Start after extended period

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MikeM

MikeM

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Wish I had the time and resources to run my Commando more.
Been sitting about 6 months. '71,750
Whats the best way not to damage the engine? I drained the crankcase and refilled the oil tank.
Pull the covers and drip oil over the rockers?
Thanks
 
I wouldn't bother.
You already did a good thing, and the oil will now be in the rockers within seconds after it starts.
Just make sure the float needle tip is sealing and shutting off the fuel when the float bowls are full, and start it.
 
The first half second is what kills cams.

I always put oil down the pushrod tunnels if the bike has been sitting.
 
Living in the Phoenix area my Norton gets put away for the summer sweltering months. When resurrecting it in the fall I put oil down the pushrod tubes, a bit of oil in each cylinder, check the battery charge, retorque the head, and adjust the valves. It sounds like a lot of work but it only takes about an hour. Is it actually necessary? Maybe, maybe not. Besides being therapeutic I have the piece of mind knowing that I've done all that I could.
 
Bit late now but if I’m leaving the bike for a few months I drain the carbs and blow carbcleaner through. Plus put a small amount of oil in the cylinders.

And depending on storage conditions spray with CRC WD40 or similar
 
Most of the time the motor will wet sump when left to sit and everything down in the bottom will be covered in oil.

Ashley
 
If you had started it (or kicked it over) with it wetsumped, the cam would have had plenty of oil on the first few revolutions of the crank.
IMO, a Norton cam and lifters are rather hard, it does not take much oil to protect them at low RPM. (I'm sorry to admit to knowing)
 
It's hard to argue against pulling the rocker covers and squirting oil in. It might not be needed but it certainly isn't going to hurt. You aren't going to get a definitive answer so this is one of those that you have to decide what you can live with. Somewhere buried in the archives here is a thread wherein someone had added fittings to their rocker covers so that oil could be squirted in before startup without removing the covers. Might have been a hobot invention. I'm not sure. Despite it being a good theoretical solution I've not noted it catching on. I'm fairly confident to say that despite everyone knowing that adding oil is a good idea that most of us just get on and kick it over.

There is a video here done by Swooshdave that shows a reed valve returning oil to the tank during a wet sumped start up. Seems to me that adding the reed valve and letting it wet sump is an easy solution to infrequent starts.

The wet sumping should keep the crank bearings lubed as well.
 
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The Mk III motor (thanks to factory changes in the timing cover) wet sumps very little over a long period of time. There is also a mod available for earlier timing covers to stop all the oil from draining into the sump when stored for long periods.
 
eskasteve said:
Living in the Phoenix area my Norton gets put away for the summer sweltering months. When resurrecting it in the fall I put oil down the pushrod tubes, a bit of oil in each cylinder, check the battery charge, retorque the head, and adjust the valves. It sounds like a lot of work but it only takes about an hour. Is it actually necessary? Maybe, maybe not. Besides being therapeutic I have the piece of mind knowing that I've done all that I could.
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Yeah, I used to live in Phoenix. Bought my bike from Pete's Cycles on Country Club in 76. There was nothing like riding in a blast furnace to make you wish you were some place else. We have moved to TX and it isn't much better but the 100+ degree days are fewer. Leave early and make a run for the White Mountains.
John in Texas
 
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