"Norvil" brake disc .

The yaki

The yaki

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I have a Norvil brake conversion kit fitted supplied by mick hemmings many years ago. I have seen that they are still available from norvil and one from fair deal , new England. I also read a 2019 post from member "click" asking about one. Does anyone know if a better looking one than the stock can be obtained I.e the one in clicks post. Mostly for cosmetic purposes but with no loss of efficiency ? Perhaps even better. I want to keep the set up so just a disc improvement ? Roy.
 

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Made by Donald Pender...Brake master cylinder mounts to oem switch on bars and 6 piston caliper mounts to oem fork leg and has floating disc.
"Norvil" brake disc .
 
The yaki said:
I have a Norvil brake conversion kit fitted supplied by mick hemmings many years ago. I have seen that they are still available from norvil
Click to expand...

Mick Hemmings 'Norvil' and Norvil Motorcycles 'Norvil' were two separate companies so their products were different.
 
L.A.B. said:
Mick Hemmings 'Norvil' and Norvil Motorcycles 'Norvil' were two separate companies so their products were different.
Click to expand...
AFAIK the original Norvil design ( from both sources) only has a solid disc version. I expect it could be lightened with slots/holes etc, but would lose the ‘look’. Of course, the new AN 13mm bore master cylinder can be swapped in for better operation and keeping looks.
 
What we're the technical differences between the two makes ? They were identical designs as is fair spares. Different tolerances ? They all use the ap Lockheed 2696 caliper it seems but do the distances from the hub to the disc differ and do the disc diameters differ ?? Roy.
 
Some years ago there was some legal wrangling about who had the rights to the Norvil brand, which muddies the waters.
I'm guessing they're all based on the same drawings.
From my own personal experience, Mick Hemmings products were better quality, but sadly no longer available.
Andover Norton took over Mick's remaining inventory, and now sell production racer parts. Whether they're sourced from where Mick sourced them I don't know.
 
Same caliper indeed. Im going to use it and the mounting bracket. I just would like a better looking disc. I'll try and find the distance between hub and disc for these mods . The wheel hubs remain the same, the fork sliders remain the same and the calipers are all the same in all three kits.the only difference can be the thickness of the mounting bracket or the disc diameter ? Not much info on these kits available unfortunately. Will get there, Thanks, Roy.
 
B+Bogus said:
Some years ago there was some legal wrangling about who had the rights to the Norvil brand, which muddies the waters.
Click to expand...

"THE NORVIL® TRADEMARK
On NOVEMBER 4TH, 1994 at the Patent Office, London, the Comptroller General for
the Trade Marks Registry gave judgement that MR. LES EMERY, trading as FAIR
SPARES (Now trading as The Norvil M/C Company) has no exclusive Rights
whatsoever, to the Trade Mark “NORVIL”.
1. It was also his judgement that Andover Norton had not inherited from Norton Villiers
Performance Shop Ltd., any Rights to the NORVIL Trade Mark and thus, in effect,
had no Rights to assign to Mr. L. Emery. (Now trading as The Norvil M/C Company).
2. It was also clear that Andover Norton had never used the name NORVIL as a Trade
Mark.
3. No proof was given in evidence by “FAIR SPARES” that they had ever purchased
from Andover Norton, any so-called “Genuine” Jigs, Fixtures, Tools or drawings for
NORVIL parts.
4. MICK HEMMINGS MOTORCYCLES have been continuously manufacturing
NORVIL parts in the period 1974 to present, with the knowledge and assistance of
both ANDOVER NORTON and NORTON MOTORS LTD.
A FULL COPY OF THE COURT TRANSCRIPT WITH SUPPORTING EVIDENCE IS
AVAILABLE AT MICK HEMMINGS MOTORCYCLES FOR INSPECTION BY ANYONE
WHO WISHES.
®THE NORVIL TRADEMARK IS NOW OWNED BY BOTH COMPANIES."
 
