My 1950 VH

[Keith.owen]

Hi Brenton and David,
I had always assumed that the device was properly adjusted, but you never know. I will most certainly check it before I ride out again, which sadly will not be for a few days due to work commitments. I certainly don't want to having it jam or foul up the rocker arm or for things to wear out prematurely.

BR,
Keith

[Keith.owen]

Hi,
I checked out the exhaust lifter and although it did not appear to fouling the rocker arm through adjustment of the lever on the taper, it did appear to fouling as a result of excessive end float (I could pull the arm towards me and the vibration I felt in it diminished). I dismantled the assembly and fitted some washers between the lifter arm and oil seal to stop the mechanism from moving inwards.

Not sure if this will cure the problem or not (don't know if I have diagnosed it correctly) - time will tell. I have not at any time lost compression and there has always been a reasonable amount of play on the lever control. Having said this, it is possible for the spring to cause the lifter to make contact in the opposite direction. When adjusting I tried to get the pivot midway between either extreme when it touched the rocker arm - this with the piston at TDC.

Keith

[Keith.owen]

Update on reed valve.
I thought I'd cured the problem of 'wet-sumping' by changing the oil pump for another.

Having fitted the reed valve (makes funny Donald duck sounds when kicking the engine over) I took the bike to the Popham Mega meet and it wasn't until I went to sit down by it and eat my sandwiches after trawling the auto jumble stalls that I noticed that the rear tyre was oily. Checked oil level in tank and it was lower than it should have been after a mere ten / twelve mile journey. I cleaned the tyre as best I could and wended my way home (carefully) smoking like a Leader not a hunter. This is driving me mad - I guess it must have been the sustained high speeds of fifty miles per hour that did it?!

Anyway, I guess it's take sump plate off time and see how much oil drains out!

Frustrated,

Keith

[Vincent.vanGinneke]

did you fit the reed valve the right way round ?

[Keith.owen]

Hi Vincent,
I'm pretty certain that I did. I removed the pushed in tube, threaded the casting and fitted a hose nozzle. I can blow into this but not suck. This is connected by a hose to the crank case banjo.

I would expect there to be some oil in the crank case after the engine has been left standing because the oil that has been flung everywhere will obviously drain down; At the moment I'm draining off the sump and there seems to have been be a good 200 ml in there.

I did test, as best I could, the pipe into the sump up to the return pump and thought it to be ok: and it is returning oil, but not enough I guess. I wouldn't expect there to be any muck under the ball valve because amongst other things I fitted a cartridge type oil filter when I rebuilt the bike.

I imagine that I'll have to take off timing case and see if fitting an additional washer cures the problem - I'm not sure where else to look This is not something I would have hoped I'd to have to do but there you have it; I really can't risk riding the bike if I'm going to get the rear tyre 'oiled up'! As it was I felt a bit nervous riding the bike back home, but at least the roads were dry-otherwise it might have been a different story!

Keith

[keith.hodgenia]

Hi Keith, As well as all the usual air leak, muck in the pump seat problems you could check how close the pick-up pipe is to the sump plate, if it is touching or too close it can cause your problem. When I had this problem a few years ago it drove me nuts, mine was always muck in the pump even after I thought I had cleaned the inside of the oil tank well, your filter only cleans the oil going back to the tank. Hope you sort it out sooner rather than later. Keith.

[Vincent.vanGinneke]

Good point about the sump cover being to close.
If that's not it, the only item I can think of is the pump.
If the balls are seated o.k. and clean, could it be worn ?
I assume you checked the return flow? does it have a constant bubbly stream in the oil tank when revving ?

Reg. the oil on your rear tyre; did this come from the reed valve exit ? if so, maybe have it pointing more away from the bike (but that is not the solution ......

[Keith.owen]

Hi Keith and Vincent,
Sorry to ask what might seem to be a 'how long is a piece of string' type of question, but, how close is too close to the sump plate - put another way I imagine that as long as the pipe is actually inside the filter cage all will be well?

Keith

[keith.hodgenia]

It only needs to just protrude through the mesh screen of the sump filter.

[Keith.owen]

Thanks Keith!
I have started the 'oily' process of draining off the tank etc and have removed the outer cover and oil pump.

I'll strip the pump first just to make sure that there's nothing under the ball valve.

Keith