Nortons Racing on left coast.

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utahnorton

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Several of us from the Access Norton here at very windy Willow Springs, CA. Thanks to Ken Canaga for letting me borrow his Maney header pipes. Kenny Cummins here racing multiple classes along with his posse from NYC Norton. Another buddy on Commando got first in BEARS yesterday. I ended up in 2nd in Formula 750 yesterday.
Well....time to go racing again then up to Sonoma for the next round. Nortons and Commandos in general very well represented here in AHRMA racing! :D

Tom Kullen
AHRMA 44X
http://www.smithsgaugesusa.com
 
Hi Tom

Well done! Enjoy your racing. I too have benefitted from Kens kindness & hope to have my 750 out again by the end of the season.
Any photos? Love to see those bikes & there riders both on & off the track.

Chris
 
Yikes....just got in from first of two practices today with 45 mph headwinds! Tailwind coming down off the "Omega" then catching crosswinds on high speed right on full fairing Commando and then into headwinds down straight. :shock: Couldn't even set up Smiths display as canopy as it would end up in next county! No wifi at track and hunt and peck on sketchy cell phone service. Will check some times when I get a chance.

Cheers,

Tom Kullen
AHRMA 44x
http://www.smithsgaugesusa.com
 
All those issues make the racing all the more interesting.

Hope everyone made it back to the pits, regardless of the outcome!

Tom, once again, thanx for (part of) the time of my life, 2008 AHRMA season. Your place (Miller MP) is as "first class" as it gets.
 
jseng1 said:
What lap times are the best Nortons turning at Willow nowdays?

Jim
Click to expand...

Good question, Jim. Kenny Cummings would probably be the best guy to answer that, but not from this weekend's results. He was looking good on his Seeley, but the winds were really bad all three days, and nobody was running anywhere near their best lap times. As Tom said, we had 20+ mph winds all day with gusts in the 40s. Nobody even tried putting up canopies! Luckily, the only real rain was at night, although there was a little sprinkle during practice Saturday morning. The weather should be nicer this week at Sonoma (used to be Sears Point, then Infineon, and now Sonoma). I meant to get some pictures of the Norton contingent to post, but I spent most of the time there sitting in the RV with a cup of coffee, watching the action through the windows. The only pictures I took were in our own pits, and no Nortons there, just singles racers.

Ken
 
You could always check MyLaps for 2013 if they retain times from that far back...
 
A thousand curses upon you - where are the videos and photos ? - onboard is essential. I think I will have to go and buy a bundle of lottery tickets.
 
Update to Jim's question. The results are posted on the AHRMA site, and the lap times are at mylaps.com.

Kenny Cummings looks like he was the fastest Norton twin, getting down to 1:40 in the F750 race on Sunday. The F750 winner on Sunday was Scott Jennings, an ex-AMA pro, riding a slick Rob North BSA triple. His best lap time in the race was a 1:37, although he had done a 1:30 in practice.

I think the fastest guy there was probably Jeff Tigert, who ran a 1:29 on his Ducati Panigale.

Ken
 
acotrel said:
A thousand curses upon you - where are the videos and photos ? - onboard is essential. I think I will have to go and buy a bundle of lottery tickets.
Click to expand...

Sorry, Alan. The best I can do is a shot of our pit area, with the three Left Coast Racing singles racers, and the RZ350 of a friend of mine. No Norton content here. Hopefully Kenny Cummings will have some video to post.

I'll try to take some more pictures at Sonoma. The wind at Willow was so miserable that I didn't roam around to take pictures.

Nortons Racing on left coast.


Ken
 
Left Coast Racing's Chief Mechanic sure hangs out with an intense crowd. I plan to follow him out on the salt this year and will catch this sly character for posterity. BTW ken what wheel & tires will you fit to take the speeds on the NOS blast?
 
Just an update on the lap times. Kenny reminded me that 1:30 I mentioned for Jennings was probably on his modern bike, not the BSA. I should have realaized that. There's no way he could have run a 1:30 with the triple. Kenny said the best vintage bike time he knows of at Willow lately was a Big D Triumph with Ryan Ambrose on board that ran 1:36 two years ago.

Ken
 
Ryan is fast; I'm wondering if Jerrod won't be faster with a little more experience. Keith has a good crew.
 
I rode the Commando up there Sunday with some others who peeled off from the SoCal BSA Owners club ride.

Cross winds from the west turned a couple of miles of dead straight Avenue 60 into one of the world's longest left hand sweepers.

Spectating at the Eddie Mulder flat track races was good too.
 
The featherbed below was good for Willow laps in the 1:38 range in the 1980s - this was with a 4 speed.

Nortons Racing on left coast.


The 850 Monoshock could do 1:37 flat (I think there was a 1:36 something on one of my last laps) - also with a 4 speed (late 1980s). The only 5 speed available was a Quaife and I was concerned it would be too fragile. As it was the teeth on my 4 speed gears were wearing on an angle from the shaft flex.

Nortons Racing on left coast.


The fastest twin cylinder competition back then was Tony Guests highly modified Duc twin shock turning 1:36s. I never came anywhere close to beating Tony on his duc and Fred Eiker generally out rode me in 750cc on a Commando although we diced alot and I did beat him a time or two time, he was a great competitor and we rode the wheels off those bikes, getting 1st & 2nd at the AMA Laguna Seca BOTT 750 in 1984.
Nortons Racing on left coast.


My solution for reducing gearshaft flex

Nortons Racing on left coast.


Once at Willow I compensated for the wind but it still blew me to the edge of turn 6, bent both rims on a pothole and sent me over the handlebars. I slid all the way down the hill burning through my leathers is several places, sat up, took off my gloves and watched them blow away.
 
jseng1 said:
The featherbed below was good for Willow laps in the 1:38 range in the 1980s - this was with a 4 speed.

The 850 Monoshock could do 1:37 flat (I think there was a 1:36 something on one of my last laps) - also with a 4 speed. The only 5 speed available was a Quaife and I was concerned it would be too fragile. As it was the teeth on my 4 speed gears were wearing on an angle from the shaft flex.

The fastest twin cylinder competition back then was Tony Guests highly modified Duc twin shock.

My solution for reducing gearshaft flex

Once at Willow I compensated for the wind but it still blew me to the edge of turn 6, bent both rims on a pothole and sent me over the handlebars. I slid all the way down the hill burning through my leathers is several places, sat up, took off my gloves and watched them blow away.
Click to expand...
really interesting Jim thanks for posting. those are respectable lap times, no doubt about it. :)
 
Heres Ken Canagas monoshock with 920 motor, tubless tires and 5 speed. It took 3rd at an AMA BOTT around 1990 with madman Rob Tuluie riding against monoshock aircooled ducs - the last Nort to get on the AMA BOTT podium. Probably turning 1:35 or 1:34s at Willow. Maybe Rob or Ken can clarify. Plans are available for this frame.

Nortons Racing on left coast.
 
I noticed in that video I posted that in the each of the races there were mainly only one type of bike - very little mixing of two strokes, twin cylinder bikes and two strokes. Are the eligibility rules for the race classes on the web somewhere ?
 
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