6 speed tranny on old panhead?

[bruno]

I have a bored and stroked '60 panhead and need more gears. I have looked but have not seen an old pan bolted to a new 6 speed is this even possible? What about the 5 speed rebuild kit?

[Bosheff]

What do ya hope to accomplish with more gears? Are ya lookin for more top end, or are ya lookin for touring type gearing? Considering ya said ya got a stroked pan I'm guessin ya want more top end. This can be accomplished with gearing, (motor sprocket, tranny, and rear sprocket). If ya were to swap trannies, you would probably want an overdrive unit. I don't know of anybody manufacturing a complete bolt in O.D. unit for a pan, but that doesn't mean that one is not available. At any rate, with a stock H-D tranny, you are limited to 1 to 1 ratio in high gear. Why not go to FX gearing in yer stock box to take advantage of taller 1st and 2nd gears. This would let ya take advantage of the potential a stroker motor is capable of. This gear swap basically means changing the mainshaft 1st/2nd cluster , as well as the countershaft 1st and 2nd gear. You would still have a 1:1 high gear ratio, but you will have taller 1st and 2nd, and third will remain the same, but that's o.k. cause a stock 3rd goes on forever anyway. By doin the FX 1-2 thing, and goin taller on the motor sprocket as well as taller on the trans sprocket you can get a pretty good gearing thing going on , and never have to change transmissions, or motor sprocket shafts or tranny mainshafts. And you could always go to a disk brake on the rear, which will allow you to go to a smaller rear sprocket than a stock 51 tooth found on panhead drum brake setups. Yer probably gonna need a rear disc to stop this rocket anyway. Good Luck....bosheff

[Throttle Junkie]

What about the Baker 6 in 4 trans?

[Bosheff]

I wasn't away there was such an animal. What is the final ratio in 6th? Is it an O.D. set-up? Is cost an issue? Are ya lookin for top end, or more gears in the middle like for a touring machine? For some reason I don't git the feeling yur gonna use this machine for tourin'....bosheff

[oldbob]

Hear is all the speck's on the 6 in 4 speed. Looks like you can get a main shaft to fit any Harley back to 1936. I think they must be pretty proud of it there is no price on the web sight.

http://bakerdrivetrain.com/4-speed/index.htm

[Bosheff]

I'm thinkin after dealing with all the issues involved with the 6-4 set-up, yur gonna have a bushel basket full of bucks in this tranny set-up, not to mention the labor involved. I do realize that with a 4 speed, yur never gonna have anything but a 1:1 4th gear ratio, but this can be partly overcome by regearing elsewhere. (Motor, tranny, and rear sprocket if yur runnin a disk brake out back) Forgive me, I'm a cheap SOB. I still don't know what his riding venue is all about. Is it balls out go fast, or tour type ridin?...bosheff

[bruno]

Thanks for the comeback. yeah, seems like this old pan is going to have to stick with 4 gears. The cost for a more effective top end ain't worth it. Baker is at about $2600 to make it happen. Mechanic said: if you want six gears sell the pan and buy what you want. You will save money in the long run.

[RUBONE]

I fail to see the modern thinking that more gears equate more speed. Top gear is top gear, you can either pull it or not. Bored and stoked?? If you can't pull the tallest gears made your motor is punk! Close ratio 4 speeds work great. You may have to thrash your clutch on the takeoff but if you are concerned with that you should have left it stock. BSA Gold Stars, one of the most successful designs ever, could run over 75 MPH in low gear. Lots of clutch slipping to take off and then go....! Remember, lugging kills engines. Spin them up and work the sweet spot and life is good!
Robbie
Strokers Rule!!

[1hdrider]

myself & probably along with a lot of others always felt like i needed another gear...i went with a 26 tooth tranie sproket...made a big difference & it dont cost an arm & a leg...good luck man

[steinauge]

The idea behind a 5 or 6 speed DIRECT DRIVE (1-1) trans is to be able to pull a taller final drive without losing any accelleration.The overdrive trans enables you to run an accelleration gear and not lose any top speed .Not convinced thats worth 2600!