B25 Starfire engine rebuild nearly there

[ChrisG]

I'm just finishing off the rebuild of my Starfire engine and as it's been a full stripdown including sludge trap clean etc. I thought it best to get the new oil through by turning over the engine manually using the kickstart with the spark plug out.
I must have kicked it well over a hundred times and no oil has made its way to the sump. Has anyone done the same as me? If so how long does it normally take for the oil to get through?

I'm reluctant to start the engine and hope for the best as I usually do with my twins, just in case no oil is there.

All advice will be much appreciated.

[V500]

As long as you lubed the bearings etc on assembly, just start it and watch for the oil return.
All the old "take it for a walk" and endless kicking isn't necessary, unless you want to age your K/S assembly prematurely.

[MadPete]

Second that. Start the engine and look at the oil return - if no oil is pumped within 10 secs then stop and find out why not. It usually takes the engine running at tick-over to actually pump oil. Good luck! I will be at this stage in a few weeks - or months knowing my B25. :0)

[rhyatt]

Is the oil pump.p primed.
The gear pumps are very good at moving oil , but not as good at sucking oil with air in the gears.
Remove the feed pipe and use an oil can to force oil into the pipe and by definition into the feed side gears.
Then with the pipe in your hands, top up the oil feed pipe until oil is at the top of the pipe.
Then , spark plug out and kick over watching the oil in the pipe.
If it starts to go down, then you're pumping.
Throw some oil into the rocker box to trickle down ,into the sump.
Start engine and check circulation

[DAVE BRADY]

Hi,

If you have not yet fitted the outer cover, turn the engine so the big end is at the its lowest position and, using a pump type oil can, fill the crank with oil.  If the sump plate is not fitted then oil will get through the big end and drip out the bottom.
Once this happens fit the sump plate etc. and all should be well.

Dave.

[MadPete]

What did they do at the factory or the dealer with a new bike in such circumstances? Does anyone know?

[V500]

Yep, poured in half-a-gallon of two star and fired it up, just the same as every other motor manufacturer.

[ChrisG]

Thanks for the advice. I did pump oil through the crank and big end during reassembly and I have poured oil down the push rod channel so everything is lubed.
If it was my A50 or A65 I would have just started her up and waited for the oil to show. I think I'm maybe being a bit over the top with the B25 so I'll proceed and see what happens.
Again, thanks for the help!

[ChrisG]

Regarding the Clutch Operating rack and pinion, is there a knack to setting the pinion in the right place in the rack to put the forged lever (on the end of the pinion shaft) in the correct position to get the maximum movement on the cable? e.g. in the plane of the outer cover joint, should it be at 3 o'clock or other?

[MadPete]

Not quite sue of the phrasing of the question but I did have a moments fun trying to sort the clutch lever and rack under the timing side cover.

I used trial and error to establish the best position to set the arm and then load the central part. I remember it was somewhere between 2 and 3 o'clock position that worked best. YMMV

[ChrisG]

Great! Thanks Pete