nortonmargie
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Are you in contact with the Texas Norton Club? Check the INOA website for contact info
My Steps to Apparent Ownership
- Thread starter MJD999
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Yes I am very fortunate. Frank seems to be the only person in the state and is transferring what he knows to Kevin who I am sure is competent in his own right. They make a great pair. Most importantly he is very willing to share his knowledge with anyone. He spent some time showing me how to clean out the pilot jet and even provided a very thin drill bit to do the job. I'll also be learning to do what I can.
HouTexNorton
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The North Texas Chapter of the INOA is in Dallas. I've contacted several Access Norton members here in Houston--all have been very cooperative and knowledgeable, but no one knows of any Norton mechanics around here. They all do (or did) their own work, and are willing to give advice, but I really need someone to work on the bike if something major is needed--I'm pretty much mostly a rider (I also have several other modern bikes) and am just used to taking them to a mechanic when they're broken. I did my due diligence before I bought the bike and found a couple of shops at the time, but they've since gone out of business. From what I gather, most of the good Norton mechanics are aging out (like me) and there just aren't many young people willing to learn and take over. It's an ever shrinking market and probably viewed as no future for a young aspiring mechanic--they would rather work at a Harley dealer. Understandable, but unfortunate.
Fast Eddie
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Don’t blame the seller. There are so many time wasters out there that promise to show up and never do. He didn’t know you, and couldn’t turn away a firm buyer then risk you not showing up.
Enjoy Fred !
grandpaul
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Were you unable to track down any of the BMOA people? I thought Gulf Coast would at least have some leads...https://www.facebook.com/houstontriumph/
marshg246
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Not many years ago, I would have sworn that all owners of old British motorcycles worked on them themselves. I started working on them in the late 60s since I could not afford to pay a shop and on the occasions when I really needed a shop, I would work there to pay my bill. Then when they were no longer made and most of the shops closed, I figured you had to work on them yourself.
During Covid, Norton owners started coming out of the woodwork wanting me to work on their bikes and some of them didn't even do minor maintenance themselves. Also, today there are people riding old British bikes that weren't alive when their bike was built - that seems weird to me but I know several.
During Covid, Norton owners started coming out of the woodwork wanting me to work on their bikes and some of them didn't even do minor maintenance themselves. Also, today there are people riding old British bikes that weren't alive when their bike was built - that seems weird to me but I know several.
Tornado
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Con̈grats on snagging Fred. Been following thecwork done on that channel. Be aware that they did not appear to go into the gearbox, so the dreaded original layshaft bearing is still a very real threat until confirmed addressed.
Its is a fairly big job to do, but nothing terribly difficult, can even be done still in frame. Just popping outer and inner covers off may let you see the bearing has been done already.
Its is a fairly big job to do, but nothing terribly difficult, can even be done still in frame. Just popping outer and inner covers off may let you see the bearing has been done already.
HouTexNorton
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I think that your comment was directed at me? I joined the BMOA and picked everyone's brain about a local Norton mechanic with no luck. There was a guy up in Splendora working out of his garage that sounded promising, but he just passed away. This guy used to work for Gulf Coast and took care of the owner's collection of classic British bikes, but even Gulf Coast is now out of business (and they had stopped working on the old bikes well before they closed). That Facebook link doesn't show any activity since 2022--not sure why that account is still open.
ashman
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If you are going to own an old British bike then you should be willing to learn everything about your old bike no matter whether an old Triumph, Norton, BSA etc, so learning to work on them is the best way to learn and get to know your old bike, when I brought my new Commando back in 76 I was young and only had Honda dirt bikes, first warranty job done on my Norton (the dreaded cracked oil tank) at the time the warranty was just for parts as the labour warranty had ran out and behold the dealer I brought my new Norton off charged me over $200 for labour as they said it took them time to find the oil leak although I told them it was the oil tank, $200 was a lot of money back then.
After complaining and they said see you for your next service, I told them this be the last time you see or work on my Norton and done everything myself since then in 1980 I started the Featherbed conversion this was the first time I ever built a bike from scratch and was the best way to learn about every nut and bolt on my Norton build, even rebuilding the motor, I rebuilt the gearbox in 1978 when the dreaded layshaft bearing blew at 12k miles, that was the first major job I learned, wasn't a hard job to do for a novias.
