Our Winter is here

ashman said:

Phil the best thing with us Aussies is we can put a lot of shit on each other and still be good friends its the aussie way of life, I love riding all year round but our winters are the best times for our Nortons they run so well and I don't mind a bit of cold wheather riding as long as i stay warm.

Ashley

Click to expand...

Yes Ashley
Mostly Aussies don't take themselves seriously. The odd one does but not the type you would see out for a beer with the boys, nor would you want them there. Or maybe they are too dumb to even understand their own country's style of humour, you get that from the odd misfit. I actually thought Queensland had won last night. Then I was told we were not the ones wearing maroon jumpers. Gees, how was I to know that!!

Phil

phil yates said:

ashman said:

Sorry guys I just like to rub it in, we get very hot summers here and sometimes to hot to ride comfortable, the lowest it will get here in Queensland will be about 6c at night and our coolest days about 15c, I have never seen or experance snow and would hurt me to not be able to ride my bikes through winter because of snow and ice, I do feel for you guys that have to suffer very cold winters.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Ashley
Come down to the Southern Highlands for July Christmas. It snows here (occasionally), black ice early morning and rain and sludge on others. Got a spare bed if you want or the Mitto has cheap rooms. I wouldn't ride your Norton down though, you might spend your week no further south than Ballina, getting a re build. Winter is not the best for riding here. I tried it once on the coldest day possible in my open face helmet. My face went numb in no time. Summers are fantastic riding weather. But there is something special about having four seasons. Queensland is a terrible place with a footy team who only wins by cheating. But not this Wednesday night busto!! During State Of Origin, my brother and I refuse to talk to each other, sometimes even for a month afterwards, even though we both have Commandos!

Go the Mighty Blues!!!

Phil[/quote

Commando from QLD to Mittagong no problem though you may not want to once you reached Ballina and experienced the hinterland
A ride from there to Tenterfield in the winter will give you the snow fix and you can get there and back in one day if you like
QLD maroons needs to retire some geriatrics from the team, the Blues win is justified. There have been some dubious ref calls in the past, to deny that is just plain ignorance
QLD has won 8 straight. NSW holds the record of 9 straight so the count begins again for QLD. Strange how many cane toads forget (or don't know) that
QlLD does hold the record for the most origin games played without scoring a try

Also there is a new treatment for Dupuytren's contracture which is less traumatic. By injecting an enzyme (collagenase clostridium histolyticum) to soften and weaken the diseased cords
I have the condition also (known as Vikings disease) but not so bad, closing the hand around the handle bars is OK rather than the other way around

Anyway The Blues won and history is all good again!

Jed

Jed said:

phil yates said:

ashman said:

Sorry guys I just like to rub it in, we get very hot summers here and sometimes to hot to ride comfortable, the lowest it will get here in Queensland will be about 6c at night and our coolest days about 15c, I have never seen or experance snow and would hurt me to not be able to ride my bikes through winter because of snow and ice, I do feel for you guys that have to suffer very cold winters.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Ashley
Come down to the Southern Highlands for July Christmas. It snows here (occasionally), black ice early morning and rain and sludge on others. Got a spare bed if you want or the Mitto has cheap rooms. I wouldn't ride your Norton down though, you might spend your week no further south than Ballina, getting a re build. Winter is not the best for riding here. I tried it once on the coldest day possible in my open face helmet. My face went numb in no time. Summers are fantastic riding weather. But there is something special about having four seasons. Queensland is a terrible place with a footy team who only wins by cheating. But not this Wednesday night busto!! During State Of Origin, my brother and I refuse to talk to each other, sometimes even for a month afterwards, even though we both have Commandos!

Go the Mighty Blues!!!

Phil[/quote

Commando from QLD to Mittagong no problem though you may not want to once you reached Ballina and experienced the hinterland
A ride from there to Tenterfield in the winter will give you the snow fix and you can get there and back in one day if you like
QLD maroons needs to retire some geriatrics from the team, the Blues win is justified. There have been some dubious ref calls in the past, to deny that is just plain ignorance
QLD has won 8 straight. NSW holds the record of 9 straight so the count begins again for QLD. Strange how many cane toads forget (or don't know) that
QlLD does hold the record for the most origin games played without scoring a try

Also there is a new treatment for Dupuytren's contracture which is less traumatic. By injecting an enzyme (collagenase clostridium histolyticum) to soften and weaken the diseased cords
I have the condition also (known as Vikings disease) but not so bad, closing the hand around the handle bars is OK rather than the other way around

Anyway The Blues won and history is all good again!

