norton news #162

Norton News #162

Bracebridge St. DepotINOA Regalia and other fine Norton Collectibles

Visit our website at www.bracebridge-street.comfor item pictures & descriptions or send an SASE for our order form

POPULAR ITEMS - wearables have embroidered “Unapproachable Norton” logo

$14 - Cotton twill, low profile cap in black, blue, navy, khaki, green, red, or fuchia

$34 - Short Sleeve denim shirt in stonewashed blue M, L, XL, XXL

$38 - Long Sleeve denim shirt in stonewashed blue or natural M, L, XL

$25 - “Henley” style T-shirt, navy M, L, XL, XXL

$39 - Pak ‘n’ Go Hooded Windbreader, black or burgundy, M, L, XL

$50 - Heavyweight Twin Rebuild, set of 2-DVDs, by NOC w/ Mick Hemmings

$40 - Gearbox Servicing, DVD, by the NOC with Mick Hemmings

$50 – Pushrod Singles Engine Rebuild, DVD by NOC with Mike Pemberton

$40 - Norton News Issues 1 – 155, DVD by the INOA, companion to Tech Digest

$ 7 - Earrings, Norton “N”, loop or post style

LAPEL PINS - all pins $7

BIKES Commando, JPS, Manx, or “Yellow Submarine” racer profile

LOGOS USNOA, CNOA, JPS, AMAL, “Norton” Script, Moon, Disc, Norton “N”,

Patent Numbers

PHRASES “750 Commando”, “850 Commando”, “Roadholder”, “Norton Oil

Bath”, “Unapproachable Norton”, “Prince of Darkness”, “Genuine Factory Parts”

T-SHIRTS, ETC. - screen printed, front only, bike profiles about 11” wide, S, M,

L, XL, XXL all Bracebridge T-Shirts now available in children’s M and L

$14 - Commando profile, black with gold ink or blue with navy ink

$14 - Manx profile, gray with black ink

$14 - Model 88 profile, green with black ink

$14 - International model profile, khaki with green ink

$29 - Hooded sweatshirt, Commando profile, black w/ gold ink or gray w/ navy

AND MORE…

$20 - Tech Digest, 3rd ed, practical tips from the pages of the Norton News

$ 7 - Keyfob, leather with “Norton” logo

$14 - Poster, X-Ray view of a Commando, 24”x36”, color tinted background,

w/”Norton” girl

$14 - Poster, X-Ray view of a Commando, 24”x36”, black & white, no girl

$35 - “Norton Parking Only” heavy gauge embossed metal sign, offical looking

size & graphics

AND STILL MORE…

pins, wearables, fun things…on the Web site CHECK IT OUT!!

All prices in US funds & include shipping for orders over $10; add $2 for any wear-able in XXL and $2 S&H for orders under $10. Send check or money order to:

USNOA, c/o Jim Evans, 304 May Ave, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137phone inquiries 630-858-8192

Bracebridge Street Depot is a department of the INOAand is run on a volunteer basis for the benefit of the membership

Norton News #162

The Magazine of the International Norton Owners Association

Price: $2.00 US (members only)

Top to bottom:A NortonInternational at the BarberMuseum; incredible stackeddisplay of bikes that surroundthe central elevator area atthe museum; a Manxman ondisplay. (Photos by B.Armitage.)

Fall Issue 2010

Number 162 1 Norton News

ColumnsRear View Mirror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3President’s Report by Suzi Greenway

Long Way Around. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Editorial by Barry Armitage

Alan’s Wrench. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Editorial by Alan Goldwater

Nortons Under the Maple Leaf. . . . . 9Gary Parker, CNOA Rep

Peyote Dreams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Art Bone

DepartmentsTech Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Chapters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Upcoming Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Classified Ads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Bracebridge Street Depot Ad . Cover

FeaturesNorton Empire Rally Update . . . . . . 4Chuck Contrino

Canadian Rep Election. . . . . . . . . . 13

A Norton Moment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19David Edwards

Cover: In the pits at the Barber Vintage Festival.Left to right: renowned GP race tuner Nobby Clark(who prepped bikes for Mike Hailwood and JimRedmond, to name a few); Maria Costello, currentwoman lap record holder at Isle of Man; KennyCummings, 2010 AHRMA BEARS champ; AlexMcClean, Manx racer for Bob McKeever. (Photoby B. Armitage.)

Commercial Ad Rates: Full Page Jacket Cover -$150; Full Page - $100 per issue; Half Page -$60per issue; Quarter Page - $30 per issue; EighthPage - $15 per issue. The advertising deadlinefor issue #163 is January 30, 2011.

Norton Hot Line: 517-851-7437

INOA StaffPresidentSuzi GreenwayBallacraine, CooperRd., Stockbridge, MI49285 [email protected]

Vice PresidentAlan Goldwater1780 Chanticleer Ave.Santa Cruz, CA [email protected]

USNOA RepGary Bolduc4520 E. 109th Av.Thornton, CO [email protected]

Norton News

EditorBarry Armitage2732 Eastcleft Dr.Columbus, OH [email protected]

CNOA RepGary Parker2544 Blackwood St.,Victoria, BC V8T3W1, Canada250-389 [email protected]

TreasurerAl Silvia127 Beacon St.Newport, RI 02840401-846-7881

Secretary(Membership)Tari Norum276 Butterworth LaneLanghorne, PA [email protected]

Membership(Canada)Judy FortierBox 58Lavigne, ON POH1ROCANADA

CommandoTech AdvisorBrian Slark12603 Bel Air CircleMcCalla, AL [email protected]

Vintage TechAdvisor& Club Librarian(Reprints only—noNN back issues)Jeffrey [email protected]

Accessory Info& EvaluationsAlan GoldwaterSee VP listing

Back IssuesSuzi GreenwaySee Pres. listing

Bracebridge St.Depot(Tech Digest Sales)

Jim Evans304 May Ave.Glen Ellyn, IL [email protected]

INOA Web PageAdministratorBill [email protected]


Fall Issue 2010

Fall Issue 2010


This Fall has beenincredible inMichigan. Writ-

ing this on November 9,I still plan to go for a fewmore rides this comingweek as the temp is dueback in the low 60s!Blackie Norton and I hada great ride todaythrough my area whichhas some pretty decentroads. He still pointshappily towards the doorknowing he has at leastone more spree. Unlikemy buddy Jack who puthis RC51 in the livingroom last week, and sentme a photo of the bikewatching TV, which Iasked if i t was theweather channel.

Blackie’s tires areworn out, and my gastank did bubble beforethe sealant was put in topreserve the fiberglasstank, so I am looking atan overhaul of the bikebefore the big 2011Rally in New York state.Agroup of us are alreadytalking about riding and friend Martin in Ger-many is planning to come again. Many of youmet him in Colorado. I helped him purchase aNorton this summer, which is sitting in mybarn waiting for Martin to arrive in July.

I have already had one person contact meabout coming from overseas to the Rally.Bennie in the Netherlands is now the Dutch li-aison. Visit the INOA Web site events page athttp://inoanorton.com/events/ and click on ei-ther “sign up” link under the 2011 Rally blurb

if you would like to be ahost or help someonefrom overseas. Bennie isworking on a containerfor the Netherlandsgroup but if that is notpossible or individuallyshipping does not work,he may be looking to buya Norton here.

Most of all it is the factthat people are talking,working out logisticsand enquiring about pos-sibilities. Rally Chair-man Chuck and hisTri-State Norton Ridershave been meeting andgetting committees firedup and will keep us up-dated. This rally is aunique opportunity forthe ultimate NortonRally.

Recently I reconfig-ured my storage of theold Norton News intonumbered boxes where Ican hopefully find backissues for members. Ofcourse, I had to lookthrough them, and somany memories flooded

back. So many faces and names that figured inthe early and ongoing times of theUSNOA/CNOA eventually now the INOA.

So on that note, I invite you to come to thisrally and see and be seen again. After all, thefirst registered camper is our founder, FrankDel Monte! �

Suzi GreenwayINOA President

Pete Gallo

In Passing… “Long Distance Nortonrider and all around great guy, Pete Gallo,lost his batt le with cancer onThanksgiving Day, November 25, 2010.Pete will always be remembered for trav-eling light, and lighting up the room orcampfire with his stories and adventures.Our condolences go out to his wife Bethand family. Ride Forever, Pete.”


Fall Issue 2010

2011 International INOA / NOC Rally Update

It’s great to hear the buzz building aroundthe 2011 Rally. We’ve got so many thingsto schedule in the few days we are together

for the Rally that I’ve decided to make this aFIVE day Rally. July 18th – July 23rd (Mon-day through Friday), with departure Saturdaymorning. We have a few extra things plannedthat should add to the fun. In addition to theusual field events, concours, night in town,group rides, ,large and small, self guidedrides, tech sessions, and socializing.• We are working with a charter of bus com-

pany to arrange for a “Day Trip” to NewYork City for those who would like to takein some of the sights the city has to offer.

• The “Olde Rhinebeck Aerodrome” may bewilling to put on a special mid-week AirShow for us. The Aerodrome has a collec-tion of old motorcycles also. Cost andscheduling for both the bus trip and Airshow are TBD, as of today, but will be rea-sonable.The rally fee will remain at $75.00 per per-

son. Since we are renting the campground foranother night the camping fees will increaseaccordingly. Tent camping will be $50.00.Cabin rental, and RV sites fees will be deter-mined soon. As soon as I get these figures wewill make pre-registration form availablethrough the INOA website and Norton News.

Pre-registration is key us being able to negoti-ate these extras.

We are working on establishing good ad-vance “public relations” with the various po-lice departments that will be watching themotorcyclists playing in their backyard.Please help by playing by the rules:

New York State requires:• Helmets for both rider and passengers• Headlight and tail lights on during the day• One mirror (on left)• Eye protection• Mufflers/silencers• Handle bar/grips can not be higher than the

operators shoulders• Turn signals/indicators are NOT required

for bikes manufactured before 1985• You are required to carry insurance• You are required to have your license, reg-

istration (photocopy of registration is ac-ceptable), and insurance ID card with youwhile riding.

• Riding two bikes abreast is allowed.• Lane splitting is illegal.

See you in the Catskill Mountains.

Chuck ContrinoRally Chairman [email protected] �

Rally Hosting Program

Our Webmaster Bill Dudley has finishedsetting up an on-line site for the INOA 2011Rally Hosting Program. Here’s his introduc-tion to how the program works:

The Rally Hosting program is designed toallow INOA members living “near” the 2011Rally in New York to host a guest coming tothe rally from “far away”. The system tries tomaintain anonymity and privacy as much aspossible, so that only the guest you have com-municated with will know your full name, ad-dress, and email address.

