. Keep in mind, we all dumped the crankcase oil and reset the level every 75 or so miles, when we gassed up. This amounted to 2-3 oz per stop, so not much really. 

Did you reset the oil level totally? From lower oil plug every 75 miles? 

I would like to experiment with 2t oil but I'm a little worried about its density. I'm also not so convinced if it keep its lubrication features when working on high temp which is I think higher than in 2t engines. 

Maciek,  The Excelsior has only one drain plug in the crankcase, not two like the 101, and Chief.  This makes it more difficult to know how much oil is in the crankcase. In fact the only way to know is to drain it and measure it!  So, yes we drained virtually all the oil with each gas stop.  Once I had my settings good, I stopped measuring the oil when I drained it. I was happy if a small amount of oil came out and it wasn't bogging down or getting excessively hot, that tells me it was somewhere in the "happy " range.

One interesting thing that I noted after we started riding as a group on our Excelsiors.  I did all of my preliminary testing using 2 full strokes of the hand pump when refilling the crankcase, which was about 2 oz.  After 70 or so miles, that's about what came out, so I figured I was good and the mechanical pump was set correctly.  I noticed that the other guys were starting with more like 2 1/2 or 3 ounces and draining 3 + ounces. No one was smoking really, even the 2 guys running conventional oil, so that tells me they were not really over oiling.  I began to fear that I was damaging my engine by running the  oil level too low. I then started adding 3 oz of oil at each refill and turned my oil pump up, by increasing the plunger length 1/2 turn.  That turned out to be too much, because I was still only draining about 2 oz from the crankcase, but the engine was leaking more oil and blowing it out the breather tube. So I turned the oil pump back down and now use 2 1/2 strokes of the hand  pump when refilling. Things seem to be happy now.

One bad thing about using the full synthetic 2 stroke oil is that it burns CLEAN, by design.  This means that you can't tell if you have a bit too much oil in the crankcase and it's simply burning it off, you can't see ANY smoke!

Robert, Wow, experimenting on the rare Reading Standard rather than the more common, and robust 101!!  Good for you though, for jumping in.  I also agree that we spend way too much time worrying about what type of oil. Back in the day, oil was a less superior product than today's oils. I've run everything imaginable in my 39 Harley over the decades and I don't see any difference really!   I would not, however, recommend running 50% gas and oil for fuel!  Two reasons for this:  First, you're wasting a LOT of oil!  This stuff isn't cheap and you really aren't  gaining much, just burning it off!  Second, adding oil to the gasoline can potentially lower the octane rating of the fuel and make the top end run hotter. I know this from past experience when I used to add Marvel Mystery oil to the gas.  Mort and Dotty Wood came to Colorado on a road run in 1990 and Mort had a new 101. I suggested adding Marvel oil to the gas, which I had been doing for some time in my 39 Harley. Mort complained that the thing was losing power and pinging, he had to retard the spark to get away from the knock. Once that tank was burned up and we stopped adding Marvel it was fine. Years later I talked with a chemist, antique bike enthusiast, who told me that adding Marvel lowers the octane and raises engine temperature, he had done actual experiments with that. Granted, not 2 stroke oil, but still oil....  I really don't know that 2 stroke oil will lower octane, but it certainly is a big waste in my mind.    

To me the reason to add 2 stroke oil to the gasoline is for a slight bit of top end lubrication.  Thinking about it, it may actually help lubricate the intake valve stem, seat and guide plus maybe a bit to the bore and piston, maybe the top ring.  But, if you have good rings that are seated well, that's about all. That small bit of oil is instantly burned off when the mixture ignites and the remaining ash and whatever is left gets blown out the exhaust valve. I can't see that it lubricated the exhaust valve at all.  For a reference, we added 1 oz of 2 stroke oil per gallon of gas immediately after filling up.  This equates to a mixture of 1/128, or less than a 1% mixture, far from the 50%, or even 30% recommended for some 2 stroke motors. 

