Introduction and 1925 Douglas CW 350

[darmahsd]

Hello there folks,
I live in Portland Oregon USA and have been involved motorcycling ever since I was a kid. I have enjoyed various vintage bikes mostly from the 60's and 70's.  I am writing to you today to see if I can get any basic advice from the members here.  There is a CW Douglas for sale that I am interested in that I can take a look at.  The bike apparently was originally a New Zealand bike and was brought over 20 years ago after being restored.  My question is that the bike has been in storage for some years and the owner's son is in charge of the bike and has no idea how it works.  I am not familiar with the procedure to start the bike and have not been able to uncover anything in my research for this model.  Can anyone tell me what fluids must be in the bike, how to check the levels  and what the sequence is to see if it fires up?  A friend of mine has an old JAP flat tracker that we tinker with so I am familiar with the total loss oil system but have no other knowledge of these older machines.  It's a beauty though!
thanks for your help,
Paul

[midman]

Paul,
I can scan and email you the starting procedure from the manual.
PM me with your email if you want.
Chuck

[9triton]

here is site in NZ - has a scan of the 1925 manual:

http://www.barnstormers.co.nz/762/1925-douglas-2-%c2%be-hp-handbook/

if you search douglas has some other bits - note is 2 pages :

http://www.barnstormers.co.nz/?s=douglas&submit.x=0&submit.y=0

[darmahsd]

Wow,  thanks very much for both your replies; it is most appreciated.   I will be reading that manual thoroughly tonight.   It is a beautiful machine..

[darmahsd]

Hello there,
After reading the manual I am hopeful that someone can clarify two more questions I have in regards to the oil of the engine and transmission.  I am guessing that when first trying to start the engine, that any oil should be drained from the crankcase and then to be certain that there is enough oil in the engine is to pump the handle on the gas tank 3 times and then leaving the plunger in the extended position (of course after filling the oil tank on top).  Also,  I am not certain how much gerar oil should be in the gear box ?  Any suggestions on the type of oil and gear oil would be most appreciated as well.
thanks very much

[9triton]

the manual specifies Castrol XL - which prewar was an SAE straight 30w oil for the engine.


gearbox a few threads already :


https://www.douglasmotorcycles.net/index.php?topic=5893.msg21584#msg21584


in Australia I bought some penrite transoil 250 for my box - yet to put it in though ....magneto to fix first ....