- Joined
- Feb 17, 2009
- Messages
- 4
Time on your hands? This is the product of a bored evening plus encouragement by local classic bike club to provide some printed detail on the owners beasties for their annual show.
Norton Commando 850 “In a state” MkIII-ish 1975.
To call it a numbers matching basket case when bought wouldn't be entirely accurate as a basket would have let all the crud infested wee bits fall out.
It was never my intention to build a carbon copy original. A "resto-mod" project appealed to my unsensibilities of the time. A little head scratching and a total disregard for the weight of my wallet, I set out with a handful of goals.
1. Get the machine to a point where it can be used daily, work, rest or play without too much grief and endless hours maintaining it.
2. Completely eradicate all that is unholy. Anyone who has ever owned a British built motorcycle or car of the era will understand. For those blissfully ignorant of this foulest slur upon all things wholesome; Lucas built wiring looms, switchgear and components with the sole purpose of efficiently transmitting smoke from one end of a cable to the other.
3. Cross populate 1&2 with my formative years hard won motto of "It ain't pretty unless you're wringing the neck out of it through 2nd/3rd gears in the twisties".
In the years I've had it, from basket case to what you see today, I've sought to enhance a brilliantly soulful, iconic design. The engine design has roots as a post war 1947 twin that had been bored out to extremis and considered ancient by the time it was in a 1960 Atlas.
In 1967 Norton management told 3 engineers to build a new bike, using the same engine, with no money for design/tooling/production, oh and they’d have 9 months to produce a running example. It was considered "totally impossible*" by most of the Norton team.
* I maintain deep admiration for completely insane, engineers of the era. These guys with their backs to a wall, no time, no money and a factory full of pre-war worn out tooling, completely ignored the roadblocks to develop an unparalleled success
In 1968 a mere 9 months later and a plethora of ingenious solutions to old problems, they produced a bike that won the prestigious "Bike of the Year" award, an unheard of 5 years in a row and sold 5 times more units in the States than at home. An astonishing accomplishment in "getting it right" only since outshone by a small unassuming, unschooled Japanese mechanic by the name of Mr Soichiro Honda who had a chip on his shoulder because he was told his junk would never compete with the best in the world. So he took his junk to the IOM TT, kicked round-eye backside, effectively putting them out of business and the rest is history.
I digress…..the project was to enhance the ride-ability by chipping away at the cheap or rough edges (mainly the electrics everything else they pretty much got right 1st time) whilst introducing 21st century materials/technology/performance/reliability sensibilities. With sheer ignorance and boundless optimism as my ally, I have developed a classic that is easy to live with and that gives me a bike-stiffy every time I ride the thing.
The Geek List
Engine/Transmission: it’s had a few iterations including a 1007cc fire breathing work of alloy art (now a centrepiece/art in my mancave), currently back to a fairly non-standard but original design spec 849cc.
• Crank/Con-rods: lightened and balanced, (SRM Engineering).
• Cylinders: re-lined with matching pistons
• Cylinder head: Hardened valve seats, ported/gas flowed – me
• Camshaft: 4S lightly re-profiled for better torque
• Crankcase breather: PV valve develops near negative crankcase pressure virtually eliminating oil leaks (Norvil)
• Carb: Single carb manifold RGM - Amal MkII 34 blacktop. (in this engine config)
• Belt primary drive – Norvil, now a dry case, following the theory that the less oil it carries the less leaks
• Wet Sumping: No matter what I did, oil pump, etc. etc. augmented with all the sage advice out there, I couldn’t stop the contents of the oil tank dumping itself into the sump over time. Solution….put a big handled ball valve in line with the oil feed that interferes with the kickstart if it’s closed (…..and pray that I’m not a complete eejit by leaving it closed)
Electrics: Most of the reliability/usability gains have been in this area
• Loom: Ferret, an anti-establishment, itinerant, one man clunker reference library and would-be British national treasure
• Ignition: TriSpark. A couple of Boyer box failures lead to a search for an alternative and what a revelation the TriSpark unit is. Transforms a bike from pig to prime bacon inside of 20mins use of an Allan key and a screwdriver
• Switch Gear: Honda (yup, it's about now it happens……wait for it........ I just adore the anguished screams of purists!)
• Alternator: 3 phase power upgrade
• Starter motor: Norvil, expensive but worth it when being Steve McQueen on the hairy chested kick-start is outweighed by a dreich dark evening and wanting to get home without pushing/swearing/praying. Another hard won, youth based pearl of wisdom being, “pushing should be for buttons not bikes”.
• LEDs: I forget source but my design. Indicator, oil warning, high beam and oil pressure warning lights....nestled into the nacelle and gorgeous in their dinky simplicity.
