The whiskey was for my mother. She is 89 years old, in good shape, and she takes no medications. Maybe a drink or three a day keeps the doctor away.
The engine break in lubrication was discussed with the cam grinder and the piston and ring supplier. Some special things were done based on their concerns and recommendations.
Break in oil is a big concern. The Triumph uses synthetic oil and it is difficult or impossible to seat piston rings in an engine running synthetic. I did two things to make sure the rings seated. First, the pistons, rings, and bore were oiled with automatic transmission fluid when they were assembled.
Second, a basic mineral oil was used for the break in. The rings would seat with this oil. Unfortunately, this modern motor oil did not have enough zinc and phosphorous to protect the cams and followers. Flat tappet engines like the Triumph motor need about 1,600 parts per million (ppm) zinc and 1,300 to 1,400 ppm phosphorous based on some notes I made years ago. My notes also say that the levels should not be higher than 2,000 ppm for one of these metals or "chunking" will occur. I did not write down if this limit was for zinc or phosphorous. Some Red Line "Engine Oil Break-In Additive" was used to bring the zinc and phosphorous contents up to the desired levels. I used instructions in
http://www.nitemareperformance.150m.com/ZDDP.html The break in oil was used for 500 miles and it was drained.
The oil filter was changed and the regular engine oil was added. I take advantage if the new filter element materials and I use Purolator "Pure One" or Mobil 1 "Extended Performance" filters. This time I installed a Mobil 1 M1-108 filter. I install a new filter during every oil change.
These engines lube the clutch, transmission, and primary gears with the engine oil. This is not an ideal situation and the engine oil should have an additive package that is specifically designed for this. Triumph recommends the oil meet API SG, API SH, and JASO MA specifications. These are stringent specs. I use Mobil 1 Racing 4T. It meets these specs, it is designed to lubricate engines with gearboxes and clutches sharing the same oil, and the zinc content is 1,600 ppm and the phosphorous content is 1,700 ppm, as per info on the Mobil 1 website. These metal contents are what I need.
Triumph are vague about the required oil weight. The owners handbook recommends 15W/50, and the shop manual asks for 10W/40 or 15W/40. These engines do not run hot and the 10W/40 is what I use and it seems to work well. Thinner oil means requires less horsepower to pump and fling around in the engine.
This post simply tells about what I do. It is not an endorsement for specific products. There are others that will work just as good as the ones that I use.