This bike has been completely rebuilt. The motor and transmission are original but am not sure about anything else -- there are definitely some aftermarket reproduction parts on this bike but they are as good quality aftermarket as you can get and they are all replica so the bike appears as an original 1954 machine.The motor was professionally rebuilt by an old school life-long HD mechanic and runs great. Spark plugs are good color brown and the bike has very good power. Cylinders were bored out and new pistons, wrist pins, and rings installed. The heads were rebuilt by Don Sullivan at Head Hog. Don is the only person in the country, to my knowledge at least, who rebuilds pan and knuckle heads -- he grinds the seats down, builds them back up again, then grinds them down to factory spec. He also fixes anything else -- makes sure the head is flat, valves are OK, spring tension correct, cooling fins not broken, exhaust and intake spigots good. This service is not cheap and the wait is about one year.Frame is late-54 to 57 V-Twin panhead reproduction frame painted with chassis black gloss.The pepper red tanks and Daytona ivory fender color combination was only available from Harley on the 1954 model year. These colors were available in other years, but not in the combination of red on the tanks and ivory on the fenders. The paint is show quality. The front fender has reproduction 50th Anniversary emblem, which you must have in order for any 54 restoration to be complete. The original emblems are on ebay sometimes, but the ones have seen are pretty beat and several hundred dollars.The 1954 model year is Harley's 50th Anniversary model, and is one of the rarest of the panheads, with only 7,407 FL's being sold, down 20% from 1949.Now the bad news -- bought the bike with an S&S carb. This is obviously not original but plenty of guys run pans with an S&S so decided to try it too. This means that the spiral on the throttle grip had to be changed since S&S works in an opposite way than the original Linkert and this makes the operation of the throttle cable little rough -- it works fine but is not smooth. Second, the bike is hard to start when cold. Why am selling? Because am 70 years old and am getting tired of jumping on panheads (the greatest bike Harley ever produced) and just bought another bike where can push button. This 54 is tuned to "T" and attribute the hard starting to the S&S (I could be wrong). To remedy the problem, kick it couple of times, then give it squirt of starting fluid and she fires in one or two more kicks.The second issue is that the check valve in the oil pump does not work as well as it should, which means that engine oil seeps into the crankcase when the bike is sitting. This is very typical for panheads. If you ride often enough, this is not problem, but if you let the bike sit for two or three weeks, oil from the oil tank will seep past the check valve into the crankcase. Then when the engine starts, it pukes oil out the breather into the primary case, which then leaks out onto the floor. Many panheads have this issue and there are discussions on panhead forums on how to deal with it. I dealt with it by installing brass cutoff valve on the oil feed line from the oil tank to the oil pump. This means you don't ride drunk because you could forget to turn the oil on. only use the valve when the bike is in the garage and will not be run for while -- it is not necessary any other time.That is it. This is strong running bike. Feel free to call if you have question. 301-456-6320. Thanks. PhilOn Jul-20-17 at 11:26:28 PDT, seller added the following information:VIN is 54FL5082. The engine case numbers match -- 154-5082 (the "1" in front of the "54" means that the engine is 74 cu.in. and "5082" is production number)On Jul-20-17 at 11:30:35 PDT, seller added the following information:SORRY! The VIN is 54FL4993. The engine case is 154-5082.
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Motorcycles for sale in Canada » Harley-Davidson » Other » 1954 Harley-davidson Other for sale
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