recently came into a C twin that the owner had run with cheveron 20-50. After reading this site, not sure if a quality 10-40 might be better? Any problems with the slightly heavier grade?
ET: Engine (Twin) oil
- Thread starter myron sheldon
- Start date
Myron,
I don't believe you would have any serious problems with the Chevron 20W50. I would tend to go with the oil that is most convenient for you to use that fits the bill. I think Phil Irving's advice to use lower viscosity is fine, but I think the newer multigrades are quite a lot better than what Phil knew.
If you believe that the bulk of the wear happens on start up, and you are not touring, I suspect a 5W20 of good quality would work fine.
If you are worried about high film strength for your flat tappets, then you would need a slightly more specialized oil like Amsoil 5W20, which is rated in the "incredible" division for film strength.
If you are just mildly concerned about these things, run what is convenient and has a good reputation.
When I was touring I dumped in anything the gas station had on the shelf of any viscosity and I had no wear issues. At this age the bike will outlast us as long as there is any oil in it.
I think the folks who should be most interested in oil are the ones who are racing. They are always doing stupid things like running at wide open throttle for three miles and the like. Also, folks like Greg who are looking for consistency and reliability, including good starting. If a customer has some problems, sticking with a well proven oil can eliminate a lot of questions making the diagnosis much easier.
David
I don't believe you would have any serious problems with the Chevron 20W50. I would tend to go with the oil that is most convenient for you to use that fits the bill. I think Phil Irving's advice to use lower viscosity is fine, but I think the newer multigrades are quite a lot better than what Phil knew.
If you believe that the bulk of the wear happens on start up, and you are not touring, I suspect a 5W20 of good quality would work fine.
If you are worried about high film strength for your flat tappets, then you would need a slightly more specialized oil like Amsoil 5W20, which is rated in the "incredible" division for film strength.
If you are just mildly concerned about these things, run what is convenient and has a good reputation.
When I was touring I dumped in anything the gas station had on the shelf of any viscosity and I had no wear issues. At this age the bike will outlast us as long as there is any oil in it.
I think the folks who should be most interested in oil are the ones who are racing. They are always doing stupid things like running at wide open throttle for three miles and the like. Also, folks like Greg who are looking for consistency and reliability, including good starting. If a customer has some problems, sticking with a well proven oil can eliminate a lot of questions making the diagnosis much easier.
David
My twin has been happy with 20/50 for the last 10 years or so.
David, sticking (pun!) with the Amsoil 5W20 as it is fully synthetic what do you think of the claims that synthetics are too slippery for roller big ends because they slide instead of rolling and get squared off
I was reading something the other day *(which could be anytime in the last 6 months) and it was about breaking in a new engine with roller bearings in it, Not sure if it was big ends or mains but the article stated that it should do at least 3K miles on fossil oil before even thinking about synthetic.
Now that was of no help at all was it!
I have run 20/50 in all my Vincents for ever and not been aware of any oiling issues. The Woolly Rapide is about 70K miles since the last major, and seems to be just fine......
Now that was of no help at all was it!
I have run 20/50 in all my Vincents for ever and not been aware of any oiling issues. The Woolly Rapide is about 70K miles since the last major, and seems to be just fine......
Thanks to all for these replies, I got spooked by an earlier discussion on oil and black magic. See all in Texas and on the road.
Tim,
Carleton started using synthetics in the two race bikes around 1995. Neither of us have had any problems. I know Patrick Godet insists on break-in with non synthetic oil. I have never done that. It is certainly possible that we are doing something unusual (and unbeknownst) that is allowing us to avoid trouble.
As for being too slippery, I have never seen a bearing failure analysis that list being to slippery as the cause of bearing failure. Most of them say "loss of lubrication" instead. I also think that the chances of skidding or smearing occur with shallow bearings rather than deep grove bearings, which may be why there are few problems. Finally, I think the rpm's are often too low to cause a lot of problems.
Myron,
Best of luck! You can't go wrong using oil!
David
Carleton started using synthetics in the two race bikes around 1995. Neither of us have had any problems. I know Patrick Godet insists on break-in with non synthetic oil. I have never done that. It is certainly possible that we are doing something unusual (and unbeknownst) that is allowing us to avoid trouble.
As for being too slippery, I have never seen a bearing failure analysis that list being to slippery as the cause of bearing failure. Most of them say "loss of lubrication" instead. I also think that the chances of skidding or smearing occur with shallow bearings rather than deep grove bearings, which may be why there are few problems. Finally, I think the rpm's are often too low to cause a lot of problems.
Myron,
Best of luck! You can't go wrong using oil!
David
The other issue that I've seen on many roller bearing cranks both road and race and not just Vincent cranks is the big ends have too tight a tolerance. You grab the rod at the little end and can feel little or no rocking, suggesting that the clearance at the big end is too little. We disassemble, hone out the big end eye (which is usually out of round even on an assembly just previously done) and reassemble. I would say any roller type big end with too tight a tolerance would be more likely to suffer a failure from the rollers skidding if the set up does not allow room for lubrication. Cheers.............Greg.
Re post number one regarding 10w/40, I use this in all my bikes, new or old, and a couple of classic cars. The crucial factor is the spec of the oil. I always buy (modern) motorbike specific oil which is for gearboxes in the sump. The thinking being if it can stand 120bhp going through a gearbox it will put up very well with roller bearings. Shell Advance VSX has taken my VFR 80,000 miles and it's like new inside.
I cannot claim to do those mileages on a Vin though ! but when I changed from 20/50 to the 10/40 VSX the Rapide felt liberated, good enough , thought I.
Regards, Terry.
I cannot claim to do those mileages on a Vin though ! but when I changed from 20/50 to the 10/40 VSX the Rapide felt liberated, good enough , thought I.
Regards, Terry.