Castrol 'R"

Prosper Keating

Well Known and Active Forum User
Non-VOC Member
110 pints of Guinness a day should give you all the iron you need to lift your outfit up and give it a good shaking. Remember, Guinness is a meal in a glass.

castrol-r30.jpg


In one of my workshops in London in the past, I had a paraffin heater on which I used to place a tiny little saucepan containing R, whichg slowly infused the air along with the odour of burnt paraffin. Paraffin heaters are not to be found in Paris, so it would seem.

I also ran my café racer MZ on it quite successfully. Some of you will remember that machine from a Liphook meet around sixteen or seventeen years ago. It was an ex-Burwins racer. I had a burn up back to The Smoke along with A3 with John Wright - still sorely missed - on the Montlhéry Shadow now owned by [edited by PK] I hadn't a speedo, just a rev counter (that didn't work, of course), and JW pulled alongside me near Ripley and pointed at his clock, showing just over a ton, before pulling gently away. It ran very well indeed on R. Glorious smell!

Used to run the Norton Inter below on R too. Remember the days when this was how we parked our bikes? Stuffed into the front "garden" with a length of battleship chain and wiped over with oily rags to keep the English weather at bay.

On chilly mornings, the old trick of heating the R over the stove in a saucepan was a good plan, otherwise it took almost as long to nurse it up to running temperature as a Vincent-HRD twin, which wasn't practical for London. Nobody in the house ever had constipation.

Mind you, this Inter wasn't suitable as a ride-to-work nail in the colder seasons as it had no lights fitted. I suppose one could run a Vincent-HRD on R without too much hassle but given the good quality of modern multigrades by firms like Silkolene, why bother? The spoonful in the fuel achieves the desired olfactory effect...

PK
 

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Ian Savage

VOC Vice President
VOC Member
Gents, please remember to look at what type of fourm you are in before you list who owns what machines. This is in the public area.
 

Vincent Brake

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
R40

what can I say, If I knew this before I would't have done it, put a cup in and do't shake it, (nor the bike) I ended up cleaning the carbs 3 x after finding some gum gum in it. But it sure smelled nice.:rolleyes:

Vincent
 

overthehill

Active Forum User
Non-VOC Member
Apart from using genuine Castrol R , how can I get my Rapide to smell of burnt "R"? I have tried Castor oil from the Chemist/Grocery store in both the petrol and oil tank, but nary a whiff of the good stuff. Alchemists potions, hopefully plausible, eagerly administered and results published.

whatever you do DO NOT put caster based oils in your oil tank - they dont mix with mineral oils.
riding a Vincent is pleasure enough and you cant smell anything at 80mph anyway -

The best thing to do is get hold of some old 'R' - (many racers change it every meeting as even at £30 a gallon its cheaper than a new Manx engine) - mix a few spoonfulls in the lawnmower petrol - it makes cutting the grass a pleasure.
 

roy the mechanic

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
"R"

If you really want to smell like a race bike, go race a bike! It's the only way to acheive the "smell"-Untill yves st laurent can make a profit from us. Be real, Roy!
 

Prosper Keating

Well Known and Active Forum User
Non-VOC Member
It's perfectly usable in road machines. I've used it myself. If you don't want to drain the tank before each trip to heat the R up in a saucepan in best 1930s pre-practice Clubmans style, so that you can get off to a quick start without having to nurse the motor for longer than the normal distance to warm the oil, your grannie's curling tongs popped through the oil filler cap while you eat your beans on toast is just the ticket.

PK
 

mr.hutch

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
Go and buy a litre of Castrol R40 and add a teaspoonful per gallon. Accept no substitute.If you suffer from dry skin rub well in to elbows and heels.Ken

I've read all the threads, but where can I buy some?

Also has anyone a tried and recomended alternative to the very expensive Mobil 1 0W40 oil as specified for V3 multiplate clutches, yes I have admitted defeat, originality must go!

Go carefully mr.hutch :)
 
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