new owner of a 1975 Yamaha XT500. few questions..

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I just bought a 1975 yamaha xt500 and have a few questions. the manual I downloaded suggests 20w40 for motor oil. a parts guy at the local store said that there may be a better option. he rebuilds old British bikes and said that because of the availability of oil in '75 versus today, there may be something that runs better. any suggestions?
I am very new to this bike and I am having problems starting it. I did have it running once. and it sounded good. no sputters or dark smoke. but since then I have not been able to get it running. I know they are tricky until you really get the method down. I thought that maybe I had flooded it. the spark plug is good, well it sparks, and there is nothing in the gas line blocking the flow. I have tried a few different suggestions for kick starting it. I am going through it currently. so far I am up to the carb. I will take it out and clean it. maybe the float is stuck, I was thinking. any thoughts for a new and avid owner?
thanks for any input,
Adam

[Teflon-Mike]

Been a VERY long time since I started one of these!
They demanded a certain 'knack' as I recall.. get it wrong and it COULD prove painful.... as I ALSO recall!
From cold:
clean plug, good spark,
Choke full on.
1/4 turn of throttle
turn over on the decompressor lever until the white mark appears in the sight-glass on the cam-cover, or until you feel the compression pick up.
Then 'Man-Up'!
Big breath
decompressor out
kick lever to 'just' the top of the stroke
Then you lift up and stand on it, PUSHING firmly and CONFIDENTLY down as you kick it through the full stroke.
You dont kick it or prod it, it's a firm deliberate push with distinct follow through action, like striking properly in soccer, not that I know much about that game.....
If you do it right, it should 'catch', and once you have the knack, pretty much first time every time, even when warm, though then it doesn't need choke.
Get it wrong, and it can bite back. Particularly if you just give it a less than confident kick or prod, as though scared of it, becouse then the piston comes up, but without enough momentum to get over TDC, spark ignites charge in the pot and the kick-start lever gets sent backwards putting you into orbit or breaking your ankle!
Master starting it, you have half mastered the bike!
Seem to recall it was like 'that' with most stuff; you just had to be firm with it at let the bike know in NO uncertain terms YOU were the boss!
Oh, carb, you say 'the' carb... memory is a bit hazy here, but pretty sure that the one I had had twin carbs. Curiouse set up, and only one barell had choke..... might be worth looking into.

[sten]

I used to have a 77 xt500, only way to start it was line the white mark up etc, kick it, it never started, then leave it a few minuits, then run back and while its not expecting it just kick it and it fired up, I think the nack was the surprise attack.