Hitchcocks Forum

Good day, can someone please advise me the "today oil" brands and grades to suit my 1988 RE India made Bullet. I live in Australia and have recently purchased a bike with 500 genuine kilometres and want to change all of the oils!
Many thanks for some advice,

Any 20/50 motor oil for the engine, for the primary chain case, Automatic Transmission Fluid, type F for Fords, as this is supposed to have fewer friction modifiers (more grip) than others and can withstand very high temperatures. After all this time without use, you might find that the clutch plates are stuck together and will need disassembling and cleaning with petrol.

There will be as many answers as there are brands of oil so here's mine.



For me, brand is unimportant. The change interval is short, they tend to run cool and the engine oil isn't getting mullered through a motorcycle clutch and gearbox like on modern bikes. For the same reason, the (in my oppinion very tenuous) reasons people give for using a "motorcycle specific" oil don't hold water for pre-unit motorcycles.



So, they usually specify multigrade 20w-50 and this is what I use when I can find it. It's getting harder to fidn now as it's used in older vehicles but the grade is sufficiently good for the bike. I don't go out of my way to find it though, in the UK you can buy "specialist" 20w-50 for older vehicles but it's expensive, I go for the big plastic drum from an agricultural suppliers. Usually comma brand but again, I'm not fussy, I strongly suspect it all comes out of the same tap.



In the UK, a lot of people use 15w-40 because it's easier to find and often for very ill defined/thought out reasons like someone has convinced them they need to use a "motorcycle specific" oil (you'll struggle to find a 20w-50 with a picture of a motorbike on the bottle). However, you live somewhere hot so the slightly higher viscosity might suit you better. I do notice that when it's very cold here (minus figures) the 20w-50 can get extremely viscous. So for the winter I'll sometimes switch to 10w-40.



In fairness, mine in particular seems to use a hell of a lot of oil (particularly before I put the styandard oil pumps back in) so for a while I was throwing pretty much any engine oil I had lying about in there. I doubt it makes much difference to be fair. Better to use cheap oil and change it frequently than to use expensive oil and be reluctant to change it.



One thing that occurred to me in all this is that they DO burn oil and a lot more so than modern bikes. When I drain my bullet the oil is black, when I drain my honda, it doesn't look much different to when it was put in there. So to my mind, a diesel engine specific oil makes a lot of sense. These have a much higher level of detergent in them.



Primary drive. As our hosts suggest, I use ATF in the primary on my bullet and double the change interval because ATF is designed to take a hammering and tends not to froth up. I also use ATF in the forks for the same reason.



The gearbox is full of 00 grade grease, you top up the level with engine oil. Changing the grease is a deeply unpleasant job I avoid like the plague. In facrt, I've never routinely done it, I have had to go into the gearbox of my bike to fix something twice so far, I did the grease at the same time.

SILKOLENE Ester Semi Synthetic V-TWIN 20W-50 Motorcycle Engine Oil.
According to an article written by one expert has all the properties and additives exactly suited for this particular RE engine - even though it's not a V-twin!

I use 20/50 oil that I buy from Coles or Woolworths for my 1964 Royal Enfield 350 Bullet. I have had no trouble at all. I use automatic transmission oil that I buy from Supercheap for in the primary cover. The clutch is very good and I get no slippage from the clutch plates. My motorcycle does not use very much oil at all between changes. The motors on the early iron barrel RE are really an unsophisticated and simple motor from a 1955 design. Modern oils even the cheaper brands are better than what was available in 1955.

Hi Guys------yep !!, it's that old, hoary chestnut yet again }-- "What Oil shall I use" ??.......

Here's a bit of "Bed-time reading" for you........ http://www.kewengineering.co.uk/Auto_oi ... lained.htm .......

Hello mate. I dont normally dive into the "which oil/tyres" discussions, but given we both live in a similar climate, hotter than our UK friends, I'll share my observations. I use HPR30 in both engine and primary case. It's listed by Penrite as a 20/60, so I'm mindful of cold start pressures and ride accordingly. It handles summer heat well, and keeps the engines' mechanical clatter to a minimum. I realise the last statement is subjective, but compared to lighter oils tried, the HPR30 is quieter in this engine. (motor has Hitchcocks longer crank, modified head, cams, etc). Regards Paul.

I use Morris V Twin 20/50 in the engine and chaincase.

Smith and Allan Classic 20w50. £50 incl VAT and delivery for 20 litres.

In New Zealand I used straight 50 for quite a while but it turned out that as the Indian motors have no proper pressure release valve it was causing the pump spindle to slip creating a very annoying clack noise. I now use Castrol GTX or any other 20/50 on sale. You don't want synthetics as they are too slippery for roller bearings. Change regularly and keep topped up.