Norton Glory Days

acotrel said:
Brainless exercise. What would be the point of it ? In Australia, there is nowhere anyone can really use a 200 MPH motorcycle. My mate bought a Hayabusa to find out what 170 BHP was like. It was useless. When he went out on a ride with his other mates, he kept up by blasting down the straight bits of road, after they had left him for dead in the curved bits. They are all road race riders. I would never ride with them on Sunday mornings.
When I drive on public roads the main danger lies in losing concentration - adrenalin is my enemy. I take medication to counteract it. On a race track, max speed is about 140 MPH - that is fast enough under the circumstances. Most guys these days, could not use a 50 BHP Manx Norton effectively.
With my mentality, I would destroy myself if I rode a really quick bike.
If you watch Moto GP - nobody ever does anything - simply because they cannot. The passing usually happens in slow corners. Most of the racing is usually line astern at full lean. You do not need to be smart to do that - just smooth and consistent.
Marquez is different - he tries a lot of different things - but it might be a career-limiting strategy - he crashes a lot. The speeds are too high for that.
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🤕 Hayabusa is a terrible example of a modern motorcycle. Basically, a straight line drag bike with a license plate. Plus ugly and heavy as hell.

More HP is fun on the right modern motorcycle. I owned a few that were a good time on the street. That was in the late 80's through the early 2000's though. Different time and in California USA where there was and still could be plenty of space to ride.

You could ride a modern motorcycle on the street and live to tell about it if you are as smart about riding as you imply. Only real difference is you can't ring the neck of a modern high HP bike like you can a Norton. Different mindset and some moderation required.
 
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If I ride on the street, I always prefer to keep passing the traffic. That way I have more control over my future. Even if you do that, there is always the idiot who would see you coming and run you off the road. I rode motorcycles on public roads until I was 29, then went racing. The only modern motorcycle I have ridden was a VFR400 Honda. It was lovely and did everything perfectly. I still had that very uneasy feeling when I was in traffic. When I was a kid, nobody had a mobile phone.
That Honda would be worth racing, however in Australia they were grey imports. A couple of my mates had GSXR1000 Suzukis - I would never do what they did. I like being 'safe at any speed'.
 
Racing my Seeley 850 was excellent - I actually gained a sense of achievement. My only regret was that during my previous marriage, I was extremely stressed and had very stressful jobs. So after the late 1970s until to about 2002, I did not race. I still built race bikes, and my friends still raced. I never believed in the Commando engine, until I mostly changed the rest of the bike and worked around it. I am surprised it is so good. Gearing it to get it going is very strange and different - It is similar to the Seeley frame, I did not know what the frame could do until I changed it's geometry. I was lucky I had some judgement which told me what the effects might be.
I wonder how many guys who have built 920cc motors have tried using different gearboxes behind them. A gearbox is an expensive item, and the effects are theoretically elusive.
 
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acotrel said:
Racing my Seeley 850 was excellent - I actually gained a sense of achievement. My only regret was that during my previous marriage, I was extremely stressed and had very stressful jobs. So after the late 1970s until to about 2002, I did not race. I still built race bikes, and my friends still raced. I never believed in the Commando engine, until I mostly changed the rest of the bike and worked around it. I am surprised it is so good. Gearing it to get it going is very strange and different - It is similar to the Seeley frame, I did not know what the frame could do until I changed it's geometry. I was lucky I had some judgement which told me what the effects might be.
I wonder how many guys who have built 920cc motors have tried using different gearboxes behind them. A gearbox is an expensive item, and the effects are theoretically elusive.
Click to expand...
The gearbox you say....
Critical to performance?
Do tell....
 
concours said:
The gearbox you say....
Critical to performance?
Do tell....
Click to expand...
When you build a race bike, the most important things are the front brake, the frame and the gearbox. Most motors can be made to go quick enough. Currently in Australian Period 3 historic racing, a popular bike is a Suzuki XR 69 replica. Most these days use Katana engines. The XR69 which Graeme Crosby raced back in the 1970s was a two valve GS1000 engine with a close ratio gearbox and race cams. The Katana engines have road gearboxes and road cams, but they are bigger, 4 valve and deliver more torque. The GSXR750L has a close ratio gearbox. A guy I was talking to, had a car with a Suzuki Bandit engine - he tried the close ratio gear box. It was better but it blew up. Cars are heavier. The Bandit motor is 1100cc ?
There are many road bikes which would make good racers, but do not have an appropriate gear box. You cannot get them going properly without it. With my Seeley 850, it was the major stumbling block. The gearing needs to be right everywhere.
 
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The only thing which stops a Commando 850 motor from performing well enough for racing, is the crank balance factor. With a higher balance factor and careful tuning, my 850 motor is quite quick enough. But it needs the gearbox and the frame.
 
With GSXR Suxukis, I think it is possible to buy the race gearbox. But race cams might be difficult. I have only ever raced what I could afford.
 
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