Norton as "daily" rider?

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That's a rather serious issue and hardly amusing. Is there a workaround, other than fitting a different switch? Is the CnW switch better?
How is the switch mounted on the 961? I believe installing relays will reduce the problem somewhat.



There are numerous threads on s/a lubrication - Fred Eaton at Old Britts heralds the Mk3 design, while others like yourself seem to consider the Mk3 bearing solution as hardly an improvement over the previous design. Les Emery took the liberty of converting mine back to pre-Mk3 standard, claiming the old design gave better bearing support, but in the process he also introduced frequent maintenance, and I am ambiguous over this "improvement".
So - is there a final verdict on how to simplify lubrication of the s/a bearings? Someone made the proposal to modify the sealings, minimising oil loss and thereby extending the service intervals.
To me this seems like a good idea. I have no problems accepting a 10 000 mile / 15000 km lube refill, but I'd hate to do it every 3500 miles / 5000 km.
Adding a reservoir to lube the s/a may be a solution, but fitting lines and couplings look ugly and introduces new potential leaks. To me this is doctoring on the faults, not the causes of those faults.

Anyway, thank you Rick for sharing your experiences.

-Knut
Hi Knut, thanks for your interest. My personal view -
1) The OEM Mk3 ignition switch needs ditching for a daily rider. The split rubber cover can`t exclude water. The switch itself has circular strip contacts and these quickly wear down.
I replaced it with a double pole toggle switch and rubber boot. If you must retain the OEM switch for originality I suggest a battery isolating switch. The 750 switch position is often derided but at least it is tucked away in the dry.
2) SA lube. My bruv centre drilled the welch plugs, silver soldered on some nuts and connected a through bolt between the plugs (a mk3 SA pin is hollow). EP 140 is injected via a 3rd nut on the outside welch plug , fitted with a grease nipple. The through bolt stops the grease gun blowing the welch plugs out. Although I find squirting oil in with a syringe adequate. The MK3 SA arrangement is good, just the felt wicks are a let down.

Just returned from UK to central Europe trip, 4300miles. Not to boast, as a Norton is never trouble free, but still capable. Issues :1 clutch cable, front cyl head sleeve nut stud pulled out, 2 sessions reconnecting broken boyer leads, inlet valve seal split - 100 miles per pint at end. But had a great trip and Norton got me home ok! Very comforting to know spares 100% available just a phone call away. Sorry for long post.
rick
 
Boise or Couer d’Alene? That’s about it for population large enough to have traffic. Four years in Moscow for me in the 60s.
Boise valley. Last count was over 700,000 between Boise, Meridian, Nampa, and Caldwell. Most of them don't know how to drive. I remember seeing 64,000 on the signs coming into Boise in the mid-Sixties. Thirteen minutes to work in the morning, at least 30 minutes to get home in the evening (yes, not that bad, really).
Moscow is just on the edge of the beautiful part of Idaho; I wish I could figure out how to make a living up there...

Nathan
 
While I worked at N-V Wolverhampton, I rode one or other of the prototypes every day. For a few weeks, I and another rider were doing alternate 4-hours on the road on one bike with four hours for the mechanics to do whatever was needed in between the rides. Two other riders were doing the same on the other prototype. Our daily target in 4 hours was 450 miles. I made mine about 2 days in 5, but the other days were all in the 300+ range. There was no blanket 70-mph speed limit then, just 30 in towns and unlimited everywhere else.

It was quite a shock to ride home from work on a 650SS and feel the vibrations again!
 
Boise valley. Last count was over 700,000 between Boise, Meridian, Nampa, and Caldwell. Most of them don't know how to drive. I remember seeing 64,000 on the signs coming into Boise in the mid-Sixties. Thirteen minutes to work in the morning, at least 30 minutes to get home in the evening (yes, not that bad, really).
Moscow is just on the edge of the beautiful part of Idaho; I wish I could figure out how to make a living up there...

