a three-spoke BX columnist team for the Citroenian magazine.

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KevR
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Re: BX Service time

Post by KevR »

Tinkley wrote:The NordWest was great at 140Kg apart from the inevitable vibration from a big single!.
I know all about that.... I smashed my arm badly in 1991 (hit by a lorry) and several months later I picked up a Norwest from Benji Straw's place in Croydon. Rode it back to Peterborough, by which time it had vibrated all the screws loose in the metalwork in my arm - realised it was aching and then noticed it had an extra hinge in the middle... Put me back in plaster for another four months! :evil:
1990 BX TZD Estate ('the grey one', 1991 BX TZD Estate ('the white one'), 1982 2CV6 Charleston (in bits), 1972 AZU Serie B (2CV van), 1974 HY72 Camper, 1990 Land Rover 110 diesel LWB, 1957 Mobylette AV76, 1992 Ducati 400SS, 1966 VW Beetle, 1990 Mazda MX-5, 1996 Peugeot 106D, 1974 JCB 2D MkII, 1997 BMW R1100RS, 1987 Suzuki GSX-R1100, 1978 Honda CX500A, 1965 Motobecane Cady, 1988 Honda Bros/Africa Twin, 1963 Massey Ferguson 825, and a lot of bicycles!
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Re: BX Service time

Post by KevR »

Kitch wrote:it won't smoke running 10w60!
Well, it smoked like a bastard on 10w50 full synth, which is what BMW put into it after the 100,000 mile engine strip and rebuild (for the record, after an exclusive diet of mineral oil it was clean as a whistle inside, and with the exception of one cam lobe everything inside was within tolerance for a new engine!). Reverted to mineral 20w50 and it's fine. There are plenty of other bikes around which simply hate full-synthetic oils (quite a lot of modern Hondas, for example) but they're usually clutch problems rather than smoke. I take your point about semi-synth though, and next time oil's on offer in the hypermarché I might consider it. But normally if I'm going to spend twice as much on oil I'll do it by changing it twice as often, following the advice of a Castrol research engineer I interviewed once. He told me that while they spend huge amounts of money trying to make oils last longer before degradation, mainly driven by requirements from manufacturers for longer service intervals, the kindest thing you can do for your engine is to change the oil and filter more frequently, as long before it actually degrades it reaches a point where it simply can't clean itelf any more and it's just recycling the crud around.

Oh, and we had a big CRT telly until someone gave us a flat screen one a couple of months back. The flat one is flat, I'll give you that. And it's big. But the picture's nowhere near as good as the CRT one was... :wink:
1990 BX TZD Estate ('the grey one', 1991 BX TZD Estate ('the white one'), 1982 2CV6 Charleston (in bits), 1972 AZU Serie B (2CV van), 1974 HY72 Camper, 1990 Land Rover 110 diesel LWB, 1957 Mobylette AV76, 1992 Ducati 400SS, 1966 VW Beetle, 1990 Mazda MX-5, 1996 Peugeot 106D, 1974 JCB 2D MkII, 1997 BMW R1100RS, 1987 Suzuki GSX-R1100, 1978 Honda CX500A, 1965 Motobecane Cady, 1988 Honda Bros/Africa Twin, 1963 Massey Ferguson 825, and a lot of bicycles!
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Re: BX Service time

Post by KevR »

