Busy, busy, busy... So after building the rear suspension this week, my attention then turned to the front, and the Roadholder fork assembly, so here I needed a set of springs, as my ones had a couple of broken coils, and some new stanchions, as my old ones were badly corroded. So today I set too, and sorted out the problem, and built the new ones up ready to fit. Then as I continue to ride my luck, I asked a question in the right place at the right time, and I became the owner of a pair of cast aluminium headlight ears. Now these things always suffer damage to the lower lip, and these were no different, the lip was missing, and there was a crack in the casting too. But a little time in the shop, and I soon made a new alloy lip, that was quicly TIG welded into place, before being shaped to fit using an old set of Roadholder yokes as a fitting rig. So that took a couple of hours to get sorted, and as I had the camera out I took a couple of workshop shots, you can even see a Norton International motor on the lift. A pretty good day as days go.
Now a few weeks back I bought an oil tank, in fact not just any old oil tank, but the real thing, Manx/Inter oil tank, now as you can imagine, these things are like rocking horse poo, and don't come up for sale very often. So when they do you can't really be to fussy about what you get. Sure you could hold out in the vain hope of finding a nice shiney one that needs no work, but hell, where is the fun in that? So here is mine, just a couple of pictures before it goes to be repaired, actually it looks worse than it really is, and having the hole gave me a chance to clean out the inside of years of baked on oil residue. If you look in the tank, you can see a previous repair, and while the tank looks rusty, it is actually very strong. And the hole, well that was where another tank was added for extra capacity when racing? Also while it is in this condition, I shall be adding a drain plug to the bottom, as they never had one fitted.
Tank is mended and ready for paint.... but it is not here at this time. R/H fork slider was bent, and is away being fixed. apart from that not much has happened on the norton front, but I am building my H1 at the same time, also attending shows to get you guys some pictures, and I am off to Wales on the R80ST tomorrow camping for a week, should be fun (damp)
Things have slowed as the summer warms up, but that is fine, as I need to get some miles under the wheels as well. But as you may well understand, I am always hunting for parts, more will be posted when it happens..
Things have been a bit quiet on the Norton front of late, as summer has happened upon us, and the classic show season gets under way, time, in itself becomes tight. But then to be fair, this was aleways going to be a semi winter project, and I am suprised at just how far I have come already. So for me the summer is about enjoying the bikes I own, and searching out, and collecting a few parts, if I happen to find anything that I really want. But that doesn't mean that the interest level is turned way down low, oh no. I have idea's of the direction I want my build to go, the style, the shape, the "feel". So I am always interested in what is out there. And when I heard that an ES2 that Mick had built a few years back as a special had appeared, and was bought by Jim, another aquaintance of mine, I had to have a look. Especially as it had been fitted with Ace bars and home made rear sets... Mine is going in the shop tomorrow, to have the fork legs pulled into the yokes, I am also taking my alloy front mud guard in to have the front lip put on.
That isn't my bike, I hope I made that clear in the post above, mine is still just a frame and forks as you can see below. The bike in the post above was built by Mick eight years ago for someone, but they never used it, and so it sat in a shed, with just a couple of miles added to the speedo. It was then offered back to Mick, and bought by someone else I know. So right now I am looking for a front Triumph or BSA OIF conical hub, I have a Norton rear plunger hub, then they can both go off to be built on flanged alloy rims, with stainless spokes. No rush tho, in fact I will probably wait until Netley Marsh in September to get the bits I need.
The conical front brakes don't work as well as they should because the lever arms are too short and limit the pressure that can be applied. I've seen a couple that have had the arms lengthened to increase the leverage.
I don't want the front brake, just the hub you see the Inter had a conical hub with a single leading shoe front brake, so I shall be matching a BSA M33 front brake plate to a conical hub, I shall also be installing the "cooling" rings on the hub as per original, although the shape will be a little different.
it is fun to look at your photos and see some of the other projects in the background. The gas tank in the upper left corner, a looks to be freshly painted frame to the right in the second photo and how many hits left in the leather faces of your soft hammer? How is the oil tank coming along? best to ya, JB
Way back near the start of the year, I picked up some nice old unused alloy mudguards at Kempton jumble, very light and perfect for the clubman look I am after. The problem was, they were not a true set. they were infact both rears, one a complete rear with removable panel for changing the wheel, the other was the large section, missing the smaller rear section, so not only was it not complete it was also the wrong shape for the front, being square cut, and having two holes, as you can see... Now what I wanted, was the guard to be re shaped, and a raised lip put on, like you see on older guards of the period, but I wasn't sure I could do this job at home, but I knew someone who could, so last week I dropped off the section, and explained what I needed, today I collected the finished item, it just needs a good polish now.. Another little bite of the elephant
Another ebay project if you have deep pockets... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VINTAGE-N...9844482?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item257234ac02
Do you remember this picture from last December? This was my gearbox as it arrived from the collapsed shed on the IoW, that was given to me... White and furry with corrosion, seized bearings, seized screws, well you can guess how bad, but I did finally get it apart, and my friend James hit it with the polishing mop, and next Saturday it is to be rebuilt back into a working gearbox again. And as luck would have it, the numbers on the box, are correct for an ES2 of my Frames vintage.