What’s the best none Norton Norton ?

I had a ‘07 Griso 1100 , one of my most reliable rides over the 6 yrs of ownership …. No dealer in Atlantic Canada , Quebec or Ontario closest …. I had zero problems , regular yearly maintenance was all , check valves was simple compared to an other popular Italian brand 😎
Moto Guzzi bikes are very worth while …..
 
Craig said:
I had a ‘07 Griso 1100 , one of my most reliable rides over the 6 yrs of ownership …. No dealer in Atlantic Canada , Quebec or Ontario closest …. I had zero problems , regular yearly maintenance was all , check valves was simple compared to an other popular Italian brand 😎
Moto Guzzi bikes are very worth while …..
Click to expand...
You surely can't be insinuating that the other popular Italian bike is a Ducati 😁
 
Actually the only challenge has been the ST3s , valve springs were very difficult to hold to get accurate measure , made up a helper and it became much quicker 😉
The GT 1000 valve check is a snap as was the monster ….
 
Stephen_Spencer said:
OK, first time I’ve understood that properly Baz - thanks!

Call me shallow though, that is one smokin lookin Triton - maybe perfectly proportioned for me! If I were to ride it, would I notice any inherent flaws? I’m really not expecting a ‘Gixer’!

Gonna court some controversy here - do any of these heritage bikes of that given era actually handle? In modern terms? So what ‘really matters’ with the bikes we covet is authenticity, originality and heritage - the rest is bollox right? Speed and handling being relative?

Which leads me to an even more contentious statement. Is this the fastest, best performing and sexiest looking production Norton motorcycles ever built?

View attachment 111663
Click to expand...
No one took the bait!? Fair enough say I, and it is the season of good will!!🤣

Although there is a case to be stated that the V4 is the most advanced bike Norton has ever produced, for obvious reasons - beauty of course though is most definitely in the eye of the beholder!

Behold this - most definitely a beauty! My guess is she handles pretty sweetly as well.

www.lightfootwheels.com

Norton810CR — Lightfoot wheels

www.lightfootwheels.com www.lightfootwheels.com

What’s the best none Norton Norton ?
 
Stephen_Spencer said:
OK, first time I’ve understood that properly Baz - thanks!

Call me shallow though, that is one smokin lookin Triton - maybe perfectly proportioned for me! If I were to ride it, would I notice any inherent flaws? I’m really not expecting a ‘Gixer’!

Gonna court some controversy here - do any of these heritage bikes of that given era actually handle? In modern terms? So what ‘really matters’ with the bikes we covet is authenticity, originality and heritage - the rest is bollox right? Speed and handling being relative?

Which leads me to an even more contentious statement. Is this the fastest, best performing and sexiest looking production Norton motorcycles ever built?

View attachment 111663
Click to expand...
No it won't handle as good as a modern machine because the chassis is lacking 70 years of progress
 
Craig said:
Actually the only challenge has been the ST3s , valve springs were very difficult to hold to get accurate measure , made up a helper and it became much quicker 😉
The GT 1000 valve check is a snap as was the monster ….
Click to expand...
Must admit I own a Guzzi as well and valve adjustment is slightly easier on that than the Duke..... 🤔
 
Yeh! Oh yeh! This bike has it all goin’ on!

I guess when you have a bike like this it’s for life right? It’s not gonna pop up on FB ‘market place’ is it? If you want one, you’ve gotta pay someone to build it?

Doesn’t stop me wishing I had a Egli-Vincent in my garage!

What’s the best none Norton Norton ?
 
Im almost certain that I saw this bike and its owner at the big IOM get together in 2007. He was with the French contingent. They appeared to be having great fun, only surpassed by the Italian contingent. And possibly the Dutch, those boys could party as well.

There was also a somewhat home built Egli there that inspired me to have a crack at building one. The fellow with the home built machine had purchased frame , tank, engine etc then put them all together in a very pleasing way.
My plan was to more or less copy what he had done but then that plan went out the window for no particular reason.

In the end I built the frame and swing arm. The swing arm is a mono shock type as that was as light as possible. The wheels are cast, again to save weight. The bike ended up weighing about 40 or 50 lbs less than a conventional Egli, and they are a light bike.
i also had a go at forming the tank and fenders.
The engine is made up of components from various suppliers with a lot of high performance stuff from Terry Prince. Terry retired so those items areno longer available. Im glad that I built it when I did.
Front end is lightweight modern with twin disc brakes.

I had great fun building my version of the Egli Vincent about ten years ago.

It is a modern take on the Egli, which was a modern take on the Vincent in the 70s, so not to everyone's taste.

