Castrol POWER1 R 40 Motorcycle Oil 1L

Product Information

Hope the pic ain't too small to see but this is the extent of carbon build up after running the engine for years on a mixture of Castrol R40, plain modern mineral, part-synth, fully-synth, and sometimes a mixture of one, or more than one other of the aforementioned. Despite what they say about Castrol R not mixing with other oils I believe this to be a misunderstanding. On four-strokes where people use Castrol R in their crankcases I can see why they wouldn't mix, and this is where the warnings come in; but on the total-loss, burn the whole damn lot in the combustion chamber two-stroke, it seems not to matter.

It’s really good to know I’m not the only one using Castrol R! And really interesting to hear your replies, so I’ll try to answer as many (or perhaps the few) replies to this topic. Castrol R is a vegetable based oil that only really dissolves in what are called 'polar solvents' like ethanol, acetone, or a good one for washing it off is cellulose thinners. It is very reluctant to dissolve in petrol, which used to be a non-polar solvent, but is now a more vicious a solvent when it contains ethanol. It is equally reluctant to dissolve or mix with non-polar, hydrocarbon oils.Charles Wakefield wasn’t slow to realise that here lay both an important new market for lubricating oils and, just as significantly, a whole new marketing opportunity also. The world was agog at the daredevil exploits unfolding on land and in the air; having your product name attached to such derringdo was a golden opportunity to exploit what today we would call product placement. So Charles Wakefield determined to produce a new breed of oil for this new breed of machine, and make certain that the world knew of it.

Success was almost immediate. In October 1909, Britain’s first aviation prize, the Inauguration Cup, was won by Frenchman Leon Delagrange using Castrol oil. Following which, on land and in the air, the litany of Castrol successes encompasses many of the most significant events in aviation and motoring history, including Britain’s winning of the Schneider Trophy three times in a row with the R J Mitchell designed, Rolls-Royce powered Supermarine S5, and most of the World Land Speed Records established during the highly competitive inter-war years. In the Great War, Castrol R even came to the attention of Kaiser Wilhelm II, achieving almost ‘secret weapon’ status when it was discovered that a captured British aircraft could operate at considerably higher altitudes than German equivalents due to its engine oil’s superior low temperature performance. I cannot see that there is any obvious flushing oil that will dissolve vegetable oil, do a job of lubrication for twenty minutes before draining, and then happily mix with mineral oil when that is added.It is curious that we understand much better than its inventors the way Castrol R works, yet take it for granted. Keith Howard redresses that balance Although Castrol R40 is primarily designed for the racing world, its unique properties can also benefit the private owner interested in really high performance.