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

Huge progress on the 1967 Norton 650 SS today
22 year old and my first norton 650 ss :) from england
super close to being running again
When I go to see Les an Gaz at Norvil I feel a bit like luke skywalker seeing Yoda an ObiWan haha!

Learning the ways of the Norton. Will be forever grateful for what I'm learning of them an all of you.
They fitted me in so I could drive down an get the bits I needed to get her up and running again think by Sunday I'll be test riding.
These are the original rocker spindles I've removed from my bike which were the first go at high pressure smooth spindles by Norton in 66/67 before they fitted the flats. Shes now sporting the new type with the flats around the oil way.

After fitting the new rocker spindles I had to redo all the clearances shows how much play there was in the rockers.

Unfortunately as well the head looks like it had been miss machined from Norton originally so some spindles were sitting alot deeper an one very shallow as only half of one of the holes had been machined out luckily deep enough to take the spindle hence going to the RGM caps as I could adjust each to suit with the grubscrew. On the Commando rebuild I'll be using bearing fit / green loctite + the Norvil deep tang end caps.

Got a few more boxes of goodies to fit from Norvil tomorrow then shes ready to start up an ride been missing riding her the past few days!

Cleaned all the gasket faces more than this before fitting a new conical seal an timing case seal an circlip + gasket
22 year old and my first norton 650 ss :) from england
IMG_20190830_103303_591 by norton.rider, on Flickr

22 year old and my first norton 650 ss :) from england
IMG_20190830_103303_588 by norton.rider, on Flickr



Left to do, fit new flexible rocker line, fit sump washers, new oil filter, new oil, new throttle grip, new throttle cable, fit a new 2ls front brake cable that's shorter than the one currently fitted got the correct one for the flat bars. Got some new gearbox oil to just incase I need to pull that.

Most excitingly gonna fit the new Bar ends that Kate at Norvil designed super excited to try those to reduce vibration they look brilliant to not sure whether to trim the ends of the grips or try put the grips over shall see when fitted think it'l probably be cut the end of the grips.
 
The holes in the head are too deep because the rotating spindles have machined themselves in !. Your head casting looks as rough as mine, I have a suspicion that the last batch of bikes were assembled with heads rescued from the rejects skip. I spent some time "fetling" mine with a Dremel and file before having it bead blasted. ( fingers crossed!).
 
It's the one that's to shallow with the end inside the head only half drilled out that made me suspect machining. I'd agree with that bob the casting is rough does make sense what you are saying :)

make sure you get all the blast media out mate after seeing what happened on my Commando by the previous owner leaving it all in. That's a good idea regarding the Dremel. I know my Commando has a bad casting on the cylinder head including the gasket face.
 
She runs again :) need to go back over the carb settings again. Had a bit of a ride on her an she felt good. Bit smoother vibe wise if anything. Think the plan for tomorrow is valve clearances again just to be sure have an inspection in the rocker boxes. Then I need to swap the new Doherty throttle grip on an ditch the amal one.
Got a slight chinking think it's the rocker spindle just attempting to move ever so slightly against the grub screw we shall see.


 
Sounds intermittent, could be a chain catching, so you have several possibities. First use a long screwdriver to listen and pinpoint the locatiom. Could be primary just touching the Alternator stator housing,always better to have a bit of slack but a tight/loose spot can do this. Then we have cam/mag chains ,difficult to get right unless you use a cutaway cover. Also a bent pushrod can run loose then tight.Finally ,and you don't want to hear this .a sticky valve/guide will allow the clearances to open up and close. If its head,blank off the oil supply ,remove valve covers and run the engine ,you may see whats going on.A finger resting on the tappet and you may feel it! HSE say you MUST NOT do this!!. Logic would say ,if the noise was not there before,it something you have just done, ---Did you fit the spring washers to the correct side?, pushrods touching the tunnel?. I'm really puzzled by your comment on the depth of head machining ,You would have had to have a cut down spindle fitted,don't think even Wally Wyatts wallies would do that. Did you reconnect that oil banjo!!
 
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Hi mate yep oil banjo is connected kicked the bike over checking oil was going through the rocker feed before I tightened them up.

