Merry Christmas (and progress report on my build)

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Jeandr

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Santa is coming soon, Ihave put the cookies and milk for my two nieces and my only wish is to have the time to finish my café racer. This is one of the latest pictures I have. Happy holidays to everyone.

Jean

More pictures at http://www.pbase.com/jeandr/cafe_racer

Merry Christmas (and progress report on my build)
 
Hi there,
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYBODY AND HOPE YOUR NORTONS WILL ENJOY THIS COMING NEW YEAR............

It's a real pleasure to read all your posts and it brings the things UP, in this crazy world....
 
Jeandr,
Your special is coming on well, I do like the oil pipe manifold, what's it off? A word of warning though the hose you have fitted has been known to pop and or collapse due to heat

Strangely this site makes me feel normal or are we all touched with a little madness? My wife thinks so.:wink:

A Merry Christmas and a Great New Year,

Cash
 
Wow.

I like it!

Plenty of fettling evident, and should be quite nice when done.
 
Home made

cash said:
Jeandr,
Your special is coming on well, I do like the oil pipe manifold, what's it off? A word of warning though the hose you have fitted has been known to pop and or collapse due to heat

Strangely this site makes me feel normal or are we all touched with a little madness? My wife thinks so.:wink:

A Merry Christmas and a Great New Year,

Cash
Click to expand...

Thanks for the warning, I have put those hoses just to test the correct lenghts and routing, a $3 investment :wink: I wanted the oil lines to come out the bottom rather than at the top since my oil tank is low and it keeps the oil lines out of sight. After I had made it, I was looking at pictures of a VR880 by Kenny Dreer and he did the exact same thing.

Jean

Tell your wife she is right, I'm sure she will not have a response to that :lol:
 
Wikepedia to the rescue

grandpaul said:
Wow.

I like it!

Plenty of fettling evident, and should be quite nice when done.
Click to expand...

I had to look up fettling to make sure it wans't an insult :wink: And yes, there is a lot of that. During January, I will start on the engine and gearbox rebuild while I send the major pieces to be painted (frame, tank, headlight shell and mudguard) and some to chrome. The polish I should be able to do myself and then it's finding all the proper stainless steel hardware, still lots of work, but at least it's enjoyable work :D
 
Very interesting mc project. Great photos! Thanks for documenting and posting!
 
Great project!

pardon my general ignorance... what frame are you using?

I'm waiting on a small windfall in January to get the final parts for my redneck rebuild (shocks, horn and a couple of parts) then it's off the the RMV for a new title and registration......

yipee!
 
71basketcase said:
Great project!

pardon my general ignorance... what frame are you using?

I'm waiting on a small windfall in January to get the final parts for my redneck rebuild (shocks, horn and a couple of parts) then it's off the the RMV for a new title and registration......

yipee!
Click to expand...

The frame is from a 1961 Norton 650 Manxman. I bought a complete non runner in the mid-seventies in Québec city from a dealer. The bike had been given as a trade in for a new(er) bike when it broke down. It belogned to a guy from New Jersey. The frame is called a Featherbed and this is known as a slimline because the frame rails curve towards the inside where the rider sits. When I bought it I immediately made a café racer out of it, then the engine blew up and I replaced it with a 750 mill. Later on, I traded it in for a Rickman Kawasaki 900 and a bit of cash (Brits were worthless back then). Eventually my buddy got hold of it but he sent the fiberglass tank and seat I had made out for paint and they were lost, in the end, all he had was the frame, and I traded him one I had for the one he had just because of the history behind it (and also mine had been modified to fit an Ariel 500cc singled + it had been chromed). There are some pictures of these bikes at http://www.pbase.com/jeandr/my_nortons&page=all all the bikes with a blue frame are made from the very frame I am now using.

Jean
 
Suzuki

MichaelB said:
Looks nice Jean.
Is that a 4 shoe front brake?
Click to expand...

Thanks, Yes, it is from the early GT-750 Suzuki two stroke triple, also know as the water buffalo. The back hub is from a 750 (or 860) Ducati, it should be better than the Norton hub and it has a really good cush drive in it.

Jean
 
thanks for the featherbed description....

I can't see that well... is that running without isolastics?

also, I have the same C clamp as you 8)

kfh
 
Beautiful bike!

You know, I spent a fortune having Fred Eaton upgrade my front disc. It works great - one finger stopping under most conditions, two fingers will lock it up. Money well spent, and has probably saved my bike and hide a half dozen times.

So why do I get an, um, stiffie when I see a nice TLS drum setup?

And a 4LS??? Who says guys can't have multiples...!
 
Hey Jean
My only question is: since those look like stock tranny cradle plates and your belt system with the outrigger bearing should fit most commandos, why didn't you make 10 or so of these assemblies instead of just one in kind of an assembly line fashion? A complete bolt on front belt or dual belt system like this would sell to a lot of commando riders. Likewise for the alternator system.
 
RennieK said:
Hey Jean
My only question is: since those look like stock tranny cradle plates and your belt system with the outrigger bearing should fit most commandos, why didn't you make 10 or so of these assemblies instead of just one in kind of an assembly line fashion? A complete bolt on front belt or dual belt system like this would sell to a lot of commando riders. Likewise for the alternator system.
Click to expand...

Thing is, they are not stock, I made them myself. I don't know how they would fit on a Commando frame, but it is something I may investigate once I am finished with this one. I would also like to see how the alternator performs before trying to peddle one to others.

Take a look from time to time on http://www.pbase.com/jeandr/cafe_racer I put up new pictures when there is something done or in the design stages.

Jean
 
A few more things bolted on

Here it is with a few more things bolted on like the carbs and rear plate with lights, the speedo, the tach... I am trying to get it as free of wires and cables as I can, obviously, I can't do away with the control cables for the throttle, the brakes and the clutch, but the wiring I will try to hide in the frame for the rear brake switch, the wires going to the alternator and the ignition pickup. I am pretty sure I can hide the main loom under the tank, the Boyer micro digital is now in the headlight shell and so is the flasher relay. As you can see, it's not so bad now.

Jean

Merry Christmas (and progress report on my build)
 
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