Hardly notice the blower cos in every pic my eyes are drawn to that hideous headlight! What was he thinking??
Does it run, or is it supposed to be eye candy?....Dump the mirrors, headlight, & blower and there's a nice looking scooter left. Of course I'd like to see the anal Amals back on it too, but not mine & won't be.
Yours certainly does look as if it runs like a scalded cat. A totally different approach to dealing with power, speed, & handling...stopping.
20 + years ago I was friends with a norton collector who had a few of those Drouin superchargers. He was always trying to sell me one for cheap, just so he could see if I could get it to work. He was also a big perveyer of norton myths, so I had my doubts about messing with this supercharger on my bike. The fact that you don't see them on working bikes with significant mileage says it all to me. I'm really happy I didn't yield to my curiousity and get involved with it... If you buy this bike, you're buying an experiment in progress, with a horrifying headlight and mirrors...
If you want a supercharged Norton, supercharge a Norton. Don’t buy someone else’s engineering mistakes. Not at that price!
I got a Drouin back around the late 70s to 1980ish. Bob Budschat in Seattle helped me set it up. It worked too well, especially when you slip the clutch to let the boost build. The crank snapped clean in half. Traded it straight across for a used 850 motor from a guy in Portland, OR. Always was curious what other shared devilish acts that that unit was involved in.
I just don't think I'd be willing to risk a nice vintage bike on an experiment. Norton scoots put out and perform amazingly well for what they are, and in my humble opinion they have grace and a sublime beauty from a bygone era in motorcycling. There's always the crotch rockets for the chills and thrills if one must cover 12 parsecs that afternoon, or the dedicated racing bikes.
