See if these pictures help Identify anything else I should know. So what is this bike worth in current state? I know the fork seals blew oil all over the bed of my truck when bringing it home. The primary case has a braised area in the front and he is also a large scrap from the clutch lever.

 

I’m with Joe12RK. Make sure the oil tank and gas tank are clean with fresh oil and fuel, add some light oil to the cylinders, hand crank the starter until oil is returning to the oil tank, and make sure there are no gas leaks. Hook up a 6 or 12 volt battery as needed (with a fuse in case of a short somewhere), check for spark at the points and plugs, then see if she’ll start. As Joe said, “It’ll talk to you then”, and let you know where to go from there. Many Harleys that have sat for a lot longer than 27 years will fire right up.
As mentioned, Palmer’s Restoration book and a shop manual are must haves, but you said you were new to Panheads, so I’d also recommend a book by Greg Field called ‘Harley Davidson Panheads’. It’s not a technical guide like Palmer’s, but it is a very reader friendly history of Panheads covering most of the changes from year to year, including cosmetic, chassis and motor. Lotta nice pics, too.
That bike will be a real nice rider (if ya keep the apes for a fatboy)!

 

I don’t see a lock on the steering head. Originally all H-D Pan frames had one as per this example. Notice the forging hallmark and forging die number 27. Has your steering head got any ID in that area? Any ID on the other side? Also notice the pin for the steering damper but the pin in your frame looks broken?





Serial number doesn’t look consistent with factory stamping for a 55 Pan. A clearer close-up may help determine what happened but in the meantime here are two examples for comparison of some characters. Mostly notice the 5, 1 and 0.








Did you locate the BNs? Here’s an example. Let us know what you find and we’ll need photos of both of them.





Was there anything on top of the cases? Maybe 7s like these? Or perhaps Hs, depending on a few things. Photo? Even if you found nothing can you post a picture of this area.







As I suspected, the outer primary cover is AM.

Did you find date codes under the heads and at the base of the cylinders? Photos of the entire left side of the cylinders will also help determine if they are 74ci or 61ci. Thanks.

What’s going on with the tank and the top of the rocker cover?
Eric

 

Mud dobber nest, gone now right after the picture was taken.

 

you need to picture any numbers you find on the frame as i do not believe its correct for an OEM hard tail

 

I found the same 7's in the case as pictured above, there is no key on the frame and it looks like a 22 where the 27 is pictured above and no key also has the broken pin the cylinder head has what looks like an A and either a 15 or 16 followed by a no# 2 spaced about an inch away. And John" I'm not sure what i have.

 

With pictures of numbers both stamped in some cases - and castings speeding can get you to exact year and even a month and sometimes the shift that did the work - all good info in trades and selling to get the exact one you have - if that becomes a thing to swap it for the right one

 

If the steering head has die number 22 it indicates a 51 model and that would be consistent with the vertical toolbox bracket because 51 was the last year for a vertical bracket. Any forging ID on other parts of the frame? Photos?

Maybe the steering head was raked at some stage and the lock was done away with? Then later on the head may have been de-raked? Any sign of cutting, welding etc? At the front of the steering head, what is this? Is it a cover over a hole as per the second photo below.









If authentic the 7s indicate the cases were originally for a 74ci engine as opposed to 61ci. But I'd like a photo of them please. And we need photos of the BNs to figure out what year the cases are. At the moment all I can tell is that the left case is mid-52 or later and the R-H case is somewhere from about mid/later-52 to 62 inclusive. It sounds like it is still 6-volt but I can’t see a strap over the generator? Does it have a strap? If the R-H case has a gen cradle it is somewhere from about mid/later-52 to 57 inclusive. If no gen cradle it is somewhere from 58 thru 62.


The cylinder head? Or the cylinder? That sounds like a cylinder date code. A 15 or A 16 indicates casting on January 15 or January 16. The 2 could indicate 1952 or 1962. Same date code on both cylinders? Can you post photos of the codes and photos of the entire left side of both cylinders.

The heads may have a casting number and date code under the R-H side. Here’s an example.
Eric

 

If you give me an example of what you want a photo I have a better chance of finding it. Here's what I have.







I have this one of the lower front frame looks like a crash bar cutout both sides. ??

 

I gave you a front-on example of a hole in the steering head but I can’t tell much from the picture you posted. Usually there is a cover over that hole, as I indicated. Originally inside the hole there is a cylindrical pin as shown below. It’s part of the lock assembly but your assembly may have been removed in its entirety.






Looks like some ID visible on the left side of the steering head? Maybe XE? In full it may be forging number XE-35F. All 48-57 BT frames had that number and so did some, but not all, BT swingarm frames 58-59.

Bottom of the front downtubes don’t have a crashbar cutout. Instead it looks like the sidecar loops have been removed from the forging which is something I asked about in my first post. Somewhere on those sections there may be a forging number and perhaps other forging ID. More ID may be outside both axle clips and underneath the top of the seat post forging.

I still see no strap over the generator but it looks like a gen cradle is present. Here’s an example.






Pans had a cradle for 48-57 but your R-H case also has an oil screen well which is accessed by removing the slotted screw near the rear tappet guide. The cradle and well combined indicate your R-H case is somewhere from about mid/later-52 to 57 inclusive. To get closer than that I’ll need photos of the BNs and I already gave you a photo showing where to find them.

Although the R-H case appears to be no later than 57 its gen mounting holes may have been increased from 1/4” to 5/16”, partly to accommodate the gear cover which appears to be somewhere from about mid-59 thru 62 as I mentioned previously. (Gen mounting holes changed to 5/16” as of 58 models.) The corresponding holes in the gen may also be 5/16” which may explain why I see no gen strap. I don’t know why the gen has a stud and nut outside the cover.

Front head casting number 119 50 was used for 50-54 models. The front head I posted earlier has date code 2-1 indicating casting in Feb 1951 but I can’t read the code on yours. Your code may consist of a letter and number?

Rear head casting number 119 501 was used for 50-54 models. Hard to read the code but again it may consist of a letter and number? Could it be G 9? Looks like there is also a lone E but that isn’t part of the code.

On the front cylinder the A is the right way up as I’d expect. Date code plate appears to be the bigger variety as opposed to the smaller type. On Pan front cylinders big plates seem to have been used for 50 thru at least most of Feb 62 and then small plates seem to appear sometime later in 62. Therefore I still can’t say if your front cylinder was cast in Jan 52 or Jan 62 but a photo of its entire left side may help which is part of the reason why I requested it.

I don’t see a date code on the rear cylinder but again a photo of its entire left side may help.

And I’d still like a picture of the 7s on top of the cases.
Eric