Nathan
About 4 years ago I was flying into Boise and we were stuck in a holding pattern for almost an hour. The pilot tried to keep things from going too downhill by acting as a flying tour guide. The one fact that stuck in my mind was that he claimed that Ada county was processing over 45,000 new drivers license applications per year. Holy crap! I sure wouldn't want to use my old beloved Norton in this traffic. Give me a 15 year old Buick.
 
A friend had a ‘66 Riviera back in the day , was a beautiful car .... yup red frame bikes with black body work are the best !
 
Boise valley. Last count was over 700,000 between Boise, Meridian, Nampa, and Caldwell. Most of them don't know how to drive. I remember seeing 64,000 on the signs coming into Boise in the mid-Sixties. Thirteen minutes to work in the morning, at least 30 minutes to get home in the evening (yes, not that bad, really).
Moscow is just on the edge of the beautiful part of Idaho; I wish I could figure out how to make a living up there...

Nathan

Wheat farmer. It’s the Palouse Empire. Maybe University professor at U of I. After three years of Jr High and sophomore year at Moscow High, can’t say I miss the place.
 
Give me a 15 year old Buick.
Fifteen year old? You need a forty year old around here to scare people away! My next project; '73 Riviera GS 455. Dad bought her in '76 with 100,000 miles on the clock (from a traveling salesman). We're just shy of rolling 300,000 miles. It's time...

Same color and model seen here:
Norton as "daily" rider?


Dad was into buying and selling at the time (he seemed to have an excess of cash), and was going through bikes and cares like cheap wine. I'm just so thankful that the Riv and Norton didn't go the way of so many other rigs of his.

Nathan
 
I live in an Arizona geezer community so all of the Buicks that I see seem to be early 90's vintage Centurys or Lesabres all driven 10mph under the speed limit. These are no where near as cool as a boat tail Riv.
 
That is one cool ride ! , did they call the engine in the boat tail a “nailhead” or am I way off ....
Craig
 
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The Boat tail referred to the way too cool back end of the car. The roof slopes rearward resembling a boats stern. The Nailhead was a Buick engine family from what I understand. Not being a real car guy I'm going by a 65 year old memory.
 
Well, after a long 30 year period of only light use of my 74 Interstate ( I bought it 41 years ago - if you ever want to cut down the amount of riding you do, buy or start a motorcycle dealership), I've made it a personal mission to make my Commmando an everyday ride, in fact, more specifically, one capable of being ridden for 30,000 miles with only simple servicing.. like the round the world trip I'm currently engaged in. Some of you may be aware that I'm currently "beached" in the Bay area with a broken crankshaft (sorted), but I don't see that as a setback - it's all part of the process. :)

Through my NZ motorcycle tour business I'm lucky enough to have access to a tour fleet that includes a wide range of late model, less than 3 year old BMW's, Triumphs, HD's , Hondas etc. They're technically proficient...AND, riding them they puts me to sleep (while risking my precious drivers licence - I need that for guiding). I admire their proficiency, but all the computers and technical brilliance seem to get in the way of the type of experience I'm looking for. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that if I had to ride modern motorcycles everyday, I would soon lose interest in motorcycling.

My main rides for the past 6 years have been a pair of airhead 1990 BMW GS's - modern classics that (rarely) break down. I've ridden the 125,000km GSPD I keep in Europe all over umm.. Europe, the Balkans, Central and Eastern Europe, and have loved every moment of riding it. A broken shock bolt and a failed diode board are the only issues I've had in over 30,000km (yes, I took the precaution of a gearbox and driveshaft upgrade before setting out).

A fully loaded airhead GSPD is a heavy beast tho' and I missed the light and nimble nature of my Commando, and set myself a goal of making my Commando capable of the same sort of duty as my airhead Beemers. What better way to do that than to ride around the world and see what breaks? ( I'm finding out.. :) )

I'm nearly 15000 miles and 4 months into my Zen and The Art of Norton Maintenance (slow) round the world tour now. My plan is/was to spend 4-5 months in the Northern Hemisphere summer riding North America.. (I may extend that now into part of the summer of 2019).. then return to NZ for my tour season over the NZ summer, and then after the tour season and finishing the North American leg, I'll airfreight the bike west to Japan and head westwards from there after that. So not a non-stop RTW... but a complete multi stage one all the same.

