My Project and a few questions

Hi all,

My first post.. I'm building a Norton featherbed cafe racer, using an old Ironhead engine. Its going ok, but got a few questions, mainly about the 'Norton' part of the equation.

The oil tank is mounted using a couple of rubber bungs at the top, and a grooved boss at the bottom, which uses a fancy rubber band in some way. What I cant see, is how this 'rubber band' is supposed to work. Can anyone show me a photo or explain where it attaches to the frame. I have seen a photo where the band attaches to a hook on the inside of a frame rail, but my frame doesnt have this hook.

Here is the oil tank in question



and here is where its got to go..

This is how far I've got.. Hubs are HD, rims are 18 inch MORADs with stainless spokes. My first attempt at lacing wheels.. its not as asy as it looks! Forks are 43mm from a Honda with one off alloy yokes, Engine is a 79 XL1000 which will be modded for more power. Rearsets are are Heinz 57 of LSL and home made parts, clocks are electronic anologue Daytonas in stainless cases, discs are EBC.. still lots to do..

That thing is awesome. I love the combination of many different bikes.

Thanks, I could do a build thread on here, but wasnt sure as its not a brit bike.. :?

Bevelheadmhr said:

The oil tank is mounted using a couple of rubber bungs at the top, and a grooved boss at the bottom, which uses a fancy rubber band in some way. What I cant see, is how this 'rubber band' is supposed to work. Can anyone show me a photo or explain where it attaches to the frame. I have seen a photo where the band attaches to a hook on the inside of a frame rail, but my frame doesnt have this hook.

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Bevelheadmhr said:

I could do a build thread on here, but wasnt sure as its not a brit bike..

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There are no rules that says it has to be British.

Bevelheadmhr said:

Thanks, I could do a build thread on here, but wasnt sure as its not a brit bike..?

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Some will cringe, but it's a Norton frame. I wouldn't mind following the build details...

...and welcome to the forum.

L.A.B. said:

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Looks like you have to have the earlier, removeable, top rear mount, to slip those lower bands on...

Thanks all, thats the way I thought the rubber band would go, the top motor mount behind the gearbox is removable. Just seems a bit odd, as it cant really provide much support for the oil tank.

ok, as for the build thread, lets see.. best start at the beginning last year. I'd been working on a Guzzi cafe racer which was going ok and had started to look for my next project. I like all kinds of bikes, got an 81 Ducati MHR, a 888 SP4 rep, Triumph 955 Speed triple and a couple of big inch 'Harleys' (which have no HD parts in them at all). So I wasnt adverse to an old HD, though I wouldnt have normally gone as far as buying an Ironhead, as I've had one before and it cost a fortune to rebuild. Oh and a couple of years earlier I had bought my first ever old Brit, a 66 TR6 motor in a 70s Bonny frame. I did try to like it and it done look nice with its export tank, but it wasnt my cup of tea, so I was glad when someone wanted it more thna I did.

I found out about a 79 Ironhead that hadnt been used for a few years, due to its owner having died. It was being sold by a little shop in Wales on behalf of his widow. IT had 8 inch over forks, a raked frame (yuk) but more importantly a completely rebuilt motor by a reputable workshop, with £3K of receipts. So last summer I set off to deepest darkest Wale, where I bought it for just £1500, a good price as Ironheads are becoming ever more expensive. It turned out the dealer was also involved in building Norton replica frames (Norley), so I got a shop tour, and came away quite impressed. I didnt start off intending to build another cafe racer (I know they are in at the moment, but not bothered about all that), but a few weeks later I ordered a frame with a tank and oil tank, a few after that it arrived.

This is the bike as it arrived..



And this is the short video I made of the Norley Shop tour..

http://youtu.be/NVT_yPK_4Pg

and this is the frame with a pair of YSS shocks (Cheap but better than Hagons)..

I was going to finsish the Guzzi before starting on the Ironhead, but it didnt take long before I couldnt resist making a start..



That frame is heavy at 53 lbs, the Norley frame is about half that. A std old Ironhead weighs in at 525lbs, I'm aiming to get that close to 400lb in the new frame, and the engine will be modded too, hope to get over 70bhp at the rear wheel. The build has been making slow progress since last summer, due to lack of money to spend on it. I'm making everything I can manage, and swapping parts for stuff I need.

