if you ride hard and want them to last, use the best oil you can afford. Modern bikes are very different to our old hondas. Run an old air cooled bike hard for a long time you get heat soak and oil breaks down.
The difference between cheap oil and good oil is not under normal circumstances - it's when you stress it. Seizied pistons are not uncommon on a long hard ride.
Top speed....Took a 360 mile jaunt to the beach in 1969 trying to keep up with a 650 Triumph, a TR-6, and a Studebaker Hawk on my 305 Super Hawk. We were wide open most of the way with no problems.
I do remember slowing down to what I thought was a crawl to enter a gas station with a gravel parking lot and sliding past the pumps in a cloud of dust. Next day the whole bike was seized by local authorities, but that was a different problem! 66 dream, 78 cb750k, 02fz1, 09 wing
My 1965 CB77, long since opened out to 350 and running a Reid Titan cam was officially timed at 94.7 miles per hour over a flying quarter mile way back in the 1970s. 5th September 1970. Just found the certificate. Also nearly 60,000 miles on the speedo. This was 1/4 second short of 100mph and the fastest Triumph Bonneville only did 105 mph on the day.
Leon. still only one owner from new ZDDPZDDP (Zinc Dialkyl Dithio Phosphate) was added to motor oils for about 70 years to prevent wear in areas of metal to metal contact (zinc and phosphate are atracted to heat). A couple years ago the EPA passed a regulation prohibiting it. Apparently they felt it wasn't really needed anymore because of the move to roller cams in modern engines. So much for the rest of your motor.
It will extend engine life, particularly for flat tappet engines - like a 305. I hesitate to bring this up because this thread is about cruising speed for a 305, not another discussion about 30wt non-detergent oil vs. synthetics. Most motor oils you buy today won't have it, but you can buy it as an additive. I have found some oils for diesel motors that still do contain ZDDP. You can read the label and it will tell you whether it is there or not. The point is that if you are going to run at high rpm's for an extended period, you probably want to have ZDDP in your crank case. It is probably a good idea to use it all the time to reduce engine wear even if you are not cruising at high rpm's. Whether you buy an additive or buy oil with ZDDP already in it doesn't matter but it is probably cheaper to buy oil with ZDDP already in it. Top Speed - SUPER HAWKWell, I've got a story too. Back in the day, after trading up from a Honda C110 (50cc) to a CB77 Super Hawk back in 1964 when I was 15 years old and weighed 130 lbs - living at Tyndall AFB in Panama City - Florida (Sea Level 0 Feet) I personally had this experience. 1963 CB77; Race Valve Spring Upgrade, reverse cone - open / jetted megaphones. Tuned by Coker Honda Shop - Panama City Florida. Between the firing range of east Tyndall AFB and Mexico Beach - Fla city limits with a fly weight rat on board - the Black / Chrome screamer pegged both opposing needles over 14 flat straight two lane miles in 7 minutes 43 seconds. When you got to Mexico Beach in the day - all you got was gas and a Coke because nothing else was there. True Story - RW
Really? These bikes cruise at 60-65 as a good cruising speed? I was reading some older magazine articles and they all said even though its a 305, it could keep up with some of its 500cc british rivals back in the day? Maybe those writers were too optimistic? By no means was i asking for the Hawk to be my daily driver to and from work which is 30 miles one way. Just wanted to know if it could handle weekend rides on the fwy to get me to and from them Mountain twisties!:)
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