Hosts: When you volunteer to host, you en-ter your address, phone, email address, andanswer a few questions about the accommo-dations you are offering, plus the approximatedistance to the rally (as gleaned frommaps.google.com or equivalent). The systemwill create an anonymous email address for

you that will forward email to your realemail address.

Guests searching for a host will only beshown your first name, a secure email link,and the distance and accommodations ques-tions, plus what state you live in. They canthen email you and start a conversation aboutpossibly staying with you around the time ofthe rally. Once you reply to them via email,your anonymity will be compromised, butonly to that one potential guest.

Once you have arranged to host some-body, you can email me and I’ll change yourstatus to “booked” so that you won’t appearin host searches any longer. If your situationchanges so you can’t host, you also ask me toremove you from the list.

Look for a link to the hosting program onour Web site www.inoanorton.com. �

Fall Issue 2010


Updated PSM

We have plans for anupdated version of thethe INOA’s PSM(Parts/Service/Member-ship) directory to bemailed prior to the 2011International Rally.Members need to be surethey have the correct zipcode and phone numberlisted (if you wish toshare your phone num-ber). You may with toemail Membership Sec-retary Tari Norum [email protected] update your informa-tion. The PSM is a“must-have” for mem-bers making cross-coun-try trips. We have storiesat each rally of individu-als who have beenhelped in one way or an-other by a fellow mem-ber when they haveproblems on the road. Iget two or three issues returned each mailingas “undeliverable—no forwarding address”and it is disheartening that we have lost trackof another member.

Barber Vintage Festival/Turn Six Changes

I finally made it down to the VintageMotorcycle Festival in Birmingham, Al-abama, back in October, and it was worththe trip. This is an impressive event, andseems poised to compete with VintageMotorcycle Days here in Ohio as atop-notch destination for vintage enthu-siasts. The festival is held annually inOctober and includes vintage competi-tion in virtually all AHRMAcategories, alarge swap meet and concours. Adjacentto the Barber Motorsports facility is theBarber Museum. This must rank amongthe best anywhere in the world. The res-torations there are overseen by our ownBrian Slark (INOA Tech Advisor). TheBarber track and museum have been fea-tured in all the major magazines and onTV. I spent several hours in the museum

and was overwhelmedby the range and qualityof the bikes on display.

A related change inthe works moves the an-nual Turn Six eventfrom Daytona’s BikeWeek to the VintageMotorcycle Festival,since vintage racing willno longer be featured atDaytona. Turn Six, forthose who have not at-tended, has been a meet-ing spot at for INOAmembers and theirfriends for years. Mag-gie Elmore and BarneyGoodson are the hosts,with some help from at-tending members andfriends. Turn Six is agreat place to park yourbike, sit down in theshade, and enjoy a cooldrink. While Turn Six isbeing moved to Bir-mingham, Nortona will

still be held during Bike Week. You can seean ad for Nortona in this issue. �

Long Way Around

Barry ArmitageNorton News Editor

Turn Six: Gene & Trina Cameron (TX), Maggie Elmore& Barn Goodson (FL), Keith Bennett (GA), Sharon &John Hannah (NC), Gary Damm (GA), Gary Seebon(OH), Brian Fink (CAN). Maggie credits Gary Dammwith turning Turn Six from a “picnic” into a “destinationevent.” (Photo by M. Elmore.)


Fall Issue 2010

Fall Issue 2010


The final part of theEngine section ofthe Tech Digest

has a lot of useful infor-mation about the lubri-cation system. But quitea bit of it is out of date,and some is just plainwrong in my experience.For example, the discus-sion of oil pressure startsby claiming that normalhot pressure is 45 psi at3-4000 rpm and 20 psi atidle. I’ve owned andmaintained five Com-mandos, and have typi-cally seen just 8-12 psi atidle. A later paragraphsuggests that an oil pres-sure gauge is a goodidea, and also mentionsthe hazards presented bythe plumbing required:“you might want to carryalong whatever is necessary … to disconnectand plug the gauge plumbing” . I did haveone fail years ago, and the front of the bikewas drenched in hot oil before I noticed. So Inow use a nice bright red oil warning light anda generic NAPAoil pressure switch. It comeson at around 10 psi and usually flickers a bit atidle with the bike and oil fully warmed up.There’s no risk of leaks and I’m much morelikely to notice it if there is an oil pressureproblem.

Next, the section about the 750 breather is-n’t clear enough. I think the breather oilingproblem the book refers to involves the tapfrom the crankcase breather that feeds intothe air cleaner. These parts usually getclogged anyway and don’t work with theK&N air filter many people use. So I recom-mend removing the T-piece and running thebreather hose directly to the oil tank.

Speaking of the crankcase breather, the oiltightness of '72 and later engines can begreatly improved by installing an effectiveone-way valve in the large breather hose. Thiscreates a partial vacuum in the crankcase, atleast at lower rpm. I’ve used the Motormite80190 plastic valve ($6) for many years on all

my Commandos, withvery good results up toaround 4500 rpm. Theyseem to hold up well andnone of mine haveneeded replacement yet.I have heard a few re-ports of gradual deterio-ration, and even one oflost oil return althoughthat seems very unlikelyto be caused by abreather valve. VW part#191-611-933 can alsobe used, at about doublethe cost. For sustainedhigh-rpm running, thereare even better valvesavailable, including aYamaha XS650 reedvalve, part #15-0677.There’s also a very nicepart made for CNW byJim Comstock. It uses adual reed valve and bolts

in place of the sump pickup body on the bot-tom of '72 motors. Other years will need thecases machined to fit.

Next there’s a detailed instruction in thebook on how to install an anti-wet sump valveinside the timing cover. This requires theskills of a machinist, and has seemed tootricky for me to try at home, though severalshops have offered it as a service in the past,including AMR in Tucson. There are severalexternal valves available, designed specifi-cally for owner installation in the supply oilline. I like the one from Miles Classic Brake,sold through CNW, BBC and several otherparts suppliers. It has a clear area in the bodyso you can see if the oil is still there. I’ve usedone for a couple of years and it works fine.

Alan’s Wrench

Alan GoldwaterAccessory Info & Evaluations

© 2010, Alan Goldwater


Fall Issue 2010

There are others types that have been reportednot to work, and the consequences are serious,so make sure whatever you use is a good one.

The MkIII motor has an anti-wet sumpplunger valve in the timing cover and it works– sometimes. After a while it seems to getstuck in the open position from gum deposits.Then the motor wet sumps just like the pre-'75Commandos. Mine is freshly cleaned and

working and I don’t have an external valve onthat bike. When I recently did a top end re-build on it, I measured just 0.0015 inch cylin-der wear after 50k miles. So I put in new ringson the original pistons, and new valves andseals. I saw no wear at all on the original cam,not even the usual polish marks from the lift-ers. How is this possible? Well, I promised Iwouldn’t get into which oil is best, so I’ll justsay this motor has run on Redline for the last40k miles. Draw your own conclusions. �

Fall Issue 2010


Well, it’s definitelyautumn now, theleaves are off the

trees and I’ve been thinking alot of Remembrance Daycoming up. I’ve been bury-ing myself in websites to dowith places likePasschendaele, Vimy, Arras,Courcelette, BeaumontHamel and other small vil-lages on the First World Warwestern front with bloodyand tragic pasts. It makes forgrim reading indeed, but thisis the time of year when I tryto, maybe just for a moment,put myself in the shoes ofthose brave lads who did thevery best they could underthe most trying circum-stances. Rest easy brave boys in that quietearth…

What has this to do with motorcycles?Well, not much to be honest but I thought I’dshare that with you all. We do have though,here in Victoria, a genuine WW1 militarymotorcycle, a 1916 Indian with Lewis Guncarriage, complete with Lewis gun itself!What an astonishing find indeed, one of thesedays I’ll try to get some pics for you all to lookat.

I haven’t been doing too much with regardto my own projects of late, but I have been as-sisting some friends with their own toils…One friend has masochistically decided thathe wants to acquire most of the locally re-maining Royal Enfield twins here in Victoria,so I’ve been over his place assisting thisquest. We brought in a 1961 Super Meteor theother day to add to his three Interceptors (allMkIIs) and one Bullet… Poor thing, he has

this strange idea that theyare as good as Nortons. Ahwell, we will indulge hisfantasy… Interesting engi-neering though, wish I hada Norton whereby onemight be able to remove thecamshafts without splittingthe crankcases...hmmmm.They do come withRoadholders, those lastMkII Interceptors, so it’sslightly related to the topicat hand…

Other ongoing projectsin this neck of the woodsinclude my friend Mike’swrecked '73 Commando,turned into one morning byan idiot doing a U-turn inthe middle of the high

street....This is a good and funny story thoughin some ways, the guy who cut Mike off con-fessed to my friend that he was actually a drugpedlar doing errands and would he mind verymuch if the cops weren’t called, as after all hethought the “Biker” wouldn’t want cops in-volved either...would he?? that caused somehilarity when Mike shard the tale. Needless tosay, the cops were called… The bike, aftertaking some serious damage, is on the mendand it’s going to be a stunner to be sure. Somany parts required though and things aren’tgetting any cheaper…

Mike also has a '39 Panther 600 sloperwhich we hope to have firing by spring, weare struggling with parts over here but theproject is slowly moving forward. (Anyonewith prewar Panther bits they can spare isurged to get in touch!!!!) I am also workingon a mid fifties AJS bitza right now, '54 en-gine, '51 frame, '55+ forks, numbered on thecases as a model 16M 350 but the barrel andpiston are 500! well , it would appear that thebike was put together to sell, one ofTHOSE… It’s going to make a fine specialbut getting things to match is out of the ques-tion at the moment. Yes, the garage is full upand it’s going to hopefully be a productivewinter in there. My apologies for all the nonNorton chatter, but if all the bikes wereNortons we’d be in heaven wouldn’t we?

