22 year old and my first norton 650 ss :) from england

Thanks everyone really enjoying getting stuck in.

Here's today's video on the 650ss managed to get the new clutch components together and fitted seems so much better than what was in previously :)

Just finished gluing the tank knee grips on with some contact adhesive.

Plan for tomorrow if this horrific weather clears up is a test ride on the 650ss so I can work out if I need anything else for her. Hopefully not as I wanna use her every single day while the Commando is in bits :)

Then I'm gonna get stuck in on stripping the bottom end on the Commando so I can get the rest of the parts into Pete an Chris.
 
Are you sure it has the correct number of clutch plates? I think I see only four plain and your previous photos also show four of each.

According to the parts books there ought to be five (double-sided) friction and five plain (and one single-sided friction) plates?
 
Hi Lab thanks for the reply mate yeah it's got a none standard clutch basket fitted by the previous owner a pre 64 rgm one as it's all he could get at the time so it's the 9 plate version. Don't think it would fit more plates in. Got 4 friction 4 steels and a single sided friction next to the pressure plate.

Eventually I might give a commando clutch in a belt drive a go but at the moment all the finds are going on the Commando.
 
Thanks to everyone for the advice!

Clutch feels brilliant now ended up with the screws flush with the studs and spent a bit of time getting the plate balanced.

Made a load of progress found a few things incorrect on the 650SS but a big step in the right direction pulling smooth now an actually ticking over. Shows the tick over at the end of the 40 sec clip.
Yay!!!!!! After loads of struggling got her alot better.

Found a perished o ring on the pilot jet.
Float height was incorrect on the premiers from new.
Float pin was binding in the bowl badly casting wasn't fully machined out. Fixed that.
Set the points to a 0.12" gap

Finally after running her on one cylinder at a time found she needed 0.5 out on the pilot air screws an it'l tick over all day any more out an she stalled. but plugs looked a bit on the sutty side. (iw22's) ran outta champions to try.

What's everyone using N5's N4's?

So thinking I need to go up a size on the pilot jet plugs after this test ride an idling looked a lil dry but rich.
Might just try at 0.75 turns out 1 out an she stalls.1 an half sounds awe full an hunts all over the place. Gonna give it another go in the week.

Someone commented about their premiers that they had to go up a pilot jet size?

Wanna get a new fuel tap to so just gotta decide what type this has got one of the push pull ones on her which has been sticking.

 
You are up to 247 replies now. I have owned my Atlas since 1986 and use it almost daily. I also have 2 dominators and a cafe 850 in a featherbed I've been working on for other people. My garage is stuffed. If I recall right you were running a large sheetfed press for a living.
 
Hi mate yeah I was unfortunately our family company shut so I'm redundant currently to much print going abroad to the eu an some of the big uk companies are now german owned.

Hence having the time to work on the bikes just trying to sus out what to do for a new career the UK print industry is no where near as good as it was had a few big job offers but the contracts weren't great so for now career break and consider a career change :)

Yeah it's amazing to think of the views the thread has had an the replies never imagined that the 650ss has been through some right journeys with me an I'm excited to actually start riding her more.

Both plugs are equal now both on the rich side on the idle circuit set the float heights found a few other issues on the carbs to but she's running an idling so at least I've got a starting point ended up having to go 0.5 turns out on idle to get her to keep idling.

Set one carb at a time, plan for the next test ride is to go for a longer ride with some extra plugs get her properly hot then redo the idle at the side of the road.

Just in case i was getting mugged thinking she was warm when she wasn't Huge improvement though an the Clutch feels brilliant now.

Can launch her nearly as good as the Commando.

with the pilots at anything more than 1 turn out she would cough an splutter an spit then die. 1 turn out ran for about 30 seconds then died. 0.5 turns out would happily idle but the plugs look black.

Itching for another dry day to head out get her nice an warm then have another go!

Can refit the primary cover now as well. Oil an gearbox are totally tight an she doesn't drop a drop of oil now :) Was thinking a smear of welseal on the primary maybe?

Quick mobile phone shot from today while I was grabbing a drink of water
22 year old and my first norton 650 ss :) from england
68596747_10219392280062135_2284405745107599360_o by norton.rider, on Flickr
 
No oil leaks envy here, 42 years and she still has to be sick occasionally. Primary good then just decides to start somewhere else. Looking sweet, keep up the good work and use her , cos we all know what a British summer can be ?
 
That 650 is a lovely looking bike!

At .5 turns out, something ain’t quite right with the pilot. The air screw controls the air, screwing it in is closing off the air. It could be that having it that far in is because of the need to compensate for the pilot jet being too small. My understanding is that screwed in that far, it ain’t allowing the pilot to function correctly. It should be between 1 and 2 turns out.

