Motorcycle Repair: 85 Shadow, tappets, hydraulic tappets, head gasket

Question
Hi,
I recently did the head gasket on my 1985 Shadow and now that I'm putting it back together, I need to bleed the hydraulic tappets.  It appears that I need a special tool for this, but I haven't been able to find one.  Is there any way to do this without the tool?
Can I just put the tappets in and let them "bleed themselves" after I get the engine running?

Answer
Andy, unfortunately, the tappets probably won't bleed themselves because they are installed upside down, so any air in them will be trapped.  I had to do a little research on this question since I've not done this myself.  My experience is on pre-82 Hondas but I have a manual for my wife's VT700.  It looks like theres a tool with a long probe that goes inside the tappet to unseat a check ball or something.  The outer cylinder then just depresses the plunder so you can work the air out.

If I were doing it, I'd take a large paper clip or something like it and poke it in the hole to unseat the ball and then use a socket to work the plunder.  Like I said, I've never had to do this yet but it looks like it should work.  Let me know if it does or doesn't so I can a use it in the future or not.

Thanks
Rich