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

The horrable old K70 on the front isnt to bad a tyre , They were ' the choice ' for Dirt track ( flat track ) raceing , in the U.S. except for soft tracks ,
which used a similar Perelli that was made from liquerish , and grips as well on tarmac . Though is good for throttle related drifts .



These are the bars ' vincent Flats ' or is that ' Norton Flats ' that were all the go in the era .

Rears Sets , Drilling a hole 1 1/4 im. under the swing arm pivot ( ) and fitting folding BSA / Tri etc footrests





is pretty simple . Fitting the Gear Lever reversed will get you the shift pattern as per the rice burner .
Which is safer , as youre unlikely to change into second at redline in third , not being used to the pattern .

Youd need a Dunstall rear Brake lever - or make one from 5 mm steel & tube , thus :
cant find the picture , but theres a gen u wine cast steel with seratted toe pad DUNSTALL chromed rear brake lever ,
drilling the hole to suit Footrest Dia. so its pivoted on the round inner section , just requires a adjustment stop .

If your rear tyre matches the front , I think youll find them good for familiariseing yourself with the handling characteristics .
When your sure the chassis is acting as it should , maybe fit ones more for ereholeing / trackwork . but for Road Use
AND off road the k 70s are excellent , and less neurosis inspireing than the TT100s , which are stickier when youre elbows
are dragging in the bends .

ooo thanks mate proper legend

bet that beauty goes like a missile be interesting on the flats

spoke to hagon today and they gave me the measurement for the top bush going to check it in the morning

bit of an update life went to rat shit for a bit but finally got time to work on the bikes joys of 60-70 hour weeks at work darn i need a new job lol


popped down to see the legend that is Les a month or so ago and got some shims of him for the shocks yay ^_^


carb's finally going on tomorrow

slight leak from the gearbox to fix caused by a bit of over exuberant cleaning by dad his way of helping LOL, oh well bit of practice


hoping to have her fired up this week, big problem I'm having though is tracking down the correct front mudguard the one thats on it fits really poor and was binding the forks,

Thinking of putting a manx style one on for now so I can mot and go riding, and get the engine run in unless someone knows a good supplier for the right 650ss front mudguard?


cheers,

bit of work today

h

Its been sometime and good that you are getting back into it, looking great.

Ashley

Thanks mate yeah life sort of went to shit so had to park it still got no heating and got absolutley shafted at work did mad hours 60-70 hours and ended up only getting paid for 40 , still there for now as Im going tt in june for a holiday and I get to store and work on bikes there sure itl all get worked out eventually got 8 weeks of holiday now for next year

really need to find a job in the bike industry haha litho print is ok but meh haha


on the gaskets for the carbs does everyone put one between the carb and manifolds ? as well as between mainifolds an carbs?


Cheers,

Tom Steele said:

on the gaskets for the carbs does everyone put one between the carb and manifolds ? as well as between mainifolds an carbs?


Cheers,

Tom

Click to expand...

My Atlas has an "O" ring on the carb side of the manifold, and the other side has a thermally insulating gasket on the head side.

Slick

Thanks Mate they must have just stuck some spares in got o rings on mine to

after an utter rubbish year 7 days a week with 14 hour days so need a new job haha things you do for work an family


progress


got hold of a front mudguard long wait for it to arrive just need the actual stay now for it and a rear one to match

Hoping to get it on and her running for some Christmas ride outs been stood for a bit so fingers crossed once the carbs are on she's easy enough to get back to life,

planning a belt drive, and to take the primary off to put a new gasket on and same for gearbox kickstart seal has a slight weep, roll on sunday rare day off

anyone know when putting a new centre stand on what's involved mines pretty wore down

Tom Steele wrote:

"anyone know when putting a new centre stand on what's involved mines pretty wore down"

It has been a long time since I did it, but as far as memory goes ....

Primary inner cover has to come off, then the two pivot bolts can be accessed from under the bike.

The spring has minimal tension on it with stand down. Remove and install in this position.

The trick is to elevate and hold the bike upright with no load on the center stand.

Slick

It's a NIGHTMARE just to install those bloody weird cylinder bolt thingys that hold the featherbed centerstand on.

They switched that nightmare on the Commandos to the horn location. They then met with Triumph to assist them in making the rear brake master cylinder on the big twins the biggest headache ever to service. I didn't even know they had crack available back then...

Cheers lads big help was looking at it and thinking how the.. LOL

next job on the list in a few weeks once I've got enough money for the belt drive think I'm going to be using it every other day going between my rd350lc and this for commuting on, least with a belt it'l be a bit smoother in that respect/

Hi Tom. If you go for a belt drive you may loose the clutch shock absorber,which will not help to smooth things out. The clutch is a bit borderline with a 650SS but can be made to work OK. After all they won the Thruxton 500 mile race 3 years running with one. Its easy to "improve" these bikes into a whole new set of issues. I think you have your work cut out to sort out the front mudguard , it looks like it needs a cable clip to be spot welded or riveted in. The proper stays are made from the same material as the rear grab handles . Tyre choise may be restricted by the width. Its a can of worms!.

Tom Steele said:

…anyone know when putting a new centre stand on what's involved mines pretty wore down

Click to expand...

