Head steady: Old Britt's Vernier style Vs Dave Taylor design

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tumtum

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Want to update my factory head steady on my 72 Roadster and have found two different designs for the updates. Any recommendations?

Old Britt's:
Head steady: Old Britt's Vernier style Vs Dave Taylor design


Dave Taylor's:
Head steady: Old Britt's Vernier style Vs Dave Taylor design
 
I have an Old Britts head steady on my MkIII and it seems to do great. It has been on the bike for almost 2 years now and it handles great! It may have just a bit more vibration than stock but it can be adjusted softer if you like too. Chuck.
 
I have a '75 MKIII with the original head steady (just a bolted on piece of metal contraption). It's vibrating like there is no tomorrow but sweetens out above 2500 revs. (I did check the isolastic adjustment)
A) Could it be that the original headsteady might be a major cause of my good vibrations???
B)Does the "old Britt" head steady have rubber mounts in them?
 
I started a thread about the Taylor steady and my satisfaction with it

http://accessnorton.com/norton_commando ... 00ec456821

It became a very informative discussion of frame sources and dimensions which is something to bear in mind (fitting one to an Italian 60mm frame will require more work).

I can't compare with the Old Britts steady but rate the Taylor well above standard or Norvil types.

There have been reservations on other threads about the security of a clamping arrangement rather than a positive location but I don't share them and have had no problems.

Try searching 'Taylor' on this forum and you'll keep yourself occupied for an evening !
 
I installed a taylor system on my 71 commando and have never been more satisfied with a single item change. It really changed the way the bike handles in the twisties. I had to change my lines that i was usually taking. It just seems to cut the corners faster. You will probably like either one of these (taylor or old britts) upgraded parts.
 
Dave Taylor Head Steady.

I too have a Dave Taylor unit fitted to my 920 Mk2A - I have fitted the Mk3 'suspensory' spring as well. It works very well and to a certain degree is adjustable by varying the tension of the springs thus you can 'fine-tune' it to suit your requirements.

Fitting it was a doddle.
 
I installed the Taylor version and it works fine. Beware of interferences with certain tanks though. It started to gnaw through my Norvil aluminum tank until I "shimmed" the tank up. Anything is better than the stock set up.
Mike
 
I have a Dave Taylor adjustable head steady on my 850 Mk1 and it is awesome.
Makes getting in and out of corners much sharper.
Watch out when you first ride after installation as you will find that if you do your usual lines the bike will end up on the pavement.
 
Need to revive this after reading what Mikie said about inteference with some tanks. Does a Taylor head steady work at all with an Interstate tank. I already have an issue with the tank being awful close to the handle bar. Thanks for any input.
 
I will be able to tell you soon.

I have an Interstate tank at the painters and will fit it on my Roadster with a new seat.

I hope I don't have to panel beat a newly painted tank to accomodate a Dave Taylor.
 
My Dave Taylor unit is fitted my Interstate with no tank-clearance problems. I do have quite a few washers (metal and rubber) on the front tank bolts thus the tank is about 3/8 inch above the frame mounting brackets - they've always been there since I bought the bike about 20 years ago thus I've no idea what the 'stock' setup is supposed to be - it all looks OK though.
 
I put on a Dave Taylor unit this past Spring. The difference in handling was like night and day. I've had my bike (72 combat roadster) since new so I've tried everything and looked at everything on the bike maintenance-wise over the years. I noticed no difference in vibes - maybe less if anything. It is very steady hitting ripple bumps in turns now and no instability in a straight line. Like a normal bike!

I did not buy the MkIII spriingy dingy.

Russ
 
Is the spring portion of the Taylor head steady only for the Mark III or is it adaptable to other models?
 
The springy thing can be used on all Commandos. The parts are bolt-on with no welding required but you will need to drill holes in a 850 headsteady and fit an 850 headsteady to 750. The headsteady comments are not required if fitting a Taylor.
 
I am running the Dave taylor springy thingy on my Mk1 850 and it was money very well spent.
 
The MkIIIs have it already.

To rephrase... The reason the heady steady kit is offered with or without the spring thing is that MkIII owners don't need to buy it since they have it already.

But I don't think it is at all necessary for a great improvement.
 
What I think the spring does is lift some of the weight off the front ISO rubbers thus killing the low frequency vibes.

Cash
 
You can get it with or without the spring works on any model year - bearing in mind the tubing dimension differences with the Italian built frames.

That said, I don't really understand the "tuning" aspects of the spring...
 
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