Some may remember my rant about my A10 a while back. I had recently totally rebuilt the bike and it was running fine – until the oil pump decided to stop pumping. I had the pump off and dismantled at least six times. Each time I primed the crank and made sure of a good flow from the c’case feed to the pump before re-installation. I did it that often that I was only putting two screws in the timing cover before trying it. Again and again.
I got so angry with it that it was 50/50 whether I’d part it out or just smash it up with a lump hammer and dump it.
Seemed a pity to smash up a fully restored bike and parting it out would be a hassle. How much would people pay for parts they couldn’t see running? And what about postage of items like engine, gearbox and frame? And so I quickly put it at the back of the shed and attempted to forget about it. I thank members for listening to my rant at the time – without someone to let off steam to I probably would have smashed it up (the oil problem was the last straw in a long list of aggravation I’d had with the bike).
After I’d calmed down a few months later, thought I’d start it up out of curiosity. Was pumping oil fine. After a few rides it still pumps fine. Don’t you just love BSA’s quirky oil system? Though why that is, I don’t know. After all, the system is almost identical to the singles, and apart from minimal wet-sumping, they never play up (I’ve owned BSA singles – B31, C10, M21 – for well over fifty years).
Having said all that, all is still not well. Leave it ten days or more and the contents of the oil tank is in the sump – with some on the floor just to irritate me further. When I want to go for a ride, I don’t want to spend ten minutes kneeling on the floor draining sumps, filtering oil and returning it to the tank, when I have other bikes I can just hop on and go. The consequence is the GF rarely gets used.
So today I thought I’d give it the once-over. Seemed to be a bit noisier last time I rode it, so I checked the tappets (all OK) and gave the bike a good clean. Didn’t start it though – couldn’t be bothered draining that oil. But I have decided to fit a valve in the oil feed pipe. I realise there’s a risk involved but, as far as I’m concerned, it’s the lesser of two evils.