My '73 850 rebuild..

Well.. The cast iron disk ended up being a loss and had to be junked. I ended up ordering a $100 Indian-made replacement from Domi to get me by until I can upgrade the whole front brake system (hopefully this winter).

The bronze nuts finally arrived the other day (damn Canadian postal strike). New neck bearings are installed and I'm just waiting on new (Emgo--Blah, I'm a cheap bastard) fork tubes and a rebuild kit to arrive since I decided my fork tubes and the internals were too far gone to try to reuse. Once the new ones get here, I should be able to get this project finished pretty quickly. Tuning the Mikuni and fitting the Corbin to my Interstate tank will be the most difficult tasks at that point.

Now, if the mail will just hurry up..!

-Jordan

Oh, and I also did some more research on my frame because I doubted the originality of it after I got it home from Chicago. Here's what I found:

VIN: 305256
Build date on tag: June 1973
Batch Seq # on headstock: 00113
Number on left coil pack: 064140

All of this, according to DynoDave's research and other information I've dug up, seems to line up as a legitimate match for my VIN, so I can only assume that the frame is original to the bike. Too many indicators line up, IMO, for it to not be an original, early run 1973 frame..not that it really matters. I've bastardized my bike as I pleased anyway, so "numbers-matching" is even less important than if the bike was completely original. Either way, it's good to be able to feel like everything that "should" be original most likely is.

-Jordan

I don't know if the later chainguards were any better at clearing the chain. I also had trouble with my new chromed one from Burton, so I flattened the attachment under the shock mount a bit and that helped. I also put a semi-thick washer under the shock next to the swingarm so the shock mounted away from the chainguard. The shock was right on the chainguard and the washer gives it a tiny bit of clearance. Make sure you have the thin headed bolt for the shock bolt.





My original chainguard was well eaten up by the chain, but back then, I wasn't in the habit of keeping things tight and tended to just take things off as they got loose.

I hope you are not going to use that stupid chain oiler. You can buy a new chain every year or 5000 miles from OB and forget about oiling them, for $35 it's like filling up your car. It's like guaranteeing oil and dirt all over the bottom of the inner primary and swingarm, plus the rear rim. One good thing it does is keep the rim from rusting. That was one of the first things I did when I got it in 72 was block off that oiler and throw out the parts, there was more than enough oil under the bike. Hopefully, I seem to have cured that now.

Dave
69S

Yeah, I'm using the chain oiler.

Dad promises it will ONLY drip one single drop on the chain after the bike is off. If that ends up not being the case, then the bastard comes off. He always ran the oiler on his norton and he never had any issues.

-Jordan

If you look at how the chain oiler is hooked up, it is off the return line with some sort of filter in line. Anytime there is pressure on that line, there is oil coming out of that device, and plenty of it. Do what you like, but it's not a drip when when the bike is off, at least mine, maybe mine didn't work right, it was just too easy to remove and get rid of a huge oil leak.

Keep an eye on it.

Dave
69S

Dad insisted on using it and I wanted to avoid the argument with him about how it's a POS so I figured I'd just let him install it so he's happy. If/when it leaks like a siev, I'll insist on removing it. Again, just trying to avoid him getting his panties in a knot because he's dad and dad is "always right"..

-Jordan

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New fork tubes were ordered and paid for on the 11th. They supposedly shipped on the 12th. Still not here, which means no progress on the front end this weekend.

I really don't understand why people still ship Parcel Post these days when Priority through PayPal or UPS Ground is as cheap or cheaper. Kind of makes me want to scream..

Planning on working on the wiring (just need to tape a few things up, etc), the rear signals, and maybe some on mating the Gunfighter seat with the Interstate tank this weekend. Need to reshape the seat pan and relocate the Corbin mounting system to make everything fit.

Also, the replacement Indian rotor has been sandblasted with the center painted black so that will be mounted this weekend. I haven't decided if I want to go ahead and install my finned rocker box covers and neoprene gaskets or save those for later. I already have my polished (stock) covers installed so at this point I'd be wasting a few gaskets and I'd have to clean everything up again to install the new ones..

I'm getting really antsy to get this thing finished (it's already almost August, for crying out loud) so I really hope these delays stop happening.. Ugh.

-Jordan

Well, hell. So much for getting much done this weekend since the tubes have still not shown up.