• Speedo/Rev Instruments: CNW - An oh-no birthday present to myself. Ultra-modern electronic clocks wrapped in old school, utterly gorgeous alloy fabrication. It’s been said that these induce fully grown adults undercarriages to become moist just by looking at them. They also have the practical benefit of eliminating drive cables/oil leaks
• iPhone charger and handle bar mount with illuminated on/off switch in rh panel: Will future generations do to their phones what we do to our classic bikes in years to come?
• MotoBatt Quadflex AGM battery. More reliable and long lived wrigglies than I know what to do with.
Frame/Suspension/Brakes:
• Floating front brake disk conversion: (RGM) already with the basket case when bought.
• Front brake cylinder: Brembo (wait for it......ahhh, those purist screams!)
• Rear brake cylinder: Grimeca generic “other bike” cylinder with my own design mounts, rose linkages etc.
• Callipers: Lockheed(f), Grimeca(r) and have yet to be found wanting in the woah department
• Brake lines: manufactured by me
• Frame/tank/panels: Soda blasted and 2-pack painted
• Seat: As it came with the basket case
• Head Steady: Dave Taylor design. Modified by me with improved rose joints and bracing. Turns handling from isolastic-spastic to pleasantly elastic
• A variety of brackets, bushings, shims, spacers and ferrules: of my own design...use of farm gate brackets, plumbing fittings, washing machine parts, fairy liquid bottles and theft of a piece of Lego from my boys treasure chest all play their role in feedstock materials for some of my best work.
Credits
Without Haynes "bodge it and scarper" manual this project would have been stillborn, along with the faceless legions of highly knowledgeable folk who contribute to http://www.accessnorton.com forum….I’m usually a ghost in there and it’s funny to see 5 folks with 15 separate opinions on the same subject but hey, it’s a Norton!
I think I've credited most companies involved but haven't mentioned my soul mate, whose feigned ignorance of me utilising the kitchen Dishwasher/Parts Cleaner and her unerring sense of timing in brew supply at perfect moments helped more than she’ll ever know and not forgetting her ad hoc placement of digits in deep, dark, well lubed holes.......ahem
Then there’s my mate Peter, who helped me pour the basket case into the back of a van. He accomplished this without laughing too much at my expense and who has spent many an hour in garage based, deep and meaningful discussion on the merits of dowty seals over copper washers and suchlike.
Have you spotted it?
Anyone who has spotted the most obvious mod on this bike that hasn't been described, well done. Yore officially a Norton geek with straight 40 running through your veins
For those who haven't.....come on, it's a British bike and a classic, not a left-hooker!
Norton Commando 850 “In a state” MkIII-ish 1975.
To call it a numbers matching basket case when bought wouldn't be entirely accurate as a basket would have let all the crud infested wee bits fall out.
It was never my intention to build a carbon copy original. A "resto-mod" project appealed to my unsensibilities of the time. A little head scratching and a total disregard for the weight of my wallet, I set out with a handful of goals.
1. Get the machine to a point where it can be used daily, work, rest or play without too much grief and endless hours maintaining it.
2. Completely eradicate all that is unholy. Anyone who has ever owned a British built motorcycle or car of the era will understand. For those blissfully ignorant of this foulest slur upon all things wholesome; Lucas built wiring looms, switchgear and components with the sole purpose of efficiently transmitting smoke from one end of a cable to the other.
3. Cross populate 1&2 with my formative years hard won motto of "It ain't pretty unless you're wringing the neck out of it through 2nd/3rd gears in the twisties".
In the years I've had it, from basket case to what you see today, I've sought to enhance a brilliantly soulful, iconic design. The engine design has roots as a post war 1947 twin that had been bored out to extremis and considered ancient by the time it was in a 1960 Atlas.
In 1967 Norton management told 3 engineers to build a new bike, using the same engine, with no money for design/tooling/production, oh and they’d have 9 months to produce a running example. It was considered "totally impossible*" by most of the Norton team.
* I maintain deep admiration for completely insane, engineers of the era. These guys with their backs to a wall, no time, no money and a factory full of pre-war worn out tooling, completely ignored the roadblocks to develop an unparalleled success
In 1968 a mere 9 months later and a plethora of ingenious solutions to old problems, they produced a bike that won the prestigious "Bike of the Year" award, an unheard of 5 years in a row and sold 5 times more units in the States than at home. An astonishing accomplishment in "getting it right" only since outshone by a small unassuming, unschooled Japanese mechanic by the name of Mr Soichiro Honda who had a chip on his shoulder because he was told his junk would never compete with the best in the world. So he took his junk to the IOM TT, kicked round-eye backside, effectively putting them out of business and the rest is history.
I digress…..the project was to enhance the ride-ability by chipping away at the cheap or rough edges (mainly the electrics everything else they pretty much got right 1st time) whilst introducing 21st century materials/technology/performance/reliability sensibilities. With sheer ignorance and boundless optimism as my ally, I have developed a classic that is easy to live with and that gives me a bike-stiffy every time I ride the thing.
