Seat knob trivia...

Bob Z. · May 12, 2015

Cleaning up some old parts I noticed two different patterns in the seat knob finishing - coin edged and cross hatch knurled.

The roll pin was a hassle to knock out because the end of the special shock mount bolt would deform it out of line a bit.
The roll pin (or substitute a piece of coat hanger wire) would actually marginally stop the knob from unscrewing all the way and losing.
But I hear tales of losing these on the road.

I notice everything Norton is available new these days and in better materials.
Why have I kept these so long?

Rohan · May 12, 2015

Bob Z. said:
Why have I kept these so long?

They look to be in good condition, compared to some. !
Although a little rusty in the washer dept.

I had one that was a bear to remove, the pin had moved inward (?), and it took brute force to remove.
I still have it too, although not now as photogenic as those...

You never know when these things may come in handy.

gjr · May 12, 2015

Keep doing what you are doing. If you clean your shop you will never find anything again. And don't throw anything away. You will need it next month, but won't remember if a)you tossed it or b)stored it somewhere. Hours of wasted time later you will have to order another one no matter if a) or b) are true.

I think that I have some of both type of knob and figured one was aftermarket.

Greg

Torontonian · May 12, 2015

I have those knobs too ,the biggest problem with knobs over the years for me has been the internal threads a'strippin' on ya. They are aluminum and don't tolerate over-tightening , and of course cross -threading ,which usually happens on a lonely highway at night in the rain after pulling the seat to see why the battery went Kaput. :roll:

aceaceca · May 12, 2015

I lost a knob in a busy intersection. It took me a week or so of back tracking to eventually find it. It had been run over numerous times and was pretyy buggered up. My friend put it in his lathe and cleaned it up like new. It is still on my bike. I have never had a Norton that had the pins in the knobs.

ewgoforth · May 12, 2015

Torontonian said:
I have those knobs too ,the biggest problem with knobs over the years for me has been the internal threads a'strippin' on ya. They are aluminum and don't tolerate over-tightening , and of course cross -threading ,which usually happens on a lonely highway at night in the rain after pulling the seat to see why the battery went Kaput. :roll:

One of mine stripped out and do I used a drill and dremel to create a recess so that I could press in the correct size nut (5/16x24?) using a vice as a redneck engineered thread repair.

I lost a couple when I first got my bike so slightly drilled out the holes that the roll pins go into and went up one size on the roll pins, so they won't fall off any more if I don't tighten them correctly.

o0norton0o · May 12, 2015

Many years ago I had 2 different sized seat knobs on my bike. I went to a friends house, who hoarded and also sold norton parts, and he had a mismatched pair also. He wanted the smaller seat knob and convinced me to trade so we would both have a matching pair of the same size seat knobs...

I always thought the smaller ones looked better on the bike, but it was probably better that I had a matching pair. I could tell my friend wanted the small ones. Knowing him, I concluded that they were probably more rare and more valuable to have.

Hobot · May 12, 2015

d/t using my seat nuts to hole luggage rack struts on which both leave less alu threads in engaged also require tighter than normal to stay on so I just remove threads ahead of time and crudely pound a real nut in with some JBW Eventaully even the nuts fatque the Alu surround so just nuts left till eventually buying another set of nice lookers. I had some that were wider thinner discs with coin edge and thicker smaller disc with the x-hatch. Good item to put crop circle designs in.

B.Rad · May 12, 2015

gjr said:
Keep doing what you are doing. If you clean your shop you will never find anything again. And don't throw anything away. You will need it next month, but won't remember if a)you tossed it or b)stored it somewhere. Hours of wasted time later you will have to order another one no matter if a) or b) are true.

I think that I have some of both type of knob and figured one was aftermarket.

Greg

gidday all.
Greg, I think you are spot on. the old genuine ones have only the straight knurl . why I say this is all the diamond ones I have seen have not had good quality knurling.

Torontonian said:
I have those knobs too ,the biggest problem with knobs over the years for me has been the internal threads a'strippin' on ya. They are aluminum and don't tolerate over-tightening , and of course cross -threading ,which usually happens on a lonely highway at night in the rain after pulling the seat to see why the battery went Kaput. :roll:

same with me. not loosening but stripping. A helicoil fixed that. can do them up pretty tight now. never come loose cause the bikes is pretty smooth.

if you bought new Andover knobs now, what would you get, straight or diamond pattern?.
best wishes bradley

B+Bogus · May 13, 2015

Early bikes have diamond knurling and later ones are straight cut - I have absolutely no idea when the changeover occurred.

The latest pattern ones are knurled and are actually pretty nice, although they're a fair bit thicker than the originals (and better quality knurling!)
I put roll pins in, then wish I hadn't...

Frankie17 · May 13, 2015

Yes those roll pins are areal pain to get out

why does no one supply knobs with Allen grub screws instead of roll pins

Anonymous · May 13, 2015

Frankie17 said:
Yes those roll pins are areal pain to get out

why does no one supply knobs with Allen grub screws instead of roll pins

Hi Franki17.
What a great idea!
I am waiting for some parts to arrive so will kill more time doing just that.
My knobs are the cross hatch pattern ('72 commando) but the story is that they were replaced before I got my bike in '81.
Ta.

Danno · May 13, 2015

Bob Z. said:
Cleaning up some old parts I noticed two different patterns in the seat knob finishing - coin edged and cross hatch knurled.

The roll pin was a hassle to knock out because the end of the special shock mount bolt would deform it out of line a bit.
The roll pin (or substitute a piece of coat hanger wire) would actually marginally stop the knob from unscrewing all the way and losing.
But I hear tales of losing these on the road.

I notice everything Norton is available new these days and in better materials.
Why have I kept these so long?

If you want to unburden yourself of the coin-edged one, I'm looking....

DogT · May 13, 2015

The roll pins don't do anything for mine. The shock bolts must be worn down too much at the end. I've never lost one though.

jaydee75 · May 13, 2015

FWIW my original 75 has the straight knurl, coin edge, with roll pin and the left one has never been loosened. (Hinged seat).
Jaydee

Hobot · May 13, 2015

Roll pins are a bad Norton joke on us which gets me thinking a new design might work out longer term, replace the stupid contoured shock-seat bolt with a fully threaded SS version so a cap nut drilled/tapped all the way through with a SS or alloy dome nut JBW on end could be secured easy each every time and not loose it by not checking often. All the clamp force would be squeezing dome into the cap and best wishes shearing even this small area JBW apart on only sand papered textured surfaces.

Peter R · May 13, 2015

Torontonian said:
I have those knobs too ,the biggest problem with knobs over the years for me has been the internal threads a'strippin' on ya. They are aluminum and don't tolerate over-tightening , and of course cross -threading

Had the same issue with the seatknobs on my bike, I drilled the screwthread out, and made a steel inserts , the repair already lasts for years.

Seat knob trivia...

Bob Z.

Rohan

gjr

Torontonian

aceaceca

ewgoforth

o0norton0o

Hobot

B.Rad

B+Bogus

Frankie17

Anonymous

Guest

Danno

DogT

jaydee75

Hobot

Peter R

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