I have been riding a fair bit because al-though it’s been cold, the weather has been

Gary ParkerCNOA Rep

Nortons Underthe Maple

Leaf


Fall Issue 2010

clear and dry on many days. The bike has de-veloped an annoying chirping whistly soundthat comes and goes, my first thoughts wererelated to head gasket leakage but since I haveinstalled a primary belt on my Atlas my mindis moving towards that area. A quick checkunder the covers revealed nothing unusual,but Royal Enfield Frank also runs a belt andclaims it can get pretty chirpy while under-way. There may be something in this as therubber bung over the clutch in the chaincasecover went for a walkabout a few weeks agoand it is possible that sounds that were previ-ously muffled are becoming apparent with thelack of rubber… Certainly the bike has bagsof compression and plenty of power, so I amthinking the head gasket is fine, careful exam-ination with a flashlight between the finsshows no evidence of gases escaping the com-bustion chamber. I will be ordering a newbung and we’ll see if the sound diminishes.There wasn’t a hint of it on the way back fromLumby.

I have just received a kind email from Da-vid Pritchard of the Manitoba Norton OwnersClub who sent me a gorgeous picture of a finebevy of Commandos from the cold prairie,and promises to follow it up with pics of hissingles. It’s so nice to hear from folks who aredoing such fine work with these old girls else-where in Canada. He’s looking for variousbits for a featherbed 650 project, so if youknow of someone with bits, or you have somesurplus to requirements, please let me knowor contact him through the links page on theINOA site.

I don’t have lot more to thrill you all with atthe moment, but I am hoping that your work-shops and garages are humming this winterwith projects and plans to bring something tolife for the coming spring. There’s plenty oftime to get that old single running, or refreshthat old fastback or Dommie for the road. Andwho knows, depending where you are in thisvast land, there might be some dry days with aclear sky and sunshine, where all one has todo is wrap up as warmly as possible and headout for a winter blast! Or have I been spoiledtoo long out here in lotusland with its mild cli-mate for too long. New Years Day rideanyone?

Cheers to all, and if I don’t type much be-fore Christmas, have the merriest possible!�

Seven ThousandMiles on a CNW

Norton

“The trick is whatone emphasizes. Weeither make ourselvesmiserable, or wemake ourselveshappy. The amount ofwork is the same.” –Carlos Castaneda

Dave Brock and Idrove from Atlantaout to Delores, Colo-rado, and picked upmy Colorado NortonWorks #27 Norton in2002. Since then Ihad only ridden itabout 2000 miles,partly because formuch of that time Iwas busy moving toMexico as I describedin my last article and,after I got here, I dis-covered the bike wasalmost unrideable on the cobblestone streetsdown here. Then as I was in the planningstages for the Lumby, British Columbia rally,Doug MaCadam came over from Baja for avisit and we got to talking about the bike.Doug was a principal in CNW when the bikewas built and he explained that the bike hadone inch shorter shocks on the back. Thatcombined with the Progressive Springs on thefront made the bike too low for conditionsdown here. The good news was that boththings were easily fixed.

While I was doing all this I decided tochange the rear wheel back to a 19- inch rimand change both tires to Dunlop K 81s. Thedifference was amazing. Suddenly the bikewas very usable and visions of riding it toLumby began to float through my head.

“Most adventure can be avoided by goodplanning.”

I don’t know whosaid that but it proba-bly explains whyI’ve led such an ad-venturous life. I hateplanning. That’s notreally true. I hate toget locked into abunch of reserva-tions and meet-upsthat people are ex-pecting me to do,then not being able todo them. I like to letthe trip flow and gowith the flow.

My friend PeterWoods wanted toride with me part ofthe way to the bor-der. I told him to beover at my house at9:30 AM. Of course,we finally threw aleg over the bikesabout two hours late.

Here’s the picture.I’m riding a Corvette

Yellow Norton Fastback with a '75 e-start en-gine. I’ve got new, black, Cortech luggage,tank bag, and roll pack. I’m wearing my HeinGericke Street Pilot leathers with a Nortonpatch on the back and a black Nolan flip-fronthelmet with Isle of Man decals on the side.

I’d be lying to you if I said I didn’t lookgood.

Peter was riding my DL 1000 V Strom andwe made good time up to San Luis Potosiwhere we stopped for a late lunch. Alight rainstarted falling so, after we finished eating; weput on the raingear and started out again.

I don’t name motorcycles and I don’t referto them as “he” or “she.” They’re not pets orhumans. I find this affectation precious andannoying but I almost named the Norton thefirst few times I rode it. It seemed every time Igot over five miles from the garage it wouldstart raining. Georgia was in one of the lon-gest droughts in history and it would startraining. I almost named it “The Rain Maker.”It was looking like it still had its magic.

The rain abated after about 15 minutes but,a hundred miles later as we approachedMatahula, dark clouds were building up

Fall Issue 2010


Peyote* Dreams

Art Bone

“Poor Mexico, so far from God,

so close to the United States.” –

Porifiro Diaz

*Disclaimer: I have never taken the drugpeyote nor do I advocate its use. I’m making aliterary reference to Carlos Castaneda whowrote, “Nothing in this world is a gift.Whatever must be learned must be learned thehard way.” — Art Bone

ahead of us. I could see the big sign for LasPalmas hotel and knew there was nothing pastthere until we got to Saltillo, 200 miles far-ther. I also knew Los Palmas has clean, com-fortable rooms with shelters to park the bikesunder, a nice restaurant, and really, reallygood margaritas. It was time to stop for thenight.

The sun was bright and the temperaturewas cool the next morning when we startedout. I called a stop at the first Pemex gas sta-tion and asked Peter if he wanted to ride theNorton a bit. I had seen pictures of him on aDominator back in New Zealand in his youn-ger days so I figured he would have no prob-lem “switching feet” to the Norton’s rightfoot, one up - three down shift pattern. Sureenough, he had no problem at all and soon Iwas basking in the sounds that wafted fromthe pea-shooter exhausts as the Norton hit itssweet spot a little under 70 MPH.

The early morning sun was behind us as wemotored across the high desert valley; Yuccaforests as far as we could see marched up thesides of mountain ranges miles away on eachside. The sky was so blue it faded to purplenear the horizon. Three or four weeks aheadwith nothing to do but ride a cool old motor-cycle, visit with friends old and new, andsearch for great roads with beautiful scenery.Does it get any better?

I had a great sense of well-being, peace,and contentment as I felt myself settling intothe ride. Those feelings would be dashed be-

fore the day was out but they were muyagradable while they lasted.

“The adventure starts when the bike stops.”– Ted SimonPeter and I parted company at a Pemex just

below Saltillo and I headed up into thedreaded border region of Mexico where, ifyou listen to the US news media, there aregristly murders and beheadings every day.

There had been a hurricane the week be-fore that left some of the roads to the eastwashed out but I thought I was far enoughwest to avoid all that. Turns out I was wrong.As I crested a hill I saw a small river flowingover the road ahead. At least a quarter mile ofwater was between me and where I wanted togo. I watched a few cars and trucks cross andit didn’t look very deep so I decided to chanceit.

Turns out I was wrong again. I got abouthalf way across and suddenly my boots filledup with water and the engine stopped. Ipushed the Norton the rest of the way acrossand tried to restart it. No joy. About the thirdtry the battery started going down. I tried afew kicks and only wore myself out. Then Idecided to take the point cover off and dry out


Fall Issue 2010

Mike’s Fastback e-start. (Photo by A. Bone.)This is Mike Pumphrey's bike. Mike lives in Mex-ico City but he and his wife Loretta bought ahouse right up the street from me last year. Whenhis real estate agent sent me an email that he hadsold a house to a guy with a Norton I thought,"What are the chances of that?" Turns out it wastrue. (Photo by A. Bone.)


Fall Issue 2010

the Boyer, only to discover that I hadn’tbrought the proper allen wrench.

I sat down on the shady side of the Nortonto contemplate my situation. There were notrees, no houses, no nothing for as far as Icould see except an occasional cactus; just theroad and the river running across it. It wasn’tquite the middle of nowhere but, if you stoodon tip-toes, you could see the middle in thenear distance.

As I sat there wondering what my nextmove was, a car stopped and backed up. Twoyoung men got out and the driver said, in ex-cellent English, “What’s your problem?”

I explained the drowning out and the almostflat battery.

He said, “Well, what do you want to do?”I said, “Hell, I don’t know. What would you

suggest?”He said, “Do you want to go to the next

town?”I said, “Sure, but we need a truck. We can’t

haul the bike in your car.”He said, “I’ll get us a truck.”With that he turned around and flagged

down the next truck that came by. It was afour-door Ford F 150 and the four guys insidepicked up the bike, put it in the bed, and awaywe went. When we got to the little town ofSabinas we tried pushing the bike and itstarted and ran a bit but quit and we couldn’tget it to start again. Finally after all six of them

screwing around for two or three hours, theyfound me a hotel room near an AutoZone andwe gave up for the night.

When I offered them money they wouldn’ttake anything. I had wasted at least threehours of their time and they wouldn’t take acent. I couldn’t believe it.

The next morning I bought and installed anew battery and the bike cranked but didn’trun very well, so I went back to AutoZone andbought a set of Allen wrenches and pulled thepoint cover. I didn’t detect any moisture butthe bike instantly started running perfectagain.

I had the easiest border crossing I ever hadthat afternoon. Because of the floods and thebridges out there was almost no traffic in ei-ther direction. The officer asked me where Iwas from and where I was going and wavedme through. I slept the sleep of the innocent inDel Rio, Texas that night.


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I love the desolation of west Texas andsouthern New Mexico. Every time I gothrough there I think of the movie “LonesomeDove” and what it must have been like 200years ago. At one point I stopped in a little set-tlement to take a break and smelled gas. WhenI looked down, gas was gushing out of a bro-ken fuel line. I did a roadside repair andstopped at the next AutoZone and replumbedthe fuel system in their parking lot.

I was about 100 miles from Albuquerquewhen I noticed the red alternator light. It wasdim at first but got brighter the farther I went. Iturned off the headlight and soldiered on to ahotel north of town, where I spent the nightanxiously wondering what the next day wouldbring. I stopped at the AutoZone and bought asmall battery charger. Buying AutoZonestock was beginning to look like a sound fi-nancial move. The rest of the day I would stopfor gas and find a place to plug in the chargerand charge the battery. I limped into Cortez,Colo. and collapsed into bed.

The next morning at Colorado NortonWorks, Matt and Gary installed a Sparxthree-phase alternator and a new triplex chainand there was joy in the world again. DavidBrock showed up from Atlanta; the nextmorning we set out for Lumby.

The next few days are sort of a blur now.We left Cortez and took a beautiful roadthrough red rock canyons to Grand Junction,then cut across the north-east corner of Utahand rode through Flaming Gorge NationalPark, passed through Jackson Hole and rodethe length of Yellowstone Park, rode overBeartooth Pass in company with hundreds ofHarleys attending a rally in Red Lodge. It wasgreat fun passing long lines of them.

