New MkIII owner - getting my bearings...

Folks -

Just bought this bike in an estate sale. Have been riding and wrenching for 40+ years, but this is my first British bike. After checking with Matt at CNW, lcrken and grandpaul from this forum I went for it.

My goals are:

1. Remove the Prince Purple Rain accessory package.
2. Get it running (has been sitting for probably 3-5 years). Thankfully, the tank has no visible rust inside.
3. Get it ridable (no brake pressure or air box).
4. Decide which direction to go with upgrades after some riding experience (never ridden a Norton…).

Would appreciate the wisdom of the forum on:

- After a carb clean, tank flush, petcock rebuild/replacement (one lever was snapped off), clean plugs, new battery, fog oil cylinder bores what else to check before attempting to start? For example, will the crankcase be overfull of oil from the oil tank? Any "old man tricks?"

- The previous owner installed an oil cooler. Are these really needed or overkill? Have not seen one on any other Nortons though my Honda CB400F project bike does need one.

- Was the 2 into 1 exhaust considered a performance upgrade? Got the original pipes with the bike and prefer the look.

- Does the rust on the rear brake disc indicate that it was likely dragging as covered elsewhere here or another issue?

By the conversations I've seen here I am very glad to join, learn and contribute.

Thanks in advance,

Andy --

Nice looking find - #2 here today.

The brake discs came lightly chrome plated as new, and it took a while to wear the chrome off and the brakes to work properly.
The disk underneath is iron, and will rust a bit on any contact with water or moisture.
It soon polished back to shiny iron with some use (within reason, unless deeply rusted).

Your rear disc looks to have had very little use, or could be near new.
Only a little of the chrome has been worn away - and the rust has hit those areas.

Get it all shipshape and see if the disc offers any braking before going down other paths.
A simple bit of sanding (with sandpaper etc) may clean it up enough to be good.
Removing all the chrome gives better brakes, although the back disk doesn't do as much as the front one.
Have fun...

P.S. There are threads here on oil coolers.
In hot climates, they can't do any harm, and more oil can be good.
If no thermostat though, the oil may run cooler than is best, but that is a matter of some debate.

For your safety , you need to replace the gearbox layshaft bearing before you ride the bike. It might have allready been replaced but you shouldn't take the risk, if it collapses the gearbox can lock up with dire consequences. There are many posts on here regarding this job, it's straight forward enough.
Buy a mk 3 manual and parts book, you will need them.
Nice bike, good luck.
sam

Andy
Unless you have documentation otherwise be sure to check for metal bits in the old oil. If I recall some of the Mk III's had soft cams that wore prematurely. There are other specific failures on this model and hopefully other members on this forum will elaborate as well as in the INOA Tech manual.
BTW great find,

Ray

I would probably be tempted to whip the timing cover off to take a look. Plus the primary cover. The clutch may be stuck solid as well.

Definitely drain and replace the engine oil and filter. And the oil in the front forks plus give everything cables, electrics etc a good oil and spray. You may need new brake lines.

But the biggest thing I wanted to say before starting or even turning the engine over pour about an egg cup of oil down the front push rod tubes onto the cam. The cam and follwers destroy themselves in seconds if you start them dry.

When ever I parked a Norton up for a few years the first few weeks back were a litany of corroded electical conections requiring careful inspection with a mutimeter checking grounds and conections.

Im not saying anything about the handle bars but they might make a good garden feature or concrete reinforcing

Andy congrats , she's a beauty and a find. That purple rain package can be resold to some other Prince. The airbox was big and plastic to deaden noise and are pricey and hard to find used as owners tossed them . Awkward to fit/remove too. Your choice there are other more modern types around to fit. Layshaft bearing upgrade for sure check this Forum. The brake disc is normal as chrome goes ,you can have it skimmed off too. Paint is good and original , I hope there is a sidecover. Yes some MK 111's had soft cams so cut apart the oil filter to inspect ,also look at oil screens and in the sludge that will have to be scraped out of the bottom of oil tank. Wear plastic mechanic gloves when doing this. That huge cargo box could have bent the framerail down from weight so check it but the photo looks good. What are the serial numbers on the plate behind the headlight and the mileage of course. Enjoy the project , I would.

Thanks much for the wisdom everyone. Just what I needed. Clearly, I have a lot of searching and reading to do before touching anything…

No documentation came with it so I can make no assumptions.

Matching serial #' 326707. Bike has 7,800 apparently original miles.

The left side cover is in the Bates box which does not look like it bent the rear rail. Have the original handlebars.

Beyond the reading, I'll remove the accessory package and see about finding it a new owner.

Already I can see that this project will be way different than my Japanese and German experiences.

Thanks again,

Andy --

ag12680 said:

Already I can see that this project will be way different than my Japanese and German experiences.

Click to expand...

:mrgreen: A whole new world awaits you! As you work through the initial major hurdles (if any) and can finally make your first uneventful ride, you'll most likely find yourself becoming seduced even more every time after that. I ride mine to work every morning, and look forward to it.
As already pointed out, the discs were chromed, making for a rather poor friction surface. I had mine Blanchard-ground, painted, then rely on the constant wiping action of the pads to ward off any rust buildup. With a small-bore master cylinder (front brake), the braking action is quite effective. disc-brake-rebuild-surface-t19529.html

she-back-t16865.html if you're bored and need something to read.

Welcome to the forum!

Nathan

Ha, I finally get the 'purple rain' reference!

Bob Z. said:

Ha, I finally get the 'purple rain' reference!

Click to expand...

Even worse, it's a Honda CM400. Prince made that look like a full-sized motorcycle!

Years ago, my local Norton dealer always said oil coolers weren't necessary unless you took the bike touring, heavily loaded, over mountains.
Otherwise the Norton engines run pretty cool. The dangling oil line is just begging to get hit by a rock or snag on something. If it were mine I'd remove the ugly wart.
Bike shops sure made a lot of profit selling doo-dads like oil coolers, king/queen seats, cheap exhaust systems, ape-hangers, sissy-bars, etc.
I hope the Windjammer bracket didn't pinch the frame tubes too badly.

Glad you got the original bars. Those ape-hangers gotta go!

Nice find!

That oil cooler is way to big and ugly where it is mounted, I have a Lochart oil cooler on my Norton and sits up high , I have run my Norton with the oil cooler for 39 years, our summers are very hot and i also run it dueing winter and have never had problems with it, there is a lot of debate on here if its realy needed but in my case yes, I have run Lochart coolers on all my old British bikes and have had long life out of my motors.
Get rid of all the crap on it, clean it up and replace all fluids and do check the layshaft bearing as they nomaly fail around the 10,000 miles mark, I was luck mine failed when I put in in first gear outside of home in 1979 with just over 10,000 mile on the clock.
Anyway a good find and enjoy.

Ashley

Congrats Bob..!! You got it..

This came with the bike and completes the full effect.