So yesterday was a bit of a milestone in that I finally got to ride the Norton even if it was only a couple of miles. I had taken some time off playing with it as following the engine build and installing it back in the frame the bike as it was not playing ball and refused to start maybe a token pop once in a while.....
Other projects had taken over but the DGR ride is not far away which i desperately want to attend on the Norton + the Graham Walker run if I get my finger out.
So in no particular order :
Remote fuel bowl - carb would just pour fuel out the trumpet despite setting the fuel bowl height, this turned out to be air trapped above the float - as supplied the hanging support bolt was sealed to the top of the fuel bowl and air could not escape stopping the float sealing off the fuel when it reached the correct height - this only too a sentence to write but took ages to find on the bike...…
So with that lot fixed - yesterday..
No more kick starting round a mates with a roller starter and instant success, warmed in up getting used to a bike with no idle..... then helmet on for the long awaited first ride - so other then inadvertently scaring some new forest pones it was fairly uneventful. The mixture was leaned off the clutch needed an adjustment, headstock bearings backed off a smidge. the bike came with a cranked commando kickstart which I have persisted with as it clears the fixed pedals but we found if this was brought round a spline you had a better throw when kicking, and to prove the case as it stared using the kick start when warm.
The last niggle was the new throttle cable which following the rebuild need replacing with a Amal screw type connection, as bought the cable proved to have a too longer inner with all the adjustment taken at carb and in line adjuster, I resorted to cutting off the excess from the twistgrip end and soldering on a new nipple.
So now its Sunday yesterday proved to be a good day even if once all the little niggles were sorted the engine was now cold and refused to start... my plan is to find a method to get an enriched mixture to the engine as I think this looks to be the missing component, I have watched a few old bikes being started and each owner seemed to go through a sequence prior to giving it the final kick I guess mine still needs to be found - hopefully in 2019....
If your going to the Graham Walker ride and see me kicking an Old Norton with no luck come say hello I will need all the encouragement I can get...
