Norton Featherbed frames and custom built copies

Fast Eddie said:

S'appnin Johny, have you bought this Trident - Triton - racer yet ??

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Matt Spencer said:

Youll have to hold a party , and have everyone around to take it for a spin . :twisted: :mrgreen:

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Johnnymac said:

Well looks like we have a deal. I should be picking it up in a few weeks!!

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acotrel said:

There are replica Featherbed frames being made here in Australia. If you are building a race bike and want to use 18 inch wheels, some are made with 26 degree head angles. It makes the bike handle like a 70s Suzuki two stroke, which to my mind is not really what an old style British bike should be about. The Manx frame of the 50s had 24.5 degree head angle and 19 inch wheels. With the centre of gravity correct as in a 500cc Manx Norton, the bike feels very positive and stable coming out of corners and inspires confidence. The 26 degree head angle bike is quite different - more modern and quick steering. If you intend to go that way, you probably need to discuss fork offsets with the maker.

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acotrel said:

There are replica Featherbed frames being made here in Australia. If you are building a race bike and want to use 18 inch wheels, some are made with 26 degree head angles. It makes the bike handle like a 70s Suzuki two stroke, which to my mind is not really what an old style British bike should be about. The Manx frame of the 50s had 24.5 degree head angle and 19 inch wheels. With the centre of gravity correct as in a 500cc Manx Norton, the bike feels very positive and stable coming out of corners and inspires confidence. The 26 degree head angle bike is quite different - more modern and quick steering. If you intend to go that way, you probably need to discuss fork offsets with the maker.

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ashman said:

Brad
My cousin up in Mareeba Far North Qld has a BSA and his friend up there has a one man engneering workshop up there, he make Wideline Featherbed frames for BSA singles the frames are made to oginal specs, I met him about 12 years ago when up there for my uncles funeral and his frames are a work of art, but last time talking to my cousin his mate closed the shop up to do some traveling but he was keeping the workshop, I haven't talked to Bill in sometime but if you like I will contact him to see if his mate is still building them, they are both into BSA singles and when I was up there all those years ago he had a few frames made.

Ashley

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Johnnymac said:

Hi Guys. Just wondering if any of you have used a replica/copy of a featherbed frame on any projects? They are getting harder to find and there seem to be newly made options out there. i.e. Andover Norton sells a new Featherbed frame. There's a guy in Chicago and also Philadelphia who makes a nice one too.

Would a bike built on a "replica" featherbed frame be worth any less than a genuine featherbed frame? I'm not going to be doing any projects for a while since we just celebrated the birth of our second child last week.... but I'm toying with the idea in the future at some point.

Thanks

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