But learning to do all major servicing yourself your Norton should be very reliable, in 49+ years of owning my Norton I have only done a few rebuilds on parts that wore out or failed as keeping up your maintenance failures are few far between.
Knowing everything about your bike and if you did get stuck on the side of the road you usually can fix it with tools you carry but I was stuck 100 miles from home when my first Boyar black box failed, but that was caused from the major fire of 82 a week after the fire the black box was heat damaged by the fire but failed after the first ride from fixing the damage caused from the fire.
So owning an old British bike the best way to learn about your bike is to do the work yourself and there are many people on here to help with any problems, just send things out that need machining, I was lucky I worked at a Tec College for 31 years and 15 years in the maintenance workshop as a T/A to the Fitters so had access to all the machines and as time went by built a big workshop up the back of my yard and is fully set up for working on my bikes and having the right tools to do the work as well building old British bikes all from learning by doing the work myself, I have also done rebuilds for other mates over the years at mates rates.
Owning my Norton is my life and hobby and I learned a lot in the 50+ years of owning and riding motorcycles and can only do that if you learn to work on them as well a lot cheaper to do the work yourself and not getting ripped off or work from a shonky mechanics as there are a lot out there who just wants your money.
Ashley
After complaining and they said see you for your next service, I told them this be the last time you see or work on my Norton and done everything myself since then in 1980 I started the Featherbed conversion this was the first time I ever built a bike from scratch and was the best way to learn about every nut and bolt on my Norton build, even rebuilding the motor, I rebuilt the gearbox in 1978 when the dreaded layshaft bearing blew at 12k miles, that was the first major job I learned, wasn't a hard job to do for a novias.
But learning to do all major servicing yourself your Norton should be very reliable, in 49+ years of owning my Norton I have only done a few rebuilds on parts that wore out or failed as keeping up your maintenance failures are few far between.
Knowing everything about your bike and if you did get stuck on the side of the road you usually can fix it with tools you carry but I was stuck 100 miles from home when my first Boyar black box failed, but that was caused from the major fire of 82 a week after the fire the black box was heat damaged by the fire but failed after the first ride from fixing the damage caused from the fire.
So owning an old British bike the best way to learn about your bike is to do the work yourself and there are many people on here to help with any problems, just send things out that need machining, I was lucky I worked at a Tec College for 31 years and 15 years in the maintenance workshop as a T/A to the Fitters so had access to all the machines and as time went by built a big workshop up the back of my yard and is fully set up for working on my bikes and having the right tools to do the work as well building old British bikes all from learning by doing the work myself, I have also done rebuilds for other mates over the years at mates rates.
Owning my Norton is my life and hobby and I learned a lot in the 50+ years of owning and riding motorcycles and can only do that if you learn to work on them as well a lot cheaper to do the work yourself and not getting ripped off or work from a shonky mechanics as there are a lot out there who just wants your money.
Ashley
HouTexNorton
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Sounds like you've enjoyed a wonderful long hobby with your Norton. I'm 76 and retired and have many interests, so delving deeper into the maintenance of my Norton that I acquired a couple of years ago as a nostalgia bike (fully restored by an old friend with 40+ years dealing with classic British bikes, mostly Nortons) is just not currently in the cards for me. Thankfully, I don't anticipate anything major going wrong due to all of the restorative work and I can deal with the required minor maintenance myself--it's just that I would feel more comfortable with a knowledgeable local go-to mechanic just in case. I'm sure that there are others like me that don't have the time or inclination to work on keeping their Nortons on the road and could use professional help from time to time as well.
Thanks for the heads-up on this. This is something I forgot to address and certainly will as I've read about it from a number of sources.
Tornado
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BTW, You do know Frank is the first member (or even the founder?) of the US Norton Owners Club? That's why his Commando has "USNOC1" or something like that as a license plate.
No I did not, and it does not surprise me. I sat on the bike and realized that I aged out of that riding position a long time ago!
Tornado
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Yes, seeing various closeups of the paint in Franks vids..i kinda cringed at the orange peel paintwork. Pity. But I can see the appeal or necessity for having a go with rattle cans in the backyard.
nortonmargie
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I would ride the bike for a while and make a list of winter projects. Also call Frank about the layshaft issue
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