Great, I love a good oil thread. Gene's 2-stroke method obviously works, pretty labour intensive, but why not. Other oils may work fine too. 

Always debates about weight, but there is no doubt that a lighter oil will cause less drag from friction, you can feel a massive difference between a straight 30 and a 60 for example. I have no idea why George recommends a 50,60 or seventy in the shop manual. Can you even get seventy weight ? In my youth, word on the street was that you should always run your old brit single on a 50. Old guys that new actually ran a 30 or 40, turns out that a rattly old motor doesnt rattle or leak as much with w thick oil. May well wear itself out quicker, but will be easier to sell to an unsuspecting newbie. 50 fine, even a 60 in warm climes, but 70 is a really heavy oil.

Indian service shot #86 on oils quoted from the  instruction books " for breaking in, always use sae 30 or lighter "It also mentions use 30 for temps 32F-60F and  sae 50 for over 60 F. For reference, that is 1938, when all the bikes are recirculating oil, but it is the first obvious reference I have with actual figures, rather than "always use Indian summer weight oil bought from your friendly local dealer" . The full chart also recommends 10W for below 0F , and 20w below 32 F.

It is worth noting that neither oil nor gasoline is the same now. Before we start on gas, lets think about oil. Gene is using an oil that lubricates the top end and burns off, leaving no residue. How similar is that to oil back in the day ? We know that the baffles are there to draw an oil mist up the bores, more so the front, which has smaller holes than the rear baffle plates, to create more of a pressure gradient to draw more oil up that cylinder, the rear apparently being prone to overoiling as it is also thrown up that way from the flywheels. So far so good. One question I have never satisfactorily answered is do modern 4 stroke oil do this . Many are advertised as non misting, as this is now seen as a deleterious behaviour in high compression high revving motors, and can in fact lead to oil ignition in the crankcase at extremes, apparently. I have got into some quite in depth discussions with a couple of oil techs about this, and had replies to the effect that misting isn't necessary any more as oil technology has improved to the point of coating metal better.  Hmmm. For the record, I am not an industrial chemist, but did spend a year and a half learning that I did not want to study for a degree in chemical engineering, so even if I can't walk the walk, I can talk the talk to some extent, when I can locate the relevant dusty filing cabinets of the brain :)

So basically, Hans and Gene have researched an oil that does exactly what our motors want.  The trade off ( isnt there always one ?) is that you do probably need to drain the sump at least every gas stop, if not in between as well. 

We have had a couple of comments about why a 2 stroke is not appropriate, but it works for Gene. proof in the pudding, and Hans Coetzee is certainly a quality reference too. Should we all go out and run our bikes on that oil ? Were would the fun in that be. The old adage is that any oil is better than no oil, and pretty much most will do a solid job. I have done a couple of thousand miles on a Scout motor I built to go relatively fast, and used sae 30, I could tell the difference in ease of revving between that and 40. In fact, the only down side is its noticeable ability to find novel ways to exit the engine cases. Generally, I have used a 40W in scouts that I own, but customers generally want a 50 in theirs, and one friend has to buy me 60 to put in his scout, as I refuse to.Over the years and over many types of motorcycles I have also thrown almost anything available in when short, on occasion. classic 20/50, high mileage diesel 15/40, you name it, if its golden and slippy, its probably gone in one of my bikes at some point. Better than black and sludgy. I have only ever had one catastrophic engine failure, and that wasn't the oil, but my 650 Triumph, which I knew had a slightly ticking little end on the left pot, and had the parts to fix it that weekend, but the sun was out, I had a day off work, and Sara Hardy wanted to ride down to Boxhill with me. Never try and do a ton round the Mickleham Bends two up with a loose wrist pin. Couldn't blame the Morris 20/50 classic.

I shall be keeping a nose out for strawberry flavoured 101s at Oley in a couple of weeks.