Back on the road at last!

biffom · Nov 7, 2011

Ater a fairly major overhaul - she's back on the road for the first time in 15+ years. And a real joy to ride. Lovely balanced handling and pulls like a train - but there again you all know that.

Still waiting to come across another so that I can compare the mechanical engine noise. She seems a little noisy but it might be the way they are - Nothing obvious like knocking or piston ring rattle - just generally noisy mostly from the head end - I'm off to the UK in the not too distant future so I'm going to try and seek one out and have a listen.

A question for you all vis-a-vis the exhaust balance tube - is it necessary? It bothers me from an aesthetic perspective. I've seen a few pictures of both 750 and 850s without the tube and they look much cleaner. Is there a severe performance penalty incurred by removing it?

Now I've got an itch to get another....

Hobot · Nov 7, 2011

Hot mama you got there! They all make ringing/tinkling head sounds so relax and enjoy the obsolete sound of solid chain driven lifters. The cross over mainly lowers exhaust note but does help the low/mid range power a bit w/o subtracting from top end power, just not adding too it. Its a weak place to fracture and looks cluttered so many get rid of the cross over just fine.

DogT · Nov 7, 2011

I'm always amazed at the racket mine makes, especially at low rpms, but on the road, it seems to quiet down. Another one on the road, good job.

Dave
69S

rx7171 · Nov 7, 2011

That's a very pretty restoration, congratulations.
About the engine noise.
One fellow posted a while back about his concern that his engine sounded like a sack for of hammers rolling downhill so he figured he had a problem and took it down. Found nothing and he realized that it was supposed to sound that way!
I've wondered the same about mine but got used to it since when I went through it I know it is just fine inside.

Bob

mikegray660 · Nov 7, 2011

nice congrads!

FastFred · Nov 7, 2011

Nice bike. I am in gloucestershire if you want to see my bike on your uk visit.

rpatton · Nov 7, 2011

Depending on where you live, there might be an INOA chapter near you. If you can meet up with some Nortoneers then you might get some thoughts on the source of those sounds and if they're significant. Nice bike.

http://www.inoanorton.com/Chapters/

rvich · Nov 7, 2011

I get comments often that my bike needs to have its valves adjusted. I assure these people that it always sounds like that. You might try taking an oil line off the head, rubber band it inside a disposable glove and fire the bike up. It should fill a couple of fingers in the time it takes to notice that it is pumping. Never hurts to be sure. A few seconds without oil to the rockers won't hurt it during the test, but if you are starving the head for oil the long term effects won't take very long!

Russ

grandpaul · Nov 7, 2011

Wow, gorgeous bike.

"Most Improved 2011" candidate?

biffom · Nov 8, 2011

FastFred said:
Nice bike. I am in gloucestershire if you want to see my bike on your uk visit.

Thanks for the offer Fred. I've got a nephew turning 18 and wanting to celebrate with his uncles in London - upon surviving that one I shall be heading off to see the folks in Suffolk.

Torontonian · Nov 8, 2011

Biffom she's a beauty,and yes the crossover pipe will eventually crack where the weld is to the header pipe.The 750 pipes are nicer to look at too.As for head noises,yes they are to be expected.Over the years I expect 2 types: ringing and ticking. Ringing I once traced back to a poorly cut copper head gasket that was protruding into the pushrod tunnels and scuffing with a pushrod. Ticking is usually valve adjustments if you are lucky.Those adjusters must hit centrally on those valve ends through lift travel, quite often they don't accelerating wear and noises.The rocker shafts can be shimmed to help locate centrally which helps. Clickety clack and enjoy your trip to U.K.,visit the Tate for me...

biffom · Nov 8, 2011

Thanks for all the comments/feedback.

I've got a set of exhaust pipes on order.

I'm living with the noise and chasing down the last of the oil leaks... Easy stuff now just leaking from the oil tank filter gaskets...

biffom · Nov 8, 2011

Torontonian said:
Those adjusters must hit centrally on those valve ends through lift travel, quite often they don't accelerating wear and noises.The rocker shafts can be shimmed to help locate centrally which helps. Clickety clack and enjoy your trip to U.K.,visit the Tate for me...

hmmm... I can see this is going to require a little digging around when I get back. I have a feeling I might be back with a few questions on this topic...

Used to work just round the corner from the National gallery - spent many a lunch break in there.... Great gallery. Ditto the Tate. I've only been back once to the Tate modern - my word what an impressive space.

FastFred · Nov 8, 2011

One and a quarter hours from London Biffom. Your welcome anytime. Cotswolds - nice

crusadersports · Nov 8, 2011

biffom, first up, well done for getting the old girl back on the road- looks a treat!

Second, you could always post a video here of the bike running at tickover, revving up, etc. That would at least let us pour forth on whether it sounds ok mechanically :mrgreen: .

An aircooled engine with an alloy head is always going to make a certain racket- but the level of racket is what's important :mrgreen: Dave is right though, the racket disappears once you have a lid on and are underweigh. If you can still hear it at speed, it might mean something's amiss in Denmark!

Third, I work In Greenwich- SE London-(though some will tell you it's really Kent!)- not to far from the Nat Gallery, Tate, etc. I'd be happy to meet up and say hello, though my MK3 is off the road at the mo

crusadersports · Nov 8, 2011

biffom, meant to say, what are those twin carbs you have- do tell :mrgreen: Can't tell from the pic but can see that isn't an o/e twistgrip....

biffom · Dec 5, 2011

crusadersports said:
biffom, meant to say, what are those twin carbs you have- do tell :mrgreen: Can't tell from the pic but can see that isn't an o/e twistgrip....

CNW Keihin FCR 35mm flat slides. The kit was really well put together and a doddle to install. They are just awesome! Starts first kick (most of the time), a little bit of throttle to warm her up and then the idle is perfect.

The kit includes duel throttle cables and a new twist grip. It's well made and aesthetically to me it looks much better by removing the big dangly loop from the stock throttle installation.

biffom · Dec 5, 2011

made it back from the UK from a whirlwind tour of the UK (london - kent - london - suffolk - lancs - devon - london - knackered!). Visiting family and old buddies that I hadn't seen for years. Hired a little Fiat 500 for the trip, an effort to convince the missus that it is an ideal car for down in the keys. Had the bonus that in not being terribly speedy I might avoid getting too many tickets via the speed cameras. Don't know how you guys live with them.

Didn't manage to even see a norton let alone listen to one. So I shall post a video of the racket.

My new exhausts arrived (sans crossover pipe). They totally change the sound of the bike. It is now louder and sounds more like a Harley. I really miss the delicious crackle that I used to get when rolling off the throttle. It now sounds more like a truck engine breaking. maybe a little bit of carb tuning is in order...

biffom · Dec 5, 2011

Here's one I took before leaving:

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssFrHSCIg04&feature=player_profilepage[/video]

another

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=wqee6tTZLcc[/video]

and this morning:

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vv0ocfUbDk&feature=player_profilepage[/video]

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

crusadersports · Feb 23, 2012

Biffom, I think that sounds fine mate. May be a wee bit tappety in the last vid but nothing to worry about. I've heard many worse than that and it picks up nice and cleanly.

As for the speed cameras here- I think they invest more heavily in signs rather than cameras. And the cameras they do have are not on all the time. I must admit, I do like the way they tell us they're there so you really only have yourself to blame if you do get caught...

Back on the road at last!

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