I had some problems with the tags and in-surance on the Norton so I called Rob Snowin Missoula Montana, whom I didn’t knowuntil I picked his name out of the PSM a fewweeks before I left for the rally, and he gra-ciously allowed me to have some docu-ments sent to his house. We stopped by andlooked at all his projects and had a greatMexican meal. This is further confirmationof my theory that Norton people are not justthe best motorcycle people in the world butalso the best people in the world.

We crossed into Canada with no prob-lems and made the big push to get to therally in the early afternoon. We called Tomand Peter Hill, coming up by a slightly dif-ferent route. We thought if we hurried wecould catch them and ride in together.

It was not to be. We were about two milesout of a small village when the Norton be-gan running rough. I pulled over and itstalled. No headlight, no horn, no starter.The battery was absolutely flat. After twohours of screwing around we got a batteryfrom the auto parts store in the little villageand I rode the rest of the way to Lumby in avery reflective mood.

I had reservations in the Lumby Hotelwhich Suzi and everyone else said didn’texist. Everyone thought it was like the BatesMotel from Psycho, or the Roach Motel(”They check in but they never check out.”)Dave and I christened it the Better Than JailMotel and actually it wasn’t bad. Well, un-less you want hot water and air condition-ing. It had a bar and a good breakfast restau-rant downstairs and that goes a long way to-wards mitigating its other shortcomings.Also, it cost $35 a night. “Sumptuous” does-n’t quite describe it but I think “QuietElegance” comes close.

The next day I checked the charging sys-tem with my VOM meter and everythingchecked out. Then I went down to the autoparts store (sadly, not an AutoZone) andbought a volt meter and rigged it up abovethe oil pressure gauge where I could see it. Itook the bike out for a ride and after a fewminutes it began charging at over 18 volts.That explained what had happened to thebattery the day before. It got fried.

Luckily, I had saved the Zener diode fromthe previous stock setup so I reinstalled that

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and saved myself another roadside repair andanother battery.

I’ll spare you my account of the rally sinceI spent more time planning on the 3500 miletrip home than going on group rides.

Dave and I decided to take MikePorcarelli’s kind offer of a bed for the nightbecause I wanted to do the Road to the Sun inGlacier National Park, which was snowed-inthe last time I was through that part of thecountry. About 30 miles from Mike’s housethe bike started running rough. By this time Iknow the sound of a Boyer pick-up plate go-ing bad. I pulled the point cover off and itstarted running fine again. Mike offered tosell me his spare and we installed it nextmorning and the ignition was perfect the restof the trip.

Many times on this trip I had people walkall the way across a gas-station parking lot tocomment on my bike. Once in New Mexico aman and his wife stopped and backed up aquarter mile to look at it. But in the whole trip,only once did another biker even mention it.Outside of Provo Utah, Dave and I were hud-dled under a gas-station overhang, waiting forthe rain to stop when a guy rode up on a BMW1200 GS with his 12 year old daughter onback. He came over and was really impressedthat anyone would be out touring on a 40 yearold bike. While we were there he asked hisdaughter if she was up for riding all the wayhome from there which was about 1000 milesand she said “Sure.” She was a trouper.

I wonder if the reason no one notices it isthat it still looks sort of modern, with the Fast-back tailpiece, plus I had throw over bags anda tank bag so you couldn’t really see the tankand tailpiece so much. Maybe it just lookslike a small modern motorcycle to mostpeople.

Dave and I parted company in Green RiverUT, he headed east back to Atlanta and Idrove down to CNW were they installed anew regulator and my problems seem solved.The rest of the trip was just riding (nothingwrong with that!).

Since I’ve been back I’ve been pondering“What does it all mean,” or “What would Ihave done differently?” Well, first and mostimportantly, I wouldn’t have crossed thatriver flowing across the road. Nortons don’tlike water, especially water up over the logoin the ignition side cover. I’m going to seal the

points case so no water can get in there. If, asthe manual says, the hole is there to let oilfrom the cam seal leak out, what about replac-ing the seal? I’m positive that almost all myproblems stemmed from that soaking and Iwon’t ever do that again, if it means I have togo 300 miles out of the way.

The second thing is that you can’t cover asmuch ground on an old bike as a new one. I doa lot of long trips on a big 1000 CC dual sportand regularly do 500 or 600 mile days. I can’tdo that on a Norton. About 250 is a good day.It’s not that the bike can’t do it. I can’t do it.The good part of that is take your time, visitplaces you’ve read about, stop by and seefriends old and new and just enjoy the trip.That’s what touring on an old bike should be.

Another thing I found is that I really likethe way the bike looks and handles with 19inch K81s front and rear. It feels much“crisper” on turn-in and I just think it looksright.

The final thought I have about the suitabil-ity of the bike for such a long trip is this:

Think of all the things that could have gonewrong and didn’t. Nothing fell off the bike,the exhaust clamps stayed tight, the mufflersare still on it, it never smoked, it cranked ev-ery time (when the battery had juice,) ethanoldidn’t eat through the Fiberglas tank, and itcruised at 70 and got 50 miles per gallon. Butthe main thing to me was that I was smilingevery morning when it was time to mount up.It was a blast to ride, especially on the twistyparts.

All this was just a “test ride” to make surethe bike would make it through La CarreraPanamericana. This is a 60-year-old race (orrally) for old cars from the ‘50s and ‘60s.They’ve recently added a “non-racing” classfor motorcycles. Don’t believe that part about“non-racing.” You can ride as fast as you likeon closed roads with cops blocking the sideroads and waving you on.

The race is seven days long and starts nearthe Guatemalan border and finishes inZacatecas, about 400 miles northwest of SanMiguel. The day stages are usually about 250miles of really beautiful roads through someof the most spectacular scenery Mexico has tooffer.

I’ll tell you about that next time. �

Nick Jordan

My name is Nick Jordan, and I have beenriding for 38 years (starting in England) andconsider myself to be an addicted motorcy-clist. My interest is in all aspects of the sport ofmotorcycling, and of late, specifically in oldermachines. As a driver and motorcycle riderroad test examiner I am fortunate to be able to‘enjoy’ motorcycling whilst at work; well, inthe summer, anyway! I used to be a riding in-structor and ran my own rider training school,In Pursuit Motorcycle Rider Training.

I consider myself an expert onmotorcycling in general, as a result of my lifeexperience as a rider. I have been passionateabout Norton motorcycles since I started rid-ing, but circumstances precluded me fromowning one until 2005. I now own a 1971Commando Roadster which has been under-going an ‘upgrade’ over the past few years.Fettling is one of my favorite pastimes, so inan attempt to improve its usability. I have to-tally re-wired it, including installing turn sig-nals, replaced many bodged and battered fas-teners with stainless, upgraded to the later ver-nier adjustment Isolastics, installed an after-market head steady and a pair of BruceChessell’s excellent easy-fill stainless forkcaps, and a Pazon electronic ignition. It is myhope to ride to the national rally in New Yorknext summer.

As far as being involved in hobby, club, orwork related activities: I was President of a lo-cal running club and actively involved in theorganization of the club and its activities, in-cluding contributing regular columns in theclub newsletter. I was Chair of the British Co-lumbia Paraoptometric Association with all ofthe responsibilities attached to the position.

The annual ‘Motogiro BC’ classic bikeride/rally is my ‘baby’. This is anon-brand-specific event for all older ma-chines, with points being awardedincrementally for age (the older the machine,

Fall Issue 2010


Colin Kelly

My name is Colin Kelly. l was born inWolverhampton, UK in 1955, l have been aCanadian citizen since 1994. These days l re-side in Courtenay, Vancouver island, BritishColumbia, with my partner, Penny Leslie.

l could be the right guy to carry on fromGary Parker as the Canadian Rep. Gary willalso be my reference for the position. Pennyis very keen to help me; she is very computerliterate.

We had a great time at Nortorious Rallywhich was Penny’s introduction to theNorton rally scene. What a great ride andgreat people as always. My first INOA rallywas at Lake Tahoe in 1991.

I owned my first Commando new in 1974when l was 19, which is when l also firstjoined the NOC. Nortons have played a largepart in my life ever since. I’m sure l canamuse you all with my exploits at rallies andmany years on the road, as well as the currentCanadian scene. l saw a lot of the Comman-dos we ride, lined up at the Norton Villiersfactory at Marston road, Wolverhampton andknew many people that worked there. I havelearned the mechanics of Norton twins overthe years and what l know is based on per-sonal experience. l should also tell youthat I’m not a know-it-all, or a collector.l am just a genuine, down-to-earth Nortonmotorcyclist and have a distaste for club poli-tics and people who seem obsessed on chang-ing everything. l like the INOA just as it is,great bikes and real people. My aim would beto keep it that way, because l believe that’s thetype of people we are. If anything l saystrikes a chord with you, please consider mefor the position of Canadian Rep

Yours sincerely,

Colin Kelly�

Canadian Rep ElectionAll Canadian members of the INOA are urged to review the following submittals and re-

spond to Judy Fortier by email ([email protected]) or regular mail (POB Lavigne, ONCanada, or before January 15 regarding his or her preference for the new CNOARep. All re-sponses must include the member’s name and membership number. The CNOA Rep is re-sponsible for communication among the Canadian chapters of the INOAand serves as the liai-son between those chapter (and individual members) and the INOA.


Fall Issue 2010

the more points) and engine size (the smallerthe engine capacity, the more points). Thisyear marked the fourth Motogiro BC, whichwas actually held in Calgary, Alberta. Longstory!

I have excellent interpersonal skills and amcomfortable with the use of communicationsmedia: computer, fax, telephone.

Why am I interested in the CNOA Repre-sentative position? The above brief overviewof my motorcycling background shows, Ihope, that this is more than a passing fad forme. I enjoy giving back to the motorcycle rid-ing community, and this position would help

me to do so whilst being actively involvedwith my favourite motorcycle brand. I am al-ways interested in meeting and communicat-ing with new people and having Norton mo-torcycles thrown into the mix makes it all themore exciting.

Respectfully submitted.

Nick Jordan �

Fall Issue 2010


A NORTON MOMENT

There was definitely some strange ju-jugoing on as Peggy and I packed up toleave the Legend of the Motorcycle

concours a couple of weekends ago. After theSunday-morning ride to Alice’s Restaurant(nice aprés-concours touch by the organiz-ers), I’d pulled my high-pipe Dreer Com-mando into the front courtyard of theRitz-Carlton Hotel. “Cool Norton,” said oneof the valets, “Park it right there, sir, next tothe Mercedes.” But of course…

As purchased: The Commando 850 after Ibought it and before it went off to KennyDreer’s Vintage Rebuilds to be transformedinto a VR880 Sport Scrambler.

