Ready to start… procedures please

[AndyL]

Afternoon all.

I’m now ready to start my engine, or at least I think I am.

After speaking to my engine builder, his recommended procedure was:

1/ Fill her with the required amount of oil (what are you all using btw?)
2/ Take out the plugs…
3/ Loosen the top banjo bolt on the oil feed at the head
4/ Crank her up until you see the oil start to seep from the top bolt then re-tighten the banjo bolt.
5/ Crank her for another 15-20 seconds to ensure a good distribution of oil.
6/ Plugs in, leads on and start her up (and fingers crossed everything works as it should)… he said EXPECT a lot of smoke to start with and don’t be scared by it. Presume this is correct is it?

He then said best check with other R owners what RPM and for how long they chose to run the engine for on that initial start up (he works with more modern hardware and advised that other owners are the best folk to consult). Assuming we reach a consensus on that RPM and duration, what are the logical next steps?
Run her up for another few minutes (if so how long and RPM) etc or take her out for a short run to get her up to road temp etc?

Do I then need to check the valves after this initial run? Crank the head down some more? Change the oil and filter? Check carbs etc???

Any advice would be good thanks as there’s a lot of love and a fair amount of dough in this engine and I want to do it properly.

Thanks in advance for any advice

Andy

:confused:

[Anonymous]

i’ve just started running mine in after fitting an 1123 kit….what i did was run it up as your dude said…let it run for say may 3-4 mins giving it a little throttle…jusy little blips till its warmed up some and is running fairly well.the carbs will want balancing but not yet. when she’s running look for any obviuos leaks or nasty noises…bear in mind that these can knock a bit at very low revs but as long as it goes nice and quiet above 1,500rpm it’s fine…
shut her down…give it a min then check the oil level…it will most likely want topping up…now gear up and go for a spin… you dont want to load the motor too much,but dont ride it too gently as this can glaze the bores and the rings wont seal for ages…dont take it much above 4000rpmfor first 100miles…the motor will feel tight….pull over after 5 miles and have another check for leaks etc..the more miles you do the harder you can use the throttle and revs….but as you’ve had new big ends and mains i’d give it 1000 miles befor i start to cane in…:cool:..try to avoid dual carrige and mways…..constant revs won’t help the bed in process much…i’m sure someone will post up with the factory routine…...fresh oil and filter after 500 miles…
also for running in i use ordinary mineral oil…semi or fully tends to be too slippery for initial break in.

[Trevor Hughes]

Andy sounds to me like Carl knows what he is talking about. Just take great care. I too would use mineral oil.

[PaulA]

I know from bitter experience paying someone to rebuild one of these engines isnt cheap,on that basis my advice for starting it for the first time would be whip it round to the chap who did the engine and let him do it,then heaven forbid if there are any issues you are covered

[Author]

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