I bought my first Norton in 1971. It was registered as a 1971 but was what we now know as the 1970 model. It was a yellow Roadster with the ring around the headlight. What was that there for anyway? I loved that motorcycle and used it to commute to work about 20 miles each way in LA traffic. I spent a lot of time working on it as it was often broken or ailing. It turned me into a pedestrian too many times to be considered reliable transportation and after a year & a half or so I reluctantly sold it to get the down payment on a Land Rover Series IIA. It broke my heart but I couldn't afford a toy back then.
Twenty Nortonless years followed and the yearning for another one finally became too much and I started looking for another 1970 Norton. I met a BSA guy who had a 1972 bitsa for sale. It was (I was told) a Combat that had had the special head swapped out for a standard one. It had a Roadster tank but the little headlight like the HiRider has and someone had bodged on a 1970 seat which really didn't fit too well. The bike ran but needed work. The price was in the ball park and if it had really been solid internally it should have made a great ridable fixer-upper.
That didn't turn out to be the case. The more I worked on it the more I found wrong and in the end it turned out to be a complete rebuild right down to the frame. A small project turned out to be a major one as they often do and it seemed a good time to build it just like I personally thought it should have been done right from the start.
Back when I had the first Norton I rode with the old Classic & Antique Motorcycle Association (CAMA) and got to see many great vintage bikes. My tastes ran to the prewar and immediate postwar models and I thought it would be worth trying to make the Norton project look like it was earlier, say from 1952 rather than 1972. I have never heard of anyone doing a retro-custom before but that just seemed the right way to go with this one.
Many chrome items were stripped and painted and an older style headlight, controls other items were sourced. Color pencils on photocopies of a line drawing out of one of the Norton publications were used to establish the colors - dark red on dark blue. The wheel centers were painted dark red with gold lining to match the tank panels tank panels.
Mechanics were upgraded to the best Commando bits in the mid 1990s such as Superblend bearings, box head steady, relocated breather and lots of stainless bits to keep it easy to maintain.
The project got to the point where I could ride it around and work on sorting out the issues that cropped up. It has a speed wobble that begins about 55 or 60 mph and is so bad I was afraid it was going to chuck me off. The last ride was with the Antique Motorcycle Club and after a very nice day the bike felt a bit strange. In looking it over the rear brake drum had scorched paint and bits of the rubber cush drive seemed to be crumbling out. The chain looks to be rubbing on the chain guard, so there may be something wrong with the assembly.
The bike was put up on its work stand and there it has remained for the 10 or 12 years since that day. The press of other projects kept me away from it and soon it was more or less forgotten until now.
I need to rebuild a Model T motor and the workshop needs to be cleared to make space. The SR500 and the Norton are in the way. Seeing they are in the way, why not fix the Yamaha and finish that old Norton rather than just moving them into storage? That's where things are now. The SR500 needs the least work and is closer to the door so it will be first. The Norton needs work and some of it has to do with things I do not understand too well such as the speed wobble and rear hub and so these issues will need some research.
The pictures below are of the Norton when it was first run to check for leaks, noises and head gasket torque back in the late '90s. Other bits were still to be added. It started first kick and really ran sweetly with no oil leaks at all. Only overnight would it mark its spot.
Paul, soon to be Nortonless no longer
Fullerton, SoCal
Twenty Nortonless years followed and the yearning for another one finally became too much and I started looking for another 1970 Norton. I met a BSA guy who had a 1972 bitsa for sale. It was (I was told) a Combat that had had the special head swapped out for a standard one. It had a Roadster tank but the little headlight like the HiRider has and someone had bodged on a 1970 seat which really didn't fit too well. The bike ran but needed work. The price was in the ball park and if it had really been solid internally it should have made a great ridable fixer-upper.
That didn't turn out to be the case. The more I worked on it the more I found wrong and in the end it turned out to be a complete rebuild right down to the frame. A small project turned out to be a major one as they often do and it seemed a good time to build it just like I personally thought it should have been done right from the start.
Back when I had the first Norton I rode with the old Classic & Antique Motorcycle Association (CAMA) and got to see many great vintage bikes. My tastes ran to the prewar and immediate postwar models and I thought it would be worth trying to make the Norton project look like it was earlier, say from 1952 rather than 1972. I have never heard of anyone doing a retro-custom before but that just seemed the right way to go with this one.
Many chrome items were stripped and painted and an older style headlight, controls other items were sourced. Color pencils on photocopies of a line drawing out of one of the Norton publications were used to establish the colors - dark red on dark blue. The wheel centers were painted dark red with gold lining to match the tank panels tank panels.
Mechanics were upgraded to the best Commando bits in the mid 1990s such as Superblend bearings, box head steady, relocated breather and lots of stainless bits to keep it easy to maintain.
The project got to the point where I could ride it around and work on sorting out the issues that cropped up. It has a speed wobble that begins about 55 or 60 mph and is so bad I was afraid it was going to chuck me off. The last ride was with the Antique Motorcycle Club and after a very nice day the bike felt a bit strange. In looking it over the rear brake drum had scorched paint and bits of the rubber cush drive seemed to be crumbling out. The chain looks to be rubbing on the chain guard, so there may be something wrong with the assembly.
The bike was put up on its work stand and there it has remained for the 10 or 12 years since that day. The press of other projects kept me away from it and soon it was more or less forgotten until now.
I need to rebuild a Model T motor and the workshop needs to be cleared to make space. The SR500 and the Norton are in the way. Seeing they are in the way, why not fix the Yamaha and finish that old Norton rather than just moving them into storage? That's where things are now. The SR500 needs the least work and is closer to the door so it will be first. The Norton needs work and some of it has to do with things I do not understand too well such as the speed wobble and rear hub and so these issues will need some research.
The pictures below are of the Norton when it was first run to check for leaks, noises and head gasket torque back in the late '90s. Other bits were still to be added. It started first kick and really ran sweetly with no oil leaks at all. Only overnight would it mark its spot.
Paul, soon to be Nortonless no longer
Fullerton, SoCal
