cNw #101 Norton Commando 850

Not just Brit bikes. The air cooled 70s Honda 750 isc1500 miles for an oil change, 3,000 for filter.
A 2005 air cooled bandit is 3750 miles, but they have an oil cooler.

Café au Lait said:

TAKE COVER!!! Threat of derailment to another Oil thread risk!!

I did read the article under ‘Technical’ last week (if that is what is being referred to) and it seemed to me, for road bike use, Mobile 1 and Royal Purple HPS were solid choices. Regardless I’ll defer to Matt in the first instance.

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I'm pretty sure Matt will defer to Jim Comstock's info on that question. You probably have some parts designed and made by Jim on your CNW bike.
Since you are in the UK you have access to Castrol XL. It tested very well and is fairly reasonable in price.


Glen

worntorn said:

I'm pretty sure Matt will defer to Jim Comstock's info on that question. You probably have some parts designed and made by Jim on your CNW bike.
Since you are in the UK you have access to Castrol XL. It tested very well and is fairly reasonable in price.


Glen

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Well I’ve waded through 48 pages of Jim’s tests with great interest, crikey I now need a coffee!
I also had a chat with Matt on the subject. He uses Castrol GTX Classic which for my situation here in the U.K. and non-aggressive riding style and non motorway journeys is probably a very good choice especially with 1000-1500 changes. RP HPS is also a contender and he’s happy with that too; it’ll probably boil down to availability rather than price. I won’t be going down the additive rabbit hole either.

That’s better, a nice Ethiopian Natural

"non-aggressive riding style and non motorway journeys"




Nigel?

Can you help?

JK

Café au Lait said:

Well I’ve waded through 48 pages of Jim’s tests with great interest, crikey I now need a coffee!
I also had a chat with Matt on the subject. He uses Castrol GTX Classic which for my situation here in the U.K. and non-aggressive riding style and non motorway journeys is probably a very good choice especially with 1000-1500 changes. RP HPS is also a contender and he’s happy with that too; it’ll probably boil down to availability rather than price. I won’t be going down the additive rabbit hole either.

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I've also started using Castrol GTX Classic as its similar to the Vr1 Racing oil I have used for twenty years now but about half the price of the VR1. I
I don't think you will find the GTX Classic in the UK however you should have lots of Castrol XL Classic which is very close to the GTX Classic in chemical makeup.
The GTX Classic is a fairly new oil offering here in North America, but it is formulated for our old engines, as are the UK Castrol Classic xl and North American VR1 conventional racing oils

Glen

If EVER there was a group of engines that can benefit from synthetic oil, air cooled motorcycle engines are very high up on the list.

Discuss.

My clubmate managed 128,000 miles over 45 years on his 850 with conventional oil. At that point the engine was still in good shape for rebuilding. The crank got a grind and went back in. The cam and followers looked good and could have gone back in but he went for a new cam and put a grind on the followers.
All bearings ran smooth but he replaced with new due to the high mileage.
After seeing that result I'm not sure that synthetic oil is needed.
It probably can't hurt, provided you pick one that tested well. Quite a few synthetics did not test well.

Glen

I'll add that he also believes in changing the oil frequently. He used various oils along the way but never ran them much over 1500 miles between changes.

Glen

Is this the start of a new set of tracks for post derailment to oil town. If so, I'm all in.

I got into Mobile 1 in the 80's when it was $1.50US a quart at Target. It was cheaper than Golden Spectro. Was it any better? Heck if I know. It sure smelled different though.

Later I started using Velo 15-40 mixed with various synthetic oils. Now with only the old P11 left, I blend 20-50 conventional with Lucas high zinc 10-40. Works for me. Not recommending anyone do anything I do though. I'm not that much into the science to be able to justify what I feel like trying.

That said our 2005 Prius always has 0-20 Mobile 1 synthetic put in it. That and I have been the mechanic since it was new. It has well over 200K miles on it and doesn't smoke or lack for power. Oil changes are much longer between than I would ever do on a motorcycle. Must be the battery assist that helps that little Prius motor last. The Prius paint looks like shite though. Always parked outdoors.