Jed

Click to expand...

Jed
I rode my Dominator from Sydney to Byron Bay in 1971, on school holidays. First visit there was 1969. How things have changed. In those days the big long wharf from the abattoirs was there and you could see all the way along the beach up to The Pass. My Triumph mate and I set up tent at Clarkes Caravan Park. Great days, great memories. All I've got left from those days, apart from some ageing photos, is another Norton. We returned via New England Highway and it was bitter. It started snowing at Guyra and I had no wet weather gear, couldn't afford it. Stopped for fuel at Armidale and could go no further that night. I had to slide my hands off the handlebars as I couldn't open them (Vikings disease - early onset?) and when the blood returned the pain was excruciating. Next day we got to Newcastle before my mate's Triumph ate its clutch so we left it at a garage and he jumped on the back with me. Very illegal as I was still on L Plates but hey, who gave a shit? We had to get home.

Yes, I saw the Blues won.
I think olChris barracks for them because they represent WA.
Don't they??
wots a kane tode?

Phil

Jed and phil I will get down your ways one day and look forward to meeting with you all, I have ridden in some cold weather in my times but never in snow, i have a secret weapon for riding in the cold to stay warm, I have a full beard that keeps my face warm in winter and to have a beer or two or more with you all will be great and putting shit on each other is all part of the fun and friendship we all have, doesn't matter what bikes we ride we all love the life style, my Norton has dome many long distant runs without any problems and the colder it gets the better it runs.

Phil you don't need to go over board with your motor to make it go better than standard and still have a reliable motor, I have a hot motor in my Norton the secret is to have everything working together with out going over board, all I have done is balanced bottom end, 2S cam grinde, head ported and flowed tested, good carbies, open exhaust system and a good ignition system, my motor will run very freely well over 7,500 rpms, but it all depends on how far you want to push it without it going bang, look after your motor and it will look after you and surprise a lot of poeple on how quick it is.

Ashley

If this is a medical forum, we all have scars and missing digits.
Mike

+1 also why would someone come on here and talk about football?

ashman said:

Jed and phil I will get down your ways one day and look forward to meeting with you all, I have ridden in some cold weather in my times but never in snow, i have a secret weapon for riding in the cold to stay warm, I have a full beard that keeps my face warm in winter and to have a beer or two or more with you all will be great and putting shit on each other is all part of the fun and friendship we all have, doesn't matter what bikes we ride we all love the life style, my Norton has dome many long distant runs without any problems and the colder it gets the better it runs.

Phil you don't need to go over board with your motor to make it go better than standard and still have a reliable motor, I have a hot motor in my Norton the secret is to have everything working together with out going over board, all I have done is balanced bottom end, 2S cam grinde, head ported and flowed tested, good carbies, open exhaust system and a good ignition system, my motor will run very freely well over 7,500 rpms, but it all depends on how far you want to push it without it going bang, look after your motor and it will look after you and surprise a lot of poeple on how quick it is.

Ashley

Click to expand...

What's overboard about fitting a super charger? I'm not putting a rocket engine in it!………..yet.
No you are right Ashley, it is a matter of balance. I was amazed at the difference between the new MkIII (with bean cans) and mine (with peashooters) alone. No wonder people looked at the MkIII as a non performer. Then I imagine the black box air filter would have made it that much worse again. Items for the Wingecarribee river. But those bean cans were fitted as early back as the MkIA I believe.

Here's my idea of balance Ashley. Sorry sake-suckers, your days are numbered!!

Phil

baz said:

+1 also why would someone come on here and talk about football?

Click to expand...

Because it is played in winter.
The topic is not Commando specific.
And obviously you don't like it.

Three very good reasons.

Phil

phil yates said:

baz said:

+1 also why would someone come on here and talk about football?

Click to expand...

Because it is played in winter.
The topic is not Commando specific.
And obviously you don't like it.

Three very good reasons.