Nevertheless, the rear brake pedal and footpeg are mounted. Looks pretty good except for the fact that the chrome on the rear brake pedal (taken from the '70 I bought) is slightly more dull than the rest of the chrome on the bike.

I separated the master cylinder body from the handle so I could ship it off to Clubman Racing for resleeving to 13mm. I hadn't planned on doing this until this winter, but it doesn't make sense to use a rebuild kit on the master cylinder now when I plan on resleeving it before too long anyway. What the hell, I'll just slap it on the CC. D'oh.

The Indian rotor looks great installed on the front wheel since it's been sandblasted (took off whatever garbage coating they put on it) and painted the center black. I think I may just go ahead and plan on running that long-term instead of insisting on the 12" floating disc and Grimeca caliper from Clubman. I don't know; I guess I could change my mind at some point. I seem to do that a lot. :/

We did some more thinking on the rear turn signals and we've got a plan in mind, but I need to order some spacers to get it done. Looks like JP Cycles will be getting an order soon. At least the spacers are cheap..

On a different note, does anyone know what all is required to correctly mount the gas tank? According to the shop manual I'm seeing 4-5 rubber rings, a threaded stud, a washer, and a nylock nut. Shouldn't there be some kind of piece that 'locates' the stud and keeps the tank from moving around? The PO had the tank mounted with a fat grommet on each mounting point, but I really don't think that's right. Any advice is appreciated.

-Jordan

It still looks kind of gay without a mud flap.

You mean gay WITH the mudflap? You just need some shiny pink streamers off the handlebars and you're all set. LOL. Bahahahahahaha

-Jordan

Sheez, don't you know anything, you can't have pink streamers without a pink basket on the front with a big yellow flower, get with the times.

Your bike ( with no mud flap ):

Bahahahaha

Kill the mud flap. Do you plan on riding in the mud? I didn't think so. :mrgreen:

I would send the mudflap to Hobot, he would put it to proper use!

KSUWildcatFan said:

On a different note, does anyone know what all is required to correctly mount the gas tank? According to the shop manual I'm seeing 4-5 rubber rings, a threaded stud, a washer, and a nylock nut. Shouldn't there be some kind of piece that 'locates' the stud and keeps the tank from moving around? The PO had the tank mounted with a fat grommet on each mounting point, but I really don't think that's right. Any advice is appreciated.

-Jordan

Click to expand...

The parts you see in the shop manual are correct. A stack of rubber washers, a large flat steel washer, and a locking nut (split collar style was original, but a nylock will work fine). No other locating mechanism needed at the front mounts. The tunnel in the tank and the two rubbers (thin in front and thick in back) that cushion the tank on the main tube provide side-to-side location.



Do you have a parts manual? It has much better pictures than the shop manual. I'm pretty sure you can still find a .pdf file of the 73-73 parts book online, but if not, let me know and I'll email it to you.

Ken

I must have used the wrong terminology. I'm using a parts manual and I had been referring to the same picture you provided.

I'll get those parts ordered. Thanks!

-Jordan

Still no damn fork tubes. It will have been two weeks if they don't come tomorrow. Sigh.

I'm shipping my master cylinder off tomorrow to Clubman in trade for a newly-resleeved one.

The instrument cups from the '70 have been sanded and are getting painted right now. Hopefully they end up nice. I'd obviously prefer to use my original instrument cups (since I wasted like $25 on the rubber covers for the bottom!) but I have no idea how things are going to shake out with those headlight ears I bought. They would have used the lower-profile cups originally, so the tall 850 cups most likely won't work. We'll see. I wanted to be prepared one way or another depending on how things looked. Then again, I'm kind of screwed until the fork tubes are here and I can finish the frickin' front end. :|

-Jordan

I sympathize with you. My Norton sits in the corner, headless, its rebuilt head sitting on my workbench. All I need to do is get everyone else's bikes out of my garage so I can find the time to work on my own stuff. Oh well, it's too damn hot to ride much anyway.

cyclegeezer said:

I sympathize with you. My Norton sits in the corner, headless, its rebuilt head sitting on my workbench. All I need to do is get everyone else's bikes out of my garage so I can find the time to work on my own stuff. Oh well, it's too damn hot to ride much anyway.

Click to expand...

Shove those bastards out the door!

I agree on it being too hot except the AC in my car is currently non-functional so I'm pretty much screwed either way.

-Jordan

Bring your car on up to Wisconsin and i'll service it for you, trade some parts.