Time to stop my train wreck of thought.

I use Castrol because RP costs more and I hate dumping expensive oil at 1k. The Castrol does get dark fairly quickly though.
Hard to tell with the RP!

Fantastic news!

The journey has begun. cNw #101 is on his way home exactly 50yrs after leaving the factory
Luckily for me ‘Arnie’ is headed west!!






Rear lens removed for safety and that saddle won’t be loose either.

Now the long wait.

I’ll be back.

Once it's on the boat you can while away the weeks watching its journey across The Pond
I had this pleasure last year as I watched my Ducati make its way under the Golden Gate Bridge, through the Panama Canal etc...
Things got weird when it diverted to the Azores for 3 days due to mid-Atlantic storms.
when it finally arrived in Southampton the shipping agents got it delivered in a very respectable time.

Whilst we wait for my ship to arrive, here’s some bike porn to ogle.



Last shots before crating.

When my Vincent Rapide was shipped from Oz to Canada it disappeared for three months. The shipping company didn't know where it was. Afterward I learned that the container ship it had been loaded on broke down and had to be towed into a port in Malaysia for emergency repairs. The containers were all unloaded so the bike sat in the container on a dock in Malaysia for 3 months.
Of course I had paid in full for the bike.
My wife enjoyed telling me that I would be getting a crate with just a pair of rusty handlebars inside!
Eventually the bike arrived and it looked perfect. I pulled it out of the crate, checked oil, put in some fuel and it started first kick and idled perfectly ( chokes on )

Hopefully your ocean shipping experience will be less of a nail biter than mine was.
I've done air shipping since and that is the way I'll continue. It costs a wee bit more but gets the ordeal over with quickly.

Glen

Yeah, thanks for that! At least it’s not on the Dali, eh?

Just hope it don't end up being one of many containers that seen to fall overboard in rough seas, so many floating around in the oceans these days, hope it's on the bottom stack.

ashman said:

Just hope it don't end up being one of many containers that seen to fall overboard in rough seas, so many floating around in the oceans these days, hope it's on the bottom stack.

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I got sent a few of those videos by 'friends' when mine was on its way

With all of the ocean shipping done for various events, the local Vincent club bikes have all made it to their destinations eventually.
Two hundred or so Brits and Europeans shipped over for the International Vincent rally in Canada 2003 then most of the same group went again to OZ in 2007. All of the bikes made it safely to the rallies and home again.
One shipment arrived for the Oz rally about a month after the rally.
Now you have to pay to ship them home again having totally missed the rally! There were some angry owners but nothing could be done, there were no time guarantees on the shipping.

Glen

Café au Lait said:

Yeah, thanks for that! At least it’s not on the Dali, eh?

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Simon, I just read through this thread and wanted to congratulate you on your purchase (and good luck with it's voyage over the pond).

As stated by everyone that knows him, Matt is an expert and his knowledge of his machines is rather amazing. I was talking with him last month while ordering more parts for my rebuild and mentioned that I had been at Daytona this year and went to the "Nortona Rally" during bike week. I saw cNw bike #144 there (which sounded fantastic and looked even better). Matt immediately knew the bike and it's owner.

One slightly sad note in looking at the video of the 2018 tall timbers rally footage; at about the 8:14 mark or so appears Tom Kullen's Dunstall 750cc racer #44. Tom was friend who I met through the Utah Norton owners club when I moved here in 1991. Sadly, he passed away in 2020 after a long battle with cancer. Tom was a great guy who was very active in the Park City community and actually managed to put on a weekend of vintage racing back in 1999 that ran through the streets of Park City. It ran around the golf course and greatly upset some of the locals who had to find something else to do for one weekend. The Horror!

Sorry for being long winded. Can't wait to see pictures of #101 when it arrives on your shores.