The plan was to complete check-out, havethe valets pull around the big white CW van,and while the bellman loaded up our bags, I’droll the Norton into the back of the Chevyright there in the courtyard, in front of theSunday brunchers arriving in theirluxo-cages. Might as well have some fun formy $40 a night (!) parking fee.

Loading ramp strapped in place, I fired upthe Norton (one of Dreer’s upgrades is fit-ment of a Harley electric-start motor) andguided it into the back of the van. About

three-quarters of the way in, though, the mo-tor stalled.

From behind me came a, “Need some help,buddy?” Pretty familiar for a valet, I thought,but the added assistance was appreciated andthe Norton slotted into its wheel chock with-out further incident. I pivoted around to thankthe nice young man with a few dollar tip, butit turned out to be actor and motorcycle nutPerry King, also checking-out after attendingthe concours. We’d never met, but we had aconnection—and it sitting right there in thevan.

And as beefcake prop: Perry King, circa1994, strikes a pose on the Commando in aphoto lifted from a fan website, which lifted itfrom a magazine spread.

“Hi, Perry, I’m David Edwards from CycleWorld,” I said, offering my hand. “Sure. Verynice to meet you,” he replied. “Hey, youbought my old Norton some years back,right?” I confirmed that in 1996 I had indeedpurchased a 40,000-mile 1974 CommandoInterstate that once belonged to him.

King continued, “Yeah, I bought it from aguy who couldn’t kickstart it, and when Icouldn’t kickstart it I sold it to (mutual friend)Joe Columbero, who couldn’t kickstart it…” Ipicked up the thread, “…who sold it to me,

From the Cycle World Staff Blog, 5/22/2006


Fall Issue 2010

who added an electric starter, and there it is,” Isaid pointing to the bike.

“That’s my old bike?! No! It’s beautiful!”I’m not sure what kind of weird planetary

alignment occurred that placed the Norton’sformer owner in the same hotel at the exactmoment that I needed help loading it, but I’mnot going to argue with kismet. After somesmall talk, Perry climbed into his car and hitthe road. I’m happy to report it was not a

Mercedes, but rather a mud-encrusted Jeepwith a well-used Suzuki DR on the bumperrack.

—David Edwards �

Norton SS880 Sport ScramblerIf you’ve ridden just about every motorcy-

cle ever built, you’re going to be pretty selec-tive when it comes to your own ride. In thecase of former Cycle World editor David Ed-wards, that motorcycle is a custom Nortonbuilt by Kenny Dreer.

Edwards recently got his Norton back aftersome fettling. “After ten years of use, itneeded some detail tidying up,” he says. “It’sa unique bike in that it was one of the firstVR880s that Dreer worked on, and also one ofthe last.” Work started in 1999 after CycleWorld did a story on Dreer, who was turningout ultra-clean hot-rodded Commandos fromhis Portland, Oregon, workshop. (Accordingto Edwards, said workshop was “actually halfof a drafty barn shared with goats and an oldmare.”) Rather than commission one ofDreer’s preferred café jobs, Edwards com-missioned what he calls an SS880 SportScrambler. “This followed what someNortonians call an ‘Interback’ formula,” Ed-

wards explains, “with an Interstate gastank and Fastback seat section, but addingthe zoomy up-pipes from the S model.”

All went well for a few years until ablown base gasket (the 880 pumps outabout 50% more power than a stocker)forced a return to Dreer’s shop. There it gotall the mod-cons that have become avail-able since the original build: an electricstarter, Marzocchi forks, a box-sectionswingarm and Auto Meter instruments.

Dreer’s profile has been on the riseagain with the introduction of the ‘new’Commando in the U.K., which Edwardsdescribes as “basically a productionizedversion of Dreer’s 961. Who knows howfar that project will go? Me, I wonder whatmight have happened if Kenny had stuckto perfecting the VR880 instead of design-ing a whole new Norton.”

(from bikeexif.com) �

Perry King (above), former owner of Dave’s Com-mando; (upper right) the MkIII as Dave receivedit, and in its current state (right) as a Dreer VR 880.(Photos courtesy of D. Edwards.)

Sump Wrenches

A water heaterwrench for electricheater elementsworks well as asump wrench. It hasthe same 1-1/2" size,6 point configura-tion. They typicallyhave a small barabout 4" long that goes through the socket forturning. Light weight and small enough fortraveling.

John Taylor

Norton Keys

It took me a while of messing around on theMySecurityPro.com website to find the blanknumbers for Norton keys. Norton ignition keyblank is 62FS. The fork lock key blank isR62DM. These are not “Made in England”but the work.

Joe Schuman

Rust Prevention

Picklex-20 is good for preventing rust.Painters use this stuff to coat sanded baremetal auto body parts that might lay around awhile before being primered. It really works.Check out Picklex20.com or call (256)650-0088. They’re based in Huntsville, Ala-bama.

Origin of the “Commando”Namesake

The first Commando was a post-WWII Fa-mous James powered by a Villiers two-stroke.Brother to the James Captain. I think it was 98cc of brute engine capacity and the latter was a125…. but I could have that backwards. Bothwere capable of carrying an office worker toand from the station or to work — or a daringhousewife to the shops — but were not knownfor high performance, even within their class.

Charles Lipton

Commando Exhaust

To get more out of the stock Commando isnot just an exhaust issue. My experience withover-sized ID exhaust systems (on a racebike) was mixed at best. Not knowing theoverall condition of your engine, your ridinghabits, style, etc. it is difficult to suggestwhere to start.

First I would lookat your (the en-gine’s) head. makesure the intake flowfrom carburetor andmanifold flange andmanifold flange tohead is even andwithout any roughor uneven transi-

tions. I used machinist’s dye and a dentalprobe to scratch in the areas to be removedwith a Dremel tool, file or rasp. Don’t try topolish the intake, it is a waste of time and youcan go backwards doing that.

Generally speaking I got the best resultsfrom a 2 into 1 system. If memory serves mewell, the best off the shelf (performance)street set up came from MAC. The best raceapplication was shop built with the assistanceof an USAF engineer. If you want a stock sys-tem, I’d suggest a “S” type (high and exitingon the left side) set up. I tried an over sized“SS” system and lost top end. Not what youwant on a race bike..

You may also pick up some HP gain byhaving your new system’s interior treatedwith a high quality ceramic coating like theone “Jet Hot” provides. Afriend’s Bonnevillehad his new stainless steel pipes treated thisway and is very happy with the outcome.They will not treat used pipes as I’ve beentold. Keep in mind that flow is everything.The exhaust valves are smaller by design. Asthe exhaust pipes are to the intake valves andmanifolds.

Also a word from Lord Kelvin will apply toyour endeavor:"Large increases in cost withquestionable increases in performance can betolerated only for race horses and fancywomen."

Breed

The science of exhaust systems is quitecomplex; remember that the exhaust is aTUNED component of your engine, Just liketuned headers on performance cars.

Small diameter pipes help scavenge thecombustion chamber and in some cases pro-duce MORE power as it helps draw in newfuel and air..

Bigger pipes are for higher RPM apps andwhen you need to flow volume, such as aRace bike that spends its time at 7,000 rpm.

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TechTips


Fall Issue 2010

Smaller diameter produces more torque inthe lower rpm ranges (Where most bikes onthe street need it) There is considerable dis-cussion and theories about port velocity andflow where you step down the pipe diameterafter the head and then open it back up in amegaphone, there’s a lot of discussion aboutlength of the pipe for optimum tuning, and af-ter all,, what kind of cam you have in there.

Typically,, most Nortons came with veryrestrictive mufflers., that was politics not per-formance, US federal noise restrictions andemissions in the future.

Then we could discuss the cross over tubesome are fitted with...they are not that attrac-tive on bikes but they DO work, they helpscavenge as well, and produce more torquedown low I fitted some to my hot rod Chevymany years ago after some articles in Carcraft, and they were right, I could physicallyFEEL the difference, dyno tests prove thatfact, Motorcycles don’t see as big of a gain,but it IS there. Ironically, most accounts showthat the crossovers were employed to dampenexhaust notes for noise control as the principlereasons the factories used them (BSA, NortonTriumph) but they do boost low end a bit.

Norton had a variety of pipe styles, consultyour factory parts book, Roadster, Hi-Rider,Interstate, Police, S type, etc. the Roadsterpipes are the easiest to source.

The problem is two-fold, quality, price andavailability, and then, final fitment.

Norvil, RGM, Armours and others offerpretty decent quality, In my experience theBEST quality pipes I ever fitted were the Vi-king pipes from that fellow in New Zealand?Old Britts supplied them at the time, and bothtimes the owners didn’t care about the price,(but they are not cheap) but they were sweptback style, and the quality was excellent,chrome, pipe material, and fitment was wellabove average.

Price and very limited production volumeare the 2 cons with Viking EMGO is nowmaking “Economy” priced pipes, and theyare very affordable, I wouldn’t count on longterm chrome quality, but the prices are veryattractive.

Price quality availability, Pick ANY 2 butyou are unlikely to get all 3, and by the way,we overcharge every 3rd customer to pass thesavings onto you! Fitting is a topic in itself,I’ll say the rule of British bike rebuilding isthat you should EXPECT the parts won’t fit

Fall Issue 2010


right, need rework, take longer to source thanexpected and cost more than you would like toadmit, But Nortons present their own issues,.

The Norton Heads are very inconsistent.the castings varied widely, I’ve sampled 7heads here at my shop and everyone was dif-ferent, I’ve worked factory production inAerospace castings, all parts have to hit cer-tain targets for standards, I’d say Nortonswere some pretty loose standards as there’s somany variables its crazy. But you will findthat pipes can be a REAL challenge to fit andmake look good, they rarely hang the same asviewed from the rear (typically one higherthan the other) they hit stuff on the frame,pegs, swingarms etc, and almost ALL of themseem to foul the kicker, Kick start banging isvery common and people really struggle fit-ting them where they don’t hit, I used to have aheavy work bench at our old shop and in the 6inch thick counter tops I made dowel holes,and would setup posts and pipes to “Tweak”pipes to fit, it’s a slow tedious process totweak them without marring the finish orcrimp or kink a tube, long cheater bars and lotsof grunting and groaning.