Here is Jos Den Ouden's Egli 1150, the one that I saw at the IOM. Since that time he has put a few more of these together for friends. I like the wrap under exhaust. Couldn't get that to work with my configuration.
 

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Stephen_Spencer said:
Yeh! Oh yeh! This bike has it all goin’ on!

I guess when you have a bike like this it’s for life right? It’s not gonna pop up on FB ‘market place’ is it? If you want one, you’ve gotta pay someone to build it?

Doesn’t stop me wishing I had a Egli-Vincent in my garage!

View attachment 112278
Click to expand...
Sweet!
What is that canister slung below the gearbox in front of the rear wheel?
Some manner of e-starter?
 
worntorn said:
Im almost certain that I saw this bike and its owner at the big IOM get together in 2007. He was with the French contingent. They appeared to be having great fun, only surpassed by the Italian contingent. And possibly the Dutch, those boys could party as well.

There was also a somewhat home built Egli there that inspired me to have a crack at building one. The fellow with the home built machine had purchased frame , tank, engine etc then put them all together in a very pleasing way.
My plan was to more or less copy what he had done but then that plan went out the window for no particular reason.

In the end I built the frame and swing arm. The swing arm is a mono shock type as that was as light as possible. The wheels are cast, again to save weight. The bike ended up weighing about 40 or 50 lbs less than a conventional Egli, and they are a light bike.
i also had a go at forming the tank and fenders.
The engine is made up of components from various suppliers with a lot of high performance stuff from Terry Prince. Terry retired so those items areno longer available. Im glad that I built it when I did.
Front end is lightweight modern with twin disc brakes.

I had great fun building my version of the Egli Vincent about ten years ago.

It is a modern take on the Egli, which was a modern take on the Vincent in the 70s, so not to everyone's taste.

Here is Jos Den Ouden's Egli 1150, the one that I saw at the IOM. Since that time he has put a few more of these together for friends. I like the wrap under exhaust. Couldn't get that to work with my configuration.
Click to expand...
Both are fantastic, but I'm partial to disc bakes, so I really love the 1150.
 
BritTwit said:
Sweet!
What is that canister slung below the gearbox in front of the rear wheel?
Some manner of e-starter?
Click to expand...
I'm almost certain that this bike is a Godet 1330 and the estart utilizes a Harley starter mounted under the engine. The cases are made for this.

Glen
 
I chatted with a fellow who owns one of these. He claims that it vibrates so much as to blur the mirrors and make his hands go numb if ridden at 70 mph for half an hour.
He also said that he likes the vibration and generally just takes the bike on short rides around town.
I don't understand why a counter balanced engine would vibrate that much.
I wonder if there is something wrong with his W800.

Glen
 
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BritTwit said:
Both are fantastic, but I'm partial to disc bakes, so I really love the 1150.
Click to expand...
Same here.
It's impossible to beat the light weight/high performance aspects of a modern twin disc so why not go with it.

Twin disc GSXR brake on my monoshock Egli. ( Top photo) At this point I was using the 998 engine borrowed from the Rapide. Later on the Egli got an all new 1360 T Prince Engine and different exhaust. (Bottom photos)
Screenshot_20240125_123503_Photos.jpg
Screenshot_20240125_130134_Chrome~2.jpg
Screenshot_20240125_130119_Chrome~2.jpg
 
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Some real skills there Glen; I’d sure like to ride that beauty!

Been into bikes for as long as I can remember, mainly crotch rockets! In more recent years I’ve found myself less and less interested in mainstream machinery as discussed before. Instead drawn to all things different - appreciating classic (often British) machinery more as I age. Your bike piques my interest.

It seems obvious right, but none of my biking mates of a similar age have gone through this metamorphosis. They still lust after the latest and greatest rocket ship! 🚀 Makes for some interesting conversations, which for them generally seems to hinge on performance above all.

Slow ‘horses for courses’ I suppose!
 
It's impossible to compete with modern bikes for outright horsepower.
The advantages of a custom bike like this would be the overall weight and torque output/ lb of motorcycle.

Glen
 
worntorn said:
It's impossible to compete with modern bikes for outright horsepower.
The advantages of a custom bike like this would be the overall weight and torque output/ lb of motorcycle.

Glen
Click to expand...
Agreed - but actual "on the road" use proves the Commando to be a very competent bike compared to the "newbies".
A local motorcycle dealer principal with many ultra-modern sports bikes (super-flash 220+hp Ducatis) complained to me that they are much too hard work to ride on public roads. He's asked if I might help him get a '70s Commando on the road.
Go figure...
Maybe we've got it right in the sweet spot?
 

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