I do it this way:



The German note should be translated to «here under the cover is a special screw where the spring is hooked»

This is the centrestand I've bought, Norvil part-no 067861. I think it's an Atlas part.




It fits flawless and the bike is realy easy to put up.

Fritz

I agree with norton Bob regarding the clutch shock absorber. I installed a Commando clutch mainly to rid myself of the heavy Atlas clutch pull, but after 15K miles, went back to the AMC clutch to regain the shock absorber. The three winged center body (spyder) is problematical .... it was designed for a 500 cc machine and I broke 3 with my 750. Newly made ones, I believe are stronger, and hopefully are up to the task.

A Venhill Featherlight clutch cable reduces pull about 25% and it is now manageable.

I too have contemplated a belt drive, mainly to rid myself of the oil sealing problem of the tinware primary case. That problem can be managed by silicone ... see recent posts regarding clutches. I resigned myself to stay with the original set-up, because as Norton Bob says .... one can improve these old bikes into a whole new set of problems.

I don't mean to dissuade you on your proposals, but you should be informed of all the pros and cons.

keep us posted, whatever you do.

Slick

that's a gorgeous bike especially the 2 into one pipe.
I own a 1966 Atlas and did a few things to make it much more rider friendly...
First, after struggling for years to make the tin primary cases hold oil, I spent the necessary $$$ and bought a Tony Hayward belt drive that uses an adapter (no longer available) to fit a Triumph clutch center. The belt runs dry. All my oil problems disappeared in one day.

Second, and unrelated to the new clutch, the clutch required the strength of a gorilla to pull in the lever. I went through all the usual fixes and really got nowhere. Several years passed.....Then I discovered the Magura Hymec hydraulic clutch..(requires a 9.5 master cylinder) and it's a two finger operation now. It's very unobtrusive and works very well.

Third, I put a 34MM Mikuni carb on it and it greatly smoothed it out. A single carb works wonders making the motor run smoother. I made an air cleaner to fit between the oil tank and tool box using K&N material. It was such a close fit to the carburetor that a small strip of duct tape made the connection between carb and filter. I know the usual argument about fitting a Japanese carb on a Brit bike but they work very well. By the way, I have fit Premiers on other bikes and they have not been trouble free....and don't get me started on MK2 Amals

Hi everyone thanks for all the brilliant reply's can't thank you enough, actually gone to original pipes keeping the 2 into one for another norton project I've got planned as its a really nice system,

lots to think about there main thing is I'm going to be doing about 15-20k a year on it I know some people might faint at this but promised I'd use it and not leave it parked to the previous owner he commuted on it all the time.

and Using one of the 350 lc's for when the weather is horrendous,

just got to decide best way to go forward

the actual clutch routing thing is there got them to send me a proper pic of it really makes it look a bit weird those pictures, also its got the correct little bump thing just got to track down the bridge stay

guessing I could try and get the primary to seal not tried putting oil in it yet as the previous owner used to lube it before every ride hence the 2 into one but now being back to the twin exhausts,
either stick with the standard clutch an chain primary or check a belt drive system out

want to try keep it looking as stock as possible as I'm head over heels with it looks wise now I've put the tank badges on, was thinking maybe some period ace bars, friend of mine has a 650ss like that.

would love a fontana 4ls on it one day and some sort of trick rear break as I think the hub looks a bit tatty on it, lets the bike down on the rear haha but I'll make do with the commando one thats fitted now

wow tell you guys what though didn't realise how much the centre stand had actually worn down no wonder my 650ss is always nearly toppling over if I breath on it LOL

More info...You can make the clutch lever pressure quite a bit easier if you fit the old style Amal levers that Bultaco and others used. These are solid aluminum and look good AND they are British (or maybe spanish). these are made by EMGO and are very cheap to replace. The improvement in cable pull is accomplished by moving the pivot point and the cable barrel closer together. This makes a noticeable improvement. ON THE DOWNSIDE...(there is no free lunch)...the perch slides over the bar which requires removing the grip....And......by moving the points closer together it also means the plates are not separated as much when the clutch is pulled in, not a problem if the plates are very flat and careful attention is paid to the pressure plate lifting evenly. Otherwise it will be harder to engage first gear from a dead stop. You are handy using a pointer and carefully adjusting the three screws? It is also possible that someone has adapted a Japanese clutch with cush drive, I do not keep up with that.

Do check into the Magura Hymec system. It is very neat and compact and will solve the clutch pull problems.

What line of work are you in that requires 60 - 70 hours per week? You mentioned litho so I assume it is the printing business. It has taken a giant hit in the last 30 years.

I gave up on the primary holding oil. No amount of silicone sealer or countless hours will do the trick. Spend whatever $$$ is required and get beyond this issue.

The centerstand on my Atlas was barely functional until I welded some 1/4" plate to the bottom of the feet. they seemed to have a lot of problems and variations on this stand including welding on long extensions.

Contact VINTAGE BRAKE here in the states about improving the front brake. He has a lot of good ideas and his website has a lot of good technical info. He will make it a super performer but his price is $400, a lot of money to put into a front brake hub.