Also check out original early factory pipes,fanatical rivet counters covet these. If youlook, the part that fits into the exhaust port iswelded onto the pipe where it then necksdown to a smaller OD/ID. If you look care-fully, they look crooked and sloppy—repoppipes don’t have that, But restoration typeswill search for original pipes and rechromethem to preserve this visual defect....lastly,mufflers redux, the reverse cones the factoryused on most 750s is the most common andthere are several man-ufacturers of them,but they also used thelarge ungainly blackcaps mostly on later850s, some peoplelike them but to meIMHO they are theworst muffler everplus (massively re-strictive), There arevery cheaply pricedreplica Dunstall muf-flers, I use them a lot,they come in shortsand longs, they alsotypically feature re-

movable baffles, which is cool, you can packthem with stainless steel for damping or re-move them altogether for a roaring jaunt.

Doug McGuire

Areview of Scientific Design of Exhaust &Intake Systems by Smith & Morrison (ISBN0-8376-0309-9) will be illuminating.

Briefly described, a pipe will affect a givenengine in several ways: Tuned length is ap-plied to the theory that the open end of a pipewill ‘reflect’a positive pressure wave back tothe exhaust valve that, with use of a cam hav-ing a large timing overlap will stuff a bit offresh mixture back into the cylinder beforethe exhaust valve closes, thereby improvingperformance. Open, reverse cone mega-phones seem to enhance this backward stuff-ing. Back pressure is a factor that works bothfor and against the engine depending onRPM. A larger pipe produces greater backpressure than a smaller. A longer pipe offersgreater back pressure than a shorter. A possi-bly workable theory is that when the exhaustvalve opens, an initial slug of hot gas is sentinto the pipe, and the inertia generated by thisslug will assist in cylinder evacuationincluding the incoming charge.

It’s generally considered that the use of amuffler will negate all of the above to greateror smaller degree, but a muffler that you canlook through is better than one that you can-not (A baffled muffler will KILL a Com-mando). A large diameter pipe will be noisieron a given engine than will be a smaller pipe.OEM Commandos can usually be run on thestreet sans muffler. Surprisingly quiet with


Fall Issue 2010

OEM pipes. The Dunstall type muffs weresold with a perforated screen spotweldedacross the airflow at about 6" in from the frontend, a very good thing to remove.

Dunstall’s answer was to bring both 1-5/8"(?) pipes together about 10-12 inches belowthe flange nuts into a 1 ¾" pipe run centrallyunder the power unit, then splitting that oneinto two 1 ¾" pipes feeding two mufflers inthe OEM Roadster location. Alocal back roadburner consistently much quicker than I usesthis exhaust.

A mechanical factor worth mentioning isthat Commandos give the threads in the head avery bad time due to the extreme leverage ap-plied by the long pipes and heavy muffs. The850s used a crossover pipe in order to improvethe stability of the head to pipe juncture aswell as to partially split the noise between thetwo mufflers, but that design created crackingof the welds, and perhaps lower performance.My own theory is that the use of smaller diam-eter pipes allowed more flex, thereby reduc-ing the strain on the threads in the head.

A thing to be aware of is that some after-market pipes will have the lower bend too farforward, leading to touch down in the slowerturns. Don’t Ask Me How I Know.....

Frank Forster

Tire Confusion

A tube that’s too large can give you prob-lems. When installed, it will have overlappingcreases which will abrade the tube due to cas-ing flex. When abraded enough, a hole willdevelop. I’ve never had a “ too small” tube faildue to stretch, but I’ve seen to it that an under-

sized tube used by me was not too undersized.For me, it’s always been an “eyeball” fit.Tubes matched by size from the same manu-facturer as the casing can be relied upon, buttubes made by various manufacturers varywidely size for size.

Spindle Removal

Once the spindle has been accessed it maybe difficult to remove. The shop manual sug-gest that the front motor mount pass throughstud could be used as an aid in removing thespindle because it would fit into the spindle’streaded opening. Removing the engine mountcenter stud seemed a bit more than I wanted todo, so I looked around the shop and found thatthe clutch hub tool center bolt also fit into theswing arm spindle. I also found that this boltwould pass through the square opening in a ½inch drive socket. I matched up a ½ inch drivesocket with the outside of the swingarm. Thisis where the shoulder of the bronze bushingcan be seen. In my case a 1-1/8" socketworked. I added spacers one at a time. A flatwasher first and then the nuts that accompanythe clutch tool were added, . A drop of oilagainst the spacers and the socket insured thatthere would be no unnecessary drag. It is im-portant to start with one spacer. This will en-sure that the bolt seats well into the spindleand not strip out. I turned the bolt with a boxwrench and found that the spindle began tocome out. Spacers were added, you must re-move the bolt from the spindle to add spacers,until the spindle was free enough to be re-moved by hand. Also, it is important that thesocket used rest upon the swing arm frame

and not the faceof the bronzeb u s h i n g .S i n t e r e dbronze bush-ings remain oneof our bestfriends, how-ever, they are,as I’m certainyou know,easily crackedor crushed.

A g a i n ,Thank You forall your helpand efforts.

Jim May

Visors

You can use Lemon Pledge Wipes, a porta-ble version of Lemon Pledge, to clean your vi-sor on the road. The pre-moistened towelettesfit in a pocket. They come 18 to a bag, but youcan put just a few in a resealable bag.

Richard Florence (from the “NortonColorado” newsletter)

Powdercoating Frames

Powdercoat is in essence, “plastic” parti-cles released from an electrostatic gun that“float” to the grounded article being coated,and “stick” long enough to be transferred tothe baking oven where temperatures areraised enough to melt and fuse the particlesinto a continuous “plastic” film. Unless cer-tain very high temp products are used, there islittle actual adhesion or bonding to the under-lying metal. Any chip will admit moisturewhich will sweat its way well under thepowdercoat and cause rusting. For this reason,it is very important to precoat with a rust in-hibiting primer or base coat. I would bestrongly investigating using a zinc enrichedprimer of some sort that is compatible with thepowder coat and the high temperaturesinvolved.

Having said all of that, I think my nextframe job might be done with POR product,

which sticks like you know what, is quite chipresistant, is easily touched up (either by sprayor a touchup brush) and is rust inhibiting. Hasa good gloss finish too.

Jay in NZ

Painting a Commando Frame

I have used PPG 2-part with clear coat.PPG has their primer for their two-part paintproduct as well. The product was easy tospray and looks good

John

Oil pump Rebuild

I always use a gasket from the pump to theengine case. It slows down wetsumping a lit-tle. A little Locktight on the nuts would begood, too. You don’t need to stake them.

If the pump is that stiff you took off toomuch but that is not a problem. Just get someextra fine lapping compound and put a bit onthe gears and work it around until it frees up. Ihave used Comet and done it in the sink withsome water to wet the Comet and wash itaway as you turn it.

Jim Comstock

Ammeter Wiring

For a bike without an ammeter, there willbe two wires to the negative post on the bat-tery (or a junction in the negative batterywire). One would be the negative charging

Fall Issue 2010


wire (black) from the Tympanium and theother would be the feed to the ignition switch.The negative wire from the Tympanium andthe feed wire to the switch need to stay con-nected together. From the junction of thesetwo wires a wire will need to go to one post ofthe ammeter. The other post of the ammeterwill go directly to the negative post of the bat-tery preferably through a fuse.

Jim Comstock

Red Rubber Grease Substitute

I have found that P-80 Lubricant Emulsion(Size: 10 ml Small Plastic Tube) is good forpreserving/installing rubber parts. A little bitgoes a long way, and I keep it around all thetime. They have the standard thin stuff or thethicker stuff that hangs around a little longer.You can actually push Isolastics in by handwith either one. They’re original use was fortires. I have used it on dirt bike tires and foundyou could put them on without a tire iron onsome rims. They also have some stuff thatleaves an adhesive when it dries, just right forhandgrips and peg rubbers. Got tohttp://www.ipcol.com for moreinformation, or call609-386-8770 for find where itcan be ordered or purchasedlocally.

Jim Comstock

I used to use a lot of “Kent”brand products that work ex-tremely well. A product calledAir Gap Sealer, a black, , alco-hol soluble, goop in a tubeworks wonders for primarycover O ring oil leaks, etc.Doesn’t harden, stays soft andsticky, light smear on gasketsurfaces would stop most all oilseepage, easily removable, butmessy.

Ford Motor has a good line ofodd lubricants, sealers, adhe-sives, etc. Priced decently. Es-pecially like “Ford DielectricGrease” for Lucas bullet styleconnectors. Tube lasts forever.

Doug Kowalske

Tubes

The “brand name” tubes may offer a bitmore security due to more precise manufac-turing controls, but I really can’t offer any ev-idence of this.

When I had a retail shop in the '70s, we al-ways recommended new tubes with every tirechange for liability reasons, preferring thethen popular Michelin “Airstop” brand, and Ikept the old tubes, which are now what I usepersonally.

I often use tubes that I recognize as beingmade in the '60s or '70s. I overinflate them be-fore installation to show up flaws such as rotcaused by sun exposure or creases from longterm uninflated storage. I consistently findold tubes stored under the house to be just fineif not rotted, and now store them slightly in-flated. If stored inflated for a time, I’m as-sured of their integrity.

Frank Forster �

Fall Issue 2010



Fall Issue 2010

New fromBracebridge Street

Depot

Bracebridge Street De-pot now has a stock ofDVDs containing thescanned pages of theNorton News from issue#1 through #155. ThisDVD replaces the olderCD-ROM that contained scanned copies ofthe Norton News issues #1 - #44.

This product is offered as a companion tothe Tech Digest, which refers readers on sometopics to specific articles in the Norton News.It also contains a wealth of information aboutclub activities in years past as well as informa-tive articles not tied to the Tech Digest.

The new DVD is designed to play on mostmodern computers but will not play on mosthome entertainment DVD players; check thecapabilities of your equipment before order-ing. “Norton News #1 - 155" is available for$40, which includes all shipping, etc.

Bracebridge Street Depot also has a supplyof 2011 Norton calendars as produced by theNOC in England. These are the same size as inprevious years (about 17" x 11"); wall mountstyle with 12 classic Nortons. Price is $23each which includes shipping, etc.

Print an order form at the Bracebridge website www.bracebridge-street.com or link to itthrough the main INOA sitewww.inoanorton.com. Send your order to:Bracebridge Street Depot c/o Jim Evans 304May Ave Glen Ellyn IL 60137 Cash, check ormoney order only - payable to “USNOA”. Nocredit cards or other electronic payment avail-able. These DVD’s are advertised on thewebsite and this offer is for shipment to NorthAmerica only.