Before departing NZ I spend an amount equivalent to the gross national product of North Korea on the bike (no kids :) ) and in large part I've been very happy with the upgrades. I wanted to fit one piece crank before leaving NZ, but couldn't find one in the time available. I used to race a 920 back in the 90's in BEARS in NZ and had a Nourish crank in my racebike... I regret selling that crank. I tried to find it while we had the engine apart back in May 2018 as I suspected it hadn't been used by the new owner, but it had disappeared into the ether.

I'm REALLY happy and impressed with the bike and it's durability. Other than the 2 (learning curve) issues below, each day I've walked out to the bike, kicked it in the guts (one or two kicks) and it's run faultlessly - idles reliably, tours at 70 to 80mph two up, 50 to 55 US mpg, uses less 1 quart of oil per 3000 miles.

I have had a couple of (big) issues: A seizure in the first 300 miles of a new build that appears to have been caused by the failure of an experimental nikasil treatment I'd had applied to the bores in New Zealand (won...t do that again) and the crank breakage two weeks ago while crossing Death Valley. I regard both events as just part of The Quest - part of the process of turning a 70's Commando into a reliable modern every day bike and long distance tourer. The crank breakage was almost expected - this bike has covered 85,000 miles, and in the past has been the hot rod of a 22 year old me and the racebike of a 30 to 40 year old me, so I'm not counting that as a failure - and what better place the crank to break than in the US, where the supply of high quality aftermarket parts and knowledgeable suppliers and manufacturers is so abundant? Better in Death Valley in the US than on the steppes of Mongolia..
Jim Comstock was kind enough to give me a contact to call and I found a brand new one piece crank within days (Greg at Ro-Dy in Plymouth, MI) - a great guy to deal with :)

The upgrades I've made, starting at the front:
Decent front brakes - Andover Norton 13mm master cyl coupled to a Lockheed Racing Caliper. Coupled with TRW/Lucas MCB595SRQ Sintered Brake Pads tyre chirping/howling stops are now possible.
Madass's Landsdowne fork internals - fanbloodytastic conversion
Full Auto big valve head fettled my Jim Comstock - no more oil leaks from porous castings
Jim Comstock's engine breather. The engine is so oil tight now I haven't washed the bike in nearly 15000 miles.
JS Lightweight rods and pistons, and Total Seal rings. The engine is SO much smoother.
29 tooth engine sprocket to lengthen the gearing and easy loading on the gearbox, and a 22 on the TTi box - 70mph = 3850rpm ( on my rev counter, anyway)
TTi 5 Speed gearbox - I read someone on this forum that someone said "Until I rode a 5 speed, I never realised the limitations of the stock 4 speed". I totally agree.
36mm Amal Mk 2 concentrics - I finally have these dialled in - at times the response is so smooth I'd swear the bike was fuel injected.
An air/fuel meter to keep an eye on mixture with all the altitude variations I'm experiencing in the US (not an issue in New Zealand)
2:1 Maney style exhaust by Brooking850 on this forum - bloody loud, but what a gorgeous booming note :), and great performance. If you like the sound of a bassy booming Norton exhaust note but want to avoid ringing ears, buy yourself a set of Bose QC35 noise cancelling earphones - they fit inside most helmets, and you can dial in just how much noise cancellation you want. They're better than ANY passive earplug I've ever tried)
Ohlins rear $$$shocks - awesome. Worth every penny.
Mk 3 850 swing arm and rear wheel.
Jim Comstock tie-rod head steady.
A small Dart flyscreen - I can easily ride at 80mph with no wind pressure on my chest at all.
Total rewire, including a Motogadget m-unit Blue management system - yeah, I know I said I didn't want computers on my bikes (Pazon ignition excepted), but this one I made an exception for, and love it.
Pazon Altair ignition - the idle stabilisation feature alone is worth the expense. The bike has NEVER stalled on me (other than clutch errors) from idle since fitting it nearly 15000 miles ago. It will idle reliably as low as 350rpm... (though I'd never set it like that - 1100 rpm is my preference)
I've also made some frame bracing modifications, and added a Herb Becker style lower rear engine plate "iso-block" - that mod, along with re-aligning the wheel rims on the frame centre-line transformed the stability.

