Super Sportster .

Wow I like the huge beasts and must respect their flat track and drags winning.
Will take a while to read through it thanks some more. Steve'r

Surpriseing no one sees relevance between ' the old heap ' and Norton's Twin . Typical example of Cowboys Vs Establishment

Design Wise, Not sure there future development ideas wouldnt throw it out of kilter . But what a machine . gimme gimme .

Motorwise maybe the Sporster has evolved to near the power / Wt of this sucker . perhaps . . . maybe . . . why not . :?

Yes Matt, I've come to conclusion its sort of like closest family relatives not speaking to each other. I did not go looking for a Commando having never seen one so only had sights on a Sportster hottie, and only stumbled on a Combat accidently while shopping for a use riding mower with last of funds from a life change move on purpose. I've tried an 80 cid HD cafe but it felt like a tractor and vibed too much to stand opened up for long. Actually the low slung 40's frames are dam good road holders and drifters.

Matt Spencer said:

Surpriseing no one sees relevance between ' the old heap ' and Norton's Twin . ?

Click to expand...

Boy how did we miss that? One is a V-twin one is a parallel twin, one has four separate cams the other has one cam, one is in unit with it's gearbox the other is not. The similarities just keep piling up the longer you think about it! Oh, lets not forget they both have two wheels......

Long stroke pushrod motors comes to mind.
But suppose thats too obvious....

beng said:

Matt Spencer said:

Surpriseing no one sees relevance between ' the old heap ' and Norton's Twin . ?

Click to expand...

Boy how did we miss that? One is a V-twin one is a parallel twin, one has four separate cams the other has one cam, one is in unit with it's gearbox the other is not. The similarities just keep piling up the longer you think about it! Oh, lets not forget they both have two wheels......

Click to expand...

I think youll find Im refering to the Dynamic Characteristics ( off the Engine ) . IF you dont put a Single Carb on It .

Two Cylinders , Two Valve per Cyl , Hemishpereical Cambers , Comparable Valve Angle ( not flat ).

Why , its even Got FOUR Cam lobes . . Of intrest is his Output Vs Wt . philosophy , rather than hp / litre,
which could be said to have led us up ( Down ? ) the garden path .Adequate Cooling / Temperatures Stability
is perhaps a noteworthy Feature . ( Finning comparable to P&W / Wright ) Why , with Two PARRALLEL Cylinders
to these specifications , a Norton Might Start to Get Somewhere . Though perhaps its allredy been done ,
Not that anyone would believe it , word of Mouth . And a damn sight tougher than that , too . . .Amost before My Time .
In fact . :lol: :wink:

I just love the denials, but even closer relationship now than in the 70's.

Tripped over these ,







Mike Ross . Sputhe H. D. road racer , from http://www.eurospares.com/graphic2.htm#Vintage British motorcycles good site .

" Mike Ross raced it at the Isle of Man, Bonneville, AFM road races and maybe in AMA Battle of the Twins. (I can’t remember if he did) Vance Breese had the twin of Mike’s bike. "
http://www.landracing.com/forum/index.p ... 09.15;wap2

I remember watching Vance Breese ride his copy of this bike at Riverside back in the day. I was racing my PR then, but we were in different classes, so I got to stand at the wall in turn one and watch him flying by just a few feet away. It was a very impressive bike, and he rode it extremely well. The sound it made blasting through the corner leaned over at full throttle was great. The "look at me! I'm an outlaw!" Harley guys used to hang around his pit area a lot. In contrast, I talked to him at several races, and he was always friendly and willing to discuss the bike's technical details at length.

Ken