Hitchcocks Forum

Hi all I am now the owner of a reconditioned(india type)engine and before I fit the unit and ride off into the sunset (and yes we have had some sun here to day)any advice on what oils to use in the engine and final drive as before I fit the engine and and dream of the open road.

Hi Taper,

Congrats on finding a recon. engine. Hope it lives up to your expectations. Asking for lubrication advice, is a whole can of worms. IMHO 20W/50 for engine and ATF for primary drive. As to brand or type, my Seniors will surely give you the benefit of their vast knowledge. With engine oil changes every 3,000km, I would go for a medium priced oil, but treat the engine like new and stick to the recommended Enfield schedule. Good luck, TrevorCH

I'm not going to recommend brands....far too dangerous on here, but what my choice nowadays is to use a high quality monograde oil if your machine has a roller big end, this I would advise for any Classic British single. Monograde oil is far less likely to suffer breakdown from molecular shearing and a roller bearing is an extremely stressed bearing. Only drawback is that around 15-20 mins of use is required before you really rev the bike, as the oil being so thick when cold does struggle to flow easily and one can actually feel the difference in performance. Oil consumption is also greatly improved (less oil burnt. Even with a plain big end you might get some extra wear advantage, but I'm not going to advocate it, and 20-50 multigrade is fine.

Oil is always an emotive subject on any forum. My view is that a big air cooled single with fairly primitive filtration will quickly knock any type of oil to pieces, and so very regular oil changes are imperative. I use a medium quality multigrade oil and change every few months irrespective of mileage. Seems to work so far, but only time will tell.

Only my opinion, in comparison synthetic oil seems to be thinner than mineral oil, therefore must get around the engine and into everything quicker than thick oil would, I use 10/40 semi synthetic deisel oil, not out of personal choice but because thats what I had loads of when i got Bertie and have used it since, with 20k on the clock any no problems I reckon it must be doing its job. As for make, whatever is on special offer at the time, although I will admit to not going for supermarket own brand stuff..just in case. And it gets changed about every 3-4k miles, I dont keep that close an eye on the mileage..ATF in the primary drive..lashings of WD40 all over the bike to clean it with..

As Winkie says, it's an emotive subject and a question about oil is going to get you answers with a huge variety of opinions. That's a good thing, as you can read them and make up your own mind. So........ I follow the idea that the manufacturers know what they're talking about and use their recommended lubricants - 20w-50 in the engine and 10w-30 in the primary. For the 20w-50 I use cheapo supermarket oil (Morrison's used to be the cheapest readily available, but it's Wilkinson's now. Depends on where you live, of course) and change it every 1,000 miles, changing the oil filter every other time. For 10w-30 I originally asked my local open-on-a-Sunday-morning parts factor to get me a litre. He bought in 5 x 1 litre bottles so I made an offer for the lot and got enough for ten changes.

On this regime, the bike runs well, starts first time and I've never had the head off in 22,000 miles from new.

Tom

Not too keen on joining what can be a contentious subject. So I merely state what I do, take it or leave it, won't bother me. ......Auto parts shop 20/50 changed @ 2000 miles (my speedo reads good old Imperial none of that confounded Napoleonic metric sh!t and as for the Euro - a pox on it!). Primary is the same as I put in the BSA A10 and the forks on both - 20W fork oil. Gearbox has been topped up with the same as I put in the A10 box - Straight 50......I like the simple life & that is as simple as I can get it,,,,,,,,,As His Madness says - There ae other opinions. Though mine ain't an opinion it is a fact of my life that I am happy with

I concur Brian. There are after all recommended oils in ancient manuals and there are those we pick after more than 50 years of riding, the more than 50 applies to Bryan not to me.....yet. Looking forward to seeing you at MadMikes Gtahering on 9th September Bryan. I shall post details on this very message board this weekend. Ciao.

Ciao Senor Michele, come sta? Bene?
Ok back to our lingua franca, I will be delighted to attend MadMikes Blathering probably on my way back from the BSAOC branch gathering in the North West Yorkshire Dales, riding the Infamous Bullet of course after all it is a BSA event

-----------Standard Classic 500 iron engine + 4-speed box }----------20/50 in engine ( changed every 2,000 miles with new filter each time. Dammit, they're cheap enough !)... ATF in primary & forks( standard springs). Veedol in g,box. Chain-spray on chain & levers, cables etc. ( It's a graphite lube. )