Thaddeus

Apparently in WWI all the aircraft ran castor oil as the lubricant in the engines because petroleum based oils were too primitive... so the pilots were always breathing castor oil fumes when they flew. I also read this had an undesirable effect on the pilot's digestion.

I'd avoid the castor oil...

SharkSkin

Montessa!

SharkSkin

WWDHS? (What would Doug Hillary Say?)

the flyin' scotsman

Man, you guys are in a time warp now.

I recall whatching motorcycle racing in Scotland in my youth when the big Nortons and Triumphs burned castor.........literally

Doug Hillary

Hi,
well the memories are alive and well - and that lovely smell!!
I was brought up in a motorcycle racing family. My brother raced Nortons and as a kid I was always surrounded by Triumph, Matchless, AJS, BSA and Norton bikes. I owned a few too!

Castrol's R30 and R40 oils (racing versions) were and still are based on castor bean oil (an ester). The latest formulation is only a whisper of the old (prior to 1980's) formulations
The original oils were race specific and needed to be changed after each day out. They (and today's versions too) could not be mixed with mineral oils or in normal road use, a special flushing regime was/is used. The process is available as a Technical Bulletin from Castrol

This type of lubricant saw the light of day early in the life of the IC engine and in the early 1930s FUCHS was a prime mover in advancing the technology during the mid to late 1930s. So were many other chemical/oil companies in Europe including Castrol in Germany

Daimler Benz used these lubricants (ester based) extensively too of course in their racing engines. During the 1960s/1970s I spent many hours at the Museum with the "carers" and with Engineers at Sindelfingen, Wurth & Unterturkheim on this subject amongst many others. And time spent with Karl Kling was of course a special treat
As a matter of interest one Mercedes racing engine (M163) twin supercharged and 160hp per litre, (480hp) used nine oil pumps!

I love the castor oil smell and for those of us that love the real racers of the past it can only raise the visions of Nortons at the Isle of Man, Jaguars and Moss and four wheel drifts at Brands Hatch, cars in the air at the Nurburgring and Fangio's face - and etc

Castrol have a wonderful Library of films covering the years from late 1930s and these are available from their Marketing Dept in most countries I believe

As for the effect on digestion well I don't know - it certainly improved the appetite for a beer or two!

Regards
Doug

Gretch

Try delvac synthetic......it smells like parafin.....a not unpleasant smell.

Doug Hillary

Hi Gretch,
yes ExxonMobil's Delvac 1 5w-40 has an Alkyl Ester content along with PAOs and etc. I don't know what the ester % is in its latest formulation. This is one reason why it is such a robust lubricant in the correct application - a 928 is one such application

Castrol's "R" 10w-60 was castor based in the 1970s and I asisted with its development into the early 1980s. It is still a fully synthetic lubricant and I believe it to be a PAO/ester mix. Their original SLX 0w-30 which was released in 1996 ( I was an early field tester here in OZ) was ester based and was withdrawn from the market after some "issues"

I believe that ExxonMobil is now the largest manufacturer of Esters and PAOs via its Chemicals Divisions
Only about four Companies manufacture these products and "boutique" oil formulators such as Amsoil purchase from them of course

I have NO commercial/marketing linkage to any Oil Company in any way whatsoever

Regards
Doug

John Struthers

Then again ...
Speaking of 'smells like' stories from the golden days.
Do any of you fellow -ancient- bikers remember the smell of a Hodaka (Wombat, or, Combat Wombat) ?
Smelled like hot model airplane fuel, if it was an oil it wasn't such a bad smell, though it made one think that something was about to lock-up or burn.

SharkSkin

My dad almost carried Hodaka in his motorcycle shop. I do remember seeing some out at various cycle parks. He settled for Moto Guzzi, Laverda, Zundapp, Monark, Penton, Husqvarna, and Rupp... we had dirt bikes at a very early age. I remember how blown away all of us were when Roger Decoster walked in one day and signed a couple posters of himself, even though he was riding for Suzuki at the time.

John Struthers

Laaaahverrrrduh...750 twin.
The Honda 350 on steroids