FullAuto heads back in production

[G81 Can Cycle]

FullAuto 750 and 850 heads are back in production.

Shop has been very busy fixing engineering problems from another product line. New owners of the shop found out that there was a significant talent pool at Special Tool Solutions, and has kept the crew busy fixing problems that were not of their own making

If you are interested in a head, they will start shipping in about 3 to 5 weeks.

Available through the following resellers. Please contact your favorite reseller and place an order so we know how many heads to make in this run

1 Andover Norton

2 British Cycle Supply

3 Colorado Norton Works

4 Molnar Precision

5 NYC Norton

 

[Fast Eddie]

Fanfreakintastic John !

Worth buying just for a display piece !!

 

[Peter R]

Good job, well done.

 

[baz]

This really is great to see

 

[MichaelD]

They look beautifully made, not something that you could say about the originals, but apart from the appearance, can you summarise what is different / what is better about the new heads?

 

[jseng1]

John - Are those 5/8" O.D. guides? Why not 1/2"?

 

[Onder]

My goodness, are those thread inserts for the little studs? Imagine that! Well done!

 

[Alan L]

Hi,
what performance/ reliability increases can we reason expect from the new head over original?
Alan

 

[SteveA]

Hi,
what performance/ reliability increases can we reason expect from the new head over original?
Alan

Try the basics, brand new head not one around 50 years old, made to tolerances not achievable in the 1970s, then add better inlet and exhaust port designs! And no porosity or cracks!

Really, this has been discussed enough and a search on here will give you plenty of information.

 

[SteveA]

They look beautifully made, not something that you could say about the originals, but apart from the appearance, can you summarise what is different / what is better about the new heads?

Why not check out other threads that answer your questions in full?

 

[SteveA]

Fanfreakintastic John !

Worth buying just for a display piece !!

Bet you still won't buy one

 

[Chris]

How brave am I ? That's got to be a good each way bet.

 

[acotrel]

What about the bits which go under it ? If a complete motor was available, it might be possible to sell to a bigger market. These days retros seem to be the go. A 961 is quite a bit removed from the original. I don't think it would provide the same feel. People worry about vibration, but when the crank is balanced for high revs, you only get a shake at low revs. Frames and gear boxes are not a problem. The bigger the market, the more the production costs are justified,
If the market is only owners of Commandos which were produced in the 1970s, it might not be sustaiinable.

 

[Blewdy Yaink]

Bet you still won't buy one

That's OK, the Norton owner I most care about did!!

 

[Blewdy Yaink]

(snip) when the crank is balanced for high revs, you only get a shake at low revs.

I recently received a one-piece billet crank from Ro-Dy (Rotational Dynamics of Plymouth, Michigan USA). It was "fully machined all over from billet" and was as perfectly symmetrical as is practical for a machined item. The spin balancing analysis showed that it was over 1000 pounds out of balance at 10,000 Rpm before the spin balancing process. After the spin balancing operation, it was 3 pounds out of balance at 10,000 Rpm.
I'm expecting this crank to give me a smoothly running 850 engine. Yeah, balance your crankshaft, no matter how it's manufactured.

 

[Mart UK]

Expect something else to get out of balance if you go to 10,000rpm...

 

[robs ss]

I recently received a one-piece billet crank from Ro-Dy (Rotational Dynamics of Plymouth, Michigan USA). It was "fully machined all over from billet" and was as perfectly symmetrical as is practical for a machined item. The spin balancing analysis showed that it was over 1000 pounds out of balance at 10,000 Rpm before the spin balancing process. After the spin balancing operation, it was 3 pounds out of balance at 10,000 Rpm.
I'm expecting this crank to give me a smoothly running 850 engine. Yeah, balance your crankshaft, no matter how it's manufactured.

I really hope you enjoy it. There is no crankshaft in existence (even made from unobtainium) that will make a Commando "smooth running".
A 360 twin has all the bad traits of a big single.
Balance factors, whatever number you choose, are simply a trade-off between vertical and horizontal vibration.
Lighter pistons will reduce the vibrations but not eliminate them.
Unless you completely get rid of pistons and con-rods the engine will vibrate.
It is part of their charm really.
Cheers

 

[vidar hjelm johansen]

Thought this thread was about Fullauto heads...

Vidar

 

[seattle##gs]

does anyone make tapered wrist pins for Norton? That would make the piston assembly a little bit lighter, anything helps. If you are balancing your crank. JS makes tapered pins for his own pistons but not for the regular pistons.
I called Ro-Dy a while back and he said he was retiring.

 

[robs ss]

Thought this thread was about Fullauto heads...

Vidar

True - but you would have to expect the discussion would wander into other "performance" parts.