BSA A65 Lightning Primary chaincase oil

An old non-computer literate friend has the above bike and wants to know
the correct oil for the primary chain case.
Some say engine oil....others auto transmission fluid.
He recently topped up the oil and found he could no longer turn the
engine over on the kick start.
Any help gratefully received.

 

what did he put in it?

has to be possible that it's fought with what's in there.

consensus here (mind, neither me nor Father has ever had an A65) is engine
oil, on the basis that sooner or later you'll get a leak one way or the
other

when he says "can't turn it over" is this "it feels a bit stiff" or "it's
locked solid"?

too-heavy oil might be a problem, but I doubt engine oil comes into that
category. EP90 or something might.

 

I wonder if it shoud be lighter? From memory my Norton takes 30 in the
primary and 80/90 in the gearbox.

 

Well, with the Bonnevile I had at one point, it was engine oil. With a
wet clutch you really do not want something with high viscosity like
EP90.


Ken Young

 

I wouldn't recommend it for road use but I ran a racing sidecar outfit (750
Suzuki two-stroke triple) with EP-90 in the transmission for 3 seasons. It
was a bitch to free the clutch first thing in the morning but, after that,
it worked fine. It ran the same clutch plates for the entire three seasons,
which is more than I can say for just about every other engine component.

T.

 

Probably the oil is too thick (heavy) or he may have just put too much in
and it has got on the clutch plates and making it slip when he tries to kick
it over. Drain it out or remove the cover, dismantle the clutch and wash the
plates in petrol or degreaser and try again. Can't think of any other
problem caused by just putting some oil in.

Martin

 

Heh. I recall a housemate telling me that the gearbox oil was draining
terribly slowly out of his bike. I turned out that he'd mistaken a
relief valve or a selector indent plunger (I forget which) for the
drain plug.

 

You might be right....... if it was a two smoke with drive side crank oil
seal gone.

Oily

 

Thus spake Austin Shackles () unto the assembled multitudes:

If locked solid, that would suggest hydraulic lock...

 

He has probably used something with lots of extra slippery additives. The
clutch may now be slipping because the plates can no longer grip properly.

 

The BSA A65 only take 140ml of 10w40 engine oil be careful to ensure no more
than this amount is in the clutch case or it will stick the plates together.
Use engine oild for older cars/mororcycles as it does not contain the same
solvents and detergents as modern oils do. If the clutch is locked up this
can mean that the clutch plates are stuck together so put bike in neutral
and pull clutch in and kick it over a few times to separate them before
putting bike into gear or it could prematurely damage/wear the splines/gears
etc. Safest thing to do if he does not want to strip the bike is remove
bottom primary drain plug leave bike on side stand and let it drain. Replace
plug and measure 140ml of new non-detergent mineral engine oil 10w40. Worse
case scenario is that the clutch drum back plate has come lose from woodruff
key and jammed up against cush drive! Fingers crossed its the former and not
the latter. Or if he has put the washer that holds the clutch assembly the
wrong way around, easy mistake, I have done it and that locks the clutch up
too. Washer should have dished side outwards then torque to BSA torque
setting using clutch lock up tool.

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