Best upgrade

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Best upgrade


Best upgrade


Best upgrade


Best upgrade
 
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maylar said:
Which is why I bit the bullet and installed an e-start last Summer. My Norton is very pretty to look at but what good is that if I can't start it? Funny though, after the e-start I learned that cracking the throttle a little makes hot starting far easier. Maybe if I had known that before hand I wouldn't have opted for the electric leg.

I haven't used the kicker since, so maybe next season I'll try it with the throttle open to see for sure.

Nah, push the button.
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The only problem with folks getting into Norton's is they don't learn how to kick them right, most try to kick them like their old Jap bikes and don't learn the knack for kicking a Norton, once mastered they are easy to kick to life, the kicker in the right position as well pistons, the swing on the kicker and of course the throttle all play a big part and the best part is the onlookers face when they kick to life on the first kick, kick start bikes are getting rare these days so a friend and myself are planning a only kick start ride this year for all kick start bikes, wonder how many will turn up for that.

Ashley
 
ashman said:
The only problem with folks getting into Norton's is they don't learn how to kick them right, most try to kick them like their old Jap bikes and don't learn the knack for kicking a Norton
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I've had 44 years of practice, I think I have it down pat. Just lost the power in my leg.
 
Chuck_Wagon said:
I pay attention to what you say on this forum :)
Never heard of Keagle clamps and nothing relative to Nortons comes up on forum or google search.
Please explain a bit more or provide a link to investigate this bit.
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Kegler as in Heinz Kegler. (R.I.P)

All they are is a off the shelf 1-1/8" bore spilt collar clamp that you drill and tap to take a fastener.
The cradle pivot tube gets two holes at the same centres/centers as the flats on the pivot shaft.
The collars clamp around the tube, the threaded fasteners go though the holes and apply pressure (via the flats) to the shaft giving it more support.

Being cheap I machined my own and are not torqued in the picture.
A repeat picture but shows the layout, I also shimmed the L/H bronze bush to have under 0.001" side play.
The bushes were line reamed with a .8750 reamer for around 0.0005" clearance.
The action is super smooth.

With this bike I have no interest in bolting catalogue bits to it until it becomes a Norton UnCommando, just attention to detail for what is there in the spirit of the original concept.


Best upgrade
 
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maylar said:
I've had 44 years of practice, I think I have it down pat. Just lost the power in my leg.
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I had to learn fast in how to kick start my Norton when I brought it new I was 17 a skinny weakling of all 9 stone with chicken legs, now 61 I still have my chicken legs but with the great spark from the JH Maggie and the T160 kicker it fires up on 1/2 a swing on the kicker after its been started for the day, first kick for the day take a full swing.

Ashley
 
MichaelB said:
Kegler Clamps.
They pin the swing arm, taking out the slop, if there is any.
Don’t need them on a Mk III.
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I have to agree because my bike suffered greatly from a wallowed out swingarm tube. I rode my bike with that for decades. In spite of all the other great upgrades I've done, the kegler clamps completely changed my bike's handling.
 
olympus said:
Replacing the headlamp loom as part of the rebuild.... only to find once fitted no power into the headlamp shell and up the white wire... it has somewhere a poor bullet connector or fractured wire
Will; be speaking with AN on Monday
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Me too.
 
ashman said:
The only problem with folks getting into Norton's is they don't learn how to kick them right, most try to kick them like their old Jap bikes
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Hmmm...I never had an old Jap bike that didn't have E-start! Admittedly, my first one was a '69 Honda 350, maybe earlier ones required kicking. All my Jap bikes of that era (70's) had kick start levers but I don't think I ever even turned the kick-peg into the "kick" position on any of them! :)
 
Yes the early jappers had both as most ES shit them self's had a Yammy TX750 for 2 weeks before I sold it to buy my new Norton back in 76 and the ES didn't work just made a lot of crunching noises so kick it was the only way to start it and if any rain it was a bitch to start.

Ashley
 
ashman said:
The only problem with folks getting into Norton's is they don't learn how to kick them right, most try to kick them like their old Jap bikes and don't learn the knack for kicking a Norton, once mastered they are easy to kick to life, the kicker in the right position as well pistons, the swing on the kicker and of course the throttle all play a big part and the best part is the onlookers face when they kick to life on the first kick, kick start bikes are getting rare these days so a friend and myself are planning a only kick start ride this year for all kick start bikes, wonder how many will turn up for that.

Ashley
Click to expand...

That only works if your not at a stop light ;)
 
Even before the EI mine has been a quick starter on the kick.... How long before it decides what is warm enough for the road is elusive and varies from day to day.
 
My best upgrade by far has been the custom wiring harness from MWS.
Plenty of fuses, relays and NO bullets or joints anywhere.

Others have been the Landsdowne forks, Madass carb gantry, JS supplied rods and pistons.
 
Dommie Nator said:
I remember some Jap bikes kickstarts had "Kickstart" cast on to them...just in case the owner didn't realise what it was for I guess?
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Good job the m/c imported into the land of Nippon didn't stamp gudgeon pin on that thing holding the piston to the con rod - that would really confuse them as there is no Japanese translation of this word!
 
Longtime hardcore motorcycle riders when they have to stamp it into the lever 'thingie' so's the rider knows what it's for.... Could be mistaken for a manual turbo engagement over-ride.
 
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