I need a Norton front fender / mudguard pre -1964 for 7" wide forks

Hi:

I have a 1962 Norton 650SS, which my mechanic and I are working on getting back on the road. I thought I had a problem with the front (roadholder) forks. However, it turns out that among a variety of sins committed by the previous owner, he/she fitted a post 1964, (deeply valanced) front fender / mudguard between my 7" forks. Consequently the existing front fender / mudguard rubs on the fork shrouds, such that it impedes their correct operation.

I looked at buying the correct mudguard from Norvil. Unfortunately, while they have both the correct bridge and fender / mudguard available, they are both raw steel - not chromed.

Does anyone know where I could get one already in chrome or stainless or whatever, i.e shiny?

If not I assume I can send a naked one out to be chromed, but of course it's a bit of an extra faff.

Thank you!

Kind Regards,

James

Hi
The 1962 front mudguard is the shallow better looking one to me anyway, finding one will be hard along with the correct length stays.
If Norvil do have one I would go and look at it measure it very carefully, put it up against a wheel to check the radius matches before purchasing it.
The stays for sale at the time I rebuilt my 1963SS were either too long or two short, I ended up making a jig and making my own stays see my build thread I may have put the details on there.
The bridge also gave some issues and I had to massage it to correctly fit, bought it from RGM.
I didn't like the chrome, too much bling in my opinion, black being an option and turned out really good.
I also bought mudguards from Royal India, they were worse than the original ones I had, so ended up rebuilding the original guard, that mainly involved welding and then handing to a panel beater he did an amazing job, good enough to chrome and the painter finished.
Norvil tin ware is hit and miss some good some about as good as some of the Indian made stuff beware.
The Royal Indian guards were only good for the garbage bin, no amount of panel beating could have made them any good.
If you do find anything that is correct please post on this forum for others.

Regards
Burgs

Hi
The front stays are also smaller diameter than the later stays on offer from the suppliers

I had Norvil send me some photos. Of course that does not tells me if it will fit, but front and rear holes for the stays (and mounting holes) have not been drilled. So maybe I can get it to work with the existing stays? If not, I have several excellent metal shops in my area that can probably help, if mods are out of my wheelhouse. Regardless, it sounds like this will probably be an interesting journey! I prefer the shallow mudguard too, so one way or the other I want to get my hands on one.

With the issues of trying to find a modern tyre narrower than a 90x90 to fit the earlier forks ,you might consider changing yokes and sliders for later ones .

norton bob said:

With the issues of trying to find a modern tyre narrower than a 90x90 to fit the earlier forks ,you might consider changing yokes and sliders for later ones .

Click to expand...

There are still tyres out there that will fit as I have fitted them to my 650SS, no need to spend unnecessarily .

What tyre have you used on the 7" forks.?. With a valenced guard?.

norton bob said:

What tyre have you used on the 7" forks.?. With a valenced guard?.

Click to expand...

No valanced guard just the standard small guard Bob, remember James is talking about a later mudguard fitted to early 62 7" Yokes, this is a the standard early slim mudguard not the ugly to me later valanced guard although the same tyre would fit both.

Burgs

Heven't found a modern tyre that would fit, but have had a few recommendations from folk who don't have the same guard. Its likely that I will have to try a moped tyre thats not rated above 90 mph.

I dont know if this will help, but my Atlas has 7 inch forks, and my original two front stays are in my spares bin. I can easily trace their outline and holes, and snail mail the result to you.

Slick

Hi Bob
Tyre I had fitted is a 90/90x19" Avon Road Rider, modern looking thread but seems to work nice.

Hi Britstuf
Shame your not closer, I made the struts out of SS tube (I still have a length and a half left), the eye to eye measure is around 11 1/2" , made a few of them until I got the fit just right, hard to do because the ends are bent, it makes them hard to measure, I made a male and female die to press the ends to shape.

I have useless long and short ones that were and are still described to fit but they where nowhere in the ball park.

Slick I would be keen to see what measurements you come up with for comparison.

Best Regards
burgs

Thank you everyone for your replies, tremendously helpful!

As suggested, original narrow mudguards for 7" forks appear to be very thin on the ground. Consequently I have decided to roll the dice and buy a new replacement; hoping it can be made to fit, and finished to a high enough standard to be suitable for chroming.

Ah, such a sweet, innocent and naive chap I hear you say..... Well, yes you are of course correct. However, I already have a ton of time and cash into the bike, so why not a bit more. After all the only motorcycles I own are British, so clearly I enjoy pain!

In order to increase the odds in my favour, I decided to buy from a reputable supplier, i.e. not from Ebay. It turns out that the only major supplier I could find, with inventory, was indeed Norvil. I asked them where it was sourced from, apparently it is of U.K. manufacture and is the last one they had in stock. They were also able to sell me what should be the correct bridge.

In regards to stays, I think I have to wait before I make any further decisions. The mudguard fit, presumably, being the determining factor driving stay length. (thank you Slick for your kind offer).

I will report back to this forum with results, might take a while.....

Thanks again!

Kind Regards,

James

I ended up purchasing a raw steal (shallow) 7" fork fender from Norvil. I am currently working on getting it fitted. It appears to fit quite well, no need for a hammer and dolly, just a bit of hand twisting. The fact that the stay holes have to be drilled means my existing stays will work - with a bit of careful measurement!

One thing I noticed was that the lozenge / chevron design (or whatever it is called) on the front lip of the fender (I bought from Norvil), appears to be very similar to those I have seen in books and my old deep front mudguard. Of all those I saw on Ebay, the lozenge / chevron design appears to be quite crudely formed. Perhaps such, and the problems people seem to have with some replacement fenders from Ebay, should serve as a red flag for other potential quality / fitment issues.

Thank you everyone for your help!

Kind Regards,

James

I find the front stays are unnecessary. The fender (mudguard) is sufficiently rigid with the rear stays and the bridge mounts. Looks cleaner as well.



Slick

Gorgeous bike Slick! I will keep that in mind.

Thank you