Nice looking restorations. Nortons can be a bit more... errr... quirky than Jap or Italian bikes. You need to shim the crank and the cam ( sometimes) whereas with most Japanese bikes, they just bolt together, right first time. There are plenty of ways to upgrade a Norton to improve reliability, reduce vibration, improve electrics. It depends how far you want to go. Good luck and see you over at accessnorton ( I'm pommie john over there too ).
That is exactly the point, it is YOUR Norton. There is a big difference between someone who gets a first Norton and tackles it for themselves and someone who takes someone's money and tells them they will give them a "restored" bike in return. It is simply dishonest to take that money and BS someone about being able to do something you have never done before. Even if you have restored Jap bikes that means nothing if you have never laid a wrench on a British bike unless you are unusually intelligent and talented, and if you are poking around on the internet forums for information that is not you. If people simply got themselves a factory service manual and parts book for the bike they are working on that would eliminate 99.9% of the questions littered all over the internet, but for some reason that option is often ignored. Then if you do belong working on the bike's engine and gearbox at all, then you know enough mechanics and engineering to pick out errors and misprints in the service manual on your own such as the wrong torque for a certain size and pitch of thread! I have been around British bikes for half a century, talking to Norton and British enthusiasts around the world for decades, and most of them ask questions instead of answering them, and the number of guys I would trust with my bike in North America and still be able to sleep at night I could count on one hand. There are guys who have been "restoring", dealing and racing British bikes for decades that still don't know wtf they are doing, there are just that many suckers out there, that many people who know nothing that are willing to be bullshited by people who want to pad their wallet or ego that they never have to go out of business.
You reading and comprehension skills leave a lot to be desired. The first post states "someone has asked me" not " I have solicited myself" No where in any post does it say I am receiving any financial renumeration. Anyone who has restored a Norton has had to do there first one but you have no tolerance for that. Your assumption that I would do substandard work because it's not my bike couldn't be further from the truth. You have been nothing short of a troll spewing your negativity in this thread, I was looking for resources not your crappy attitude, now run along and find someone else to bother. This mere hobbiest has a Norton to do.
The most frustrating about Nortons is the plethora of fasteners used. They have UNF, BSF, Whitworth and cycle threads on the one bike. You also need a few specific pullers.... Any old two legged puller will do the cam sprocket, a special is needed for the crank sprocket ( there's a different one for each end!) there's a tapered guide to get the timing cover on without damaging the oil seal. There's a special spanner for the exhaust nuts... etc etc
Ah yes, but when it's all done and it comes together, the result is amazing. What a bike. Fast, amazing mid range torque, smooth as glass at 75mph. It is worth it. :) I believe it's said that you start with the horn and built the bike around that. Pretty much true.
All correct. And don't forget the clutch pressure plate, which, if done incorrectly and/or with the wrong puller, could easily take off a few fingers, or a chunk of flesh off your leg.
My homemade clutch tool, 4" pvc cap with hole in the center and appropriate bolt. Works the charm. Now setting the clutch stack, that is fun....not. I cursed that damn Barnet clutch pack the PO had in my bike to the point I paid big $$$ to get the original bronzed steel friction plates. Worked the charm and all my problems went away.
Yes, clutch major components are not cheap. I just replaced the original clutch hub, as the old one had badly worn ridges from the steel plates which of course meant a dragging clutch when the lever is pulled in. Then there's the highly controversial use of oil type in the primary,,,,,,20w50, vs, ATF, vs 30W vs snake oil.
As it was delivered, bike is in typical shape for it's vintage. Rusty pipes, scratched frame etc but all there, a nice survivor.... motor or something stuck
The first thing on my list would be a sleeve kit for the master cylinder. The stock front brake is downright scary! The common mod is to sleeve the master cylinder down to 12mm so you get a decent ratio to the caliper. Otherwise you need two hands on the brake lever to get it to stop in a hurry.
The resources have been awesome, I'm a little surprised of all the websites and suppliers for the Norton. The front brakes will definitely need to be addressed, right now the lever goes to the bars with no feedback, I've read about sleeving the master cylinder and may as well do it while I'm in there.
That is odd, I rode a 74' Commando for tens of thousands of miles and the original front brake worked fine, much better than any Brit bike with a drum front brake. I can see if a small girl or a very old or effeminate man were to ride it around they might have trouble, but then they would have trouble with any vintage motorcycle. I pulled stoppies with my stock 850, but then I worked construction so maybe that gave me an advantage. My 850 was in about the same shape as this when I bought it about 30 years ago for $500. I changed the fluids, put on a new battery and tires and rode it for years. I did not worry about scratched paint or a bit of surface rust, but then I was riding it every day as primary transportation, not polishing it to pose in front of Starbucks and on internet forums.
Brake mods are sold by most every Norton specialist with good reason. From RGM : R.G.M. MOTORS MASTER CYLINDER RELINE When criticising the braking performance of the Norton Commando (which people usually do). It should be remembered that the Commando was one of the very first production bikes to be equipped with a disc front brake way back in 1972, with design work commencing in 69/70. Going back over 35 years traffic conditions were totally different, as nothing else could stop on the proverbial sixpence it didn't matter that the Commando couldn't. Todays traffic is a different ball game, a fully laden arctic could easily out brake a standard Commando, so the goal posts so far as braking performance is concerned have been moved. Maybe I'm used to lightweight race bikes where two fingers will lock the front wheel, or maybe you're such a tough guy you don't need a decent brake, but most others are contributing positive ideas to this thread, I'm not sure what your interest here is.
I really don't understand the MC mod. Once my rotor wore through the chrome and got down to the copper, the front brake works pretty good I thought. At least relative to my 750 Hondas or my drumb brake Triumphs. I have no complaints.
