One owner 810 Dunstall interview - Tales from the Cul de Sac

ashman said:

Maybe he found out the problems with the Dunstall sleeves etc has, why the little miles on it, why have any motorcycle and not ride them, most of my Norton since new clocked up between 6K to 10K a year till 2013 now it's semi-retired but still ridden, a 100 miles a year just not right, but then a lot of people have bikes for show and tell (show pony and trailed to shows) I like the well ridden look myself.

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My wife says if you haven't touched thingy (s ) in a year , it's time to get rid of it.

Torontonian said:

My wife says if you haven't touched thingy (s ) in a year , it's time to get rid of it.

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Then why hasn't she gotten rid of you yet?

swooshdave said:

Then why hasn't she gotten rid of you yet?

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She really should but doesn't yet. A contradiction.

swooshdave said:

It's not important why someone wasn't able to ride a bike a lot. There are a lot of reasons and just because they don't apply to you doesn't mean they aren't valid.

What is important is there's a time capsule that shows exactly what Dunstall produced at the time. It's a unique experience that some of you should learn to appreciate. I know I do.

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Dave don't get me wrong, it's a nice looking bike for its time and a great history of a one owner bike, same as my bike one owner with history, my history, anyway I have had one good mate who also had a full Dunstall built bike that he bought in the mid 80s same colour with low miles and all but to be honest it wasn't a very reliable bike and spent more time off the road than on the road, this was my mate's second Norton and every time he took it out something else would go wrong with it the wiring job was also bit messed up, I ended up rewring it for him, after a few weeks of more troubles with it sort of put him off Norton's and it had the dreaded sleeve problem so in frustration he sold it.
Another mate bought a basket case Norton that had a 810 Dunstall motor that was still complete just the rest of the bike was a bitsa, but after a close inspection found the crank case on one side had a weld repair that he didn't pick up when he bought it so something came a drift and was bodged up.
I notice at the beginning when he gave it a bit coming into the street it was blowing a bit of blue smoke, could just have been from not being used much.
Great presentation with all his paper work and story and Dave you being a fan of Dunstall bits, so all good there, but all bikes should be ridden in my opinion, just looking at them is just not my thing.

Ashley

Yes bikes should be ridden.

But, if they’re all owned by buggers like us, that chop them about endlessly, there’ll be no originals left!

This bike belongs in the Barber museum IMO.

ashman said:

...., so all good there, but all bikes should be ridden in my opinion, just looking at them is just not my thing.

Ashley

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And when was the last time you rode your dusty rusty blue Norton? Lead by example. lol

ashman said:

Great presentation with all his paper work and story and Dave you being a fan of Dunstall bits, so all good there, but all bikes should be ridden in my opinion, just looking at them is just not my thing.

Ashley

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To be clear I am a fan of this owner's story.

I have been hit or miss with Dunstall parts. I had some rear sets and they looked very crude. Like caveman crude. I have often heard about the issues with the barrels. I had the Dunstall mufflers and they sounded fantastic.

Neither of the issues you raised with the two examples had anything to do with Dunstall. Those sound more like typical Commandos with a hard life.

The smoke is most likely the exhaust seals that have gotten hard over the years. Not a big deal.

Schwany said:

And when was the last time you rode your dusty rusty blue Norton? Lead by example. lol

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I ride it every 2 weeks I just don't bother cleaning it I have well over 160k miles on that bike but has been an everyday rider till 2013 when I brought a new Triumph Thruxton so now it's semi-retired but still gets taken out for its regular outing, it's still my favourite bike, as I say its's no show pony and is showing its age and shows it's been well ridden, the only time it's not been ridden is when I doing something to it like now going back to the old Amal carbs, they are all on but life has just got in the way with riding time, but I have 2 on road bikes.
I don't go over it to paint rust covered bolts and it has chips and dents in the tank and a bit of paint that needs repairs here and there but it's still a reliable bike and has many later in life upgrades, it just keeps going no matter what it looks like.

Ashley

swooshdave said:

To be clear I am a fan of this owner's story.

I have been hit or miss with Dunstall parts. I had some rear sets and they looked very crude. Like caveman crude. I have often heard about the issues with the barrels. I had the Dunstall mufflers and they sounded fantastic.

Neither of the issues you raised with the two examples had anything to do with Dunstall. Those sound more like typical Commandos with a hard life.

