For fear of being tarred and feathered I didn't mention I bought the bike without verifying belly numbers. The seller didn't know and where the bike was and that it was on a trailer with not the best ground clearance I rolled the dice. This is the first time I skipped that step but Im relieved to see they match. Not the best pic with my phone, the numbers are clearer in person. - 4426 on both cases. What I did verify before pulling the trigger was the mounts had no cracks and no welds anywhere. Looked like a clean engine.

 

billy i bought another collection and it has a BT flat head engine do not know if the frame next to it belongs and a 58 pan in nice shape original will be tuning and selling soon -

 

Post pics

 

Not quite as extended as yours but I rode this around everything west of the Rockies in the 70s. Just takes some getting used to (one of three I owned at the time).

 

Great looking bike!

 

Such a sweet find, I'd love to take that for a spin.

 

Casting number 119 50 was on front heads 50–54. Notice the date code appears to have a hyphen/dash. Some codes have them and some don’t. Because that code appears to have one, and also judging partly by other date code examples I have, I’m guessing the code was originally 12-3 indicating casting in Dec 53.

Casting number 119 501 was on rear heads 50–54. First character in the date code looks like 4. My first thought on the second character was 3, partly because I see no hyphen/dash. But it could be 2 (?) even though I’d expect a hyphen/dash if that was the case. Anyway, I think that code indicates casting in April of either 53 or 52. Re the other three characters, I’ve seen them before but it’s hard to read them. Maybe 305? Or 308? I don’t know what they represent.

Rear cylinder has K indicating casting in October. I can’t read the other markings and I can’t read what the front cylinder has either.

Left BN looks to have a closed-top 4 in the year portion which is normal. Also normal for 54 are the open-back 4s in the sequence portion. Sans serif 2 looks okay. Round-back 6 is the type I’d expect for 54. Here’s an example of most characters.







FL or FLE? SNs for 54 Pans began at 1000 and I suspect they ended somewhere between 5700 and 6000. SN boss may or may not have blemishes below some characters. They appear to be flaws in the casting and are common to a lot of, but not all, 54s. The 4 should have an open top and there may be a clue in the 5.

Trans lid is 59 or later because it has a switch.

Palmer says three frames for 54. He says info is on H-D drawing #47000-40A but his 37–64 SE confused the situation and I’ve been trying to sort it out for years. I don’t have the TE (36–65) although I know it appears to address some problems from the SE. But is the TE correct re those particular points? I don’t know. And there is still contradiction about when in 54 the second WB changed to SL.

Best idea is for the drawing to be posted so everyone can see what it says. I emailed Palmer a few times in 2017 and several times last year. I offered to pay in advance for a copy of said drawing but I received no reply. Last September on the AMCA forum judging section I started a thread about 54 frames but the situation remains unresolved. Recently in the AMCA magazine I’ve been running a wanted ad for the drawing but I still don't have a copy.
Eric

 

Very cool Bike indeed. Congratulations 💪👍😎

 

I'm digging it.
I am considering trying to work a trade with a local shop for one of their Shovel chopper projects.

 

Thanks Eric, I hoped you would chime in. I'll look at the heads closer and see if I can read the numbers. I can't read the jug numbers though. Too tight of a spot and not the clearest castings.

Here's the VIN. I noticed the defects under the numbers, hadn't seen that before but it didn't raise any red flags for me.