Triumph Thruxton Fairing fitted to Norton 961 - I want one (a lot)!

Looking good Glen, what's you polishing procedure, various grades of paper and then hand polished or do you buff it using a bench mounted wheel? Have you sourced a suitable Monza cap? Looking forward to seeing the finished item!
 
Hi Stephen

Yes, I've got the cap, it looks to be good quality. I made a filler neck and have welded that in.
I start the metal finishing by hand sanding with 100 grit and work up to 400 grit.
After Wheeling but before sanding the metal looks and feels very smooth. As soon as the sandpaper hits the surface hundreds of tiny Wheeling ridges show up. It took a few hours of hand sanding to remove all of that.
Next I start in with buffing wheels on an electric hand held polisher.
I have a special type of non wax based buffing compound that must be kept stored in a deep freeze. It starts at 100 grit and goes up to 300 grit. Unlike the wax based stuff, this stuff really cuts!
The 100 grit removes all of the sanding scratches, but it's necessary to slowly work up to the 300 grit in order to obtain a nice finished polish.
After the 300 grit compound I switch to conventional wax based compounds , medium, then fine then finish with jewelers rouge. All done with hand held electric polisher. I find that stationary buffing setups tend to grab the work and fling it across the room!
This tendency is a bit less somehow with the handheld.
Maybe it's easier to see the angle of attack and avoid using the wrong one?

Glen
 
Stephen_Spencer said:
Noted about the vibes Eddie.

I’m guessing this Indian is not for you then?!

View attachment 20422
Click to expand...
Maybe 20 to 30 years ago I liked that hippie/native american classic look. I really don't like the studs, metal work or fringes anymore. I don't even care for the retro fenders much either. That said, if the bags were free of that crap, I'd like them. THAT said, I don't like the idea of backing 950 pounds out of my garage for a 75 mile beach run, Beach Boys blasting annna big ole Murican flag flying.
 
worntorn said:
Hi Stephen

Yes, I've got the cap, it looks to be good quality. I made a filler neck and have welded that in.
I start the metal finishing by hand sanding with 100 grit and work up to 400 grit.
After Wheeling but before sanding the metal looks and feels very smooth. As soon as the sandpaper hits the surface hundreds of tiny Wheeling ridges show up. It took a few hours of hand sanding to remove all of that.
Next I start in with buffing wheels on an electric hand held polisher.
I have a special type of non wax based buffing compound that must be kept stored in a deep freeze. It starts at 100 grit and goes up to 300 grit. Unlike the wax based stuff, this stuff really cuts!
The 100 grit removes all of the sanding scratches, but it's necessary to slowly work up to the 300 grit in order to obtain a nice finished polish.
After the 300 grit compound I switch to conventional wax based compounds , medium, then fine then finish with jewelers rouge. All done with hand held electric polisher. I find that stationary buffing setups tend to grab the work and fling it across the room!
This tendency is a bit less somehow with the handheld.
Maybe it's easier to see the angle of attack and avoid using the wrong one?

Glen
Click to expand...
Geez, that‘s a bit more complex than I had expected Glen. A lot of work there but clearly a labour of love - made more so I expect when you’ve manufactured the tank yourself. I often think about biting the bullet and polishing the engine cases on my CR, or getting them done professionally. Expect it would be ‘making a rod for your own back’ though, with the constant cleaning required! The highly polished look with the Norton logo picked out in black would look very cool.

Look forward to seeing your tank compleyed and fitted to the bike.
 
A few more pictures of the Sergio fairing from the man himself, showing mounting points and custom made and modified bracketry. Sergio uses the bike as a daily ride and as yet, no cracking is present. Looks to be pretty well made. Apparently provides no noticeable protection from the wind. Looks ‘the real deal’ to me though!

