Just inherited my fathers A10

[Worty]

Those Mazac oil pumps will seize up for fun especially after standing for decades in dirty oil.
Makes me cringe when people "chuck some fuel in it and see if it goes". Even if the engine is started and stopped again immediately the oil pump gear will have been destroyed even if the engine itself hasn't.

Good point Rex, as I found out from Bergs, the Mazac pumps are a nightmare.  Still, having said that, at least the pumps are still available from SRM (if you have deep pockets).  Unfortunately, this many not help your Sq4 owner

[KiwiGF]

Some great advice, but from personal experience my bike was laid up for 29yrs then stripped and fully rebuilt. Upon stripping the engine the sludge trap was completely solid, even the bottom of the oil tank was like thick grease but engine internals remained in remarkable condition, the carburettor was gunged up, I think it's a big risk to run without fill strip down.

This gets my vote, the engine is going to need a strip down and rebuild before the bike could be ridden, starting it before a strip down will probably just make the rebuild more expensive as components like the oil pump and driving gears will get damaged, and lots of other parts as well. It’s also unlikely the magneto will give a good spark as the condensor will have died.

[Flashgreubon]

Hi to all,
after a complete rebuid or to restart a customer's bike that has been idle for a long time i take the bike in my van to the top of a very long and steep hill near me.
First descent with the plugs off, in gear, to get all the oil circiulating and everything freed up.
Then back up the hill in the van and ready for the second descent with plugs in and petrol on.
Easier and safer than kick for ever till the oil returns or, God forbid starting it and waiting for the oil to return.
But sure i live in the Cork-Kerry mountains ,it helps.