The P11 thread

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New member to Access Norton.....I have a 1968 Norton P11A Ranger 750 disguised as a chopper with extended front forks, 16" x 5" rear tire (front and rear hubs are original finned) Z handlebars, chopped up mudguards with gas tank, oil tank and side cover brush painted turquoise. Engine and tranny may be a mystery since it hasn't ran for 18 years. The frame and engine #'s match - 1289xx and I have been in contact with the two previous owners - some good history. I literally found it in a barn. Major parts are still there but missing some essential items like headlight, seat, fork parts, original mudguards 18' rear rim and spokes, etc. and I have been in touch with Mike at Walridge as we are working our way through - he has been very helpful.
I noticed a previous comment by BillT about the seat mounting plate for the Ranger 750 that seems to be unique to this version. That's one of the missing parts I am seeking. Mike P. has a seat for me but the mounting plate seems to be difficult to find. Anybody out there know of a source for this plate or have some advice.
I would post a photo of the Ranger as it is now but haven't figured out how to yet.
 
Hi all. I'm new here. I do not own a Norton, but my father owned a '68 P11 purchased new and I hope to own one some day. I recently came across a receipt from when my father traded his Norton P11 in on a Yamaha Snowmobile sadly in about 1970. The receipt contains the serial number of the P11. I was wondering if there is a registry of sorts or other method of tracking the bike down to determine if it still exists and if so, where it might be? Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks for reading.

Devyn
 
Skipper -
The original rear bracket for the seat was a pair of 'L'-shaped pieces that bolted to the seat and fit behind the nut holding the shock absorber. The original had a hole in the horizontal piece for the bolt into the seat and a slot on the vertical piece to slip over the shock bolt.

I made mine out of a single piece. I took a length of 1" x 1/8" flat steel stock, bent it into a 'U' with the center section the same width as the space between the frame gussets where the shock bolts slide through, mounted the piece to the seat, test-fit the seat to determine the length of the end sections, then cut to length and drilled for the shock bolts. I didn't bother cutting the holes into slots, as there's no need to remove the seat, and if you do, just back the bolts out a bit to pop the bracket off.

Devyn -
As for finding out where your father's old P11 is, there's a P11 owner's forum on Yahoo, with a bit over a hundred bikes listed. The 2500 or so P11s that were made all came to North America, with some being shipped on to other spots around the globe from here. Since then, many have found their way back to the UK. In addition, a bunch are now in Australia, Ireland, Europe and other more exotic destinations. I would guess that maybe 1/4 of the surviving P11s are no longer in North America. Quite a few still survive, though - especially the Rangers, since they were primarily street use, and the last of the line.
 
Hi All
Just picked up a P11 in pieces (not assembled). I aim to make it a dirt tracker of sorts to give me some thrills off road. 8) It needs an engine going over. Gearbox/engine/plates and spacers will need to be sorted. I will do a restoration after I completely assemble this box of bits into a rolling bike so I know where I stand with parts still missing. I will try and post some pictures when I find the time. photobucket is giving me nothing but trouble. It use to work.
New learning curve compared to a Norton Commando. Not much in the way of data on this Model compared to what is available for the commando. But thats not going to stop me. :mrgreen:
Cheers,
Thomas
 
" I aim to make it a dirt tracker of sorts to give me some thrills off road. "

Better start jogging 20 km a day . :P :mrgreen:

Not a bad idea to do all the engineering stuff , fire it up & dial in , then dissasemble for glitter & bling . Or just scare the neighbours with ' that rough old ' Norton . :wink: 8)
 
CanukNortonNut said:
Hi All
Just picked up a P11 in pieces (not assembled). I aim to make it a dirt tracker of sorts to give me some thrills off road. 8) It needs an engine going over. Gearbox/engine/plates and spacers will need to be sorted. I will do a restoration after I completely assemble this box of bits into a rolling bike so I know where I stand with parts still missing. I will try and post some pictures when I find the time. photobucket is giving me nothing but trouble. It use to work.
New learning curve compared to a Norton Commando. Not much in the way of data on this Model compared to what is available for the commando. But thats not going to stop me. :mrgreen:
Cheers,
Thomas
Click to expand...