That's pretty much it. I figure I'll have a few more trials and lessons before my ZATAONM trip is over...but I'm looking forward to accomplishing my goal in the process.
I'm really happy with the progress so far...
 
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Fifteen year old? You need a forty year old around here to scare people away! My next project; '73 Riviera GS 455. Dad bought her in '76 with 100,000 miles on the clock (from a traveling salesman). We're just shy of rolling 300,000 miles. It's time...

Same color and model seen here:
Norton as "daily" rider?


Dad was into buying and selling at the time (he seemed to have an excess of cash), and was going through bikes and cares like cheap wine. I'm just so thankful that the Riv and Norton didn't go the way of so many other rigs of his.

Nathan


Buicks are revered for ride quality in Russia.

My daughter did competitive ballroom dancing for several years. Her instructor was Russian and her dance partner Asian.
The partner was dancing awkwardly at a practice. The dance instructor mimicked the partners problem by demonstrating a zombie like series of steps, then proclaimed in heavy Russian accent
" You are dancing like TRACK-TOR!"
He then switched to a demonstration of graceful steps
" Need to float like...like ...BUICK!!!"

Glen
 
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Well, after a long 30 year period of only light use of my 74 Interstate ( I bought it 41 years ago - if you ever want to cut down the amount of riding you do, buy or start a motorcycle dealership), I've made it a personal mission to make my Commmando an everyday ride, in fact, more specifically, one capable of being ridden for 30,000 miles with only simple servicing.. like the round the world trip I'm currently engaged in. Some of you may be aware that I'm currently "beached" in the Bay area with a broken crankshaft (sorted), but I don't see that as a setback - it's all part of the process. :)

Through my NZ motorcycle tour business I'm lucky enough to have access to a tour fleet that includes a wide range of late model, less than 3 year old BMW's, Triumphs, HD's , Hondas etc. They're technically proficient...AND, riding them they puts me to sleep (while risking my precious drivers licence - I need that for guiding). I admire their proficiency, but all the computers and technical brilliance seem to get in the way of the type of experience I'm looking for. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that if I had to ride modern motorcycles everyday, I would soon lose interest in motorcycling.

My main rides for the past 6 years have been a pair of airhead 1990 BMW GS's - modern classics that (rarely) break down. I've ridden the 125,000km GSPD I keep in Europe all over umm.. Europe, the Balkans, Central and Eastern Europe, and have loved every moment of riding it. A broken shock bolt and a failed diode board are the only issues I've had in over 30,000km (yes, I took the precaution of a gearbox and driveshaft upgrade before setting out).

A fully loaded airhead GSPD is a heavy beast tho' and I missed the light and nimble nature of my Commando, and set myself a goal of making my Commando capable of the same sort of duty as my airhead Beemers. What better way to do that than to ride around the world and see what breaks? ( I'm finding out.. :) )

I'm nearly 15000 miles and 4 months into my Zen and The Art of Norton Maintenance (slow) round the world tour now. My plan is/was to spend 4-5 months in the Northern Hemisphere summer riding North America.. (I may extend that now into part of the summer of 2019).. then return to NZ for my tour season over the NZ summer, and then after the tour season and finishing the North American leg, I'll airfreight the bike west to Japan and head westwards from there after that. So not a non-stop RTW... but a complete multi stage one all the same.

Before departing NZ I spend an amount equivalent to the gross national product of North Korea on the bike (no kids :) ) and in large part I've been very happy with the upgrades. I wanted to fit one piece crank before leaving NZ, but couldn't find one in the time available. I used to race a 920 back in the 90's in BEARS in NZ and had a Nourish crank in my racebike... I regret selling that crank. I tried to find it while we had the engine apart back in May 2018 as I suspected it hadn't been used by the new owner, but it had disappeared into the ether.

