Street legal Norton Manx? Has anyone done it?

Fast Eddie said:
Well yeah, I kinda got that!
But is it the same for a daytime only bike?
Just seems kinda strange that we can ‘self declare’ a bike as roadworthy with no lights etc!

Or does raking the lights off constitute significant enough modification to make it require an MOT ??
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You are required to keep your bike legal in terms of the Road Traffic Act Construction & Use Regs. The so-called “daytime MoT is just an MoT with an advisory note saying it’s not for use in darkness (or something like that, I’ve never seen one).

So far as I have seen and can recollect, your bike can be disqualified from free tax and MoT exemption, by major modifications. Don’t take my word as law, but I don’t call removal of ancillaries like lights a major modification.

https://www.gov.uk/historic-vehicles

“You do not need to get an MOT if:

  • the vehicle was built or first registered more than 40 years ago
  • no ‘substantial changes’ have been made to the vehicle in the last 30 years, for example replacing the chassis, body, axles or engine to change the way the vehicle works
If you’re not sure if there have been any substantial changes you can:


There is a list of modifications somewhere. I bet the VMCC and the owners’ clubs are well up in it.
 
Yes, I was aware the change of vehicle description (taxation, or more accurately: exemption from, class) had to be requested, but I'm sure there was another 'tick box' somewhere along the line for the MOT exemption too...
 
"he’d spin the back wheel by hand to start it up."
I regularly started my Manx this way in the workshop. I put the ease down to considerable valve overlap. Jam a pencil in the twistgrip to give a small throttle opening, and let her rip.
A four step push start would probably work, I always used six, and by four steps I would hear the opposition making plonking sounds behind me. I'd ignore this and at six I'd drop the clutch and get aboard side saddle. It never failed to start. There was no power to speak of below 5,000 so I'd hold the throttle full open and control the revs with the clutch, keeping the needle on 8,000. Front wheel in the air, and when it started to come down get the leg over and into second gear.

A well-known member of an officially frowned on motorcycle club here in New South Wales rode a Manx on the road in the early 1970s. The story is that he would stick a handkerchief in the carburettor bellmouth to keep the rain out when parked, and one night he came out of the pub and forgot to remove the handkerchief before he started it. Had to lift the head to get his handkerchief back.
 
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In Australia, in the 1960s, almost anything could be registered. Steve Oszko had a long stroke 500cc as a road bike. He rode it from Benalla to Melbourne in pouring rain. He had a choice - ride it slow and get drenched, or ride it fast and get drenched - but get home quicker. Just after the own of Yea, there is a series of moderately tight corners. He was up around 100 MPH as he approached one of them, and there was a sheep trotting across the road. He was lucky - if the sheep had hesitated - they were both dead. He raced the long stroke Manx at Bathurst, the year the short-stroke motors arrived, and it was not quick enough. It has been restored into a classic race bike. Another friend had the pleasure of riding a CLubmans DBD34 BSA from Melbourne to Phillip Island - he also was not very happy. A race bike is not a road bike. If I ride my Seeley 850 on a circuit - the first thing I have to contend with is the pain in my legs. After 5 laps - the pain has gone and I am usually up to about 90% of race speed. Racing is a totally different experience to riding on public roads. On a race circuit, the speeds are higher but usually over shorter distances. One of my tried riding my short stroke Triton near a town called Carboor - there is a big sweeping bend there - he scared himself shitless. On the IOM a 500cc Short Stroke Manx is capable of about 140 MPH. Depending on where the bike is ridden, my 500cc Triton was faster - on various race circuits we raise and lower the gearing.
The main problem with the DBD34 BSA is the RRT2 gear box. The bike is hopeless at speeds under 40 MPH. One of the joys in riding a race bike is when it leaps into action - I love that feeling. It really appeals to my sense of humour.
 
In1973, I was offered a 1961 model 500cc Manx for $1300. I did not buy it because I could not do it justice. By the time it returned to New Zealand, it was $50,000. When you race one of those bikes, you deplete it. If you have one, find a Landsborough Series and race it. Would you turn a genuine Type35C Bugatti into a road car ? - Donald Trump might. The word 'value' does not necessarily mean dollars.
 
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