Was riding the other day, oil light came on, rode for a couple mins and pulled over, was a little over the low mark on the dipstick, started it up again and the bike sounded like sh*t possible metal on metal or something rattling around, putted home as i was only half a block away. Talked to a local shop and they said possible oil pump failure, could have piston/cylinder damage and its gonna be a crap load of money to go through the motor anywhere from 1000-4000. My question is, what would you do? They wanted 100 bucks just to look at it. I work on new Audi's not old bikes, so i have a decent understanding of motors, ive just never pulled a bike apart. I have the original service manual and i figured I could pull off the top of the head and inspect the cams just as easy as they could. Would that be a good place to start?
Here's the original tank

and bike when i got it from my dad

I had just painted it back to black last month (not the original tank obviously) and swapped to drag bars, right after this photo i put the original seat back on as well


My dad had owned it since 77 but it had sat for two years when i finally talked him out of it about a year ago, two weeks after i got it, he passed away from a heart attack, so obviously selling the bike is not an option. I guess im just looking for some advice as im pretty new to the bike scene. Couple months ago finally had it running good and i had been riding just about everyday until this happened. Appreciate the advice! -Tim

 

... oil light came on, rode for a couple mins and pulled over, was a little over the low mark on the dipstick, started it up again and the bike sounded like sh*t possible metal on metal or something rattling around ...

The oil being a little above the low mark would not cause an engine failure. I would expect that at that level the normal top end noise would simply be louder than usual, a sign to top up the oil.

Under no circumstances would i have any shop do the investigative work. It will be very expensive [$50 to $100 per hour], and quite possibly poorly done.

You should do all of the dismantling yourself, then bring suspect parts to a trusted independant mechanic - not! a Harley Davidson dealership - for evaluation. It would be a $ mistake to pay up to $100 per hour for a tech to unbolt things then put them back together. Keep in mind that big dealerships typically do not have mechanics in the shop, just techs who are not trained to work on these old bikes; and many these days do not permit bikes over 10 years old into their shops anyway.

If this was a disasterous engine or transmission failure you would not have been able to putt home.

Drain both oils and run them thru a cheesecloth filter. Cut open the oil filter and see what is in there. See what metal parts may be on the magnetic drain plugs. Post pics of these here.

I would start by removing the oil pump. It is relatively easy on a 1977 as the frame is designed to get the pump off with the engine in the frame, unlike earlier models. Follow the factory service manual, keep parts, nuts&bolts, in labelled baggies, take pictures as you go along, post the pics here. Do not clean up parts first. Try to include any oil traces etc. I do not use flash for such pic as it hides the details.

Depending on what we find the top end would be next. Again this is a relatively easy process.

Wait to see what others say. You can and should do all of the dismantling and re-installing yourself. It is exciting, challenging at times, and fun. You really get to know your bike. Definitely needs patience, the factory service manual 99484-78, and the factory parts catalog 99452-78B.

EDIT: parts catalog is 99451-78B.

The manuals are widely available: HD Dealer, indie shop, J&P Cycles, various eBay sellers, etc.

 

yep..what IRONMICK said.

If you are used to working on cars there is no reason why you cant do this.There is probably no question that you could ask that couldnt be answered here.

 

What was the outcome?

Sweet old sporster you have there, a friend of mine has one but the tank's been repainted... :-( seriously bad move on his part, he was young, what can I say...)

 

i would pull the oil pump as iron mick said, i would also pull the heads and cylinders off and check the play in the connecting rods and pull the cam cover check the cam bushings,that will tell you everything ( i bought a 83 that the cam bushing **** themselves destroyed the bottom end) ended up using it for a parts bike lol

 

Tim,
Sorry to hear about your dad.. and your bike. If you haven't fixed it yet let me know, I'll help you out...Whatever it takes. Its been awhile.