Yep put the washer to the outside of the head thackeray to the inside.

Only other things I did change was the thackerays for new ones on the exhaust side.

Gonna take the covers off in a moment and have a look an check the clearances again and have a visual inspection
Next time I've got the rocker caps off I'll take some pictures of the spindles sitting in the head easier to explain that way.
 
Just keep on plugging away,you will get there, Imagine if you had a CB 600 RRR, you would be bored stiff!. I have just acquired a VTR1000 firestorm but keep making excuses to ride the old 99, The only thing I like about the Honda is the warp 10 overtakes, everything else the 99 does better for me. Some think me a bit odd.You can join my club. Oh yes,you did.
 
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Just starting to have a look now :) an yeah I get you mate I've got a cbr1000rr that's crazy fast an a few race bikes. 650ss is perfect for modern roads though.

Just checking the clearances if anything the inlets seem a touch tighter than the exhausts

Would tight or loose clearances give that tap tap tap noise. That's heard toward the end of the video.

Just gonna do some googling refresh my memory

22 year old and my first norton 650 ss :) from england
20190901_102708-01 by norton.rider, on Flickr


22 year old and my first norton 650 ss :) from england
20190901_102730-01 by norton.rider, on Flickr
 
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Just finishwd been for a test ride feels amazing got a slight noise to investigate from the primary cover plugs starting to go brown now!! An pulls like a train.

Thinking that mouse like noise might be the alternator? One of the battery terminals had come loose so wondering if it's done something to the alternator or the alternator come loose gonna have a look in the morning

 
Primary chain may be just tickling the alternator housing. If you like the amount of slack you could just file a bit more clearance in the alloy housing. A tight chain will "F" up your gearchange quality. Those tappets all look fair ,mine had lumps missing!.Run a feeler round the Rotor , You can't go to sleep now!, we are all waiting breathlessly for the answer.
 
Good call Bob!! Found the issue primary chain has gone crazy slack sound was it hitting the underside of the footrest boss!
Think I might just order a new one tomorrow renold?

 
Bludy Hell, Northeners are supposed to be tightwads !,you can't keep throwing tha cash around like this , The only way to properly check a chain for wear is to check the extension measurement. And no not Reynolds . The box has moved ,sideplay is normal, The std method to adjust is adjust till much too tight then adjust forwards till correct ,then check rear chain. Then after a short ride check again. Hope you are re-tightening head and barrel bolts too as otherwise the new head gasket will blow. My 99 is on its second primary chain from new (1960!) and I don't think the old was fully worn out at 30000 miles. Can't see whatsup with the stator although its an oldie and if you upgrade you will also need the new (bigger ) rotor,and you may run into issues with wrong size (unavailiable) studs.Another saga I can bore you with!. I did notice your ampmeter was not showing a charge.
 
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Yep the battery lead had come loose :) so that should work now.

Thanks mate :) I'm gonna go over the adjustment tomorrow had a brief read of the manual an it said to do it the way you described :)

Reminds me if carb studs had 4 sets all different lengths haha luckily found the originals in a tin!

I noticed some of the plates on the links seem a bit loose might have done a bit of damage to it. Plan of action is to tighten it an see if the noise goes adds up cause dad thought he could hear a shushing noise as well when I went past him before.

What brands do we all prefer for new chains?

An for alternator / stators

Haha not all tightwads :p
 
Reynolds has changed and is not regarded as quality any more. German and Japanese usually better. Lucas is not lucas either. As you have mag? ignition electrics not critical ,old alt could do for years, just watch out for rotor disintegration. If it does I have a good spare you can have. I had to get a new high power Commando alt and it has fitting issues on the dommies (and 650).If the primary adjustment won't stay put it can be due to the big through bolt at the top of the box having seized in the case.This means the box just twists back and forth in the frame and fools you into thinking you are adjusting it. Another saga to bore you with!.Bent alt insulation no prob.
 
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Thanks Bob appreciate it mate :) what primary chains does everyone recommend then? I'll give the adjustment a whirl now before it rains again meant to have more bad weather at 11 lol gotta love our British weather!
 

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