Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 What engine oil?

Liquid Tea always stirs up the emotions.

I used Valvoline 20/50 racing oil, pleased with it, got added zinc etc. MMC use Morris V twin oil which my local factor can only supply me if I buy a pack of 4 x 5 litres. Not many M3W’s around here so understandable. Whilst at the Factory they sold me 5 litres from their bulk tank, whilst the cost was reasonable they charged £10.00 for the tin! albeit one of those fancy vintage ones from their shop....

My dealer uses Morris Race VTwin 20w-50, so do I.

The big problem with oil recommendations is that basically when people say that they have had great results with any particular oil what they are actually saying is that their engine hasn't catastrophically self destructed in a way that was clearly due to their choice of bad oil.
On the other hand, they might have bought a batch of identical engines, run them all in on their dynamometer, stripped, measured, examined and documented the internals, put them back together then run identical extended duration stress tests on various oils before repeating all the measuring and examination. After a few rounds they might well find a pattern to which oils do what to the engines. The rest of us will keep going by the grade that is suggested by the engine manufacturer, the various approvals that the oil appears to have and the various marketing claims...
I've been using Motul 7100 4T 20W-50 because it comes from an apparently reputable manufacturer, is suggested as being appropriate for air cooled bike engines, I can get it for what strikes me as a reasonable price (incidentally, the S & S recommended Mobil 1 was blindingly expensive in the UK last time I looked) and given that the X-Wedge gets 6 litres of the stuff and has a short oil change interval then the chances of it being in the engine long enough to deteriorate far enough to worry about are low.
There are places that will do a basic analysis of oil for not a huge amount of money per test but you'll need to go through several oil changes to get a feel for what is normal before changing anything anyway, and remember to get each batch of fresh oil tested before it goes into the engine.

So in summary, get some 20W-50 that is sold (at an acceptable price) as appropriate for big air-cooled V-twins, semi or fully synthetic, change it, and the filter as often as you should and the chances of having any oil related problems are distinctly low.

Back when I was mechanicing at the bike racing I had some good discussions with some people who worked for lubricant companies: at the time most, if not all of these companies bought in their carrier fluid which would meet a specification but wasn't necessarily identical one month to the next depending on what was available from the refinery then they blended in an additive pack which was also bought in, checked that the blend was within specification, bunged it into drums and sold the stuff. Several of the companies were all using the exact same additive packs and pretty much the same carrier fluid for their own brand oils. Telling the oils apart is difficult apart from the colouring that might be part of the mix; the Motul stuff is a rich red colour!

Good advise and observation Calum👍

Couldn't have put it any better. I also use the Motul 7100 4T 20W 50 for all the same reasons as you. I contacted Motul some time ago to ask if this oil was the best choice of their products for the S&S X-Wedge and was assured it was more than up to the job.

I have always gone with blue synthetic tyres…. as that seems to answer all the questions.... and my single malt neat

One oil I forgot to mention and should have is the full synthetic Castrol V-Twin high performance. It comes in 20-50wt and I found a retailer that will ship it to my door for less money than in store purchases from other brands.

John,

See your M3W is going to Malaysia. I lived in HK for 30 years and raced in the Asian circuits for good part of that. Raced in KL and in Johore where we garaged the cars for six months out of the year, before doing the circuit of NZ, Thailand, Macau and China.

I ran my 58 +4 there and used Valvoline VR-1 either 40 weight(for heat as you mention) or 20-50 when available. One or the other was readily available and since high in ZDDP for flat tappet engine it was great. BUT assume your M3W will have a catalytic converter so not too good with the ZDDP--or so I am led to believe. I now use VR-1 20-50 here in Arizona for my 58 and 86 + 4's as temps can reach 120 F in August.

In my M3W I use Mobil 1 20-50 V Twin Motorcycle oil and believe this is widely available in Malaysia(the bike boys used it at Shah Alam). In Arizona the Harley guys swear by Mobil 1-use it and change it often is their motto.

I have a business in Vietnam and my son lives in Sing. so am often in Malaysia as well. Good luck with the three wheeler.

Tom

Thanks Toms, i am currently in Perak. With the world wide lockdown, i could be here for some time yet.

Castrol V-Twin is avaiable, so is Motul V-Twin.
A lot can be bought online. Just have to make sure its genuine.

John.