Volume Six takes on the mystery of classic British motorcycle lubrication fittings. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions please contact Bob Cox by phone, text or email.

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We've all been there when working on classic Brit bikes, using the American style grease gun to try and get something in those tiny cone-shaped fittings. 90% of the time 100% of the grease squirts out going not where we want it.

The problem is that these fittings are not Zerk fittings which as you would imagine were invented by
a Mr. Zerk. In fact some of the old British fittings are supposed to receive oil not grease usually with a needle shaped oiling device.

Making matters worse, unlike the Zerk
they do not have a spring loaded ball to keep the grease or oil in and the dirt out. They also require a straight-on shot to have any chance of sealing enough to force the lubricant inside.

Two versions
of the British fitting:
cone-shaped on
the left and "button
head" on the right.
Tecalemit gun fits
both but does not
latch on as with
the Zerk fitting.

The nozzle on the end of the Zerk style grease gun has three spring clips that secure it to the fitting with a good push - if all is nice and clean. This gives much better sealing and allows a certain amount of angle to the fitting instead of having to be straight on. And the grease comes in cartridges so refilling is less of a mess.

You can convert the Brit fittings to Zerk fittings if you match up the threads, or if there is enough metal to allow drilling and tapping. On pre MK3 Commandos I only attempt to grease the fittings on the rear brake arm pivot and the speedo drive. The latter is however more precisely greased by hand thus minimizing sling onto the aluminum foil rear hub cover.

The Tecalemit grease gun fits
these pretty well and once the fitting is unclogged they do the job. They're messy to refill but being small they are convenient around the bench when you just need a smidge of grease.

The swingarm end cap on the Norton Commando is the only Zerk fitting on the bike, but not designed for grease. What?

Here is a comparison of the Brit fitting and the Zerk side-by-side. If you look closely you can just make out the top of the spring-loaded ball in the Zerk.

Don't get Zerked around by those funky grease fittings

This is a real enigma: Why did Norton use a Zerk grease fitting on the accessible right side swingarm end cap when it is supposed to receive 120 weight oil similar to what's used in boat stern drives (90 weight)? In the US if we see a grease fitting we put grease in there which is what ended up happening. If you decide to oil it, place the bike on the side stand, remove the Zerk fitting and slowly fill it using a large veterinarian syringe until it runs out of the filling hole. Without removing the single bolt holding the swingarm spindle in place (which requires removal of the rear fender) an airlock makes this a tedious process. Reinstall the Zerk making sure it has its little fiber washer and then be prepared that most of the oil will drip out on the floor in short order especially after you ride it. This is due to the use of "O" ring seals on the end caps and where the swingarm meets the engine cradle the latter being the culprit.

Now to the Norton rear brake pivot and cam. The old style Brit fitting is integral to the pivot shaft and allows lubrication of the cam lobes inside that actuate the brake shoes as well as lube itself. In the rare event that the passages are not clogged with dried-out caked grease you can use a Tecalemit gun successfully. The problem is to know when there's enough grease. Too much and it can easily contaminate the brake linings and then they're toast. So this fitting is pretty useless as it's an easy brake to disassemble and judicial use of grease by fingertip is recommended.

Commandos confuse the issue by using both types, but...

The standard issue American grease gun fits only Zerks