Phil

Click to expand...

there are many sports and activities played in winter not many of them relevant here! the topic is not commando specific i agree but it was winter motorcycling specific! why do you think i dont like football? i know where you are coming from Phil i have travelled widely in OZ and worked out there and drunk in many bars and clubs back in the mid 80s what i liked about the aussies was they would take the piss you could take the piss back and they would buy you a beer ,but when it comes to sport its all about winning not taking part to an aussie thats why they are such bad losers in my opinion,if you are serious about a supercharger make sure you do your homework if you go for a drouin try and get the single belt type the problems with the lake injetor are well documented bearings rated at 20,000 rpm running at 40,000 rpm and new ones virtually unobtainable etc etc maybe better going for a rootes type from a small car? ,,,,,,,,,,,,baz

baz said:

phil yates said:

baz said:

+1 also why would someone come on here and talk about football?

Click to expand...

Because it is played in winter.
The topic is not Commando specific.
And obviously you don't like it.

Three very good reasons.

Phil

Click to expand...

there are many sports and activities played in winter not many of them relevant here! the topic is not commando specific i agree but it was winter motorcycling specific! why do you think i dont like football? i know where you are coming from Phil i have travelled widely in OZ and worked out there and drunk in many bars and clubs back in the mid 80s what i liked about the aussies was they would take the piss you could take the piss back and they would buy you a beer ,but when it comes to sport its all about winning not taking part to an aussie thats why they are such bad losers in my opinion,if you are serious about a supercharger make sure you do your homework if you go for a drouin try and get the single belt type the problems with the lake injetor are well documented bearings rated at 20,000 rpm running at 40,000 rpm and new ones virtually unobtainable etc etc maybe better going for a rootes type from a small car? ,,,,,,,,,,,,baz

Click to expand...

Thanks baz
I don't actually give two hoots about football, but you can't miss an opportunity to rev a Queenslander up during State of Origin fever. Even our idiot State Premier gets involved. Someone told him there were votes in it. I can't stand politicians anymore than I can Queenslanders We are under siege here. To our south, a state that better resembles Europe. To the west an unintelligible lot who thankfully can't climb a rabbit fence. And across the water to our east a bunch of wild natives always arriving on our shores in canoes. Life isn't easy here.

But yes, I am serious about the super charger. It would be about two projects down the track so I have plenty of time to learn and absorb information. I'm only just beginning. I love the learning experience. If you don't keep your brain spinning, you might as well be dead. I could buy a hot sake-sucker if it was only performance I was interested in, but it's not. Something fascinates me about making a Commando accelerate like a sling shot. They did effectively in 1972 but times have moved on. I have a range of interests associated with Nortons in general, and Commandos in particular. I have been fascinated with them all my life. Still stare at my 1970 Commando brochure like it had just come out. Vivien Neves is on my screen saver. Jenny says I have a screw loose. Who wouldn't having ridden Nortons all your life? The Atlas would have been really devastating!!

There is a mob in WA called Sprintex who produce blowers and I put a call into them yesterday, waiting to hear back. Also learnt there is a performance shop in SW Sydney who are into high performance anything, haven't tracked their name yet, but they'd be close to me. So the learning goes on.

I would expect most of us in here are interested in anything with a motor in it. I had friends at school who were into the arts, so to speak. Nothing wrong with that but I was considered a heathen. Most of them live in Tasmania now, struggling to stay alive. They certainly don't own any Nortons. Not a one between them!!

Phil

We have a climate here in NW Washington that is similar to Cornwall and across the Channel in France. Winter days rarely have highs below freezing (typically 38F after an overnight low around 29F) and bright blue, sunny summer days that rarely get above about 75F and the humidity is down in the teens. Having a bay about a half-mile from our house that is 60 fathoms deep a mile off-shore and primarily snow-melt run-off might have an influence. If you go wading at our niegborhood beach, your legs and feet are numb within 5 minutes. Our 10-year-old Labradors love it - we walk them there every afternoon.

Sure, in some seasons it rains a lot, but it deosn't rain much. When we lived in Tidewater Virginia, we'd get summer afternoon thunderstorms that would dump 3" of rain in 45 minutes. To get 3" in Anacortes, it would have to rain 24 hours a day for 5 days.

After watching the horrendous weather reported on TV from the mid-west and the East coast, we're very grateful to live here!