For the P11 and other Plumstead hybrids, the matchless and AJS website might have someone knowledgeable on the cycle parts on these bikes.
 
I hadn't heard about the factory warning on trying to run the P-11 with scrambler forks on the street. I have to wonder whether the work we were doing in the Wolverhampton experimental shop trying to ascertain what caused the weaving was the reason for the warning being published, or whether it was common knowledge and nobody told us! N-V was such a shambles when it came to inter-division communications, we may have just been chasing a known issue.

I was working on the issue in the Oct 1967 - Jan 1968 time period, along with the M-X competition stuff with the Stormer. We tried a lot of things, but there was still a lot of head-scratching going on when I emigrated.
 
My '68 Ranger dragster had inch cut out the fork stanchions and an inch cut of of the frame so 2" tuck for anti-wheele effect and never got upset way over the ton but couldn't lean it much, maybe 30' for road race tests d't fouling frame as lowest part. Mystery on what works or don't till tried.
 
CanukNortonNut said:
Hi All
Just picked up a P11 in pieces (not assembled). I aim to make it a dirt tracker of sorts to give me some thrills off road. 8) It needs an engine going over. Gearbox/engine/plates and spacers will need to be sorted. I will do a restoration after I completely assemble this box of bits into a rolling bike so I know where I stand with parts still missing. I will try and post some pictures when I find the time. photobucket is giving me nothing but trouble. It use to work.
New learning curve compared to a Norton Commando. Not much in the way of data on this Model compared to what is available for the commando. But thats not going to stop me. :mrgreen:
Cheers,
Thomas
Click to expand...

Earlier in this thread are links to some good sources for parts, especially Mike at Walridge in Ontario for the repro stuff like skid plate, handlebar, mufflers and fenders. For the AMC stuff like fork tubes and seals, steering damper, head stock races and the like, go to AMC Classic Spares in Beds, UK. Steve Surbey is great for the AMC stuff thats still available.

As long as you have the frame and fork crown, swing arm, hubs, oil tank, gas tank and engine plates, you can put it back together. Those are the hard-to-replace parts. Just about everything else is available as original or reproduction.
 
[quote="BillT"
Earlier in this thread are links to some good sources for parts, especially Mike at Walridge in Ontario for the repro stuff like skid plate, handlebar, mufflers and fenders. For the AMC stuff like fork tubes and seals, steering damper, head stock races and the like, go to AMC Classic Spares in Beds, UK. Steve Surbey is great for the AMC stuff thats still available.

As long as you have the frame and fork crown, swing arm, hubs, oil tank, gas tank and engine plates, you can put it back together. Those are the hard-to-replace parts. Just about everything else is available as original or reproduction.[/quote]

Hi Bill
Yes I have all the bits you mentioned below and I am looking to rebuild the spokes and rims as the originals are badly pitted. I would like to know if you have the offsets available? I know Mike at Walridge quite well. I will need to pickup the high pipes and handlebars, front fender with stays. Rims, spokes and exhaust rose nuts.
Rims I would like to go with shouldered alloy rims maybe WM-3 -19" and WM-4 -18" for back. SS spokes to bring up the bling. 8) What kind of offroad nobbies would you recommend?
Cheers,
Thomas
CNN
 
CanukNortonNut said:
Hi Bill
Yes I have all the bits you mentioned below and I am looking to rebuild the spokes and rims as the originals are badly pitted. I would like to know if you have the offsets available? I know Mike at Walridge quite well. I will need to pickup the high pipes and handlebars, front fender with stays. Rims, spokes and exhaust rose nuts.
Rims I would like to go with shouldered alloy rims maybe WM-3 -19" and WM-4 -18" for back. SS spokes to bring up the bling. 8) What kind of offroad nobbies would you recommend?
Cheers,
Thomas
CNN
Click to expand...

