Intro

Hi folks,
About time I got around to doing an introduction since I have been using all the great information on here to get my new purchase actually sorted and usable- pretty much there

My name is Mike, my mates call me Dodgy, not really sure why, and I hail from the wilds of the Waikato in New Zealand. Been seriously into road bikes for 25+ years, they are my main transport and also my hobby working on them, restoring and often pimping them out visually and internally. After touring around America and a bit of Canada in 1993 on a Mk3 Commando I had to sell it before coming home because much as I would have liked- I could not afford to freight it back with me. So fast forward to Feburary 2011 and I finally gave up being so darn fussy and just bought one. My good friend had bought a Combat in January and that inspired me to 'just do it'
And I did, a 1973 Mk2 850, single Mikuni was not my personal choice as every other bike I have has twin carbs but that is how it came..
So... it was a runner, with reciepts for the engine and gear box but still had a number of issues- the workshop whiteboard got filled up with job lists after the first 3 rides and I have tackled all the niggles and issues thus far.
That entailed refurbishing the roadholder forks, adjusting the clutch, tappets, replacing the coils with a secondhand Harley one because it was cheaper than 2 x 6V replacements and also just fitted and Australian made ignition system with a name I can't mention becaue it has been done to death on here and yes, I read all 20 odd pages of that thread with a wry grin... I love the internet :roll:
I ride with a group called Blast from the Past and we all have pre 1990 bikes but in the main they are bikes from the 70's and early 80's which is my favorite era for bikes and nothing screams 1970's like a JPS liverly 850 Commando...

If Austin Powers was a biker he would have one of these baby!
Groovy!
I love it, it handles the really twisty roads out where I live and the skinny tyres are better than fat ones when the roads are a bit "surface deficient" goes great on the gravel too :wink:

I have had a steady diet of classic Italian bikes from the 1970's so who cares about reliability eh? It's all about the style baby. Currently I have 6 Moto-Guzzis- please don't judge me!
Look forward to the forum and healthy debate, and maybe some answers to life's big questions like why is it so bloody hard to kick over and start when cold :?

G'day Dodgy,

Welcome to the fold. I am absolutely certain there is an appropriate story attached to earning the nick name "Dodgy" .

There are quite a few fellow sheep shaggers ( not quite sure which insult you'll come back with, but will be well deserved ), on here with some awesome bikes, perhaps you can organise a "Commando Bash" and meet some of them.

I'm pretty new to the Norton world and have been overwhelmed by the help and knowledge offered by many on this forum.

Enjoy.......

Welcome Dodge'y

Another new friend from Brisbane Australia, I ride a 74 850 but its in a Wideline Featherbed frame, have owned it since new, enjoy the site and have lots of fun on your Norton...

Ashley

As your obviously not busy...ride up here and take my oil tank out.... :roll:
Good to see your making progress....I've got one of their alternators coming next week....I hate seeing that red light on.

Welcome Dodgy.

As far as we're concerned, your might be a 13-year-old girl unless you can prove otherwise with a photo of your Norton.

...hmmmmmm... then again, most 13-year-old girls know how to google pix of nortons and post them online...

Never mind.

Welcome from Texas.

Yeah g'day mate, you've met up with some great people here, who just love a debate and they don't even get upset when you ask questions that were answered years ago. Hope all is well over there (where you are). I 'm married to one of you'r funny talking Sheilas so i'll be able to understand most things you say. Welcome in... AC.

Dodgy,
a warm welcome to the forum from the mighty Waikato, hope you were out on one of your bikes making the most of todays great riding weather.

Thanks for the welcome..

As for 72Norton's oil tank, I can take that out for you. Leave the garage keys in the letterbox and all will be removed :twisted:

I am enjoying the different eccentricities of the Notron compared to what has been through my workshop over the years, I only wish my lifetime of collecting tools and caring for them had included some darn Whitworth stuff :cry: Ask me for any size AF or Metric and I've got it, then I go to pull something off the Norton and..duh..spanners all over the floor, calipers out to measure the head of the bolt or inside of the Allen head and much forraging ensues. Went to my local engineering shop and asked them to get me a set of Whitworth spanners and the guy laughed at me, oh the shame.. so I have bought a reasonable selection of second hand sockets which turned out the be Stahwille which is nice, feel the quality. The open end and ring spanners I will collect as time and the second hand market allows, at least it's cheap as no other mug wants it
Got a friend coming out to the shack to assist me with setting the timing at full advance, that is a bit of a pain really. Tried a mirror and a jig to hold the timing light on one side and me on the other with the throttle and twiddling the ignition but it has proven a bit too tricky so should get that sorted in a few days. At least with an electronic it is a one off job, and here is me converting all my other bikes back to points :wink:

Grandpaul

As far as we're concerned, your might be a 13-year-old girl unless you can prove otherwise with a photo of your Norton.

Click to expand...

By the way, I'm not a 13 year old girl with a mustache although my kickstarter says different :|


And with expert tuition my riding skills are coming along in leaps and bounds..

Hi Dodgy,
A very warm welcome from a not very warm France
Nice looking bike you've got there, I look forward to lots of silly questions, well they can't be any sillier than mine! :mrgreen:

All the best

Webby

Beautiful JPN tribute paint job. I really need to re-paint one of my Nortons in that scheme.

Hi from the "shakey" south, next step the NZ Norton owners club Ian from the Waikato should be able to put you in contact with asomeone in your area.

Well I believe it is now fully sorted. The carb was the final hurdle, I think it was a Mikuni from a 2-stroke of all things. Ran fine and idled fine until out riding then it would lean right off at 3,500rpm and upwards until it would lose all forward motion, and no matter what main jet I tried it still did it. Frustrating alright. But that is what you get when buying someone else's problem. Should have realised sooner that it had a brand new looking single inlet manifold and a rather second hand looking carb.
Ah well, did 130 miles today and the only issue was a coil wire vibrating off so I will cut off the slip on connectors and crimp on some 'O' type bolt on ones instead. Other than that it is running and handling like a dream. Still hard to start from cold but once warm it is a one kick jobbie. Must be my technique and light weight :?
Someone must have loved it sometime in it's history, I got out the Autosol and everything came up mirror finish with a bit of rubbing so it is not as rough as I thought when I first looked it over. Some minor bruising to the alloy here and there which goes with the 38 years of life on the road, but boy it is shiny now
Gleams like a jewel :wink:
So now I can wipe all the tasks off the whiteboard in the workshop and get out there and enjoy the beast, the only thing to put into it is petrol now 8)
The red wire hanging off under the tank is to remind me to crimp on the better coil fitting...

Good to see some photos of the bike Dodgy, It is gleaming. I thought there for a while the sheeps name was Norton... Is that an Irish Burka or just an unusual pair of shades ??...AC.

Very nice Dodgy, will keep an eye out for you on the road.

Iain,
I'm going to the national BSA rally on Saturday 12th March at Miranda. Ride leaves the campground around 10am, I will be there just after 9am to spend a bit of time catching up with the Beeza Geezers first :wink:

Regards,

Dodgy Mike