I'm looking at purchasing a 56 that is being sold by a shop in my area. The history on the bike is incomplete but what has been shared is it was restored around 10 years ago, was running well and frequently visited the Harley shop. The owner traded the bike in on a newer Harley and the Dealership sold it to a broker who then sold it to the shop where I found it. The Dealer spent around $1200 to get it checked out and running. I've seen a short video done about 4 months ago where it starts and runs well.
My question for the guys that know about these old models is related to the fact that there is no oil in the oil tank 0 visible on the dipstick so I'm thinking it's all in the crankcase? Is that normal? Does the oil seep into the crankcase in a couple of days? Would it be all in he crankcase in 4months? The fact there is no oil visible does that indicate the valve isn't seating properly?Any help on this would be really appreciated before I buy the bike and find I have to do some major work right off the bat. Thanks

 

Are you sure that someone did not drain all the oil from the bike?

There is a spring and check ball in the oil pump. If that is weak/bad, oil, while the bike sits and not running, can seep past the check ball and get into the cases. Never seen a complete oil tank dump into the cases tho.

Have any pics to share or a link to the video?

 

Tagging on, would love to find one myself.

 

An old time member of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America told me for long term storage on the older HD bikes, you can drain oil from the oil tank, pour a little down sparkplug hole, turn over a couple of times. Turn it over once a month.

 

Thanks alot for the reply, according to the Harley Dealer they didn't drain the oil, the local expert that got it running didn't , the Broker who bought the bike from the Dealer didn't and the shop it currently is at didn't either. Sounds like the oil pump needs to be repaired.

 

Well the good thing is that there is a drain plug on the side of the left case near the bottom.

 

Thanks for the info. I was sure someone in the Dealerships it has passed through in the last few months would say they drained the oil but that isn't the case and there's gas in the tanks.

 

the drain plug will bottom and strip the last thread off causing you to remove the engine to repair - its a common mistake to think one can just drain the engine from the block like a JD or even a VL series machine but they both have single down tube frames - not twin down tube the drain plug bottoms on the left side tube

- put a pan under it put a quart of oil in the tank you do not want to suck air into the pump - kick it off and run at a hi idle till it stops puking and you see oil returning from the engine block tp the oil tank - then wait till the oil tank levels off no more then 5 minuets with out riding it - if its has oil couple inches down your good to go for a 20 minuet ride

then do it again tomorrow actually do this every day - look at what going on in oil leaks fuel leaks noises and drivability - take pictures of the entire bike and post up questions < best bet about what to do next

 

Thanks for the info I would be really reluctant to take out that lower drain plug until I tried a few other things. Seems strange that 4 month ish ago it was running well and now there isn't any oil in the tank not even a little film on the bottom of the dipstick. I'm thinking it has had this problem for awhile and when I saw the clip of it running it still had the problem.

 

they all do that if left with out driving it before stopping the engine after a few minuets - its gravity feed to the engine and the ball and spring ( a very light tension spring ) holds back the oil in the tank - couple drops a every few hours and a week later its all in the engine - can it be fixed _ somewhat - its a design flaw they never addressed until the 1999 model year thats only 96 years

do what i suggested then come back and explain whats happening