I thought it was funny that Norvil wanted $1000 for this 650cc head drilled full of holes. I would be thrilled to sell him three or four extra hole-free 650 heads I have for the same price....



I am also pretty sure that this head is off a lot earlier bike than a 1966 model, it looks more like about 62' vintage.....

From this Ebay auction:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CYLINDER-HEAD-6 ... 5199759f72

efinately looks profesionally done .

Yes that is a bit ugly and expensive.

The issue is that these heads are very hard to find. They are much sought after by classic racers down here to put on the earlier pre 62 500 engines. I guess this one could go on a race bike if the porting is restorable.

I now have two spare heads, one equally ugly that someone tried to weld up and one in original condition. No I do not want to sell either of them.

Ben - if you have 2 or 3 good ones you should get a good price for them if you ever sell.

In the long and expensive run I guess a fullauto ?? head (the Ozzie ones) machined for a 500 cc bike is the way to go.

The SS head I have on my 500 was ported by a guy in Thames NZ and he did a damn good job. Together with other mods the bike gets about 51 bhp on petrol at the dyno. At a recent meeting on methanol it was timed at 129 mph (no faring) which frankly surprised me but seems correct cross checking against gearing, rpm and other machines measured on the same day.

Treated right these heads have a lot of potential !!

The reason it's worth so much is that it cost a lot for him to send it to hobot to shoot it very accurately and symetrically with his deer rifle, then send it back.

johnm wrote:I now have two spare heads, one equally ugly that someone tried to weld up and one in original condition. No I do not want to sell either of them.

Well if you have a race bike that eats parts then you should have an extra head or two for it for sure.

I have five 500-650cc slimline Dominators so I have to have extra parts on hand too.

Fairly often I run across people looking for cylinders, heads and pistons for their Domis and it is a tough decision not to sell them parts that I have lying around. I have sold them in the past and even given a lot of parts away, but having an extra head, cylinders and extra oversize sets of pistons for a vintage bike you own should not make you feel like a hoarder. Having the parts when you will need them in the future is the reward for having the foresight to pick them up and spending the money and storage space to hold them.

If I need parts I will ask someone who I know has them if they can be had for a price, and if that person says no I have no hard feelings and respect their position and their right to hang onto what they think they need to take care of their own interests.

beng wrote:...having an extra head, cylinders and extra oversize sets of pistons for a vintage bike you own should not make you feel like a hoarder. Having the parts when you will need them in the future is the reward for having the foresight to pick them up and spending the money and storage space to hold them...

Almost every time I sell a Triumph or Norton part, I end up needing that same part later and have to pay considerably more for it.

Still, I've sold excellent condition Norton heads with no damage for less than $400.

The last rh10 850 head I sold I got $50 for, the most I ever got for a Norton head. 750 heads on ebay usually go pretty cheap in the usa, $100-200. An acquaintance of mine just bought a 650ss head and standard bore cylinder on ebay usa for $250 for the pair, so there are still good deals out there. The 850 heads seem to be the most expensive now, but they still often go for half the tag that Norvil has on that holy 650 head.