| Author | Message | ||
     Road_Thing |
 It's coming together. Wiring's about done, main oil lines are in place, got some cool new wheels & tires off ebay. Also got a cool new camera, which is the real reason for the post! I still need to get a Boyer ignition setup and make a feed line for the top end oiler. Front brake needs rebuilding, and the primary drive and clutch are sitting on my work bench. Just out of curiosity, does anyone know what class Nortons run in at Bonneville? r-t | ||
| Road_Thing |
 Not that anybody asked, but here's a shot of the drive side... r-t | ||
| Jmartz |
Beautiful bike RT... I love it! | ||
| Ocbueller |
RT, Very Nice! | ||
| Cowboy |
Att....RT....Congrats. That thing realy pulls the heart strings of a old man. The last one I owned was 100% Paul Dunstall. I know you will enjoy that baby. I rode Nortons through out the 60s and 70s. Besides a Norton the Buell is the only thing I can truly love. | ||
| Road_Thing |
Thanks, gents, I can't wait to get it on the road!  Here's the first picture I have of the project. The bike in the back is the one I'm building now; I traded the yellow one for S1#2, which has now gone to a new home in NJ. Bikes come and go at my house!  Here's the first step in the re-assembly. Fresh motor goes into freshly repainted frame. Just in case anybody else gets the urge to try this, I'll share a secret with you: put the transmission in the cradle before you put the cradle in the frame. Don't ask me how I know this... r-t | ||
| Redstripe |
Roas Thing; Love the bike. Love Nortons; always have. I used to own a 1955 Featherbed -used to be a 88 SS- in which the previous owner had managed to squeeze a 1200 TT nsu car-engine. As in a Munch 1200 TTE. Had a BIG Grimeca drum up front, and some Japanese in the back. Dunstall long-circuit tank and seat unit. Transmission of the power from the crankshaft was on the right side through a chain, which ran in a one-off housing on the back of the engine-casing. A main shaft therein propelled the clutch and gearbox off a Dominator through a chain on the left side. -all ridersview- Thing was fed through 4 Dell'Orto's, think 28 mm. Forks were Marzocchi, air supported. Still a thought for sore eyes I had to sell it. Ran it for a couple of hondred miles, after which the engine casings had more fuel then oil in it. Also, the transmission through these chains had to be altered, they definately would have broke sooner then later. The Dominator gearbox is also not known for reliability, especially with 80 bHp and a whole lotta torque on it. I figured I hadn't the mechanical skills to get it in order. It was also still registered as a Dominator 500 cc. I now hope to be able to aqcuire a wide-line Triton in the next couple of years. Doesn't have to be a pre-unit. I like simplicity and parts availability!! Don't see them too often in Holland anymore, though... Good luck on the project! Jilles. | ||
| Choptop |
Bonneville does not class bikes by brand. Its strictly year, engine type, displacement, frame modifications and streamlining (if any). If its a 1956 or before it runs vintage. If not, you would run with the rest of the pushrod bikes in your frame/streamlining/cc class. The records in the classes that most Norton bikes would run in are pretty high. Competition in those classes was pretty heated back in the day and alot of thinking and engineering went into making them really fast. Not saying you can take it out there and run it and have a blast, just that the records in those classes are pretty strong ones. P.S. love it. Looks great. More pics when you get it on the road !!! | ||
| Redstripe |
R.T.; Thought I might add a couple of links for You, perhaps still unfamiliar? www.caferacer.com -doesn't seem to work anymore? www.70cyclerun.be -Belgian 70's bikes fanatics. www.ace-cafe-london.com -where it all started, off course. www.woodgate.org/dunstall -nice impressions. http://users.raketnet.nl/roadrocketclub/ -what us Dutchmen are up about... Enjoy, Jill. | ||
| Blake |
Too cool! | ||
| Road_Thing |
Jilles--Thanks! Great links, even though I don't speak Dutch, I love the pics! r-t | ||
| Xb9 |
Check out the pic of my old '74 Nort in the quickboard section, 2003 Streetfighters, a Pictorial Summary..Wish I still had her, should have never let her go... | ||
| Mark_In_Ireland |
 Just got my NOC mag and this is the centre spread going up the mountain at Cadwell..... | ||
| Newfie_Buell |
Very Nice Job so far on that Norton. I got two old Hondas kicking around 1971 CB450T & 1975 CB500T and have really not decided what to do with them but that is an idea. | ||
| Road_Thing |
Mark: That is so sweet! He must have hit a bump to get that front wheel off the ground  . Newfie: Thanks! r-t | ||
| Rocketman |
r-t, I do believe that is Mark on the 'hot seat'  Rocket | ||
| Road_Thing |
Mark, is it true? I want to know more! (Thanks, Rocket...) r-t | ||
| Jrh |
R-T Nice bike,every time i see a Norton i think of a guy named Cristianson who drag raced in the mid 1970s.He ran in the top fuel class,used TWO 750 engines,one behind the other,nitro through constant flow injectors.He pretty much dominated that class for a few years.Broke into the hi 7 second range.I can still remember how different the loping idle of that bike sounded as he sat at the line. I guess you already know the Comandos held their own with the Japanese street "superbikes" of that era and of course the handling was legendary.I think they were the only ones to have nice looking women sitting on their bikes in their magazine adds too,if i recall. | ||
