Just an update on the 1961 Pan I got in ebay. I've had the bike for almost a month now I've ridden it twice and have kicked it about 10,000 times. Yesterday was the turning point though. After changing the points, condenser, spark plugs, battery,carb cleaning, and clearing out the petcock, over the course of the last month, the old girl cold started on the fifth kick. And after, started three times in a row on the first kick (after two primes). I couldn't believe when she started that quickly. She actually wanted to run.

I've got a parts order with NOSParts, for some odds and ends, and the next thing to do is to find and stop (or try to) her oil leaks.

Thanks to everyone for all your good advice, especially "Panz4ever" for sending me a manual.

Kenny

PS Here are some new pics, I've included the R1 just for fun

http://www.aptekarev.com/Harley_2/index.html

 

Good news! Good luck with stopping the oil leaks. If you figure it out post it and you be a millionaire. Harley could never figure it out until they finally came out with the block head motor.

 

Just remember one of your oil leaks is designed in. The primary oiler on your bike is designed to dribble oil onto the primary chain, then eventually find its way to the ground. Tin primaries don't seal!

 

I've been reading about oil leaks on forums, and am aware of the primary oiled, which also acts like a vent. I'm getting a dribble sometimes when I start of stop moving. It creates a trail of small drops about 3-4 feet long. I think it's tranny oil cause I have to top it off after I ride for as little as .5 hour. What is a good way to find oil leaks, in the tranny and motor? Which leaks should I not be concerned with (I've heard some leaks are impossible to fix)?

 

Your tranny seal could be bad and that is something that you will want to get fixed. Don't worry about the vent (oiler) or the Tin Primary. You can always put a new cork gasket in the Tin Primary and slow the leak down. You will be able to do this yourself but be careful not to over tighten the screws.

 

Kenny, in order to get an idea of where she's leaking, go out and get a gallon of carb cleaner, a rag and a stiff brush that can get into small spaces. Clean up as much of the lower end as you can. Run for that half hour and look to see if you can tell where the oil is coming from.

re: the tranny - check tranny seal (Terry covered that). Check the gasket on the kicker cover, it may be worn or maybe the nuts are not torqued properly. Check the drain plug. Ive seen bikes where the drain plug was striped out or almost so and the owner used some type of silicon crap all over the nut, put the nut back in turned it a couple of times and actually believed he would stop the leak without having to repair the plug hole.

re:motor (bottom end) - if its leaking between the cases, unless the case bolts are not tightened properly you won't stop the leak unless you split the cases (and on an old bike there is no guarantee that putting it back together follwoing all the rules will make it leak-proff). Another spot, check the gasket that goes between the generator and engine case. If they go bad you can lose some oil there. (Dont forget to check and make sure the generator bolts are tightened properly too.) Take a look at the tappet blocks; the gaskets can leak there and cause some oil loss. And, at the same time check and make sure there is no oil leaking from the pushrod tubes. There are three? seals per pushrod. OEM ones are made of cork, but I understand that there are some other brands/types that will hold up better and longer.

re:motor (top end) - Pans seem to be notorious for leaking around the D-rings especially on the front cylinder head. There is another gasket between the cylinders and the heads but they do not usually go bad unless heads were not torqued properly or somehow loosened up. There are also cylinder base gaskets that wear out and have to be replaced.

 

before cleaning, look for clean spots where the oil is leaking. hot leaking oil will actually clean the area where it drips-runs out.
contact REAL GASKETS, they offer the absolute best silicon gaskets for sealint the early bikes.
also, as said before, the tin covers will curl at the edge if overtightened, causing leaks at the pan tops and primary.

 

Just registered here and briefly read your saga on purchasing the old girl.

All the advice you've gotten here is spot on. For what it's worth: On my 60 it seems that the majority of the leaks are tranny leaks - output shaft AND thru the mounting studs. I pulled the tranny and used some kinda liquid sealer guaranteed to stop leaks. Didn't work. So here's what I've learned subsequently. If you think the original studs will work use teflon tape, and if they seem a bit too far gone to reseal in this fashion, you can buy oversize studs designed to cure this problem - route I woulda gone had I knew they existed at the time. Some day will tackle it if I don't sell it first.

Anyway, hope that helps.

 

Again thanks for all the advice. I'm planning to do the first exploratory oil leak surgery this or next weekend. The ground clearance is very low, how are you guys getting under these bikes?

Otherwise, she's starting regularly now as long as the battery is charged and the plugs are clean. She's really fun to ride. Now that I've put in a bit more time, I really like the tank shift/foot clutch.

K

 

Ooh-rah! Makes you feel like you're on top of a real bike, clutching with the foot, reaching down and snicking it into the next gear with your hand!