Not sure how complex the fairing makes tank removal. As we know that is a semi-regular requirement.
5BEEC030-D3A1-4096-89C3-AE41E03CEE4E.jpeg
7984BEA0-2AF5-4692-8508-E3088F9048F8.jpeg
EC5B6FC1-F001-45B6-B782-0E2ADF57A037.jpeg
C9EC596E-CD5C-460B-8992-E6158F544E3F.jpeg
09ED54EA-BC36-4F58-A8A7-EC999EE12144.jpeg
7D3C5E23-D062-491F-992D-B22AACF9F949.jpeg
 
Here it is ready for the first scratch.
Made quite a mess of the shop.
Haven't tried the fairing fit yet.
That might create the first scratch!
 
worntorn said:
Here it is ready for the first scratch.
Made quite a mess of the shop.
Haven't tried the fairing fit yet.
That might create the first scratch!
Click to expand...

Damn, that tank looks fantastic.
Now if it were only possible to laser etch the Norton logo on the side.
Great work.
 
Thanks.
Not sure what I'll do for the Norton Logo.
Most likely it will get standard original Norton Commando Vinyl gold tank decals and perhaps a gold pin striping.
I might tape off the decals and apply protective clear coat just over the decal plus 1/16" border.
 
Looks awesome Glen. I think your decal idea would look great. Tho personally I’d probably just go for black.
 
Last edited:
Thanks Nigel.
It was a toss up between black and gold tank decal then I dug out the special side panel 920 decals that Roger supplied. They are gold.
I've been waiting a long time to use them! So long that I had forgotten the colour.
The Gold looks good with competition green.
Re Sergio's observation on the ineffective nature of the fairing. I thought the same after installation.
On the first long tour I realized the fairing was helping by keeping the middle 1/3 of the body in quiet air.
There is still the same wind blast hitting shoulders and above, but this is a necessary evil on the Thruxton. You are tipped forward a bit, so there is weight on the wrists when riding at low speeds. With the riser clip ons, it's not as much as with low clip ons but it's there and it's tiring at low speed. I use the stomach muscles to lift the weight. It's a relief to get back up to speed and feel the windlift pick up that weight. Then you can ride for hours and hundreds of miles. The net effect of the forward tip and wind lift is to reduce weight on the spine vs a situp bike like my Commando, the Vincent or my friends BMW rt1200 with its soft seat and giant powered windshield.
I'm good for a lot more miles on the Triumph than he is on the BMW or I am on my sit up bikes. Bikes that are really comfortable on a short run sometimes bring agony on the long rides.
 
Last edited:
The shape of the fairing will definitely reduce wind-blast on the rider's upper body at speed.
Won't do much for speeds below 50mph or so.
But above 70 there will be a very noticeable difference, and of course is cool.
The top section just as on a sportbike, splits the air flow to the left and right and minimizes how much actually goes over the rider's head.
As you stated, the cool clip-on's become a bitch at low speeds.
Clip-ons + limited steering lock = a real bitch around town.

That's the price you pay to be cool.
 
I'm only semi cool as I left the old guy poser riser clip ons in placewith the fairing. They just clear the top of the cutout.
The entire cool-kid fairing kit comes with low clip ons. Those are safely in a drawer somewhere ☺️
Another thought on windblast- a good indication of the effect is in the Thruxton fairing giving a consistent reduction in 1/4 mile times and speed increases.

Glen
 
worntorn said:
Another thought on windblast- a good indication of the effect is in the Thruxton fairing giving a consistent reduction in 1/4 mile times and speed increases.
Click to expand...
Aero drag reduction - yeah for sure.
Also:
1. The rider leaning forward instead of siting bolt upright reduces the bike's overall cross-sectional area - reduced aero drag.
2. Rider getting "under the bubble" and tucked in, further increases air flow efficiency over the rider, reducing overall drag.

Because of the drag reduction if you practice throttle discipline, the fairing will return better mpg numbers too.

