My first hot rod Norton

It's alive! About the fifth kick. engine is quiet, lot of the rattling noise is from bike lift. Of course there is another leaking seam on the tank. Also the outside of the belt is very slightly rubbing the alternator bracket. Empty the tank, air out and weld another seam next week. Going on a 4/5 day ride thru upstate Pennsylvania (sorry on a Harley).


My first hot rod NortonMy first hot rod NortonMy first hot rod Norton
 
mean gene said:
It's alive! About the fifth kick. engine is quite, lot of the rattling noise is from bike lift. Of course there is another leaking seam on the tank. Also the outside of the belt is very slightly rubbing the alternator bracket. Empty the tank, air out and weld another seam next week. Going on a 4/5 day ride thru upstate Pennsylvania (sorry on a Harley).


View attachment 108749View attachment 108750View attachment 108751
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The Harley will get the job done.

I'm afraid to go more than 5 miles and back on my Norton since installing the belt drive. At first I thought it was great, but I'm not so sure anymore. It (the belt) feels really funky to me under power and getting it adjusted so it doesn't slip on acceleration and not be too tight when hot is tedious. I don't think my gearbox likes it much either. Obviously being positive is not my strong suit. lol

Turn that alternator stator bracket arm into a roller?? Easy for me to say. Might be impossible.
 
After my start up last week I realised there were no taps on the manifolds or carbs to synchronize the carbs. So today's job was to remove carbs and manifolds. Machined little taps, spigots whatever you want to call them. Drill and tap manifolds and reassemble!


My first hot rod NortonMy first hot rod Norton
 
Primered seat and tank yesterday, too humid it blushed, but I have to go for a ride!!! Ok got hot rod running again today. Little tougher than I thought. but once I got carbs synced easy to start. First ride down the road! Need to sort out the carbs, it will go but really stumbles when you give it to much gas. Rich or lean anyone wish to guess? If someone would PM me how to post a video my wife would appreciate it.


My first hot rod Norton
 
mean gene said:
Primered seat and tank yesterday, too humid it blushed, but I have to go for a ride!!! Ok got hot rod running again today. Little tougher than I thought. but once I got carbs synced easy to start. First ride down the road! Need to sort out the carbs, it will go but really stumbles when you give it to much gas. Rich or lean anyone wish to guess? If someone would PM me how to post a video my wife would appreciate it.


View attachment 109116
Click to expand...
Depends on the type of stumble... Test don't guess. LOL

Those look like Dime City velocity stacks.

I think you have to have a YouTube account and link to your video on YouTube to post video here. May have to use that media tool button that sits right side of the camera tool button up top, but I really don't have a clue.
 
Dropped the needles the two notches and set timing, it was not advanced enough. Down the road, bottom and mid range great, top end I thing rich. But a real problem is getting it to shift. Without my modifications trans it seems a little snug. Down shifting isn't a problem but up shifting is a" when it wants to" situation. It had been rebuilt by PO. Engine a little noisier then I like when hot, I think it's the short pistons, not really a knock, again with velocity stacks everything is exaggerated. Might be the gas tank jumping around, I want to run it a bit and see where it is rubbing before I finish paint it. Seat height is 27 inches without 1 inch foam. Handling is GREAT! Doesn't want to fall over at slow speeds and follows a line in the small curves of my neighborhood. Hope I didn't use up all my luck on this build! LOL
 
mean gene said:
Dropped the needles the two notches and set timing, it was not advanced enough. Down the road, bottom and mid range great, top end I thing rich. But a real problem is getting it to shift. Without my modifications trans it seems a little snug. Down shifting isn't a problem but up shifting is a" when it wants to" situation. It had been rebuilt by PO. Engine a little noisier then I like when hot, I think it's the short pistons, not really a knock, again with velocity stacks everything is exaggerated. Might be the gas tank jumping around, I want to run it a bit and see where it is rubbing before I finish paint it. Seat height is 27 inches without 1 inch foam. Handling is GREAT! Doesn't want to fall over at slow speeds and follows a line in the small curves of my neighborhood. Hope I didn't use up all my luck on this build! LOL
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Hope you can fix the shifting. For me when a motorcycle doesn't shift well all the potential performance goes in the toilet and they really are not that much fun to ride.

Sounds healthy.
 
Had gearbox apart and together, apart, together. Found lots of new parts when I took it apart for the first time. New shafts, new gears and new shift forks. The shift cam is polished like a gold ring. But the plunger seems to have too much spring pressure. Oil had some fine metal in it but would expect that with new parts. Talked to Greg and he had some suggestions, working on them tomorrow.
 
mean gene said:
Had gearbox apart and together, apart, together. Found lots of new parts when I took it apart for the first time. New shafts, new gears and new shift forks. The shift cam is polished like a gold ring. But the plunger seems to have too much spring pressure. Oil had some fine metal in it but would expect that with new parts. Talked to Greg and he had some suggestions, working on them tomorrow.
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Greg has more patience than I. I've had my gearbox apart so many times I broke my give damn meter. It sorta works, but I have cussed at it far too often. I will continue to mess with it while I wait for this toy to show up. It's my bolt-on parts changer solution. I will have to make a new gearbox cradle and do some thinking, but I firmly believe it is going to be superior to the antique original AMC gearbox tech.

Hopefully, I'll live long enough to use it. The lead time on the TTi gearbox is 20 weeks.
 
It shifts! Rick Tool sent me his video on Mick's trany rebuild. Everything looked like his. Readjusted the paw spring, assembled and away we go. I will say the tranny is wearing in abit and turns free now, light sparkles in oil but what you would expect with new gears and bushings. NO CHUNKS! Put 240 main jets in it cleaned up the acceleration. Don't like the shape of the seat, too wide in the front section. I'll split it and reglass.
 
Wellllll I was in a mood today to chop something up so the seat got preliminary redesign! I know it's not pretty now, but it will be ok when finished. Feels much better when stopped and feet are down!


My first hot rod NortonMy first hot rod NortonMy first hot rod Norton
 
Sorry not much progress. Doing a lot of local riding. This is also my busy time of year. Hunting season! Sorry some of you miss out on the experience of setting in the woods for endless hours enjoying nature.
 
Oil leak at filter adaptor has gotten worse. Time to fix it. The barbed inlet tube was loose, I can't believe I didn't check these and red Locktite them when assembling. The other thing is I can't believe I don't have a spare filter, will order 4 today


My first hot rod NortonMy first hot rod Norton
 
I've lost count of the things I've forgotten to check. ;)

If still using the odd Norton metric spin-on filters, you might consider getting the filter thread adapter from CNW so you can source reasonably priced filters just about anywhere.
 
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