Electronic tacho on my Norton

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marinatlas

marinatlas

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Hi everybody, I was working out on my Seeley project when I noticed I cannot fit anymore the tacho drive , due to the Maney exhaust pipe running too close of it, as I am not ready to buy a Krober or Scitsu tacho , I had a look on other cheap alternative, had found Koso made a very simple one , but for Harley ( because 8000 rpm is enough!!) they make some nice ones too, but they are speaking about single fire or dual fire ignitions , what is the diffrence , and / or do you have better ideas ??
 
Salut Jean, and thanks for your reply , but the price is out of my reach..........though they are gorgeous!
I cannot found any price for the Smiths electronic , that SRM is supposed to supply..........
but the cheap Koso at 50 ish usd , though not very nice , could be the deal, I just want the information, of what revs my mill is running.........
 
I try very hard to avoid using parts on my Seeley which are obviously not from the sixties. I don't even use Japanese levers, because the bike is British. And I wouldn't use an electronic tacho, It is bad enough that it has a Boyer ignition box out in the open. I found that the tacho off a Suzuki RG250 is a copy of what was used on racing bikes back then. It even has the little gear box on the back which can be turned over to give a different direction of rotation, as well as the proper rubber mount. I suggest you should try to make your bike look as authentic as possible. If you have a Seeley frame, why would you waste it on something which is obviously unoriginal ? Change the exhaust ! :

Electronic tacho on my Norton
 
Hi thanks for your replies, and I agree that 8000 rpm is plenty enough that's why I was looking for HD tacho, and I will not get rid of my two into one Maney's exhaust , however the bike had already a yamaha R6 front end , which will be I hope more efficient than the norton one and many time cheaper than the top of the brand cartridge 's roadholder modified forks , I am a bit cheap at those times, and it took me allready enough time to put it on the road (no race, but just track days....), I think I will go for a small Koso the G1 one, will see!
 
Surely the Maney exhaust is designed to accomodate the standard cable driven tacho ? Most commando based racers don't have electronic tachos. Would you possibly put a picture up showing how the exhaust interferes with the tacho drive ? How did you get the Seeley frame ? Seems a bit of a waste if you are dressing it up with modern parts. I love mine because it looks genuine 'of the era'. If I take it to a race meeting the kids are always all over it, it is not a common machine. When I went to the ride day a couple of weeks back, the young guys all had R1s and Fireblades. My Seeley really turned them on, it's the sort of bike which makes you feel the hairs growing on your chest.
Perhaps you should get a close look at one of these to see how they were originally set up in the sixties ? A Seeley frame is very valuable. :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXcNgWqHDNw
 
marinatlas said:
I had a look on other cheap alternative, had found Koso made a very simple one , but for Harley ( because 8000 rpm is enough!!) they make some nice ones too, but they are speaking about single fire or dual fire ignitions , what is the diffrence , and / or do you have better ideas ??
Click to expand...
Dual fire is one dual output coil with a wasted spark. Single fire uses two separate coils fired separately.
 
Hi, as it was asked to post some pics and though i am not a great guy in that work , here they are , where we could see the exhaust very near of the tacho drive , plus some pics of the front end...........

Electronic tacho on my Norton


Electronic tacho on my Norton


Electronic tacho on my Norton


Electronic tacho on my Norton
 
Man O Man that is truly one loverly bike you've got there, good luck with the build. I would say that in addition to the electronic tach, you also need to pull the drive out and put the blank off plate over the hole.....that is of course only the next time you happen to have that beautiful exhaust system off. Sorry I can't offer any help as to which electronic tach might work best, (no experience with them) will be curious which one you get and make work though. More power to ya. Cj
 
Told you before Alan, Seeley replicas are real common ;-)

Frustrates me a bit because I want to use a mechanical tacho, pretty much all of the electronic ones I have seen so far fail.....I would rather have a mechanical one with a basic and repeatable innacuracy than one that never reads properly!

And i am also looking at an exhaust routed similar to Maneys! bugger...but hey, I only bought the cable so far!

Got to agree that €500 is a bit steep....

Marinatlas, what is that front hub you are using...Norvil?
 
Hi Steve, no it's not a Norvil , it's a Honda Cb750 (or GL 1000), but the very first model, they are quite narrow (to use a caliper, with laced rims) and with a lathe work in the middle you could get rid of the ribs, which looks nicier (to my own taste!!), then a RGM floatting disc (need to space and redrill the fixing bolt holes ) , just found out later that the Honda Fireblade disc (rotor) of the first year could fit (some work, though...either you diminish by 2mm the outside of the hub or enlarge the rotor centre by same amount, then redrill the six holes, easy job and cheap stuff, I had told you , now I am cheap.....
 
The first front end was still a Yamaha R6 but with a Virago 900 front wheel (19")and R6 disc, small Brembo calipers, the wheel was too heavy and now is on a featherbed project......
Electronic tacho on my Norton
 
I''ve had good luck with this tach from Mick Hemmings, shown on the Norton-powered streamliner we ran a few years back. I don't recall the price, but it was reasonable, or I wouldn't have bought it!

Electronic tacho on my Norton


Ken
 
I think I would try and find one of the old bolt on drive gearboxes they used in the early days, and find some way of fitting it to the timing chest. I see what you mean about the exhaust, and you are probably correct, an electronic tacho is probably the easiest answer. I note that you have a headlight and modern forks on it, so you are probably not concentration on making it look 'authentic'. It will be great as a road bike and I would love to own it, but I'd be very disappointed if I had to use bits that obviously were not 'of the era'. I've got a couple of bits on my bike which are obviously japanese, and they irritate me. The rear brake master cylinder a nd caliper hit me in the eye , every time I look at the bike. I had a Brembo master cylinder , but coudn't find a kit for it. Your bike should handle well with the R1 forks, - looks like very small yoke offset - good !
Your bike is a credit to you I love it ! ! !
 
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