wakeup said:Don't expect good handling from a G15/N15. I saw Bill Ivy and, I think Rex Butcher riding G15CSRs at the one 500mile Production race that was run at Castle Combe. ... and I especially remember Ivy standing up wrestling this thing. The second bike was always a bit slower and only seemed bad, rather than terrifying, probably the rider deciding that it was important to finish! Truly terrifying, and these were "works" bikes. .... I had a ride on a Matchless P11, and at 70mph the ends of the handlebars were describing a 2" diameter circle, most uncomfortable.
wakeup
frankdamp said:...I got that job and put about 1500 miles on it, keeping below 70 mph for the first 500, then below 80 for the remainder. It was a scary ride, and I'm glad I went on the motorway with it. It felt odd, right from 10 mph, with a slight side-to-side weaving motion that you couldn't correct with steering inputs. As the speed went up, the amplitude of the weave got bigger. At 80 mph, it was weaving about 70% of the freeway lane width. The wavelength of the weave stayed about the same, around 500 yards.
... We messed about changing fork oil, checking frame alignment changing tire types from dirt tires to street tires, but nothing helped. We even put a different set of front forks on it, to no avail.
TBolt said:... Are the problems confined to the hybrids? I am looking at my workshop manual, and the only difference mechanically I can see between the 750 Atlas and the G15 is the swing arm?
Corona850 said:I think that the Atlas used the Featherbed frame and the P11/N15/G15 used the Matchless frame, which is why they're called hybrids. Someone who knows more can elaborate, I'm sure.
dave M said:I'm not expecting to win any races on my G15, just hoping to have a bit of fun tooling around on a nice looking old bike.
ludwig said:And how many miles have you done on a N15 ? .
None, my observation was based almost entirely on seeing a well known hard and very fast rider (Bill Ivy) wrestling a G15CSR around a long fast corner. Other bikes, even Triumphs, let alone featherbed Nortons were faster and a whole lot smoother. Bill Ivys team mate on the second works bike was substantially slower than other "top " bike/riders and even the second bike looked uncomfortable. This was at a 500 mile production bike race where the rules didn't allow too many significant changes.
The G15CSRs caused enough of an impression that from memory the works team that was running didn't enter too many other races.
Aithough they are not the same I think, I had a fairly long (200+ miles in one go) ride on a P11 and was not positively impressed by anything other than its acceleration.
cheers
wakeup