Switch Tease

Okay, I have been going crazy trying to figure out what to do about switch gear, master cylinder, brakes, etc.

I've read all the stuff here and in other forums and it just left me wondering what to do. You need a smaller master cylinder. The Lucas switches are crap. The aftermarket stuff isn't much better. You can't upgrade your caliper and disk because you have an MKIII and they put the brakes on the wrong side in 75...and on and on. I thought about aftermarket MC, but then what do you do about switch gear? And the throttle control. It kept seeming like it would end up a cobbled up mess.

So I am sitting in the shop going through my boxes of parts for other bikes and everything is for 1" bars...all my other bikes have 1" bars too. I'm thinking, that's the problem. The choices for 7/8" bars are just plain limited.

So why not change to 1" bars?

When you look at the stock bar mounts...no way!

So I talked to Matt at Colorado Norton Works and he said it would cost a fortune to do a 1" bar modification because the machining program would need to be changed. So I asked him if I could use "clip on" trees and put stand offs on them...nope. Matt tried to help me but it just couldn't be done.

I also talked to some companies that make trees for Triumphs but there were other issues...rake and angles and such.

I contacted Kenny at NYC Norton and he had the same responses as Matt at first, but then he came back and told me he could bore the 7/8" clamps to 1".

Done!

I don't have the yokes (triple trees) yet but they will look something like this.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22794316@N03/9806448854/

So then I set out to figure out how to make the whole set-up look good and answer the smaller master cylinder problem.

I bought controls from a 2011 Bonneville t100 and 1" Sport Bars for a Bonniville which are dimensionally similar to the Norton. I still have parts that are not here yet but the basic set-up looks like this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22794316@N03/9806453954/

The Bonneville master is 11mm which should solve the problem with the "big" master on the Norton and allow me to add updated caliper and disk later.

I think this switch gear, master will look awesome...I added the chrome reservoir cover:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22794316@N03/9806518833/

Having proper switches is important....here's the left side. Waiting for clutch perch and grip.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22794316@N03/9806441935/

I could find nothing on upgrading to 1" bars and when Matt and Kenny see this they may see a new market opportunity I think the reason that this hasn't been done before is the cost associated with the components, but I intended to do billet yokes all along so that expense would have been there either way.

I now have all the parts on order to put my new front end together...I can't wait to see how it turns out.

I forgot that there are some issues with updated switch gear.

Most can be overcome.

The Bonneville throttle control has two cables that work in opposite directions. For my requirement I only needed one cable so I took the extra cable off and found a nice hole plug at the hardware store:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22794316@N03/9807138954/

Fitting the clutch cable will also require a slight mod but the Bonneville has the old style cable adjuster which makes it look like it belongs.

There's not going to be much metal left in the handlebar clamps once they are bored to 1" ??

Rohan said:

There's not going to be much metal left in the handlebar clamps once they are bored to 1" ??

Click to expand...

Look at the picture of the clamps I posted. There is plenty of metal there.

I musta missed that bit.
What forks are you putting in these ?

Rohan said:

I musta missed that bit.
What forks are you putting in these ?

Click to expand...

Standard forks with Landsdowne dampers. The clamps should be fine. only taking .062" per side on diameter. I'll post some pictures once I get them together.

I like the looks of your switches, but there are other options using a 7/8ths bar and not having to machine the clamps (or use alloy triple trees). The Mk3 forks can be rotated 180 degrees to allow the use of one of the Brembo brake kits. You can use a Brembo, Nissin, or Magura master and a variety of Japanese switches. I like the Ducati right hand switch, it's small and has a kill switch and start button. The left side can be a K&S or Ducati to handle all the other needs. A standard Amal (or Barnett) throttle and a matching Magura clutch handle and mount bored out to take the Norton clutch cable barrel completes the fit. It has less of the "custom" look, but is completely functional and looks at lease as good as most late model bikes.

Here's how I did it on my Mk3 café racer. It uses Tommaselli adjustable clip-ons, but it will all fit a standard 7/8ths bar.
]

I thought 1" bars were for farm implements? er, ah, I meant HARLEYS?

Ron L said:

The Mk3 forks can be rotated 180 degrees to allow the use of one of the Brembo brake kits.

Click to expand...

I looked at this...so does the slider casting mounts end up in the right place? I thought it would end up upside down.

They end up like this.....



The bearing retainer in the front hub is retained by a circlip rather than a threaded retainer on a Mk3, so it doesn't care which direction it is mounted.

concours said:

I thought 1" bars were for farm implements? er, ah, I meant HARLEYS?

Click to expand...

Could be, but all the other manufacturers use 1" bars for most of their bikes too. My Kawasaki and Hondas all have 1" bars.

The switch gear I am using on the Norton is from a Triumph not a Harley...

Ron L said:

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Click to expand...

Ron,

I have to say that this picture shows exactly what I was talking about with the stack up on the right side. Separate throttle, switch gear and master cylinder. This is what I didn't want to do. On your bike it works because it's more of a cafe bike, but for a Roadster, I just felt that the modular switch gear looks better.

Different strokes, different folks.
That's what I like about a Commando
Those Triumph bars do look clean.