mds141 wrote:I've tried the Honda VFR 1200 CrossTourer and it's just too top heavy.
I took one to Slovenia last year, via northern France, Germany and Austria, and back through south and west France. A truly great engine, but I couldn't believe how they could make it so heavy, and as you say, so top heavy. When I got back I took it to a weighbridge and fully fuelled and loaded with my kit and some camera gear it was 320Kg.... I'm a shortarse and I have no idea how I managed not to drop it about a dozen times. They just completely missed the point with that one!
1990 BX TZD Estate ('the grey one', 1991 BX TZD Estate ('the white one'), 1982 2CV6 Charleston (in bits), 1972 AZU Serie B (2CV van), 1974 HY72 Camper, 1990 Land Rover 110 diesel LWB, 1957 Mobylette AV76, 1992 Ducati 400SS, 1966 VW Beetle, 1990 Mazda MX-5, 1996 Peugeot 106D, 1974 JCB 2D MkII, 1997 BMW R1100RS, 1987 Suzuki GSX-R1100, 1978 Honda CX500A, 1965 Motobecane Cady, 1988 Honda Bros/Africa Twin, 1963 Massey Ferguson 825, and a lot of bicycles!
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Tim Leech
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Re: BX Service time

Post by Tim Leech »

Going from experience ive had over 20 BX petrols and have always run them on semi-synthetic oil I get from my work which is a good quality and cheap, never had an issue.
Lots of Motors, mostly semi broken....
ba_barabus
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Re: BX Service time

Post by ba_barabus »

Quick question:

does my BX have a bosch or ducellier (?) ignition system?

I have a VIN number now which I got for it if that would help finding out. Sadly the car is too far away for me to actually pop the bonnet and look.
mds141
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Re: BX Service time

Post by mds141 »

Being a later model, I'd hazard a guess at Bosch. IIRC Ducellier was fitted to earlier models. My 16 valve utilises a Ducelleir set up.
Mark Smith

Is it just me or is everything shit?

1989 BX GTi 16 valve. Blanc Alpine. Completed the Citroen Classic Challenge Ecosse and 1337 miles without a hitch.
2000 XM VSX 2.1 td Auto. Rouge Magenta.
TGD saloon many years ago.

1990 Swift 'Corniche' 12/2 aka BXClub HQ.
Honda Firestorm. Gone, but not forgotten.
2015 Triumph Tiger Explorer XC.
Tinkley
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Re: BX Service time

Post by Tinkley »

KevR wrote: I know all about that.... I smashed my arm badly in 1991 (hit by a lorry) and several months later I picked up a Norwest from Benji Straw's place in Croydon. Rode it back to Peterborough, by which time it had vibrated all the screws loose in the metalwork in my arm - realised it was aching and then noticed it had an extra hinge in the middle... Put me back in plaster for another four months! :evil:
I still have mine, bought 94. It's done just over 80k. Snapped the chain twice, fractured the n/s mirror stalk through vibration, done a water pump, needed barrel replating (63k), done two cush drives, needed the gear selectors changing as the hardening wore through on one - try 7-8k revs in second gear down the A3.. :wink: but otherwise not too bad. Actually quite comfortable but you MUST have a 15t front sprocket (14 is std) and it loves Pirelli Dragons. Anything over 120 miles and your right hand fingers will take er er a few minutes to recover. Rather good fun scraping the pegs around London.... and yes you can, v important to remember to lift the inside foot off the rest.... :wink:

Haven't run into Benji for quite a while. Pass on any regards if you see him, he did have a DS at one time too.

Regarding the BX. You need to check the distributor cap shape to tell you what type it is. My 1.6 has a Bosch cap which confuses the hell out of the autopart suppliers.
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mat_fenwick
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Re: BX Service time

Post by mat_fenwick »

Kitch wrote:Always surprises me how many people get sucked into thinking synthetic equates to a thinner oil.
This! The internet is full of people saying not to run an older engine on a synthetic oil, as it'll just leak it all away.
Kitch wrote:Mineral vs. synthetic, there is NO argument at all! Get the grade right, and all the only difference the synthetic product will make is to the wear rate of your engine.
I'd think that the difference in wear rates would be so small as to be insignificant on a low stressed engine like in most BXs, so my opinion would be that so long as it meets the spec, use whatever makes you feel happier. As for using a thicker oil on a high mileage engine, if it's worn to the extent that oil pressure has dropped then thicker oil may help in the short term. But if it's running fine then why change things?
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