Back where he belongs....

[panheadpete]

Originally Posted by snowflake

Hi Pete,
I haven't looked this time, but last time they were black an oily.
I cleaned them off and all seemed fine. I'll take a look at them again to see if that's still the case.
SF

Well, when I first put mine on the road, it would go for between 5 and 30 miles then do exactly what you're describing; putting in brand new plugs would get me the same again.
Turned out excess oil in the cylinders was 'oiling' the plugs, which looked the way you describe yours, yet I'd rebuilt the top end.
In my case, it was the l/h crankshaft oil seal which was allowing air (but not oil, so no clues) to move in and out of the 'cases on the down-stroke of the pistons, thus defeating the rudimentary crankcase scavenge system which depends on crankcase pressurisation to expel oil into the timing case to be returned to the oil tank.
Result being a crankcase contining more oil than it should, which was getting picked up by the crank and flung against the cylinder walls, overwhelming the rings and slowly oiling the plugs 'til they gave up (the plugs don't need to be 'whiskered', like an old two-stroke, to quit, a coating on the centre electrode will do the job).
Dead easy to fix, dead hard to diagnose!
Good Luck,
Pete

[DynaMik]

Dont know a lot about Pans but thinking today, have Pans got solid lifters? If so valve clearances, if there not adjusted properly, can close up as the engine gets hot, you then lose compression. As it cools compression comes back. If hydraulic this wont happen of course

Just a thought mate.

[snowflake]

After a lot of time and effort....and not an inconsiderable amount of dosh....
He's on the road!!
Stripped down and re-built tranny - old wet tranny bits still in there; Clutch, stripped and re-built, pressure plate was on the wrong way round; Carb stripped and re-built and re-tuned; Rear fender re-aligned; new points; oil drained, and re-filled; fuel tank raised on brackets (couldn't for the life of me work this one out, tank was correct replica and mounts appeared to be in the right place....); new leather tank 'bra' made; seat posts welded to frame; new plugs, battery and filter....and i think that's it.
Anyway, took him out and he runs real sweet. Went to Thames Valley H-D and had the Hoggies drooling over a 'propper' Harley as one of them put it.
Going back tomorrow for a dohnut!!
Going to international and planning to go to next year's Super Rally in Greece; any other Pan/Shovel guys going? We can go in convoy and repair each other!!

[Steppenwulf]

Originally Posted by snowflake

After a lot of time and effort....and not an inconsiderable amount of dosh....
He's on the road!!
Stripped down and re-built tranny - old wet tranny bits still in there; Clutch, stripped and re-built, pressure plate was on the wrong way round; Carb stripped and re-built and re-tuned; Rear fender re-aligned;

So who is that down to you, Roger or Che?

You either sold a pup to Roger who then sold it on to Che who then was grateful for you turning up so she could sell the shed on...

or was it sorted when you sold it to Rog, and since then he and Che have slowly but carefully reverted it back to a shoddy mess...


or is this typical of the never ending saga of trying to get a Pan running reliably in all departments?

[snowflake]

Originally Posted by Steppenwulf

So who is that down to you, Roger or Che?

You either sold a pup to Roger who then sold it on to Che who then was grateful for you turning up so she could sell the shed on...

or was it sorted when you sold it to Rog, and since then he and Che have slowly but carefully reverted it back to a shoddy mess...


or is this typical of the never ending saga of trying to get a Pan running reliably in all departments?

I blame Rog......

[Roger]

Cheeky bastard, never did anything to that one.

[snowflake]

Originally Posted by Roger

Cheeky bastard, never did anything to that one.

Me neither - which is why i think it was such a basket case!!
Works good now though!!

[DickDastardly]

Originally Posted by snowflake

....sort of anyway; i know the use of 'he' will upset Che () but after te sex change operation (read: 're-spray') he's back home!

A few pics as promised; no dramatic changes (yet) to what Che has done, and i must admit it's a hell of a lot easier to kick over than when I had it last.....











...but, it won't bl**dy run!!
It starts sweet and ticks over nicely, but as soon as i go down the road it starts coughing up on me and dies after about 3 or 4 mins riding and won't start again.
I took the opporunity to put in a new fuel line, filter system and clean out the carb from the last time this happened when i first took him out and ended up pushing him back 3/4 of a mile home; thankfully today it was a little less than that.
Methinks it might be compression, which is a real pain as i don't have any time left to work on it until the main rally season (Aug for me this year) due to work pressures.
Any ideas?

Look I've got a manky A65L which hasn't been ridden since 1985 in my shed, for a couple of grand in my favour and that Panhead I will let you have the aforementioned A65

Just kiddin' that is a lovely bike

Really jealous

I would sell my soul to have a bike like that

But as my soul is worth about 6d, I guess I'll never be lucky enough to own one

Ride and enjoy mate, and even if it does break down, you'll still look cool at the side of the road!

Nice one

[snowflake]

Originally Posted by DickDastardly

Look I've got a manky A65L which hasn't been ridden since 1985 in my shed, for a couple of grand in my favour and that Panhead I will let you have the aforementioned A65

Just kiddin' that is a lovely bike

Really jealous

I would sell my soul to have a bike like that

But as my soul is worth about 6d, I guess I'll never be lucky enough to own one

Ride and enjoy mate, and even if it does break down, you'll still look cool at the side of the road!

Nice one

Cheers Mate.
I do have to thank Roger and Kim (Che) for keeping it on the road; as someone once said of classic vehicles, "we are just custodians", no doubt it will find it's way to someone else in due time.
BTW, we will be sharing b'days next year - my 40th, it's 50th...that'l be a parteee!

[kiwidave]

it really is art on wheels, that bike. How could you sell it again? Way too beautiful to discard....