barn find

Olephart

Joined
Mar 14, 2011
Messages
144
I'm an old Brit bike gearhead. As Openroad (we call him Chub or Casey) can attest, I've owned and/or ridden just about everything European built prior to 1980. ('75 is "late model" to me! LOL). Here are a couple of pics that I've used to learn the process of posting. I've also got three E-starts of which only one is complete. I will post some pics of those on the Cdo page later.

For now I thought it might be fun for some of you to figure out what model this one is. Seems to be rare here in the states as I've never seen another one. Hint: The year is '58 and the swingarm is not oval.

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Mike
 
Although I have serious CRS (waaaay too much fun in my youth!) I think the G-15 was a Matchless badged Norton N-15. This is neither. This particular model was built from 56-58 only, replaced by the featherbed. Another hint: It was built mainly for sidecar use.

Mike
 
Bingo! You win the winkie button! It's a model 77 with all the incorrect components! Now, does anybody know where I can find tank and fenders, etc.??? I would love to restore it or sell it to somebody who can as my main focus is redoing one of my e-starts Cdos. It was headed to the scrap pile when I was able to nab it! There was no way I could let it die like that.

Mike
 
Glad that you able to save it. I have a '69 basket case that i was gonna build, however i stumbled upon a mostly together '75 e-start that I'm now trying to get going. will follow your progress with great interest. Cj



by Olephart » Tue May 17, 2011 3:02 pm
"as my main focus is redoing one of my e-starts Cdos."
 
Skip of skipsoldbikes in Ohio has just finished putting together a 77 or a Nomad like that (how do you tell the difference ?) - now knows where to get all the bits ...
 
The most obvious difference between a Nomad and 77 is the swingarm is round on a 77 and oval shaped on a Nomad. The 77 was made to fit a sidecar and the Nomad was a quasi desert racer. Also the frame cradle is slightly different. And then of course the cosmetics are different too.

I hope to get some pics of my nearly dead 75 e-starts up today or tomorrow. I keep losing my "round tuit".

As far as shipping, I'm not opposed to it, but I'm in sad shape (LOL). I'm a Vietnam Vet with Agent Orange induced cancer (in remission right now :D ) and my right knee and hip are trashed from kickstarting too many Duck singles and other big one-lungers. Not to mention those damn early sporster kickstarters that would just let go about halfway down. And thats just a tip of the iceberg. I have Meniere's desease which makes me unreliable as they come. I am down for days sometimes unable to get out of freaking bed. It's like vertigo on steroids.

If someone does want it, I'll do what I can. I'm most interested in the pieces and parts to rebuilt my e-start, so trades are as good as money to me. Also I have mucho 75 hard parts. So, sadly, for now it just sits! :cry:

Mike
 
Well, my knee is kinda crapped out and that's why i scraped together the money to buy my '75 E-Start when it presented itself to me. Currently in the Navy and will be taking leave this summer and hope to put some time into getting mine running. Glad to hear you're winning the battle against "the Big C". My Pops beat Kidney Cancer about 20 years ago, but now at 83 his other kidney is really struggling. Anyway interesting about the model 77.Cj
 
Hi, I am still interested if you still have it.
I just restored my '57 model 77. PIA to get parts, its a mish mash of left over model 7 parts & model 99 dommi parts, with a few 2 year only parts added in just for fun! The tank (if you can ever find one) will set you back $500-$600, then you will need the 2 chrome tank panels (different shape than the 88 & 99) figure $200-$300 a pair, then fix & rechrome , another $200, then 2 badges ( hurra, you can buy them new!) for around $70 a pair with screws, 2 ewarts petcocks with o-ring rebuild kits around $125 a pair, rear tank mounting bracket $100 (they come up on ebay about once a year), then body work & paint, maybe $400 or more. So a new petrol tank can be yours for the low low price of $1800!
The highest price I have seen a complete model 77 sell for was just under $5000, I probably have over $8000 invested in my restoration, not including any labor. Its one of those things you do for the love of the hobby, of as Jay Leno once said "if you make any money restoring antique cars & motorcycles, you probably didnt do it right".
Some of the other differences between the Nomad & the 77 are:
Nomad has a hotter cam
nomad has 2 carbs
nomad has a slightly different frame (lower engine cradle is tubular, not cast)
nomad has a slightly different seat
nomad has polished headlight ears, model 77 are painted
nomad oil tank is missing one of the tin pieces (on the back of the tank, facing the front of the bike)
different exhaust & mufflers
different shocks, front & rear fenders, different petrol tank, handlebars, brake & clutch lever (nomad had ball ends), no kickstart rubber on the nomad, rear frame loop bolted on the Nomad, no side stand on the nomad, separate intake stums with rubber tubes to carb on the nomad (2-1 manifold on the 77)
and yes, the swing arm on the nomad has an oval cross section for strength & to fit a wider tire. The nomad also used a different axle adjuster.

These are just a few differences, there are quite a few more!
 
I'm sorry Skip, I thought I had responded to your PMs that I had sold it to one of the guys on the forum. Seeing your's kinda makes my heart drop to my toes but I hope it will get restored now.

Mike
 
It's all good, either it will get restored, or it will one day be for sale as it is! Ideally I would like to find a Nomad, or as early a Norton as I could afford. Pre 1950's stuff seem hard to find in the USA.
 
Surely not a Dominator 77 with a single top tube and single down-tube. I though all the Dominators used either the wide-line or slim-line Featherbed frame.
 
frankdamp said:
Surely not a Dominator 77 with a single top tube and single down-tube. I though all the Dominators used either the wide-line or slim-line Featherbed frame.
Click to expand...

You thunk wrong then Frank. Dominators first came with plunger and rigid frames - and then with swingarm frames just after the featherbed 88s came out. And the Model 77 and Nomads came in the later 1950s, so the single downtube single top tube frames were around for more than a decade. So that makes 6 different frame types for dominators, only one of them a featherbed - before the slimline arrived.

(And if you count some yearly differences in some of them, that makes quite a few varieties).
(Not to mention tanks, wheels, sidecovers, battery carriers and brakes).
An inventory/stock of all 1950s parts would have been HUGE.

Cheers.
 
Rohan is correct! About the frames. The model 77 was produced primarily for the sidecar market, Norton said the feathebed would not support a side car so the factory sold the model 77 for that purpose. After Eric Oliver proved everybody wrong by racing a featherbed with a sidecar, the model 77 was droped at the end of 1957.
 
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