Norton in Talks with Inmotec OverMotoGP Engine Supply

According to on-line reports, the rulechanges coming for the 2012 MotoGP seasonare generating a lot of interest from new man-ufacturers interested in entering the series.

Current Moto2 chassis builders FTR,Kalex and Suter are all believed to be workingon chassis for use in the so-called CRT bikes,machines based around production engines,while BMW and Aprilia are also rumored to

be looking at entering theclass once the capacity re-turns to 1000cc.

Shortly after the Brnoround of MotoGP, newsemerged that Stuart Gar-ner, the man behind the res-urrected Norton brand, hadobtained two grid slots forthe 2012 MotoGP champi-

onship.The company’s plans, it was believed, re-

volved around taking the 1000cc four-cylin-der engine which will form the basis of ahigh-performance sports bike to be intro-duced in either 2011 or 2012, and race it aspart of a plan to promote Norton as a perfor-mance brand. The engines were to be built byMenard Competition Technologies, but ru-mors emanating from the UK’s F1 corridor -an area of the central UK stretching fromAylesbury in the southwest to Leicester in theMidlands - suggest that Norton was havingdoubts about the rate at which engines couldbe produced at, and that Norton wasexploring other options.

Those options, it appears, have led to theSpanish engineering firm Inmotec, the com-pany behind the Inmotec MotoGP project.Inmotec has been building a V4 MotoGPbikefor the past three years, but the project hasbeen plagued by a chronic lack of funds.Norton, on the other hand, has sufficientfunds to invest in a project, but lacks the engi-neering expertise required to build ahigh-performance 1000cc four-cylinderengine.

A link-up between the two would provideInmotec with the funds it requires to keepfunctioning, and Norton with the expertise toproduce engines in the numbers required.

MotoMatters.com’s attempts to elicit a re-sponse from Stuart Garner at Norton have sofar not met with any success, but through our

Fall Issue 2010


contacts with the Spanish magazineMotociclismo, we did manage to reachInmotec.

Inmotec Managing Director Oscar Gorriaconfirmed to our contacts at Motociclismothat Norton is in talks to buy the company. Nofurther details were released, but this optioncould provide the engineering capacityNorton seeks.

It is unknown whether Norton’s MotoGPeffort will be based around Inmotec’s currentV4 engine. The Inmotec machine has had sev-eral planned public tests postponed, with ap-pearances at both Barcelona and Valenciacanceled. Reports from testing suggest thatthe engine has a chronic lack of reliability,with engines blowing up after just a few lapsin private tests at the brand new Navarramotorsports facility.

Those reliability problems are precisely thesort of problem that Inmotec will be hopingthat Norton’s funds could help to fix.

Norton Motorcycle Posters

There are some nice posters athttp://www.classicbikes.biz/pages/norton-motorcycle-posters.htm.

CNW Article

Congrats to Colorado Norton Works(CNW) on the nice write-up in a recent To-morrow’s Technician magazine. This publica-tion is geared towards automotive students.The article was proclaiming the career re-wards of vintage bike updating and enginebuilding, along with a little Norton historythanks to the interview with Matt Rambow.Some beautiful bike and motor pictures, too.“Zen Master Builder: Colorado NortonWorks” can be found at the following site:www.tomorrowstechnicains.com by clickingon “Magazine & Current Issue”.

This kind of publicity goes a long way to-wards igniting Norton flames in the hearts ofthe next generation of bike builders. Welldone CNW!!!

John T.Delhi, NY

Radford Honored

Phil Radford was the recipient of the an-nual INOA “Special Contribution Award”.Phil has provided more than 25 years of sup-plying high-quality parts and service, and ex-cellent free advice to US Norton owners.Photo by Donna Morrison at the NCNOCAGM ride and picnic earlier this year.

Editor’s Note: Phil was a key figure in get-ting me involved with Nortons. I wrote to himback in the early '80s to obtain his assessmentof the different Commando models. He re-sponded with a three-page handwritten letterthat I still have. Thanks, Phil!

AHRMA Announces 2011 RoadRace Changes

The American Historic Racing Motorcy-cle Association (AHRMA), working closelywith Daytona International Speedway (DIS)and Champion Cup Series (CCS) announcesa move for their 2011 DIS event from BikeWeek to the DIS Fall Cycle Scene. AHRMAextends warm thanks to the staff of (DIS) fortheir support during our past Bike Week

events and acknowledges their cooperationand working these changes for 2011.

To conclude the 2011 Road Race season,AHRMA will team up with CCS to conduct a3-day National Road Race event (October14th, 15th and 16th, 2011) at DIS during theFall Cycle Scene as part of Biketoberfest.This event will closely follow the 7th BarberVintage Festival (BVF) weekend (October7th & 8th, 2011), providing AHRMA roadracers an opportunity to close out the 2011racing season at two of our country’s most fa-mous facilities, back to back.

“Although this date change completelymodifies the traditional AHRMA Road Raceschedule, this unprecedented double header issure to get the adrenaline pumping in both ourVintage and Modern road racers” said, DaveLamberth, AHRMA Executive Director. “Weare excited about this change in schedule, es-pecially with the potential of increased num-bers of national and international participantsfor both events” said Lamberth.

AHRMA is currently exploring alternativeoptions for their 2011 opening Road Raceevents.

This change in the Road Race schedule willnot affect 2011 Off Road Bike Week events.

For more information and schedule an-nouncements visit www.AHRMA.org.

Hogslayer Documentary

It is my pleasure to formally announce thed o c u m e n t a r yHogslayer – TheUnapproachableLegend to theINOA. This is thestory of TCChristenson andJohn Gregory ofSunset Motorsfrom Kenosha,Wisconsin, andtheir world cham-pion dual-engineNorton dragster,known as theHogslayer. SunsetMotors Racing be-came the most suc-cessful drag racingc h a m p i o n s h i pteam in motorcycle

history during the 1970s. This remarkableachievement was accomplished through theirunrivaled innovation in the engineering of theHogslayer and unbridled courage as theycommanded the world drag strips. TheHogslayer, won the hearts of thousands andintroduced the impressive performance capa-bilities of the Norton motorcycle to America.

The documentary offers Norton enthusi-asts’ worldwide an opportunity to celebrateone of the most successful accomplishmentsin Norton’s rich racing legacy an accomplish-ment originated right here in America. Asproducer of this very worthwhile endeavor, Iam searching for additional documentary ma-terials (photographs, promotional items, pub-lications, film, and video) representing theHogslayer story to enhance the documentary.Full documentary credit will be offered forcontributions.

Additionally, sponsorship packages are be-ing offered to assist in the production costs ofthe documentary. This is a great promotionalopportunity for businesses and organizations.

For more information on how you can be apart of this exciting documentary, please con-tact The Edge through the email address pro-vided below.

A Hogslayer promotional trailer is nowavailable through a You Tube link atnortonhogslayer.com. Or, just searchHogslayer on You Tube. Please take the time


Fall Issue 2010

Fall Issue 2010


to enjoy this short video. The full-length doc-umentary will be released in spring of 2011.

James CuttingIndependent ProducerTHE EDGE [email protected]

Peter Williams’ Book

Peter’s Williams autobiography, Designedto Race, is currently available through MikePartridge at Walridge. Mike is interested tosee if any members would like a personalized,signed copy of the book. If the response isstong enough, a special order of signed copieswill be placed. Contact Mike [email protected] for more information.

CO2 Power Kit

Aerostich has a compact kit to inflate tires.No matter where you are, this compact, light-weight kit gives you air. Five threaded 16gram CO2 cartridges, a control valve and a3.5" flexible valve adapter hose, all storeneatly inside a 5"×5" nylon envelope bag.Enough air to refill a flat tire or anything elsethat requires inflation on the road or around

camp. 5”x5”, 12 oz. Item #4760; price is $24.To get a free catalog, call 800-222-1994 (orfax 218-720-3610)or email: [email protected]

BMC of New Orleans’2011 Annual British Car Day.

21th Annual British Car Day – Join theBritish Motoring Club –New Orleans atDelgado - City Park Campus in New Orleans,Louisiana. All British cars and bikes are wel-come. Registration is 9am to noon, with pop-ular choice judging from noon till 3pm,awards at 4pm. Host hotel TBA. There will bea reception on Friday, March 18th at the hosthotel. For more information contact: RickHuber (225) 926-6946, Karen Murray (504)236-7509, or Cathy Greensfelder:[email protected], or visit the club web site athttp://www.bmcno.org Chad C. Wicker Brit-ish Motoring Club New Orleans and SouthLouisiana.

Sealing Steel Tanks

For sealing steel tanks, check outwww.PrecisionMotorcyclePainting.com.They advertise in Norton News and can do allthe work you require. I’ve sealed a couple oftanks successfully with Caswell’s sealer (hadto strip one of failed Kreem sealer first). It canget tricky. I then had Precision clean, Caswellepoxy seal, and paint another tank after see-ing the job they did on a friend’s Interstate andRoadster. Their work is stunning! Even thesealer is like glass, right up to the top of theneck. They also do repair work.

John T.Delhi, NY �

Fall Issue 2010


Norton MotorcyclesUSA

It gives me pleasure toreach out to all of you withthis first communicationfrom Norton MotorcyclesUSA. I want to update you toour current activities, andsome future plans.

We are at the very early stages of formingNorton Motorcycles USA, which is a directsubsidiary of Norton Motorcycles Ltd UK. Asyou can imagine, there is much to do. Soon wewill begin the process of setting-up a dealernetwork around the country, putting the sup-port systems in place (spares, technical train-ing, warehousing, etc.) and of course gettingU.S. approved Norton Motorcycles here. Weexpect to begin deliveries of the 961 Com-mando starting in May of 2011.

Norton Clubs and Norton owners are a fun-damental part of our plans for the USA, andworldwide. Today, you folks are the face andspirit of Norton, and we will do our best tomake you a proud and supportive of the part ofthe new Norton. The history and heritage ofNorton has always been one of beauty, uniquecharacter and spectacular road manners. Westrongly embrace the heritage of Norton, soour new bikes reflect that unique Norton char-acter, but they have been developed and engi-neered in a completely modern way. It isworth noting that the new Commandos arecompletely engineered in the UK and built al-most entirely of British parts, with the excep-tion of the suspension and brakes which arethe very best Europe has to offer.

