finally! got most of the issues sorted out on the '72 and got a 10 mile ride in today. 1st ride on a norton! i'm a new rider and took the safety course on a suzuki gz 250 riding thru obstacles and different circuits for 3 days. suzi was fun and i learned a lot but now i was on the big boy. clutch/throttle took some getting used to and i killed it many times. finally got the touch and before i knew it i was merrily tooling up the hill in front of my house. anxiety/excitement/euphoria! of course i floundered about shifting gears, missing every one. bike was just purring at 3000 in 2nd gear. tested both brakes and they seemed to be able to rein me in but once i get up to interstate speeds i'm wondering how they'll be. i was only going to go thru the nighboring subdivision, about 2 miles, but things seemed so perfect that i just kept going thru the twisty/turnies in the area where i live. norton pulls like my 455 poncho not like the suzi. i could feel the rear end sway a bit on the esses but from what i've read this is to be expected. burned my calf bad on the pipes as i was wearing shorts. right pipe shows some heat discoloring, brown/blue, but left doesn't. right plug is tan/black, left is black/tan. now to figure out carbs, 930's, and try for a decent idle/mixture. 3d suduko is what it is. anyway, i'm happy as a clam at high tide and can't wait 'til the morrow when i need to figure out why the headlight won't work. rick