oil reccommendations

[chris wastell]

With the demise of Silkolene super Two 30 can someone reccommend an alternative please? I saw that Miller oils do one that costs £11 odd plus VAT a litre. Is there a cheaper alternative…anyone? 😥

[dave bushell]

Chris
My bikes are quite happy running on Castrol GP50 and have been for the last 25 years or so, summer and winter. I only pay about £13.00 a gallon!

[chris wastell]

Dave, I thought I had posted a reply! Don’t know where it could have gone though. What you say is very interesting. Do you add any two stroke oil at all? what plugs do you use? I use NGK BHE6 and these still oil up sometimes when I get stuck in the wrong conditions. What do you have the pump set at? Incidentally, I take it you have a crankcase mounted pump. More info would be gratefully received. Thanks,
Chris

[dave bushell]

Hi Chris
Sorry for the delay in replying – holidays sometimes get in the way of Scotting!
To answer your questions in the order asked :-
No, I don’t add any two stroke oil.
I use Champion N6YC plugs.
Oil supply is 1drop every 6 pulsations. This ratio hasn’t caused me any problems, probably because my engines are well worn, although my ’38 Prototype Clubman Scott has recently been bored 0.080″ oversize with new pistons, I cruise it at 50 – 60 mph at present until I get a few more miles on the clock.
The pump is crankcase mounted.
Hope that helps.
Dave

[chris wastell]

Thanks for the info, Dave.

[Colin Hough]

Chris & Dave,

Just for the record, one of our local (Hertfordshire) Scott experts, Glyn ‘Potty’ Chambers (address in back of Yowl – he is not on the internet), specialises in supplying oil for vintage bikes, particularly Scotts. He recommends Silkolene Comp 2 Injector for the drip feed and also ‘some’ of the Silkolene Comp 2 Pre-mix in the petrol. For a Pilgrim pump on direct drive he recommends one drop per 6 pulses (which is less than originally on what was the oil around when they were made) and one per three if using a reduction gear, both based on the engine running at tick-over.

Just for the information, on my original 1959 Scott I had in the mid ’60’s the instruction at that time was to use 15 drops per minute at tick-over with what was then ‘standard’ engine oil (my guess this would be grade 30) plus an ‘egg cup’ per gallon in the tank. However, the current expectation is that with synthetic oils on normal ‘green lane’ VMCC type running, less is required for the drip rate. However, if racing like Roger Moss does, then he recommends Castrol R.

Again from my mid ’60’s experience, running fast (at that time 75 mph on a motorway for over an hour), a higher rate was required as I managed to seize an engine by not turning up the rate.

Not sure if this is any help, but when I tried to go through the Technicalities to sort out the oil and rate I got very frustrated with all of the differing ideas & recommendations!!! I now buy my oil from Potty and generally follow his advice, possibly using a slightly higher oil rate, but I have to keep cleaning my plugs – can anyone advise the best NGK plug to use???

Colin

[chris wastell]

Thanks Colin. Someone else said he was using the Silkolene Comp 2 injector as well. There is no reference to it’s viscosity on the container which was what threw me. What you say is very interesting. Incidentally I use NGK 6BE plugs. They can oil if I get very stuck in heavy traffic, waiting for horses etc. but generally do the job.
Chris

[Roger Moss]

Carl Stormer in Norway recently advised us that he is using NGK 5 range plugs. I prefer to use Iridium or Platinum point versions, as they burn the oil off the electrode more successfully.
Kind Regards
Roger

[chstorm]

Dear Chris,

There must be as many views on oils and Pilgrim settings as there are Scott owners. Here is my contribution for what it’s worth.

I have two Scotts, one 600cc DPY from 1936, and one 500cc DPZ from 1938.

The 1936 model has been tuned by Roger Moss, with High-compression head and other improvements (balanced flywheel, improved gas flow etc.). Following Roger’s recommendation I run the Pilgrim as well as the gearbox on Castrol R40, 1 drop in 7 Pilgrim adjustment. In addition I add ca. 2.5% Castrol R40 well mixed with the petrol in the tank.

The 1938 model is to original specifications. I have so far not mixed oil with the petrol, but use Castrol R40 for the Pilgrim pump, 1 drop in 5. It has seemed to work well under ordinary conditions. Based on experience with fast driving, I will probably add a little oil to the petrol in the future. Castrol R40 makes a lovely exhaust smell, but only for those old enough to remember the Speedway atmosphere of old. The smoke emitted will however easily irritate those who are not initiated, and confirm some people’s prejudices against the smoking Scotts.

“Potty” once pointed out as his personal opinion that water-cooled detachable heads over-cool in normal use, and that softer spark plugs should be used. The Moss High-compression head uses long-reach 14mm plugs, which therefore have a large cooling surface. I started out with NGK plugs in the 7-range which soon caused misfiring, changed to 6-range which behaved better, but not perfectly. I am now using NGK BP 5 E, soon to be exchanged with NGK-BKR5EIX (Iridium electrodes). The 5-range seems so far to be correct, and can be recommended.

Kind regards,

Carl

[efr215]

This may be of more interest to owners of Scotts who are “over the pond” because, despite promises from the top, supplies in the UK are “difficult” but then I have not tried too hard as I have a quantity to hand.

I am referring to Bardhal 2-stroke oil. I have to admit that I have never used it in a Scott. I do use it however in a Moto Rumi scooter. OK, Sneer if ‘yer like, but it’s a design that I rather think Mr. Scott would have approved of.

Many moons ago the first of these little bikes that I owned, according to the manufacturer’s specifications, required a petrol/oil ratio of 12:1. The result was a smoke trail worthy of Lofty Avis in an alpine valley and a fortnightly decoke. It also had a tendency to nip up when abused, (which was all the time), requiring a rapid de-clutch and a short period of coasting. Very annoying when burning off the odd Lambretta, Tiger Cub, Bantam, etc.

I then discovered Bardhal, the instructions on the tin said to use a 40:1 mix. The result was no more excessive smoke and it never ever tightened up again. Thirty odd years later I still use it on the one I have now, I’ve never found anything better.

That was/is of course a petroil mixture but I understand that there is also a version intended for metered pump machines. If anyone can get a drop I’d be interested to hear how they get on.

[Ian Parsons]

For the last year I have been using Silkolene Comp 2 in my TT Replica and for the last 6 months in my 2 Speeder. I have found that one can reduce the number of drips to the engine in both cases. There is an absence of smoke once under way and the engine sounds sharper. Both bikes ran well in the track sessions at Mallory when they were being worked harder than in road use. The oils is expensive £18 for 4 litres but not a significant cost for the mileage I ride.

On the 2 Speeder this oil also lubricates the 2 Speed gear. I have heard some people say that you should not use synthetic oil in the 2 Speed gear as it causes it to slip. In my case it enables a smooth take up in low gear. I only lubricate it with about 1/2 a pumpful every 30 miles and this seems ok. When I rebuilt the 2 speed gear 12 years ago I used needle roller bearings for the drums and thrust races. The hub bearings still use cup and cone bearings. I had to partially dismantle the gear after this year’s Banbury Run and found a sheared pivot pin, apart from that everything was in perfect condition.

[Author]

Posts