Oil in frame commando

batrider said:

Oil bag?

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Slang for oil tank

The oil tank is about the only place that I've never had leakage from on any British bike.
On a Commando it weighs just over 3 pounds.
If you are attempting to build a lightweight Commando, 3 lbs is a fairly large number.
If you are riding a stock bike, 3 lbs one way or the other isn't much.
The potential for slag or other damaging bits getting into the engine with after the fact homebrew OIF worries me.
I did build the Egli with OIF but it was all new tubing and I made sure the weld purge was effective with a trial run on scrap tubing.

Glen

With a tank and all other engine components -- easy to clean out swarf or gunk or just replace. With in-frame oil you better have a good filter on the inlet side. And about the weight -- rode bicycles for many years and still do. Anybody know what "drillium" is, or "unobtanium"? I remember seeing components weaker than they ever should be just to shave ounces -- heck, just to save a few grams! -- and a rider 10 pounds and much more overweight. If you're going for a land speed record or "this is the big race! on the world stage" maybe shave a pound. After all it's the big one! And you don't have time to go on a diet. So I'm still not convinced except for extra oil capacity and cooler running oil. And just plain "coolness".

I could really help mine out by losing about 30#, but the bike and I shall just have to make do because I'm not giving up eating foods I like at this stage of life. Reminds me got an old AC unit and need to start on her oil cooler she was promised for Christmas.... So we both remain plump.... I do wish the stock tanks had at least a 1qt. higher capacity, but that puts things back to how's it going to fit in there without interference which leads to OIF again in search of opening up space.

I've not put the calculator to it but at a glance the center frame support appears to have perhaps a bit more capacity than the tank. I think maybe I'll punch it up if I can get off my rear and walk 20' and look..... Lot of effort though.

Nope.

worntorn said:

The oil tank is about the only place that I've never had leakage from on any British bike.
On a Commando it weighs just over 3 pounds.
If you are attempting to build a lightweight Commando, 3 lbs is a fairly large number.
If you are riding a stock bike, 3 lbs one way or the other isn't much.
The potential for slag or other damaging bits getting into the engine with after the fact homebrew OIF worries me.
I did build the Egli with OIF but it was all new tubing and I made sure the weld purge was effective with a trial run on scrap tubing.

Glen

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They can insert a fibre optic into the finished tank to ensure it's not full of "slag or other damaging bits" as you put it.

Bernhard said:

That would be so cool that is until you get an oil leak that puts it all over your back tyre.

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In case you haven't ridden anything later than 1980, oil leaks are pretty much a thing of the past.

concours said:

I weld repaired two OIF Triumphs, the swing arm pivot to main spine was cracked. Both bikes had high miles, one was 75,000. Like Bernhard’s post, the rear wheel was getting misted.

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I went the opposite way with mine, Dave Degens cut the swing inning arm pivot tube out of the frame altogether, welded a new pivot tube to the swinging arm and a scallop to the frame to clear it. Impossible to reoccur.