To add a little vintage credibility to myselfpersonally, my first job at 16 years old wasworking in a British motorcycle shop, and Istill own and ride the 66’Triumph Bonnevillethat I owned in high school. I have been in themotorcycle industry for many years, I am apassionate rider and one of the reasons that Ijoined the Norton team is that they are almostall serious motorcyclists. You may have no-ticed that our owner, Stuart Garner, just set aland speed record at Bonneville on a Norton.

It will take a bit of time, but we will be set-ting-up direct communication lines for clubsto Norton USA, as well as supporting and par-ticipating in Norton Club events nationwide.If schedule allows, I will plan to ride to theNational meet in 2011. Give us a little time

and support. We welcomeyou to our family, and wehope you will welcome us toyours.

All the best, and see youon the road,

Dan Van EppsNorton Motorcycles USA

Stewart Garner’s roots are in motorcycleracing and I thought his stated intentionwhen he first released details of his hopesfor Norton was that he wanted to see themracing competitively again. Today’s versionof the old successful Norton Rotary is con-siderably more refined and modernized withsome leading technology in the variable in-take tract setup. I’m not sure of true horse-power comparisons other than what’s beenpublished so far....but of course you neverlet your competitors know where you are at,do you. Garner must have done consider-able lobbying at the top as to the legality of arotary before making any announcement. Ipersonally think keeping the series open toinnovation is a good thing providing safetyis not compromised by ridiculous power andspeed. The way the Formula One Car seriesis going with innovation and inventivenesstotally stopped is a death knell for the sportlong term. You soon lose interest in 25 carsracing with identical engines and littleindividuality.

I have no idea of Garner’s worth or if hehas financial backers, but to have done whathe has so far in a short time is astonish-ing...and worth supporting in my view.

Jay in NZ

New vs. Old

Yes, my Norton doesn’t handle as well asmodern machines, and yes, it has idiosyn-crasies with the electrics, but did you everwonder why people would put up with it? Itis the difference between going to WallyWorld and paying $35 for a Christmas treesomeone else cut down and actually cuttingone down yourself. I am not stopping any-one from spending their money their way, aslong as some don’t mind me buying an un-derpowered (?) poor handling (?) piece ofart as opposed to what has become so massproduced that everyone has one.

Fall Issue 2010



Fall Issue 2010

Central Ohio NortonOwnersRalph Rotz8675 Windchester Rd.Carroll, OH [email protected]

Michigan Norton OwnersGerald Dervish5611 Firwood DriveTroy, MI [email protected]

Norton Owners of ArizonaLeRoy PetersonPO Box 385 Aguila, AZ85320.928-685-4187 leroydga15p @yahoo.com.

SCNOCBill Bibbiani1168 N. Hill Ave.Pasadena, CA [email protected]

Greater AtlantaNorton OwnersNathan Kimble649 Braeburn CourtLawrenceville, GA 30044678-344-8509

Norton ColoradoEric Bergman1900 19th St.Golden, CO [email protected]

British Motorcycle OwnersAssociation of Houston,TexasMike McGill25418 Old Carriage LaneSpring, TX 77373-6015281-288-7236

New England NortonOwnersDave Comeau11 Poplar St.Ipswich, MA [email protected]

Northern OhioNorton OwnersEd Britt9127 CR 35Millersburg, OH 44654

Adirondack NortonOwners ClubBox 262Keene, NY [email protected]

Western PennsylvaniaNorton OwnersJoe Crowley738 Edgewood Ave.Pittsburgh, PA [email protected]

New Jersey NortonsKevin Fegan245 Meyersville Rd.Meyersville, NJ 07933908-580-0580

New YorkGary Bullen, Pres.Dominic Aiello, VP83 Prospect St.Utica, NY 13501315-733-1586www.nynoa.com

Zia (New Mexico)Hal (Red) WilsonPO Box 93Cedar Crest, NM 87008505-286-0693505-235-2302 (cell)[email protected]

WisconsinAnthony Albanoc/o 757 Euclid Ave.Beloit, WI 53511-6004262-828-7185

IndianaBob Goodpaster403 N. Wisconsin St.Hobart, IN 46342219-942-2401

Nation’s CapitolDon Raulin411 Beach DriveEdgewater, MD [email protected]

Roanoke British IronDave Youngblood3201 Pasley Ave. S.W.Roanoke, VA [email protected]

North FloridaNorton OwnersJohn Corbin1842 Holly OaksLake Rd. W.Jacksonville, FL 32225904-398-4390

Ottawa NortonOwners GroupFred MohlmannBox 583Wakefield, QuebecJ0X 3G0, [email protected]

Chicago NortonOwners’ ClubJonathan [email protected]

Delaware Valley NortonRidersBob Norum276 Butterworth LaneLanghorne, PA 19047215-431-8735 (cell)[email protected]

Gateway Chapter (St. Louis)Joe Jump435 W. Argonne Dr.St. Louis, MO 63122314-232-3617

Tri-State Norton RidersChuck Contrino115 East 9th St.New York, NY [email protected]

Louisiana Norton RidersContact TBA

Northern California NortonOwners ClubHarry Bunting (President)[email protected]

BMOCIan Bardsley, Secretaryc/o 1615 Greenmount Ave.Port Coquitlam, BC V3B [email protected]

BMOC Okanagan ChapterLes [email protected]

North Texas NOAClay Walley1420 Storm Court EastBedford, TX [email protected]

Norton UnitedTouring Society (NUTS)Tony Cain950 Bets Rd.Lancaster, OH [email protected]

Northwest NOCJohn Hill20135 186th Place NEWoodinville, WA 98077(425) [email protected]

Ontario Norton OwnersDerek Wilsonwww.ontarionortonowners.org

UtahTom Kullen2648 Meadow Creek Dr.Park City, UT [email protected]

Twin Cities NOCBob Waits3032 Oregon Ave. S.St. Louis Park, MN 55426612-920-9371

Manitoba Norton OwnersDavid Pritchard925 Wellington Cres.Winnipeg, MB R3A 1M6Canada204-488-8705204-797-6698 (cell)[email protected]

British Motorcycle Ownersof KentuckySteve Parsch7121 River Rd.Prospect, KY 40059502-228-3918home.insightbb.com/~bmok2/

Norton Ownersof ArizonaLeRoy Peterson51410 W. Iver Rd.Aguila, AZ [email protected]

Tennessee Norton OwnersAssociationMichael Harrod2069 Garner Rd.Mount Pleasant, [email protected]

Norton Owners Clubof Nevadac/o Bill Wellbaum5717 Sliding Rock St.Las Vegas, Nevada 89149Home 702-645-2896Cell [email protected]

Moto Classico de SanMiguel de AllendePres. Art BoneCalle Pablo Yanez 13Colonia IndependenciaSan Miguel de AllendeGuanajuato, MexicoVontage 770 573-0724Home 415 152-2067Cell 044-415-102-6596

Oregon Norton OwnersSam Justice4020 N.E. 33rd AvenuePortland, OR 97212(503)[email protected] �


Fall Issue 2010

Upcoming Events

When What Where Contact

July 18-23, 2011 Norton EmpireInternational Rally

BrooksideCampground,Catskill, NY

http://inoanorton.com(Also, see front cover)

March 25-27 Lone Star Classic Cresson, TX thelonestarclass.com

July, 2012 Thunder in theGreen MountainsNational Rally

Vermont Lee [email protected](New England NortonOwners)

I can afford a brand new Harley and familymembers encourage me to do so. I refuse, as Iknow every inch, leak and vibration and amhappy doing therapy an hour at a time tinker-ing with it my Norton, as opposed to cryingabout the warranty and who to call when itdoesn’t work. Robert M. Pirsig´s Zen and theArt of Motorcycle Maintenance comes tomind. We all have our reasons for being here,as long as we don’t step on the methods of oth-ers—from our first bike to the last ride.

I once bought a Corvette. A 1968 Stingray.It was a 427 4-speed. I signed to pay $5500 forit but Uncle Sam had “better” ideas for me —

2-1/2 years in a place I hardly heard of —Vietnam. The car was ordered but I told thedealer I couldn’t take possession since this“government worker” had a payday of$77/month. It wasn’t until 1985 when I had achance to buy another but it was a ‘75 for$6500. I still have it but.... a new one willnever be in my price range. My ‘75 wasplenty fast enough and not bad looking either.I tinker with it as well.

The point is, there are many who will drop$50,000 to own a new Norton. I would if Icould, but sometimes it is nostalgia that is thedraw and not the state-of-the-art hardware.

Fall Issue 2010


WANTED: I am looking for a clean 850 Commando.If you know of anything for sale please let me know.Rick, 317-407-9485.

From the Internet

1966 Norton $2,000, 712-579-2123. �

Classified ads are free to INOA membersfor noncommercial, motorcycle-relateditems. Unless requested otherwise, ads willbe run for one issue only. INOA does notscreen advertisers and therefore cannotvouch for the seller’s intentions or the qual-ity/condition of the merchandise.

Submit ads to Barry Armitage via mail ore-mail (see contact information on page 1);ad deadlines are also listed on that page.Buyers should know that sellers of items inthe Internet section are unaware of theNorton News listing.

Buy what you want, but learn to enjoy whatyou buy.

Wayne S.

Barber Vintage Festival

I was busy organizing the swap meet, auc-tion, Wall of Death, AMCA and VJMC alsogreeting friends and visitors this year at theBarber Vintage Festival. Alot of work but re-warding. I got on my bike the followingweekend and rode 620 miles, which waswonderful.

This was our 6th Festival and the largestyet. Close to 45,000 visitors. We don’t wantto be the biggest, but the best.

Brian Slark �

Famed racer John Surtees was honored atthe Barber event. (Photo by CoreyLevenson.)


Fall Issue 2010

Top to bottom: A G50 Matchless inthe Barber Museum; BobGoodpaster’s son, Wesley, who wonthe AHMRA 2010 Classic 60’s onhis Atlas; one of two printine shopareas on the bottom floor of theBarber Museum. (Photos by B.Armitage.)

Norton News #162

Norton News #162

INOA Membership FormDUES: $25USD per year US, $25CND for Canadian, $10US Associate (samehousehold—vote, but no NN) if you need further information, call: 215-741-0110.You can also pay electronically through PayPal on www.inoanorton.com.New USA Membership: [ ]US Renewals: [ ]Former member (expired): [ ]All Change of Address: [ ]All Corrections: [ ]All Associate Memberships: [ ]Send to:INOA276 Butterworth LaneLanghorne, PA 19047

New Canadian Memberships:[ ]Canadian Renewals: [ ]Judy FortierBox 58Lavigne, ON POH 1ROCANADA

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