engine oil

[LOUD MOUSE]

MINERAL BASED. ............lm

I made a mistake, its actually 20-50, but I think it will be OK.
his is the stuff, I don't think its anything special.

[roadrunner]

i'll have to try the 20/50 i know when i had my harley that's all you used.the 20/40 seem's that's all the Victory motorcycle's use.

[LOUD MOUSE]

It's not a HARLEY. .........lm

i'll have to try the 20/50 i know when i had my harley that's all you used.the 20/40 seem's that's all the Victory motorcycle's use.

[roadrunner]

ok loud mouse i understand it's not a Harley,it seem's you have owned your 305 for some time what grade of oil do you use.i'm new with these classic's so i need all the help i can get.

[LOUD MOUSE]

I use 30W Non Det from NAPA.
Now you will receive many reply's as to why not to use it but that's what I use and you asked. ......lm

ok loud mouse i understand it's not a Harley,it seem's you have owned your 305 for some time what grade of oil do you use.i'm new with these classic's so i need all the help i can get.

[roadrunner]

Thxs Loud mouse now i know what i can use with no problem's finding it.

[masonmart]

If you have an early 60's CB then it recommended a ND straight 30 because that was what was available then. That oil is now referred to as hinge lubricant which is a valid description because it was not suitable for a bike run in the 21st century. The later CB's specified a 10-30 or 20-40 multi-grade detergent oil which was again based on the best oil available at the time. My own opinion is as follows; if you can't think past 1964 then you should continue to use a 30 grade ND oil and change the oil every 300 miles. The multi-grades are much better oils if you don't run the bike in a constant temperature climate which none of us do and a detergent oil is much better than a ND because it holds microscopic particles in suspension and they get drained out when you change the oil not stay in the engine as sludge and an oil filter will not improve this. The very best oil to use would be a modern multi-grade fully synthetic of the non power retaining type and with this you could probably extend the change intervals to as much as 4000 miles. There is nothing inherent in the design of a CB77 engine that says you can't use a modern oil and they are much, much better than 1960's oil. This is of course heresy to some and I must admit that I compromise, I use a readily available 20-50 classic oil and change at 1000 miles when the oil is indistinguishable from new and the oil filter has no separated solids at all. As that is a year's mileage then it's probably good to change then.

Semi synthetic is no better than a correctly specified non-synthetic so I'd say that if you do a lot of very hard miles then use a fully synthetic modern oil and if not then use a classic 20-50 as I do. The last thing you should do is use a straight 30 ND oil as specified in the early 1960's. There is more bullshit spouted about motorcycle oils than possibly any other motorcycle myth of which there are millions. All you have to recognise is that oil got infinitely better over the years and that CB77's aren't immune to progress only CB77 owners and mechanics.

If you want the background to this then see the links on an earlier thread or google it yourself. I'll provide the links if needed.

Accepting changing oil every 300 miles? You have to if you use a 30 grade oil. It means I can't use my CB77 to go to see my folks 200 miles away, it is absolutely ridiculous. If it is that bad we should refuse to use it.