I went and looked at a 650SS today. After some 25 years sleep it needed some air in the tyres, some petrol and oil plus a fresh battery. The owner kicked it and it started on third kick. It ran smooth and no alarming noises, so I bought it. As far as I can remember the Domi 99 I had in the sixties got SAE 50 straight mineral oil. What oil do you suggest this bike shall get?
No one answer to the oil q…
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Thank you for your kind an…
Thank you for your kind answer. Back in those days I mostly fixed other peoples Triumph engines where wet sumping never was an issue because they always drained their crankcases by themselves. As we said, if there is no oil puddle under a Triumph, there is a serious fault. So next question, wat will happen if you run an engine with a lot of oil in the crankcase?
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The answer to your last qu…
The answer to your last question is simple Mikael. Firstly, the excess oil will be pumped out of the crankcase breather, probably over your garage floor! Secondly you will now have less oil in the system. Always check the oil level when the engine is warm, and any excess has been pumped out of the sump. Unless the oil pump is badly worn, wet sumping should not occur if the engine is run regularly (at least for five minutes a week).
If laying up, drain the oil when the engine is hot, there should be little oil in the sump (to be sure, remove the drain plug). Norton recommended 20/50 oil. For normal use, this should be fine.
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No one answer to the oil question,Mikael,
It depends where you live but I wouldn't use SAE 50 in the winter unless you live in a warm climate. Perhaps it is Spring were you live? My own 650 runs on non detergent SAE 40 all year, topped up with a bit of SAE 30, non detergent round about this time of year. (If it was running)
On the other hand I run my commando these days on 20/50 and goes well on it. However, that does have an oil filter. Other choices have been suggested such as 15/50. I don't think there is one answer.
As far as petrol is concerned, you should use E0, Ethanol free petrol to avoid problems caused by this solvent to original parts in the fuel system. This includes rubber needle tips, plastic floats in the carb(s), fuel lines, the petrol tap and corrosion and phase separation in the tank. BP Ultimate is your best bet in most parts of the country, for now anyway.
Given the length of time the bike has been standing, I would recommend an in line fuel filter.
I only hope that the bike was kicked over for 10 minutes or 3 minutes with the plugs out before trying to start it to ensure oil circulation returning to the tank. If it hadn't wet sumpedin 25 years that would be a miracle but you did say fresh oil.
I'd buy some new tyres if I were you.
Good luck.