I rebuilt my bike as close to original as I could. The rims are standard WM2 and WM3, and I used the modern Avon version of the original - Speedmaster 3.25x19 ribbed in front and SM MkII 4.00x18 rear. That 4.00 rear tire fills up the space in back pretty well. You could go with a WM4 in back, but I don't think you can fit bigger than a 4.00 tire. Back when these bikes were new, the thinking was that a simple ribbed front tire would navigate the ruts better than a knobby - after all, the front wheel isn't being spun by the engine and one rarely uses the front brake in the dirt. The MkII tire has an aggressive tread, but not a knobby pattern. It was meant as a street tire that had offroad capabilities.

Also, these rims are AMC rims - not Norton like the G/N15s. The spoke pattern is different, and the spokes are straight, not bent on the end. Lacing up an AMC wheel is pretty easy - slide the spoke through the hole in the hub, and where it hits the rim is where is goes. Rims are centered on the hubs, too. Again, because these are nail spokes, pattern and offset are pretty much set by the holes in the hubs.

Mike will be at Barber next month, in the vendor area.
 
BillT,
Thanks for the information. I will be riding to Barber with a bunch of CVMG members on our various vintage bikes. If you are going to be there, look for a Black 74 Interstate with WM-4 rims front and back. Outside of Fullauto in OZ and myself in North America we are probably the only ones that set up our Norton Commando bikes that way with Avon Roadrider tires. 8) I would love to chat.
Cheers,
Thomas
CNN
 
grandpaul said:
WM3 & WM4 sound too wide...
Click to expand...
They are. On the P11 the rear tire enters the recess in the oil tank on rear suspension compression. On my VMX P11, I'm using a 130/80-18 on a WM3 & the tire has split the oil tank twice. Each time I've taken successively larger wedges out of the rear wall before welding up...opened it up by about 1/4" now & I'm OK, but the oil tank is the 1st limit to tire size you'll run into. The next will be the chain run. To use the 130/80-18 I have to reduce the drive side knobs with a belt sander or they catch the chain.
 
CanukNortonNut said:
BillT,
Thanks for the information. I will be riding to Barber with a bunch of CVMG members on our various vintage bikes. If you are going to be there, look for a Black 74 Interstate with WM-4 rims front and back. Outside of Fullauto in OZ and myself in North America we are probably the only ones that set up our Norton Commando bikes that way with Avon Roadrider tires. 8) I would love to chat.
Cheers,
Thomas
CNN
Click to expand...

I'll definitely be there - hopefully with the G15CS running. A buddy and I are going up with a trailer and probably 5 bikes - my 850 Roadster, Ranger and G15, and his '67 Triton and MkII 850. I'll be checking in with Mike to return a couple of parts and pick up a couple, and will be spending time at the AJSMOC and INOA tents
 
Can anyone here help me with the disassembly of the wheel hub internal parts? I would love to have a schematic of the internals or pictures but I don't know where to look. I loosened the threaded ring nuts but I don't wish to force anything, which might break if done improperly. The large rings nuts with the notches in them are not moving. I would like to remove all the wheel bearings and rebuild or repack what is in there then reassemble.
Thanks,
Thomas
CNN
 
If you heat up the hub with a blowtorch the ring nut and the bearings are much easier to remove. There is a procedure listed in themworkshop manual, where you drive one ofmthe bearings inward and this pushes the other side out via the central spacer inside the hub. if you look for ''classic bike Biz' with a Google search they have all of the workshop manuals and parts manuals on display for free on line.
 
here's an article I used to rebuild my rear hub. It's for an earlier hub than the P11, but the overall setup is the same
http://archives.jampot.dk/Technical/Wheels_and_brakes/AMC_Rear_Wheel_hub.pdf

The front hub is known as the 'interim' hub, which was phased in on AMCs in 1963. The front setup is very similar to Norton. I believe the following link will get you to a manual that shows the interim hub rebuild - look for an AMC or Matchless manual that goes to at least 1964
http://archives.jampot.dk/Book/Workshop_manuals/
 
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