I'm REALLY happy and impressed with the bike and it's durability. Other than the 2 (learning curve) issues below, each day I've walked out to the bike, kicked it in the guts (one or two kicks) and it's run faultlessly - idles reliably, tours at 70 to 80mph two up, 50 to 55 US mpg, uses less 1 quart of oil per 3000 miles.

I have had a couple of (big) issues: A seizure in the first 300 miles of a new build that appears to have been caused by the failure of an experimental nikasil treatment I'd had applied to the bores in New Zealand (won...t do that again) and the crank breakage two weeks ago while crossing Death Valley. I regard both events as just part of The Quest - part of the process of turning a 70's Commando into a reliable modern every day bike and long distance tourer. The crank breakage was almost expected - this bike has covered 85,000 miles, and in the past has been the hot rod of a 22 year old me and the racebike of a 30 to 40 year old me, so I'm not counting that as a failure - and what better place the crank to break than in the US, where the supply of high quality aftermarket parts and knowledgeable suppliers and manufacturers is so abundant? Better in Death Valley in the US than on the steppes of Mongolia..
Jim Comstock was kind enough to give me a contact to call and I found a brand new one piece crank within days (Greg at Ro-Dy in Plymouth, MI) - a great guy to deal with :)

The upgrades I've made, starting at the front:
Decent front brakes - Andover Norton 13mm master cyl coupled to a Lockheed Racing Caliper. Coupled with TRW/Lucas MCB595SRQ Sintered Brake Pads tyre chirping/howling stops are now possible.
Madass's Landsdowne fork internals - fanbloodytastic conversion
Full Auto big valve head fettled my Jim Comstock - no more oil leaks from porous castings
Jim Comstock's engine breather. The engine is so oil tight now I haven't washed the bike in nearly 15000 miles.
JS Lightweight rods and pistons, and Total Seal rings. The engine is SO much smoother.
29 tooth engine sprocket to lengthen the gearing and easy loading on the gearbox, and a 22 on the TTi box - 70mph = 3850rpm ( on my rev counter, anyway)
TTi 5 Speed gearbox - I read someone on this forum that someone said "Until I rode a 5 speed, I never realised the limitations of the stock 4 speed". I totally agree.
36mm Amal Mk 2 concentrics - I finally have these dialled in - at times the response is so smooth I'd swear the bike was fuel injected.
An air/fuel meter to keep an eye on mixture with all the altitude variations I'm experiencing in the US (not an issue in New Zealand)
2:1 Maney style exhaust by Brooking850 on this forum - bloody loud, but what a gorgeous booming note :), and great performance. If you like the sound of a bassy booming Norton exhaust note but want to avoid ringing ears, buy yourself a set of Bose QC35 noise cancelling earphones - they fit inside most helmets, and you can dial in just how much noise cancellation you want. They're better than ANY passive earplug I've ever tried)
Ohlins rear $$$shocks - awesome. Worth every penny.
Mk 3 850 swing arm and rear wheel.
Jim Comstock tie-rod head steady.
A small Dart flyscreen - I can easily ride at 80mph with no wind pressure on my chest at all.
Total rewire, including a Motogadget m-unit Blue management system - yeah, I know I said I didn't want computers on my bikes (Pazon ignition excepted), but this one I made an exception for, and love it.
Pazon Altair ignition - the idle stabilisation feature alone is worth the expense. The bike has NEVER stalled on me (other than clutch errors) from idle since fitting it nearly 15000 miles ago. It will idle reliably as low as 350rpm... (though I'd never set it like that - 1100 rpm is my preference)
I've also made some frame bracing modifications, and added a Herb Becker style lower rear engine plate "iso-block" - that mod, along with re-aligning the wheel rims on the frame centre-line transformed the stability.

That's pretty much it. I figure I'll have a few more trials and lessons before my ZATAONM trip is over...but I'm looking forward to accomplishing my goal in the process.
I'm really happy with the progress so far...


I’d like to see a pic of those Ohlins rear $$$shock
 
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