oil sludge

[Steve fowler]

Is there any way off cleaning out the sludge tube without an engine strip down ?

[a10 gf]

Drill some big holes through the casings? In other words, no.

Unless someone believes in sludge-dissolving oils\treatment, which may work to a certain extent but also move things around to clog up other parts of the engine. And it may not be what we call sludge, but petrified stuff that must be scraped out with hard tools, so IMO a strip is highly recommended if reliable history not known. I did it a while after getting my bike, was horrified by what was found in the sludge trap.

& welcome to the forum, a post in Pictures, Stories & Introductions always appreciated.

[Gavin]

As above mate, I was warned to clean the sludge trap after the motor had sat in boxes for 35 years, then been rebuilt. I pulled it of the frame, got the motor stripped and sludge trap checked... Best money I ever spent. Those with the opposite experience share sad tales of exploding motors. And imploding wallets.

[Greybeard]

...exploding motors. And imploding wallets.

[Rocket Racer]

Steve,
 sorry mate, but as the previous responses outline the sludge trap is a critical part of the oil filtration for these old engines and if an engine has been laid up its certainly worth tearing it down just to clean it out properly, before any damage is done.
If you aren't keen to pull the motor down you are taking a risk.
Back in the early 80's I killed a couple of triumph twin bottom ends (ok not that big a deal  ) because I didn't know about sludge traps.
And without wanting to change topics, detergents in modern oils can end up taking that sludge through your mains in a nasty way! So if you have an engine that hasnt been apart and has question marks over its last rebuild, stick to old school monogrades that have no detergents
Knowing your big ends arent on the receiving end of crud is worth the effort.

[Tomcat]

It's always best to clean out the sludge trap before running an unknown engine. My Super Rocket engine was rebuilt by the PO, they didn't clean out the sludge trap, and it was half full! There will also be other areas in need of attention given the age of our engines and PO's 'repairs'
Cheers Tomcat