Beefing up the powerplant is OK but keep in mind other things may need some attention also
The image of this gearbox I had to replace while rebuilding the commando stays with me and the fact it was originally designed for a 500 is not that reassuring and the reason I'm not so concerned about how fast I get there but how
The new Norton SG3 (to be put through the paces by Cam Donald at this years IoM) may be what your looking for

Sorry about the footy rave but it's Australia's version of the superbowl

Phil
A cane toad is a maroon (Queenslander) a cockroach is (Blue) someone from NSW. Pretty basic origin jargon but I digress again

Jed

Jed said:

Beefing up the powerplant is OK but keep in mind other things may need some attention also
The image of this gearbox I had to replace while rebuilding the commando stays with me and the fact it was originally designed for a 500 is not that reassuring and the reason I'm not so concerned about how fast I get there but how
The new Norton SG3 (to be put through the paces by Cam Donald at this years IoM) may be what your looking for

Sorry about the footy rave but it's Australia's version of the superbowl

Phil
A cane toad is a maroon (Queenslander) a cockroach is (Blue) someone from NSW. Pretty basic origin jargon but I digress again

Jed

Click to expand...

I see, an animal show.
A cockroach pitted against a big fat ugly monstrosity known as a cane toad.
And the cockroach kicks ass??
That nasty gear box in the pictures, that never happens on a MkIII due linkage stress improvements.

Phil

Hi Phil
My rebuild can be seen in detail on this site under
1977 commando rebuild
One of the last MK 3's
AMC box was the same throughout (with a few minor mods) they just kept upping the CC
I love the bike like any pin up but unfortunately not confident to ride it as hard as I would one of them knowing what lies beneath

Bit pissed at the moment

Jed

Oops! sorry Philthe link is
1977-commando-rebuild-t12803.html

Jed said:

Hi Phil
My rebuild can be seen in detail on this site under
1977 commando rebuild
One of the last MK 3's
AMC box was the same throughout (with a few minor mods) they just kept upping the CC
I love the bike like any pin up but unfortunately not confident to ride it as hard as I would one of them knowing what lies beneath

Bit pissed at the moment

Jed

Click to expand...

Yes, the AMC gearbox was a very good partner to the Norton engine. I don't think it's going to like having nearly 100hp belted through it. I'm thinking buy one super charger, and fifteen AMC gearboxes.
It's only money Jed. And gearboxes!

Do you want to know how I ended up buying this beauty today over on the coast?
Simple, we went out for lunch. Sometimes days end like you don't expect.

Phil

I hope a paper bag came with that thing. :shock:

http://www.ttindustries.com/index.html

Edit.
Forget about relic inefficient superchargers.

http://www.rotrex.com/Home

Ring now its around 1:00 pm.

http://www.tts-performance.co.uk/

The mind boggles
They lost both wars, they belong in another class (poor buggers think it's a higher one) and I hope you swapped it for a beer

Jed said:

The mind boggles
They lost both wars, they belong in another class (poor buggers think it's a higher one) and I hope you swapped it for a beer

Click to expand...

The side car was made by Royal Enfield in India.
The owner was a really nice chap. John is 86 years old and decided to let his outfit go. He's also just sold his Triumph Bonneville which he was still riding and now is on a trike. Strange how just going out for lunch can end in the most unusual occurrences. This is the fifth beemer I've owned which would equal my Nortons except that tomorrow my sixth Norton arrives. BMW is the only other motorcycle I've had a continuous love affair with, and I wasn't even looking for this one. Sure, I've had lots and lots of others, but Norton stands way out front, followed by BMW. Then come all the sake-suckers I've also had.

In for a penny, in for a pound.

Phil

Time Warp said:

I hope a paper bag came with that thing. :shock:

http://www.ttindustries.com/index.html

Edit.
Forget about relic inefficient superchargers.

http://www.rotrex.com/Home

Ring now its around 1:00 pm.

http://www.tts-performance.co.uk/

Click to expand...

Thanks Time
There is a whole world of interesting performance enhancements out there. The sky is the limit. I see the Blown Norton project as a matter of take your time, learn about everything then step by step, slowly slowly. I don't want to finish too quickly or I'll be out looking for something else to achieve. Tomorrow's arrival is not for blowing, it is the Rocket Racer with Jim Comstock worked Fullauto head, Keihin carbs from CNW along with Corbin seat, alloy rims and a long list of other variations. Tomorrow is just the start of that project.

And my trusty Fastback workhorse sits parked watching all of this with interest. Knowing it will never be surpassed by anything.

Phil