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Engine oil for 1956 ES2

Submitted by simon_amos on Thursday, 26 May, 2011 - 01:00
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Hi

New member.

I have just bought a Norton Cafe Racer. It comprises a Norton Dominator roling chassis and a 1956 ES2 engine. The perosn i bought it from had been running it on Miller's Castrol Blend. When i called into my local motorcycle garage to get some oil, the owner said that this type of oil was mainly used for racing and it does have the tendancy of damaging the rings. Could anyone please recommend a suitable oil that would not be so hard on the piston rings.

I expect you've noticed that i am new to the classic bike scene and fairly inexperianced so I would appreciate any help anyone could give me.

Thanks in advance.

Submitted by michael_sullivan on Friday, 27 May, 2011 - 01:00

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The book calls for SAE 20-50 or straight 30w.

The problem is that the recommendations are for all models including the twins.

I have been running a straight 50w and it gives no problems, although it never gets real cold here in the San Francisco area.

Another bonus to running a straight 50w is that after parking the bike and the oil tank cools off the increases viscosity helps to slow down the wet sumping.

Submitted by richard_payne on Friday, 27 May, 2011 - 01:01

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Previously wrote:

The book calls for SAE 20-50 or straight 30w.

The problem is that the recommendations are for all models including the twins.

I have been running a straight 50w and it gives no problems, although it never gets real cold here in the San Francisco area.

Another bonus to running a straight 50w is that after parking the bike and the oil tank cools off the increases viscosity helps to slow down the wet sumping.

Submitted by richard_payne on Friday, 27 May, 2011 - 01:02

Permalink

Previously wrote:

Previously wrote:

The book calls for SAE 20-50 or straight 30w.

The problem is that the recommendations are for all models including the twins.

I have been running a straight 50w and it gives no problems, although it never gets real cold here in the San Francisco area.

Another bonus to running a straight 50w is that after parking the bike and the oil tank cools off the increases viscosity helps to slow down the wet sumping.

Submitted by tom_mortensen on Saturday, 28 May, 2011 - 01:00

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You can never go wrong with a monograde SAE50 (like Castrol GP50) ina 50ies single. I have used it on my Matchless G80 for 15.000 miles with very good results. If you ride in colder climates you can go down to an SAE30, but here in Scandinavia the SAE50 stays in my bike all year round. Mind you if temperatures drop down towards 0 degrees centigrade, SAE50 turns into a syrup like viscosity, and the engine needs to be kicked over a few times before attempting a start up.

Submitted by albert_sheean on Saturday, 28 May, 2011 - 01:04

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Hello Kevin,

The books I have call for straight 40W in summer and straight 30W in winter, I live in the Los Angeles CA. area and run straight 40W year round, even in the 100+ degree Farenheit weather we get here, I give up before the bike does, the heat sucks the life right out of me.

I believe that oil circulation is as important a source of engine cooling as the finning around the cylinder and head, heavier oil doesn't circulate as rapidly as thinner oil to a degree.

When I first got my 1978 Yamaha SR 500, I ran straight 50W in it because that's what worked in my BSA Gold Star, the oil temperature gauge read almost 190 degrees oil temp! I changed to 20W50 and the temperature dropped almost 30 degrees. The difference was in the rate of oil circulation not the volume, oil flowing more rapidly removes heat from the hot places and cools them down.

I'm not an engineer, these are things I have observed.

Regards,

Albert

P.S. Welcome aboard!

 



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