The smoke is most likely the exhaust seals that have gotten hard over the years. Not a big deal.

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When I built my Commando/Featherbed I installed a set of Dunstall rear sets, I agree with you they were crude within 6 months the gear linkages started to flog out and the folding foot pegs as well from the weight of the foot, it got so bad with the down angle my foot kept sliding of the peg, I also had a Dunstall seat but got destroyed in the great fire of 82 and Dunstall muffler for a few years when it was a Commando, the bike went well with them but I am not a fan of very long mufflers.
My mate's Dunstall only had very low miles and of course we never knew what sort of treatment any second hand bikes have had but something inside had let go as you well know can happen to any bike.
Yes blue smoke oil getting past somewhere and exhaust seals could be.
But Dunstall did have a big problem with sleeves movement in their barrels and a race Dunstall would get rebuilds often when raced.

Ashley

swooshdave said:

To be clear I am a fan of this owner's story.

I have been hit or miss with Dunstall parts. I had some rear sets and they looked very crude. Like caveman crude. I have often heard about the issues with the barrels. I had the Dunstall mufflers and they sounded fantastic.

Neither of the issues you raised with the two examples had anything to do with Dunstall. Those sound more like typical Commandos with a hard life.

The smoke is most likely the exhaust seals that have gotten hard over the years. Not a big deal.

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Intake seals.

I noticed the smoke, but I was more taken with the photography. Mike's drone footage is really good, as is all of his production. I look forward to early Sunday evening, quick flick of the TV to YouTube and 10 mins or so of Mike's latest video. Excellent. My wife walks off laughing at me, but my labrador seems to enjoys the ritual. A little oasis of calm, charm and sanity, amidst all the gloomy news beamed into our homes. Please pass on thanks to Mike.

He didn’t scrape the rubber off his rear sets and gear changer by puttering around, that’s for sure.

It was mentioned his career and interest turned to the car industry which probably helped the bike remain as it is today.

Excellent video. I enjoyed the CL77 video before it as well, would really like to find a decent one.

Mart UK said:

I noticed the smoke, but I was more taken with the photography. Mike's drone footage is really good, as is all of his production. I look forward to early Sunday evening, quick flick of the TV to YouTube and 10 mins or so of Mike's latest video. Excellent. My wife walks off laughing at me, but my labrador seems to enjoys the ritual. A little oasis of calm, charm and sanity, amidst all the gloomy news beamed into our homes. Please pass on thanks to Mike.

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Wait a second, who did the drone work?

This video made me want to touch my Norton.

ashman said:

I ride it every 2 weeks I just don't bother cleaning it I have well over 160k miles on that bike but has been an everyday rider till 2013 when I brought a new Triumph Thruxton so now it's semi-retired but still gets taken out for its regular outing, it's still my favourite bike, as I say its's no show pony and is showing its age and shows it's been well ridden, the only time it's not been ridden is when I doing something to it like now going back to the old Amal carbs, they are all on but life has just got in the way with riding time, but I have 2 on road bikes.
I don't go over it to paint rust covered bolts and it has chips and dents in the tank and a bit of paint that needs repairs here and there but it's still a reliable bike and has many later in life upgrades, it just keeps going no matter what it looks like.

Ashley

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The rust on the front rotor in one of your older pics threw me. I figured you were enjoying the Thruxton, had retired it, and were saving it for the future.

Mart UK said:

I noticed the smoke, but I was more taken with the photography. Mike's drone footage is really good, as is all of his production. I look forward to early Sunday evening, quick flick of the TV to YouTube and 10 mins or so of Mike's latest video. Excellent. My wife walks off laughing at me, but my labrador seems to enjoys the ritual. A little oasis of calm, charm and sanity, amidst all the gloomy news beamed into our homes. Please pass on thanks to Mike.

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Happiness is ignoring the news. Focus on your real life. Polish your Norton = happiness.

NPeteN said:

This video made me want to touch my Norton.

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TMI

drone? that was a brave man with a Norton-powered ‘jet’ pack....!

jan nelder said:

drone? that was a brave man with a Norton-powered ‘jet’ pack....!

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Jan - I must be missing something. To what do you refer?

Phil's bike has a 5 speed Quaife gearbox. I wonder how well the Quife cluster holds up in an 810 Dunstall, or an 850. Is there someone with first hand experience?

- Knut