Anyone ever hear of april fools?

Joined
Nov 21, 2005
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in the process of scanning all of the Norton Notices (the club's newsletter) I came across an ad about a conversion kit. This kit changes a Norton into a duel overhead cam.

The company's name is Tinku Company of India. I was curious if
anyone every heard of them or did the conversion.
I suppose it would be possible but sounds very involved. Perhaps it was for the Thumpers.

Never mind!!
 
Yup, April Fools joke. I just saw the article.

"the quality you've come to expect from India"

"Installation using common hand tools and a hacksaw" :!:

"All- aluminum cams to save weight" :!:

Other parts made from "non-stick Teflon" :!:

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Debby
 
Not that I see much reason to do this to a perfectly good motor.....but why...in theory.......wouldn't it work?

Bet it could, if well made. Remember...this idea has to be somewhere in the realm of possibility...or we would never finish reading the ad. Something in our heads tells us it might, hopefully, be true.

In every joke...there is a basis in truth...if this wasn't so....we wouldn't think jokes were funny......

Think about it.
 
A DOHC version of the 750 was built and tested while I was at N-V. To save on new castings, etc., the camshaft chain was run around a sprocket on the end of the existing cam drive, the up through one pushrod tube, across two sprockets on the end of the new camshafts, then back down the other pushrod tube.

Since the chain (0.125 wide, I think) was over 3 feet long, valve actuation wasn't very precise and chain wear was a real issue, as I don't think there was any tensioner or clearance take-up device. The wrap angle on the sprockets in the head was an issue too. After a series of bench tests which showed no power improvement, it went the way of the green globe logo and the early attempts at disk brakes.
 
mike mcmanus said:
Didn't some of the NORTON MANX run DOHC :?:

Mike

They certainly did, from about 1950 onwards, at which time Sochiro was still fiddling with clip-on attachments for bicycles, I believe.

Sadly, with Nortons the choice was two cylinders or two overhead camshafts, never both at the same time. :)
 
LAB:

That P800 appeard almost 2 years before I joined N-V (in May 1967). Externally, the DOHC engine I saw looked just like the Atlas/Commando 750 externally. I never saw it in a frame, so I don't know if it would've been slanted forwards.

Particularly, the crankcase was standard height, which the P800 doesn't appear to be.

I think the P800 was seriously wounded with the take-over of Norton by AMC and the Managanese Bronze/Villiers take-over was probably the death blow.

There were a lot of very poorly conceived and managed programs in the various UK motorcycle companies around that time. One that sticks in my mind was an attemtp by Ariel to make a "Super Leader", with a 650cc four-cylinder boxer configuration. At the time the 250 2-stroke twin put out about 26 horsepower. The prototype 600 Ariel bench testerd at 22 hp.

I think the concentration on cheap high-performance transport for the blue-collar UK market blinded management to the growing high-technology "toy" market in the US.

The reason I heard for the demise of the DOHC engine was that it would have cost too much. I wanted to do a derivative of the Commando that would've been an in-line 4-cylinder 1.0 Liter, DOHC, water-cooled, electric start engine with a 6-speed transmission and shaft drive. My concept was to offer a clean "stripper", essentially looking like roadster Commando and a full-up tourer, with a factory installed fairing, panniers, etc. I must admit that I wasn't brave enough to suggest a four-banger lying sideways (BMW) but I did try to get automotive-style carburation, not four Amals.

Except for my engine being an in-line 4 rather than a boxer, my bike looked a lot like the early Gold Wing.

Unfortunately, our manufacturing technology was more 1890's than 1970's, so I don't think we could have made it without some massive investment in manufacturing and engineering, and the UK industrial and financial climate in the late 1960's just didn't support those kind of plans.

Pity - what we could have done.
 
Thank you again for your insights Frank.. hear anything more on the ISDT bikes? Regards, Chris
 
Chris:

I have been in touch with the present custodians of the AJS legacy. Fluff Brown is on holiday, but his son said he'd pass my message on when he came back.

I figure that the Matchless 350 ISDT bike was the last one ever made with the "Flying M" logo on the tank. Even though it was a 2-stroke and was built in Wolverhapmton, it was still officially a Matchless. I hope someone has preserved it.

I'll advise when I hear anything.
 
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