Oil for Old Bikes

Yo AP, I'll be chucking Duckams 20-50 in my 75 Bonnie when finished, (Castrol GTX is also recommended by Manual). It was once mentioned " These things are designed to run on the oils of the day". So I'd be checkin' yer manual out for that reason. That does NOT mean modern oils are not ok, it just made sense to me. There's the "CLASSIC" Oil that bike jumbles sell cheaper than dealers as well. Old Scool, old bike, old oil. My other bikes run modern stuff. CB250 eh had one, enjoy

As regards flushing, would obviously be checking it was ok fer old oil or new oil. I'll probably use some old HD oil I have. Bonnie filter is just a mesh screen heh heh oh the joys eh, I'm tryin to sort out which exhaust tappet blocks (drilled or not) fit which year barrels. Don't believe some of the stuff reported to be "correct", don't want cams starved of oil which can and has happened depending on year.

 

Andy, I've a friend who's into 60's and 70's Honda restorations big style.
Must have over 30 bikes which are as good if not better than when they left the factory, quite a few are on the road and used, not show ponies.
I'll be seeing him on Sunday when we go out for a ride and I'll ask what oil would he recommend or if you want to know sooner I'll ring him.

 

I would have thought back in the day it would have used 10-40 mineral oil but I'll check.
If that was the correct oil then it should be fine now.
In my 1984 Honda cb700 I've used Castrol gtx without any problems.

 

Back in the days of 1970's 'castrol GTX' never had any gradings written on the tin so you never quite knew what you were feeding the vehicle.

 

Had the bike about 6 years so it's the modern castrol gtx

 

I had a 1969 CB250 and always used Castrol GTX.
That is one bike I always regret letting go, blue and white tank and panels.
If you contact Castrol, they will give you the modern alternative.

 

Yer may be right there, just seen an empty Duckhams can fer £15 on Ebay Not ready fer oil yet so may have to be the "Classic" maybe, although BP did say:-

"Duckhams was invented in 1899 by Alexander Duckham and worked with the Morris and Wolsey car manufacturers in the UK.

BP bought Duckhams in about 1970 and promoted its products by sponsoring the Lotus Formula 1 team in 1975, while Hypergrade oil was advertised on TV.

Duckhams is currently sold in the UK, Ireland and Malaysia, although it is no longer widely advertised as BP moves customers towards its Castrol and BP brands." That was in 2011.

 

probably got to consider thinga have moved on. GTX would not have had the friction modifiers that modern car oils have. So unless you can find a 30 year old tin of GTX I would use their modern equivalents of bike and car oils.
Don't know too much about banger triumphs but if the engine was unit with the clutch I would use bike specific oil. If pre unit I would use car oil.
Honda I would use 10/40 semi bike oil

 

Andy, spoke to my friend today and he said that he uses 10/40 grade semi synthetic oil in his jap classics.

If your overly concerned use a bike specific 10/40, but NOT fully synthetic which I'm sure you knew.

He did ask have you cleaned the filter/sieve on the end of the oil pump, most important.

 

I use 10/40 mineral oils as the bikes don't do a lot of miles and it keeps the cost of yearly oil changes down.

 

You can flush out engines by adding a little diesel ! But do it on a warm engine and don't run with a load on ie:- don't ride it just idle/rev it lightly for few minutes then drain it , leave it to drain for a good while ( couple of hours ) I've done this on trucks,cars and bikes. The diesel will dissolve all sorts of stuff built up in motors !

Cheers capt.

 

I've heard of this too as well as using diesel oil as it has detergents built in to it. I have owned a 280 "Brooklands" Capri for nearly ten years and I have never put anything above semi-synthetic in it. I buy all my oils and fluids from Opie Oils who are very reasonable and have some very knowledgeable people who will happily advise you.

I suspect they will tell you that mineral oil will be fine, particularly as a pampered bike, ultimate protection for it would be a semi-synthetic. Call them, they'll still advise you with no pressure to order.