But... you say the plugs look rich. And screwing the air screws in to only .5 turns SHOULD make it rich.

So maybe nothing is ‘wrong’ and it just needs more tweaking. You need to ride it. Getting the pilot set right needs the bike to be ridden, get it properly up to temperature, ensure it ticks over when pulling up to a stop, etc. Take the screwdriver with you when you go for a ride.

And, the final piece of advice IMHO is do not get sucked into the ‘fashionable’ trap of aiming for a super low tick over. A lot of guys I know are really into this, but it’s just bragging rights! That crank needs to be spinning to ensure proper splash fed internal lubrication.

Also, in my experience at least, a super low tick over = a hesitation when accelerating. And I prefer my bikes set up to ride well, rather than tick over like a stationary engine at the local bike meet.

All only IMHO of course !
 
Cheers Pushed yeah haha lets hope for some more decent days hey everywhere is still flooded near me so be limited to just up an down a few local roads

Cheers Eddie :) Yep I'm thinking I've been mugged by not being able to go to far on her but having said that it was hunting up an down + 500 rpm the other day so made massive improvements with the other changes.

Plan is for one day this week when we have some half decent weather.

I'm gonna go for a spin with some spare plugs on me get her hot pull up then have a go at the idle again :)

At least as it is now it'l start an run so I can actually ride her an get her up to temp.

Was pretty shattered by the time I come to set the idle so wanna definitely go back over it before I go ordering jets. Glad the clutch is really good that's for sure :)

One lad on one of the FB groups did say he had a set of Premier Concentric's on his 650ss and had to up the pilot jet. Looks like they come in three sizes 15,17,19
According to the Amal site they ship with a 17 gonna email them to confirm though as mine are a super early set of Premiers.

What tickover do you like Eddie :) always open to suggestion as I'm constantly learning I was aiming for around 1,100 rpm.

Actually seemed to fuel nice from a set off which was good nice smooth throttle opening etc no missfires big difference compared to the other day.

Cant wait to get stuck in again!!

What plugs is everyone using in the 650ss's? with a K2f Mag?
 
#19 is a must. It is barely possible to remove the pilot without removing carbs. You will need a long jeweler's screwdriver and patience. If these are early premiers I am 90% sure the pilots are #17. I have a feeling your problem is in the slide. do you know what's in there?
 
seattle##gs said:
#19 is a must. It is barely possible to remove the pilot without removing carbs. You will need a long jeweler's screwdriver and patience. If these are early premiers I am 90% sure the pilots are #17. I have a feeling your problem is in the slide. do you know what's in there?
Click to expand...

Not a 650 Norton I know, but I recently fitted premiers to my 650 T120. They came with 17 pilots and it was most definitely NOT right. It would start and tickover ok, but riding when cold was awful, and I could not dial out a low rpm spit back.

19 pilots cured this.
 
Pilots are too small without a doubt. A smear of red rubber grease around the primary rubber works well and easy to get back in to fine tune the clutch. check the cover has clearance to the propstand bracket as this can cause a leak.
 
Thanks guys yeah that's what I had it was spitting at low rpm at first I thought it was the new clutch making a chirping noise then I realised what it was doing when we put her onto the l/h cylinder an dealt with that one. an ended up at half a turn in an she settled down. Though the plugs then started indicating rich on the idle circuit. So guessing with the smaller pilot I've not got as much control on the adjustment.

Seems reasonable for a set of 19's gonna give them a try if I need to can always go back to the 17's :)

Just gotta decide on the next batch of spark plugs to order.

Thanks Lab the page I was on for the 650ss on amals website was only showing the three.

number 3 slides and shes got the needles set in the middle position now, 106 needle jet, 280 mains (no airfilter) just the supplied bell mouths with the carbs.

Ah yeah I've actually got some red rubber grease after someone on Noc recommended it back when I was a member.

Only got the centre stand on mine :)

Update: was just chatting to someone who got a set of Premiers on a 650ss same time as me. They spoke to Amal and apparently they shipped with a 15 at the time.

They had to go to the 19 to sort it was doing exactly what mine is so ordered a pair of those to try shall be interesting :)
 
Last edited:
I,m running NGK B8ES plugs for the last couple of years, may be a bit cold for some. Unsuppressed caps and copper core HT leads. No problems at all. 1.5 turns out on the air screw seems optimum, any more and she coughs n farts on pickup acceleration. Tick over 1100 to 1200rpm, any higher and I get gear chatter from neutral to first before pulling away. Enjoy, a tad moist in the Midlands at the mo. !
 

Similar threads

Patrick M
  • Locked
My new 850 and my first Norton
Replies
15
Views
986
SquareHead
SquareHead
Back
Top