| Xb9 |
T.C. Christenson: 1981 USNOA Norton Rally, Townsend TN. Hogslayer was the name. Lit it up for all of us too! I can still hear it in my head - awsome!  | ||
| Jrh |
Xb9 Yah!!!,that's it alright.I saw him make quite a few passes,he almost always won,that bike was really light + relatively simple compared to the 2 engine HDs,or 3 engine RC engineering Honda he regularly stomped. | ||
| Xb9 |
Found another pic of "Hogslayer" Not much to it, aye?  | ||
| Aesquire |
Sweet! I chased my pal's 71 Combat Commando with my ol' GT380 Suzuki. & my GS750B, but only w/ the 2 stroke could I equal him in oil smoke.. If the wiring is stock carry 2 Z Diodes with you wrapped in a shop rag. I remember the sudden darkness beside me & going back to hold the flashlight to swap em out. | ||
| Road_Thing |
Welcome aboard, Patrick, and thanks! Latest update on the RTN: I'm waiting on a throttle cable, then I'm gonna fire it up! I expect the cable to show up in tomorrow's mail, but it'll probably be late in the week before we have ignition since I'll be travelling to NYC for business and hopefully a rendezvous with some BadWeb types (survivors' pictures will probably be posted here!) The wiring harness is home-built, 12 and 14 ga. on everything amd everything is soldered. I'm using a Boyer ignition and a Radio Shack rectifier, stock Zener for now but at the first hint of "Lucas-itis" it's going in the dumpster and I'll put a Tympanium unit on it. Enjoy your M2-is it broken in yet? r-t | ||
| Aesquire |
Thanks Road_Thing. Nortons have a few quirks..lol. Very like a Buell in a lot of ways. Keep the rubber mounts tight to specs, handles like a dream, let 'em get loose, bike hinges in the middle. I put a LOT of Heli-coils in my pals Norton. That beautiful brit aluminum is soft as butter, but the way it seems to "vacuform" around the moving parts is Art. You will now be able to shame Buell riders by having 3 diff. types of tools in your kit. I was a QC manager & used to come to work w/a bolt & challenge the crew to I.D it. BSW, BSF, Whittworth, english, metric, have fun. Only 200 miles to go for my M2's first dealer visit (and second oil change) 35f outside & raining. P.S. BSF (british standard fine) BSW (british standard weird, i mean Whittworth (based on dead Kings thumb) note: whittworth threads use 55deg flank angles NOT 60deg used by everything else. | ||
| Timbo |
Cool thread, Post more pics when ya get the chance R-T. Gotta love that shot with the tire in the air...classic. Timbo | ||
| Stormfool |
Very handsome Norton you've got under way there Road_Thing. I've had the pleasure/pain of restoring my '79 T140D (Bonneville Special) for the third time--having gotten dragged under the rear tire of a box truck a while back. One thing I've found is that these sort of things are a perpetual work in progress! I started off thinking I would leaving swinging wrenches to Wes Scott(37 years experience)the Brit bike expert in my area, but soon ran through five grand in parts and labor and economics guided me back to greasy mitts and the occasional busted knuckle... Nothing like replacing a mainshaft yourself in a few hours and taking off for a 600 mile trip with no mechanical mishaps to restore faith in your own abilities (mechanical at least...) If I had the loot I'd get me a Norton--'75 electric start. Lovely looking machine you've got there. | ||
| Mfell2112 |
Hey XB9 , TC has a bike shop here in Kenosha WI. He has lots of old Brit parts. He still has hog slayer too. I got to take a look at it about a year ago. Once in a while I see TC riding around town. Mike | ||
| Rocketman |
I had that T140D. Bought it off a copper, female too! Worse f**king Triumph I ever owned. Met the 'orrible woman, because she was, at Birmingham airport in the wettest rainstorm in years, bike looked fabulous. Ride home 150 miles, piss soaked, and on 1 cylinder for all of the way, damn electrics. Well it wasn't the electrics it turned out. The motor was toast basically, overheating bad on one lung. Fixed it up and sold it soon after and bought my first Sporty, a cool '73, looked like an extra from 'Hells Angels on Wheels' and it had that Ralph Barger feel to it. The Triumph came in useful in the end you see, it got me on to a Harley thus realising a very long dream Rocket  | ||
| Xb9 |
I know this is off the Norton subject, but I'd like to share these pics with the Buellers that have a fondness for classic British machines. I wanted this bike twenty years ago when I took these pics, and everytime I look at it I still wish for one! I know, keep dreaming.....under the tree???   | ||
| Xb9 |
Lucas Electrics....I had a '74 850 Commando that never, ever gave me an electrical problem in over 55,000 miles of riding, only thing I changed over was the points to electronic ignition. Then I never touched it. Just remember that positive is ground!! Mike, Great to hear TC is doing well, great guy! If you talk to him, ask him if he remembers the "81 USNOA Norton Rally - I'm SURE he remembers that one! |