A lot to recommend fairings, if your back, wrists, shoulders, etc. can pay the price.
 
worntorn said:
Thanks Nigel.
It was a toss up between black and gold tank decal then I dug out the special side panel 920 decals that Roger supplied. They are gold.
I've been waiting a long time to use them! So long that I had forgotten the colour.
The Gold looks good with competition green.
Re Sergio's observation on the ineffective nature of the fairing. I thought the same after installation.
On the first long tour I realized the fairing was helping by keeping the middle 1/3 of the body in quiet air.
There is still the same wind blast hitting shoulders and above, but this is a necessary evil on the Thruxton. You are tipped forward a bit, so there is weight on the wrists when riding at low speeds. With the riser clip ons, it's not as much as with low clip ons but it's there and it's tiring at low speed. I use the stomach muscles to lift the weight. It's a relief to get back up to speed and feel the windlift pick up that weight. Then you can ride for hours and hundreds of miles. The net effect of the forward tip and wind lift is to reduce weight on the spine vs a situp bike like my Commando, the Vincent or my friends BMW rt1200 with its soft seat and giant powered windshield.
I'm good for a lot more miles on the Triumph than he is on the BMW or I am on my sit up bikes. Bikes that are really comfortable on a short run sometimes bring agony on the long rides.
Click to expand...
There is no doubt in my mind that the Thrux fairing will take a lot of wind away from the rider. Even small fork mounted screens can be surprisingly effective wind deflectors. The small unobtrusive thing on my HD is a case in point. Its often tempting to think how ineffective such things are, until you take them off!

I’ve long agreed Glen that there’s more to comfort than and upright riding position and a soft seat! Even a soft seat gets painful after a while unless it’s seriously well thought out. Sounds like you’ve worked out what works out for you!

The gold decals on polished alloy will look subtle, yet trick. I don’t recall hearing about the green before, what’s gonna be green exactly? And what kinda green?
 
The Thruxton fairing and tail cowl. In 2016 only available on the standard Thruxton 1200, or I would have ordered my Thruxton R in that colour.
They now offer it on the R. I bought a left over Competition Green fairing kit from a Triumph dealer clearing out some items eBay. A customer had ordered the fairing in. They put a 50% deposit on it then did not go through with the purchase when the fairing arrived. The Dealership just wanted the other 50%.
The fairing kits are about $1250 CDn so it was a good deal.
I found a new Thruxton R seat and tail piece on eBay, can't recall the story there, but it was at a similar savings.

I've always quite liked British Racing Green, although some versions are a bit drab.
The Triumph Competition Green is British Racing Green meets California's Freddy Flypogger. It's a deep green metallic similar to the colour of Jerry Doe's lovely Mk3. One of my favourite colours, along with the blue on your Norton, which is similar to my Super Rocket?
 
Gotcha. I think I was getting confused and was thinking you’re making an alloy fairing!

That Triumph green is class. What are you going to do about side panels? Roadster, interstate, Worntorn specials ?

I like the blue on my Norton although I didn’t paint it. It’s the only thing I haven’t done! It is a Ford colour. My interstate set up is going to be different though, Mercedes Cavansite Blue, a very deep, dark, mildly metallic blue. It looks great in my minds eye...but proof of the pudding will be in the eating...!
 
worntorn said:
The Thruxton fairing and tail cowl. In 2016 only available on the standard Thruxton 1200, or I would have ordered my Thruxton R in that colour.
They now offer it on the R. I bought a left over Competition Green fairing kit from a Triumph dealer clearing out some items eBay. A customer had ordered the fairing in. They put a 50% deposit on it then did not go through with the purchase when the fairing arrived. The Dealership just wanted the other 50%.
The fairing kits are about $1250 CDn so it was a good deal.
I found a new Thruxton R seat and tail piece on eBay, can't recall the story there, but it was at a similar savings.

I've always quite liked British Racing Green, although some versions are a bit drab.
The Triumph Competition Green is British Racing Green meets California's Freddy Flypogger. It's a deep green metallic similar to the colour of Jerry Doe's lovely Mk3. One of my favourite colours, along with the blue on your Norton, which is similar to my Super Rocket?
Click to expand...
I really like the Thiaumph Thruxton 1200 in Competition Green.
The metallic paint is really set off by the sunlight.
That alloy tank would really be an eye catcher in that color.
Especially, if the rear indents were maybe say 3 inches or so further forward for dudes with long legs.
Just saying...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top