I must be strange. My bike is probably as far from original as any Commando based bike can get. And I am suspicious of the way the factory fixed the vibration problem. However it has been a long time since I have seen a dead-stock , nut and bolt perfect Commando. I saw one at Broadford many years ago, it gave me great pleasure to see it. The main thing is the front brake must stop the bike, but when I look at originality, I can see how the factory did things. Attention to detail is important.
These days, it is almost impossible to see a Manx Norton which is correct in every detail. I can remember what they looked like. My bike is a racer and it looks right - but it is nowhere near it !
 
I found the Norvil style lockheed conversions to be overrated. I've played with a few disc /caliper/mastercylinder combinations over the years including the Norvil lockheed caliper, a big RGM floating disc, Lockheed adjustable ratio m/c and a six pot caliper taken from a 90's Suzuki, they were all a bit disappointing.
By far the best setup I've found is a standard master cylinder sleeved down to 1/2" (or close to) with the stock caliper and a drilled standard disc (no chrome). It's also the best looking. It's possible to spend an awful lot of money with only really marginal gains. The main gain with all the alternatives is the change in master to caliper ratio.
I did buy a master cylinder sleeve kit at one time but it was complete crap so I had a piston and sleeve made.
 
It's worth remembering that the original Norvil 'self-aligning' disc requires a dedicated hub, and it was available prior to the introduction of the disc brake on production bikes.
The twin disc version used the same 5/8" master cylinder as the single disc, which is like squeezing a plank on a single disc setup, but great with the second disc.
 
Rich_j said:
I found the Norvil style lockheed conversions to be overrated. I've played with a few disc /caliper/mastercylinder combinations over the years including the Norvil lockheed caliper, a big RGM floating disc, Lockheed adjustable ratio m/c and a six pot caliper taken from a 90's Suzuki, they were all a bit disappointing.
By far the best setup I've found is a standard master cylinder sleeved down to 1/2" (or close to) with the stock caliper and a drilled standard disc (no chrome). It's also the best looking. It's possible to spend an awful lot of money with only really marginal gains. The main gain with all the alternatives is the change in master to caliper ratio.
I did buy a master cylinder sleeve kit at one time but it was complete crap so I had a piston and sleeve made.
Click to expand...
Agreed that the 1/2" master cylinder upgrade is the vital part, and I found all other changes were marginal, but still worth having, especially a larger diameter disc.
I would say that the AP CP 2696 caliper has the advantage of a greater choice in brake pad materials, but some good ones are available for the standard caliper nowadays too
 
A good option for the Norvil disk, if you would like to keep it somewhat original, would be to just drill it in a pattern that you like. This is the one I used on a couple of mine. You could also add a hole pattern on the outer, friction area of the disk. This one is an original Norton PR disk with a carrier from Fair Spares/Norvil that fits the standard Commando front hub instead of the original PR hub from Campagnolo. The caliper is a period Spondon replacement for the original AP Lockheed. Works really well. You could also drill the aluminum carrier for lightness and cosmetics. I did that back in the '80s, but don't have any pictures.

"Norvil" brake disc .


Ken
 
lcrken said:
A good option for the Norvil disk, if you would like to keep it somewhat original, would be to just drill it in a pattern that you like. This is the one I used on a couple of mine. You could also add a hole pattern on the outer, friction area of the disk. This one is an original Norton PR disk with a carrier from Fair Spares/Norvil that fits the standard Commando front hub instead of the original PR hub from Campagnolo. The caliper is a period Spondon replacement for the original AP Lockheed. Works really well. You could also drill the aluminum carrier for lightness and cosmetics. I did that back in the '80s, but don't have any pictures.

View attachment 115425

Ken
Click to expand...
I must be a nervous Nellie. I would not do that. The front brake is too important.
 
Beach said:
Made by Donald Pender...Brake master cylinder mounts to oem switch on bars and 6 piston caliper mounts to oem fork leg and has floating disc.View attachment 115411
Click to expand...
Unfortunately the kit no longer comes with the replacement slider pictured, but an adapter plate for the standard slider. It’s not nearly as elegant, but still a very effective brake apparently.
 
L.A.B. said:
Mick's Norvil discs were 11.5" which was the original Norvil size, Norvil Motorcycles discs were/are 12"/13"/14".
Click to expand...
although Norvil Motorcycles do not appear to still sell the toothed centre plates. Andover norton do, as well as the 6-hole hubs.
 
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