Is there anything worse

Than standing looking at the oil tank just waiting for the oil returning after a rebuild, thank whoever is in charge that mine went well.

trident sam said:

Than standing looking at the oil tank just waiting for the oil returning after a rebuild, thank whoever is in charge that mine went well.

Click to expand...

No, and it seems like an eternity. Just when about to give up and start checking things, it starts returning. Pre-filling the filter can speed that up, but it still takes a while.

I don’t know.

I don’t do that.

By the time I've finished tweaking the carbs and I remember to look, it's generally flowing happily.
I can't remember an instance where it was a cause for concern on my Commandos.
Triumph twins... different story

B+Bogus said:

By the time I've finished tweaking the carbs and I remember to look, it's generally flowing happily.
I can't remember an instance where it was a cause for concern on my Commandos.
Triumph twins... different story

Click to expand...

On a Norton, it's easy to put the oil pump gasket on wrong and have feed to the crank but have no return. I know a guy who did that, wasn't familiar with oil return and had a reed valve. He rode the bike quite a bit with no return from the oil pump but fortunately, the reed valve was returning the oil.

B+Bogus said:

By the time I've finished tweaking the carbs and I remember to look, it's generally flowing happily.
I can't remember an instance where it was a cause for concern on my Commandos.
Triumph twins... different story

Click to expand...

They do seem to flow the oil the back to the tank much quicker than triumphs.

You all must like to work on Norton engines more then me! I would not consider starting an engine without pulling plugs and turning engine over until I saw oil returning! Second thought you might have more confidence then me! LOL

A roller starter is great for this.
Before the roller starter arrived , I used a huge, low geared Black and Decker industrial angle drill with a shop built attachment to turn the crank until oil returned.
It worked but the roller starter is better.

worntorn said:

A roller starter is great for this.
Before the roller starter arrived , I used a huge, low geared Black and Decker industrial angle drill with a shop built attachment to turn the crank until oil returned.
It worked but the roller starter is better.

Click to expand...

This is exactly what I do
A mate of mine had been out of the country for a couple of years
He'd laid up a perfectly good running triumph t150v
He decided to drain the oil and refill
He stuck the bike on his rollers to wait for the oil to return and it never did and the oil pressure guage shows zero
So he didn't attempt to start it
Imagine if he had

mean gene said:

You all must like to work on Norton engines more then me! I would not consider starting an engine without pulling plugs and turning engine over until I saw oil returning! Second thought you might have more confidence then me! LOL

Click to expand...

I don't go quite that far. However, with the engine on the bench after adding a little oil to the intake and exhaust I turn the engine over while adding oil to the metal oil feed until it starts coming out of the metal return then I put a clear plastic tube between them. Therefore, I know that the pump is working the crank is full, and besides the assembly lube I use the cam is lubed with engine oil. When I install the oil filter, I fill it with oil before screwing it on. So, only the rubber oil lines are empty, and oil returns quicker than a Triumph. By the way, a friend with a 3D Printer made the adapter I used to turn engine and you can see the plastic line that I connect between the feed and return.



I don't worry about any of it on a Triumph other than a Trident because Triumph oil pumps are fully bench testable and reliable, and Triumphs don't have a huge slug trap and they don't have a filter. All that means that it takes longer, and it has never failed in any of the Triumph engines I've built. Unfortunately, the Trident was actually a version of the other British motorcycle company who used, IMHO, silly enough to use a gear pump!

I just kick the bike over with the plugs out until the oil returns to the tank, on a new build this will take some time, but consider it your calisthenic exercise for the day

When you confirm the oil return is good… all you are doing is confirming the oil return is good!

You're not confirming oil feed to big ends, or pressure, etc.

You could have a split or missing pump seal, or crank seal, and zero pressure, the pump will still fill the sump and return to the tank.

Jus’ sayin.

Fast Eddie said:

When you confirm the oil return is good… all you are doing is confirming the oil return is good!

You're not confirming oil feed to big ends, or pressure, etc.

You could have a split or missing pump seal, or crank seal, and zero pressure, the pump will still fill the sump and return to the tank.

Jus’ sayin.

Click to expand...

And that's why I install the Don Pender oil pressure switch unless asked for an oil pressure gauge.

The oil pressure switch will tell you that you have at least some pressure within a second or two of starting.

I don't push oil pressure gauges, but they are very useful on initial start. I'm just not a fan of them on a hot day with a hot engine at a stop light - they often will show 0 psi when you really have a few PSI. The switch will cause the light to flicker in the 4-6 PSI range and a blip of the throttle will turn it off.

acadian said:

I just kick the bike over with the plugs out until the oil returns to the tank, on a new build this will take some time, but consider it your calisthenic exercise for the day

Click to expand...

Sounds good until your heart stops or you can no longer breath Tried that when younger and decided it was too much, hence my post #10 here.