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- Jan 12, 2011
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Heinz Kegler made and fitted his first servo clutch on my Commando as his test mule around 1998.
It was purely experimental as I had no particular need for anything other than the stock clutch.
Heinz made the clutch basket of aluminum in his shop, we knew it would not last very long as it was not a proper hardened kit. I remember the squared plate tangs being a problem as they had to be trimmed to slide in the new degreed servo format.
Just an aside, I still have Heinz's very first set of his prototype aluminum swing arm rings in my Commando, along with his first pre Mark3 adjustable threaded ISO design that Brian Tyree created.
The first sets of Hemming's adjustable ISOS had the allen head set bolts too small diameter and they also could bear down on the knife like edge of the threads which of course destroyed the little bolts.
Heinz's solution was to mill away, remove part of the threads so the securing bolts for the ISO adjusters bore down on a flat surface, along with fitting larger set bolts.
I loved spending time with Heinz in his Albuquerque, New Mexico shop. I miss him so much.
I remember laughing with him as he lurched in a drunken manner around his garage mimicking what he viewed as the way a Commando handled corners like a "limping camel" as Heinz said.
He was very much a Featherbed man.
Heinz was born in east Germany and left his home to ride to England on his International to get some parts. He called home a week or so after he got there and his family told him he could not return as the Berlin Wall was being erected dividing east from west Germany. He got a job with the Norton factory as a test rider and eventually joined Norton's USA east coast importer, Berliner. He told me about the problems the early frames created by breaking and that he refused to strip the bikes and weld the frame fix and so the bikes had to be shipped back to England for that.
He later moved to Albuquerque and joined Cummings Diesel as a lead mechanic. I met Heinz here
around 1994 and spent many happy hours with him in his shop hearing about his Norton experiences. He was always thinking, always planning and building upgrades for both Featherbeds and Commandos. I admired Heinz very much.
It was purely experimental as I had no particular need for anything other than the stock clutch.
Heinz made the clutch basket of aluminum in his shop, we knew it would not last very long as it was not a proper hardened kit. I remember the squared plate tangs being a problem as they had to be trimmed to slide in the new degreed servo format.
Just an aside, I still have Heinz's very first set of his prototype aluminum swing arm rings in my Commando, along with his first pre Mark3 adjustable threaded ISO design that Brian Tyree created.
The first sets of Hemming's adjustable ISOS had the allen head set bolts too small diameter and they also could bear down on the knife like edge of the threads which of course destroyed the little bolts.
Heinz's solution was to mill away, remove part of the threads so the securing bolts for the ISO adjusters bore down on a flat surface, along with fitting larger set bolts.
I loved spending time with Heinz in his Albuquerque, New Mexico shop. I miss him so much.
I remember laughing with him as he lurched in a drunken manner around his garage mimicking what he viewed as the way a Commando handled corners like a "limping camel" as Heinz said.
He was very much a Featherbed man.
Heinz was born in east Germany and left his home to ride to England on his International to get some parts. He called home a week or so after he got there and his family told him he could not return as the Berlin Wall was being erected dividing east from west Germany. He got a job with the Norton factory as a test rider and eventually joined Norton's USA east coast importer, Berliner. He told me about the problems the early frames created by breaking and that he refused to strip the bikes and weld the frame fix and so the bikes had to be shipped back to England for that.
He later moved to Albuquerque and joined Cummings Diesel as a lead mechanic. I met Heinz here
around 1994 and spent many happy hours with him in his shop hearing about his Norton experiences. He was always thinking, always planning and building upgrades for both Featherbeds and Commandos. I admired Heinz very much.
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