The day the frame arrived, I put the engine in, took two of us, but it went in without too much swearing on my part.. oh and I'll be changing those gofd awful 'custom' pushrod covers too..

I made a start cleaning up the engine cases, painting the starter and so on. The original HD Carb was never much good, and this one had flaking chrome and a cheap air filter, it had to go. I got a good deal on an S&S Super E carb. It didnt come with the famous teardrop air filter, but I didnt want that in anycase. I had a big old velocity stack from my old drag bike, so that went on for now, I'll probably not run it with this, but havent found a suitable air filter yet.

Next I needed a front end, it wouldve been so much easier to use HD yokes and forks, but they dont work too well, and I never seem to do the easy option.. Instead I did a swap and got a mint pair of 43mm Showa forks from a Honda, along with the discs. Now I needed to find some yokes which would work with the forks and the HD steering head bearings. I took a trip to see my mate Jeff (he often gets me out of the engineering hole I dig for myself). He makes all sorts of stuff in his home workshop, incl the drag bike in which we own a half share. I route about through his shed, uncovered a couple of unfinished billet yokes both drilled for 43mm forks and both not yet drilled to take bar risers. Perfect, as I intended using clip ons. I picked the one pair that were less angular, as it would suite the retro cafe racer style better..





The tricky bit was now to press out the old stem from the Harley yokes and make spacers etc to fit it to my new billet yokes. As usual, Jeff did a great job, while I got in the way and drank tea and ate all his favourite biscuits

With the stem machined and a cheap pair of clip ons, it didnt look too bad, though not sure about the style of the clip ons, they'll do until a better pair turn up..

Around this time, I cleared out my loft of all the junk that had built up over the years, including three old fairings for bikes long gone and a box of bike parts I'd been given ten years ago. Most of it was of no use, except for a mismatched set of components for rearsets by the german company LSL. The mounting holes were only a couple of mm out from those of the frame, so with a bit of work I thought I could use them.



But first time for a chemistry experiment, to remove the anodising from the levers. I'd read that Caustic soda wold do the job, so I gave it a go..



Something is happening..


Not bad, witnh the anodising removed its an easy job to polish the levers


The pegs are now i long way back, not sure how practical they'll be, but I can always make a new mounting plate to move them forward if needed, though I'd prefer to keep the clean look as is..





Of course this is so far the easy bit, the next step is to make agear linkage and fit a brake master cylinder..

Very nice. Should be fun bike when finished.

Ken

I enjoy any Featherbed built bikes, I would like to build one with a moden 1200 sporster Evo motor and it be a lot lighter than a Iron Head, I will be watching this build, so far its looking great, I have to start back on my Manxman projet. keep up the pics and updates.

Ashley

ashman said:

I enjoy any Featherbed built bikes, I would like to build one with a moden 1200 sporster Evo motor and it be a lot lighter than a Iron Head, I will be watching this build, so far its looking great, I have to start back on my Manxman projet. keep up the pics and updates.

Ashley

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The Norleyframe was originally made to take an Evo Sporty motor and running gear, mine had a modified gearbox mount to fit the old Ironhead. It wouldve been much easier to use a Evo motor, they're lighter and more powerful afterall, with spares and go faster parts much more common. I chose to use an ironhead because it looks better to me, more 'mechanical' and it suites the style of a cafe racer. The ironhead is a heavy lump for sure, but phase two of this build (when its running ok and bebugged) will be to make it as light as possible, so one idea is to make a pair of alloy barrels from billet.. its a long term project ... keeps me busy.

The next step was to make a gear linkage, so I reused the original splined gear lever (from the forward controls), but turned it upside down and cut the end off..



I then filed a flat on the side of the lever and made a little alloy triangle to bolt to the lever. This triangle in turn would be attached to a shift rod via a clevis joint, while the other end would be attached to the gear lever via a rose joint. I found this combination is better than using two rose joints, as it helps stop the shift rod from flopping about. I used a bit of bent wire to guesstimate the shape of the shift rod..



THe joints and link rod are stainless, I threaded the bar and bent it to shape using a blowtorch, it seems to work ok, though it looks a bit crude. By changing the shape of the alloy triangle I can always alter the leverage ratio if needed, without having to completely start again.

On the brake side, I used a secondhand Brembo master cylinder from a 916, had to make a simple mounting bracket and a stainless pushrod from a bolt..

The early Buells used an eerily similar shifter linkage, and that was from the factory!