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swooshdave

swooshdave

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Apr 15, 2009
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I got ahold of Steve Maney and although he's retired he still had a front pulley available. I think I got it this summer but I put it off as a winter project. Fortunately I've been into this primary enough times it does't take any time at all. Hope this is the last time I have to drain a primary.

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Insuring the rotor has enough space by using a piece of plastic as a feeler gauge. Plastic is about .015in thick.

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Next I need to install the double adjuster I didn't use the last time and then see if it runs true. I probably won't start it up until spring to confirm but I hope to kick it over enough to get an idea of how centered it is. Suppose to be a high of 24˚F tomorrow. Warmer than some parts of the country.
 
swooshdave said:
I got ahold of Steve Maney and although he's retired he still had a front pulley available. I think I got it this summer but I put it off as a winter project. Fortunately I've been into this primary enough times it does't take any time at all. Hope this is the last time I have to drain a primary.

Back to Belt

Back to Belt

Back to Belt
Back to Belt


Insuring the rotor has enough space by using a piece of plastic as a feeler gauge. Plastic is about .015in thick.

Back to Belt


Next I need to install the double adjuster I didn't use the last time and then see if it runs true. I probably won't start it up until spring to confirm but I hope to kick it over enough to get an idea of how centered it is. Suppose to be a high of 24˚F tomorrow. Warmer than some parts of the country.
Click to expand...
Nice clean work.

34C on my patio today. Cocktails by the pool after work.
 
50F this morn at 5:30 AM. A nice change from a week ago. I shall be in the garage doing the winter layup of the Commando. Yesterday I removed and drained the petrol tank. The sump, no doubt, is full and Ill drain that too.
'Tis the season to prep for next year!
 
Is it true that once you try Belt you never go back? :)

Hope this one runs true and stays together for you.

18F in my garage and snow on the ground today. Not working out there. Makes my hands hurt. I'll have to clear some space on my desk and bring some parts in the house.
 
Schwany said:
Is it true that once you try Belt you never go back? :)

Hope this one runs true and stays together for you.

18F in my garage and snow on the ground today. Not working out there. Makes my hands hurt. I'll have to clear some space on my desk and bring some parts in the house.
Click to expand...
My garage door isn’t insulated but most of the walls are.

Im not too worried about this belt staying together although this is the spare and I should look for another.
 
63 F here in my part of SoCal, increasing to 65 by 10:00 am when I'm heading out for a ride with a couple of friends. Hands get a little bit of wind chill, but otherwise not bad. High should be 70 or so when we stop for lunch. Expecting a hgh of 75 on Christmas day. I'm impressed by all the folks on the list who manage to ride and work on their bikes in much more frigid environments.

Ken
 
lcrken said:
63 F here in my part of SoCal, increasing to 65 by 10:00 am when I'm heading out for a ride with a couple of friends. Hands get a little bit of wind chill, but otherwise not bad. High should be 70 or so when we stop for lunch. Expecting a hgh of 75 on Christmas day. I'm impressed by all the folks on the list who manage to ride and work on their bikes in much more frigid environments.

Ken
Click to expand...
Yeah, but you have state income tax. :)

I do miss the riding weather in California.
 
lcrken said:
63 F here in my part of SoCal, increasing to 65 by 10:00 am when I'm heading out for a ride with a couple of friends. Hands get a little bit of wind chill, but otherwise not bad. High should be 70 or so when we stop for lunch. Expecting a hgh of 75 on Christmas day. I'm impressed by all the folks on the list who manage to ride and work on their bikes in much more frigid environments.

Ken
Click to expand...
Hey Ken, while you’re in the shop, don’t forget about digging those bits out for me ;)
 
Before I installed a heat pump, I used one of these: Amazon product ASIN B01BE8FVUK
It will take the shop from 10F to 70F in 30 minutes. Insulated ceiling, but no insulation in walls - 24'x32' space. Now days I keep the heat set to 70 and on those few days that the heat pump can't keep up, I still use the heater. The main reason for the heat pump was the summer - gets very hot and humid in Virginia. So, the shop stays somewhere I like to be year-round.

The heat pump kit (mini-split) cost me $1800 delivered (3 years ago) and I installed it myself in a day. The only requirement is that you have 220v available. I bought a 18k BTU kit.
 
Here in central NC it looks like a lovely day outside until you open the door and winds are really blowing and temperature starting to drop for our low in the teens. I was working in garage with my portable heater and everything was nice until the power went out.Oh well,such is that waste of time called WINTER
Mike
 
I brought a belt drive kit for my 850 way back in the early 80s when converting to the Featherbed frame but didn't install the kit for about 10 years after the conversion, I ran this set up for a few years with double adjusters but after about 3 years of running it its started to chew out the edge of the belts replace with RGM belt and was doing the same no matter how many times I tried to make it run true, the first few years was great no problem at all then it got so bad the guide plate on the front pully chatted, but before that I went through 3 belts, they never broke or lost any teeth just worn down from 30mm wide belt to 25mm, my Norton was an everyday rider and clocked up a lot of miles, I ended up going back to primary chain and have not had any problems since.
The original triplex chain I did a lot of miles on that chain but after the belt problem I replace it with a new triplex chain and have had no problems at all but my next chain will be a double chain from the chain man, yes the belt drive is a lot lighter but as for running smoother to be honest to me made no major difference to the running or smoothness.
As for the belt drive kit I will be run on my 650 Dommie build as I be running a Commando clutch and open belt drive, I now have 3 belt drive kits 2 RGM kits one steel one and one alloy kit and the first kit I bought back in the 80s, with the miles I did on my Commando/Featherbed and distances I did, having a belt fail was not an option for me as I never had a chain fail in all the years of running chain.
But since 2013 my Norton is no longer my everyday rider, but I am still going to keep the chain drive on it, the belt drive for the Dommie cafe race build with an open belt and Commando clutch no primary case at all.
The thing about running a chain in the primary they have a bit more give in how the run true compared to a belt and maybe there might be a bit of wear in my gear box as it's done well over 160k miles on it now and have only replace the layshaft bearing in 79 and a kick start shaft (broke at the pawl mount) and kick gear about 35 years ago as well 4 KS pawls in 46 years of being on the road with just a few years off the road in that time, everything else in the GB is original, other than that my GB changes smoothly as it always has since new.

