Sooty plugs, running rich - where do I start?

[bsa-bill]

I am now worrying about the drain-plug magnet affecting the return pipe ball!

Mine has been on the bike for many many years with the drain plug facing the rear without any issue, it's not an SRM one but does have a magnetic plug.

Don't see it being an issue

OTOH I did notice when wearing steel toe capped boots I was riding slightly hen toed 

[bobandbec]

Just had a look at the SRM site and for the sump plate under technical it does say have the plug facing towards the back.

This is lifted from their site:

"Kit must be fitted with drain plug facing the rear wheel, this ensures magnet is in correct position in relation to the scavenge pipe for best removal of steel and cast iron deposits as the oil is scavenged back to the oil tank."

Peter

[muskrat]

G'day Peter. If that's what they say then that's what you do.
Mine is not an SRM but looking at it you wouldn't know. I did a test on the magnet strength of mine last night. It will easily pick up two 15/16 - 1" ring spanners so I put it as far away from the pick up pipe as possible. The pipe is rear and to the right of the sump.
We're getting away from your original problem. What have you tried and eliminated?
Cheers

[peter small]

Just set up my road rocket with a bigger carb I used the colortune , a must have bit of kit,
Ticked over combustion showed blue flame
Quarter throttle  cut away needle/ needle jet showed yellow over rich,
One  notch down with the needle it went blue.
Easy tuning runs like a dream golden tipped plugs.
if you havent got one get one second hand off flea bay.
You can see if there is a fault.

Pete

[BSA_54A10]

The drain plug on the SRM sump should face to the back shouldn't it? Otherwise I've fitted two incorrectly!

Peter

Well that is the very poor way it was designes  so it leaks oil out over the contact patch on your rear tyre.
SRM are after all in the BSA replacement parts business.
The "smart " way to fit it is with the drain bolt facing left so you can easily & cleanly drain it on the side stand.
Also should it fall out or come loose while you are riding the oil blows over the left pipe and alerts you to the problem before you end up on the ground under a broken bike.

[BSA_54A10]

A retarded ignition will produce very sooty plugs in a short ride, be easy to start and tick over at idle perfectly.
Easiest way to check is give the bike full stick.
Does your bike have a manual or auto advanc and if manual is it a pull to retard or a pull to advance. BSA changed this aaround mid 50's but either one will fit although this is generally a single problem.
If it 8 strokes WFO then either you are retarded ( your bike sorry ) or the main is way too big.
However mains make no difference till you get to 3/4 throttle ( needle clear of the needle jet.
Overly rich at lower speeds can be cause by a worn needle jet and also by an incorrect needle & jet combo. remember like "the 2 of us", they work as a set.
the other biggie for sooty plugs that is not carb related is incomplete evacuation of the exhaust, choking the engine, usual cause is too much exhaust valve clearnce.

[CrispinA10]

Full stick might be unwise as the bike is only 400 miles run in since complete rebuild by previous owner. Yes, it's the later type manual advance, and this is operating as it should.
As covered in the later posts, the problem seems to be oiling due to massive wet-sumping rather than carburation or ignition. The bike is now with a bloke in Dover who runs Gold Stars and seems to know a heck of a lot about wet-sumping and I am expecting to hear back from him in early January.
Fingers crossed, it will be running like a dream after his skilled attention

[BSA_54A10]

This is how I now " run in " new engines.
Put on helmet & gloves.
Start bike using starter fluid is necessary.
If the engine can be made to run jump strait on and "ride like I just stole it"
One lap of the block, about 1.5 mies and the engine is "run in".
Return home, adjust carb allow engine to cool down.
Check cylinder bolts reset the tappets readjust the carb.
Test ride around same block.
return readjust carb if necessary, change oil.
Bike is now ready for 20,000 miles.

I used to mamby pamby it, leave it on idle for ages while adjusting valves & check all the other stuff by which time the rings had aready glazed in the bore and made a bypass route strait down to the cases.
Some long discussions when mr Healey changed my ideas and I have never had a new engine fail yet as comparred to about 1 in 5 previously,
All engines rebuilt this way have given long trouble free service lives.

[muskrat]

G'day Trevor, that sounds like how I run in race motors. Road motors get two laps.
Cheers

[BSA_54A10]

G'day Trevor, that sounds like how I run in race motors. Road motors get two laps.
Cheers

I have seen the way you ride, is there a difference ?

[BSA_54A10]

I am a bit anal about things like oil drains being on the bikes center line.
No reason to do it other than for some "nice "symetrey.
Had the drain plug drop out of the SR 500 going along the M4 at say, slightly above the leagal limit, ( that bike was good for 185kph )
I ended up on the armco .
Bike ended up spinning like a frisbe and vanishing over the armco.
Nothing was recoverable save the front tube, front brake pads ( 4 because had a LC400 front end ) , rear brake shoes and cam.
Almost no oil under the engine with a rod through the cases , none in the oil bearing frame, all of it soaked through the rear tyre.
Yes totally my fault for not tightening the drain bolt properly but still a design flaw oh so easy to eliminate but still common on a lot of modern machines.

[CrispinA10]

Well this is all rather interesting. Drifted off thread a little perhaps, but running in is all part of it, and I am genuinely surprised at the recent suggestions. I based my running in on advice elsewhere on the site and assumed I would have to nurse the bike for at least 900 miles, with gradual increments in throttle and a bit of uphill and downhill scrubbing. If the general concensus is simply give it some stick, then I can't wait to get the Beezer back and twist the right wrist a bit.
Before I do, does anyone else have any views which might urge more caution?
Thanks.

[BSA_54A10]

The thing to avoid at all costs is running the engine, light loads.
So a big fist full of throttle to WFO through all gears.
You are trying to get maximum compression pressure behind the rings to force them hard onto the cylinder wall to bed in.
So you change up at around 2/3rds maximum road speed for that gear.
Some say to start in 2nd and only change down to 1st.
You want the engine to be working hard , not reving hard and not lugging

I generally short shift all the way through the box and WFO the instant the clutch is out.
Down through all gears into corners and lots of engine braking.
Some WD 40 on the ring compressor, nothing in the bore

[Greybeard]

...does anyone else have any views which might urge more caution?

I will not be running in an engine by riding/driving it hard. I will be running in the traditional way; i.e. not too much loading and no extreme revs for a few hundred miles. Early oil changes as well. Good point though about not leaving it running unloaded for very long before it's run in.

[bsa-bill]

not leaving it running unloaded for very long before it's run in.

or after, ever run yours in the shed for a while , they get very hot, need air through the fins