Greetings all! I had been wanting a Norton for several years, but lately the bug bit me bad and when one surfaced locally, I had to go for it. This is hardcore Harley country and these are a rarity to say the least in these parts, and I like that. Who wants what everyone else has, anyway? I'm tired of looking at the same old Harleys.
It's a '73 Roadster 750, black, nice paint, top end rebuilt, Boyer ignition, brightwork all looks nice. To me, it's beautiful. I'm gonna take good care of her. The bike is sound, the more I go over her, the more I see that. And I know it runs. That's the good.
The bad? For one, I'm far from proficient in mechanical maintenance, particularly the electrical department. That's where I have my problems. The Amals are a bit temperamental for me, even though they were resleeved several years ago, they still have given me fits. I installed a VM34 Mik and all the other gear, because at my skill level, I think it's best. We'll see how that works out, but not until I've settled this electrical situation.
I've had to replace the brake light switch, but the front brake light is not illuminating.
The fellow I bought it from didn't need a horn where he was and I do, so I've installed that, but not so sure it's right yet. The battery, even though it shows it's a year old, it can't keep a charge for long, so I don't get a lot of tries at getting the horn to function. I hope it works once I've fully charged it again to see if my wiring skills are any good. I used the purple/black lead off a wiring bundle with bullet connectors that wasn't serving any purpose (for the Interpol perhaps?). I used that wire because it was the only one of two that dived towards the unused bullet connectors from the wiring harness that was connected to what I consider to be the horn button on the left handlebar. I connected the lead on the horn to it, grounded it and pressed the button and it worked. Now, I hope the battery charge is the problem, because after wiring the whole thing up, it's no longer working. That's another problem, maybe.
I'm planning on getting a new battery to rule out a weak battery problem. It loses charge much too fast, in my opinion. My concern is that something is drawing power off the battery. I just can't believe it loses charge so quickly.
Also, the ignition switch was worn and one of the leads needed to be repaired. I fixed and replaced all that. Another problem: The flasher works in the 4th position on the switch, but then the headlight won't come on. If I put the switch in say, position 3, then the headlight comes on, but the direction lights stay solid, no flash. I've wired the ignition switch as Old Britt's has illustrated. I've had this issue on both ignition switches, just in different switch positions. So that has me mystified.
In short, I can sometimes picture mechanically what is happening with the bike, but when dealing with the electrical parts, I am lost after reading a sentence or three by the folks on this forum, as well as most other sites on the subject. Your familiarity with the subject is astonishing. It is to me, anyways.
I don't want to put the tank on and fire the bike up again until I know for certain I have all the electrical problems out of the way. Has anyone had similar experiences? I'm sorry this post is so long, but I'm kind of on my own here. I hope to do it all myself. That was the whole point. I just hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew.
It's a '73 Roadster 750, black, nice paint, top end rebuilt, Boyer ignition, brightwork all looks nice. To me, it's beautiful. I'm gonna take good care of her. The bike is sound, the more I go over her, the more I see that. And I know it runs. That's the good.
The bad? For one, I'm far from proficient in mechanical maintenance, particularly the electrical department. That's where I have my problems. The Amals are a bit temperamental for me, even though they were resleeved several years ago, they still have given me fits. I installed a VM34 Mik and all the other gear, because at my skill level, I think it's best. We'll see how that works out, but not until I've settled this electrical situation.
I've had to replace the brake light switch, but the front brake light is not illuminating.
The fellow I bought it from didn't need a horn where he was and I do, so I've installed that, but not so sure it's right yet. The battery, even though it shows it's a year old, it can't keep a charge for long, so I don't get a lot of tries at getting the horn to function. I hope it works once I've fully charged it again to see if my wiring skills are any good. I used the purple/black lead off a wiring bundle with bullet connectors that wasn't serving any purpose (for the Interpol perhaps?). I used that wire because it was the only one of two that dived towards the unused bullet connectors from the wiring harness that was connected to what I consider to be the horn button on the left handlebar. I connected the lead on the horn to it, grounded it and pressed the button and it worked. Now, I hope the battery charge is the problem, because after wiring the whole thing up, it's no longer working. That's another problem, maybe.
I'm planning on getting a new battery to rule out a weak battery problem. It loses charge much too fast, in my opinion. My concern is that something is drawing power off the battery. I just can't believe it loses charge so quickly.
Also, the ignition switch was worn and one of the leads needed to be repaired. I fixed and replaced all that. Another problem: The flasher works in the 4th position on the switch, but then the headlight won't come on. If I put the switch in say, position 3, then the headlight comes on, but the direction lights stay solid, no flash. I've wired the ignition switch as Old Britt's has illustrated. I've had this issue on both ignition switches, just in different switch positions. So that has me mystified.
In short, I can sometimes picture mechanically what is happening with the bike, but when dealing with the electrical parts, I am lost after reading a sentence or three by the folks on this forum, as well as most other sites on the subject. Your familiarity with the subject is astonishing. It is to me, anyways.
I don't want to put the tank on and fire the bike up again until I know for certain I have all the electrical problems out of the way. Has anyone had similar experiences? I'm sorry this post is so long, but I'm kind of on my own here. I hope to do it all myself. That was the whole point. I just hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew.