The Geek List
Engine/Transmission: it’s had a few iterations including a 1007cc fire breathing work of alloy art (now a centrepiece/art in my mancave), currently back to a fairly non-standard but original design spec 849cc.
• Crank/Con-rods: lightened and balanced, (SRM Engineering).
• Cylinders: re-lined with matching pistons
• Cylinder head: Hardened valve seats, ported/gas flowed – me
• Camshaft: 4S lightly re-profiled for better torque
• Crankcase breather: PV valve develops near negative crankcase pressure virtually eliminating oil leaks (Norvil)
• Carb: Single carb manifold RGM - Amal MkII 34 blacktop. (in this engine config)
• Belt primary drive – Norvil, now a dry case, following the theory that the less oil it carries the less leaks
• Wet Sumping: No matter what I did, oil pump, etc. etc. augmented with all the sage advice out there, I couldn’t stop the contents of the oil tank dumping itself into the sump over time. Solution….put a big handled ball valve in line with the oil feed that interferes with the kickstart if it’s closed (…..and pray that I’m not a complete eejit by leaving it closed)
Electrics: Most of the reliability/usability gains have been in this area
• Loom: Ferret, an anti-establishment, itinerant, one man clunker reference library and would-be British national treasure
• Ignition: TriSpark. A couple of Boyer box failures lead to a search for an alternative and what a revelation the TriSpark unit is. Transforms a bike from pig to prime bacon inside of 20mins use of an Allan key and a screwdriver
• Switch Gear: Honda (yup, it's about now it happens……wait for it........ I just adore the anguished screams of purists!)
• Alternator: 3 phase power upgrade
• Starter motor: Norvil, expensive but worth it when being Steve McQueen on the hairy chested kick-start is outweighed by a dreich dark evening and wanting to get home without pushing/swearing/praying. Another hard won, youth based pearl of wisdom being, “pushing should be for buttons not bikes”.
• LEDs: I forget source but my design. Indicator, oil warning, high beam and oil pressure warning lights....nestled into the nacelle and gorgeous in their dinky simplicity.
• Speedo/Rev Instruments: CNW - An oh-no birthday present to myself. Ultra-modern electronic clocks wrapped in old school, utterly gorgeous alloy fabrication. It’s been said that these induce fully grown adults undercarriages to become moist just by looking at them. They also have the practical benefit of eliminating drive cables/oil leaks
• iPhone charger and handle bar mount with illuminated on/off switch in rh panel: Will future generations do to their phones what we do to our classic bikes in years to come?
• MotoBatt Quadflex AGM battery. More reliable and long lived wrigglies than I know what to do with.
Frame/Suspension/Brakes:
• Floating front brake disk conversion: (RGM) already with the basket case when bought.
• Front brake cylinder: Brembo (wait for it......ahhh, those purist screams!)
• Rear brake cylinder: Grimeca generic “other bike” cylinder with my own design mounts, rose linkages etc.
• Callipers: Lockheed(f), Grimeca(r) and have yet to be found wanting in the woah department
• Brake lines: manufactured by me
• Frame/tank/panels: Soda blasted and 2-pack painted
• Seat: As it came with the basket case
• Head Steady: Dave Taylor design. Modified by me with improved rose joints and bracing. Turns handling from isolastic-spastic to pleasantly elastic
• A variety of brackets, bushings, shims, spacers and ferrules: of my own design...use of farm gate brackets, plumbing fittings, washing machine parts, fairy liquid bottles and theft of a piece of Lego from my boys treasure chest all play their role in feedstock materials for some of my best work.
Credits
Without Haynes "bodge it and scarper" manual this project would have been stillborn, along with the faceless legions of highly knowledgeable folk who contribute to http://www.accessnorton.com forum….I’m usually a ghost in there and it’s funny to see 5 folks with 15 separate opinions on the same subject but hey, it’s a Norton!
I think I've credited most companies involved but haven't mentioned my soul mate, whose feigned ignorance of me utilising the kitchen Dishwasher/Parts Cleaner and her unerring sense of timing in brew supply at perfect moments helped more than she’ll ever know and not forgetting her ad hoc placement of digits in deep, dark, well lubed holes.......ahem
Then there’s my mate Peter, who helped me pour the basket case into the back of a van. He accomplished this without laughing too much at my expense and who has spent many an hour in garage based, deep and meaningful discussion on the merits of dowty seals over copper washers and suchlike.
Have you spotted it?
Anyone who has spotted the most obvious mod on this bike that hasn't been described, well done. Yore officially a Norton geek with straight 40 running through your veins
For those who haven't.....come on, it's a British bike and a classic, not a left-hooker!