Ashley
 
It looks like I have been planning to put the belt back on for a while.

Belt Drive Revival

Some of you might remember this little disaster. https://www.accessnorton.com/NortonCommando/catastrophic-belt-failure.32773/ I have been staying in contact with Steve Maney now that he's retired. He spends his winters away from the UK and the little pandemic thing made things messy. But he's...
www.accessnorton.com www.accessnorton.com

I spent the majority of the summer playing with the car and neglecting the bikes. I at least got out for a couple events.
 
ashman said:
I brought a belt drive kit for my 850 way back in the early 80s when converting to the Featherbed frame but didn't install the kit for about 10 years after the conversion, I ran this set up for a few years with double adjusters but after about 3 years of running it its started to chew out the edge of the belts replace with RGM belt and was doing the same no matter how many times I tried to make it run true, the first few years was great no problem at all then it got so bad the guide plate on the front pully chatted, but before that I went through 3 belts, they never broke or lost any teeth just worn down from 30mm wide belt to 25mm, my Norton was an everyday rider and clocked up a lot of miles, I ended up going back to primary chain and have not had any problems since.
The original triplex chain I did a lot of miles on that chain but after the belt problem I replace it with a new triplex chain and have had no problems at all but my next chain will be a double chain from the chain man, yes the belt drive is a lot lighter but as for running smoother to be honest to me made no major difference to the running or smoothness.
As for the belt drive kit I will be run on my 650 Dommie build as I be running a Commando clutch and open belt drive, I now have 3 belt drive kits 2 RGM kits one steel one and one alloy kit and the first kit I bought back in the 80s, with the miles I did on my Commando/Featherbed and distances I did, having a belt fail was not an option for me as I never had a chain fail in all the years of running chain.
But since 2013 my Norton is no longer my everyday rider, but I am still going to keep the chain drive on it, the belt drive for the Dommie cafe race build with an open belt and Commando clutch no primary case at all.
The thing about running a chain in the primary they have a bit more give in how the run true compared to a belt and maybe there might be a bit of wear in my gear box as it's done well over 160k miles on it now and have only replace the layshaft bearing in 79 and a kick start shaft (broke at the pawl mount) and kick gear about 35 years ago as well 4 KS pawls in 46 years of being on the road with just a few years off the road in that time, everything else in the GB is original, other than that my GB changes smoothly as it always has since new.

Ashley
Click to expand...
road grit in the belt/pulleys?
 
jan nelder said:
road grit in the belt/pulleys?
Click to expand...
No as I ran in a vented cover it was the edge of the belts that were wearing from not running true and had no problems for 3 years then started to try and run off even with 2 belt adjusters just couldn't fix it so I say a bit of wear in the GB, the teeth of the belts had no sign of wear, the front pully guide exploded from the belt trying to run off, but I been back to the chain for over 8 years now without any problems.
While my GB is running smooth as it has always done I leave it alone, no clutch wobble as everything in the primary is running good.
Running chain for 42 years and belt for 4 years, going back to chain really not much difference in running smoothly for me and had my day with the belt drive and my next chain when need replacing be a double chain from the chainman.

Ashley
 
YING said:
Here in central NC it looks like a lovely day outside until you open the door and winds are really blowing and temperature starting to drop for our low in the teens. I was working in garage with my portable heater and everything was nice until the power went out.Oh well,such is that waste of time called WINTER
Mike
Click to expand...
(Replying on Tuesday), yeah the weekend was just plain hard! My wife's daughter is expecting her first (wife's first grandchild) and second daughter was also so we were "familied-up" and I was glad to be inside.
PS - So others know, Mike and I live about 15 miles apart in central NC, the temps over the weekend just missed lowest records ever and hung on for days; this is very usual for December for us.
 
Blewdy Yaink said:
PS - So others know, Mike and I live about 15 miles apart in central NC, the temps over the weekend just missed lowest records ever and hung on for days; this is very usual for December for us.
Click to expand...
Even about 300 miles NNE this weather is odd for December - our normal average high is about 50 and the average low about 38. Our expected high today is 40 and expected low is 22 and that's better than the last few days.
 
Last edited:
swooshdave said:
Next I need to install the double adjuster I didn't use the last time and then see if it runs true. I
Click to expand...
Hi, Dave. A couple of quick questions, please. Does the 16Amp on the Sparx stator signify an uprated single-phase or 3-phase setup? You mentioned considering the 3-phase system in for comments.
How is the primary side adjuster held stationary during the final tightening process for the upper (and I guess lower) large-diameter gearbox fixings. I seem to recall one is a bolt and nut and the other is a stud with two nuts. The stock setup uses a nut with a couple of ears that fit into the arc-shaped cutaway in the gearbox cradle; thus, when the torque is applied from the timing side, the threaded nut is held. I've always thought that that nut should have flats on it so that it can be held by a wrench of tool (probably would have to be 11/16" or larger). ISTM that putting torque on that nut while your trying to avoid knocking the entire assembly out of alignment is fraught with danger.
How does this work on your two-sided adjuster setup? Thank, BH
 

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