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Bikegeezer
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Joined: Dec 26, 2007
Posts: 1283
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
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 Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 3:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Steve Searles wrote: | | Stu, I am very impressed with your work now and always. Congrats. Few would ever get to do something like this in their lifetime. Enjoy allthough it can be frustrating at times as well. We all know that. Cool bike I had never even heard of. You should be very proud! |
I'm proud that he brought it to me for the work, but I can't imagine why. In fact, I tried to talk him into taking it to a friend of mine that specializes in Nortons. |
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jeepurz
Commuter
Joined: May 30, 2006
Posts: 567
Location: west central il.
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| Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 4:46 pm Post subject: |
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one heck of a nice project! in the late 70's one sat a the local triumph motoguzzi and norton dealership, I know it remained there till the early 80's. one sweet bike!
A forum buddy of mine finished his last summer. take a look.
http://s42.photobucket.com/albums/e302/Nardi805/Triton/
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Bikegeezer
Gear Head
Joined: Dec 26, 2007
Posts: 1283
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
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| Posted: Thu Nov 04, 2010 6:25 am Post subject: |
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| jeepurz wrote: | | in the late 70's one sat a the local triumph motoguzzi and norton dealership, I know it remained there till the early 80's. |
That was likely a leftover new bike. Norton thought these would be a hot seller, but it turned out they couldn't give 'em away. No room for your girlfriend, limited steering lock made them a nightmare in city traffic, and they're horribly uncomfortable. Their popularity today is proof that "rare" doesn't always mean "desirable". It can also mean that nobody wanted them when they were new. | Quote: | A forum buddy of mine finished his last summer. take a look.
http://s42.photobucket.com/albums/e302/Nardi805/Triton/ |
Nice build, but it's not the same bike. That's a Triton - a pre-unit Triumph engine and tranny installed in a Norton Featherbed frame. You can build those in any configuration you like, and I like his choice of the Avon full fairing w/twin headlamps. Nice job. |
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fxray
Commuter
Joined: Aug 28, 2009
Posts: 272
Location: Central IL
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| Posted: Thu Nov 04, 2010 6:53 am Post subject: |
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Jeepurz said: | Quote: | | one sat a the local triumph motoguzzi and norton dealership |
You wouldn't be talking about Ron Tinkham's place over in Kirkwood IL, would you? |
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jeepurz
Commuter
Joined: May 30, 2006
Posts: 567
Location: west central il.
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| Posted: Thu Nov 04, 2010 4:27 pm Post subject: |
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| fxray wrote: | Jeepurz said: | Quote: | | one sat a the local triumph motoguzzi and norton dealership |
You wouldn't be talking about Ron Tinkham's place over in Kirkwood IL, would you? |
nope irwin cycle sales in keokuk Iowa, across the river from me.back in the day pops bought an h2 , motoguzzi convert and several others from there, its still threre with same owner.
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dorT500
Gear Head
Joined: Jul 10, 2008
Posts: 1639
Location: Galveston County, Tx.
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| Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2010 5:59 pm Post subject: |
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| Bikegeezer wrote: | | I'm proud that he brought it to me for the work, but I can't imagine why. In fact, I tried to talk him into taking it to a friend of mine that specializes in Nortons. |
Hey Stu, I am getting to 'know' you too well. My first question to myself on your initial post was.....Would he do it again? I had a feeling you would not, but what an interesting...ordeal? Research is not always the fun it is cracked up to be even with the help from the people you gave credits to. I think it is great that you shared this somewhat unusual experience with the VJMOG. Keep up the good work.
Mark
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fxray
Commuter
Joined: Aug 28, 2009
Posts: 272
Location: Central IL
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| Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2010 7:03 pm Post subject: |
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Stu,
Maybe you are not at liberty to answer this question in a public forum, but what happened to the JPN to make the restoration necessary in the first place? Has is been ridden lots of miles, raced, or maybe just a case of benign neglect? Lots of old bikes spend many of their useful years as office or rec-room decorations. Just curious. |
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dorT500
Gear Head
Joined: Jul 10, 2008
Posts: 1639
Location: Galveston County, Tx.
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| Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2010 7:21 pm Post subject: |
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| fxray wrote: | | Stu, Maybe you are not at liberty to answer this question in a public forum, but what happened to the JPN to make the restoration necessary in the first place? |
36 years.
Edit: Oops...Sorry. my name is not Stu. Just 'shot from the hip'
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fxray
Commuter
Joined: Aug 28, 2009
Posts: 272
Location: Central IL
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| Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2010 7:27 pm Post subject: |
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| 36 years -- too true! I guess what I meant to ask was what has that JPN been up to during those 36 years? |
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dorT500
Gear Head
Joined: Jul 10, 2008
Posts: 1639
Location: Galveston County, Tx.
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| Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2010 8:26 pm Post subject: |
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| fxray wrote: | | 36 years -- too true! I guess what I meant to ask was what has that JPN been up to during those 36 years? |
Sleeping  There I go again.  My name is not Stu.... sue me 
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Bikegeezer
Gear Head
Joined: Dec 26, 2007
Posts: 1283
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
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| Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:56 am Post subject: |
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| fxray wrote: | Stu,
Maybe you are not at liberty to answer this question in a public forum, but what happened to the JPN to make the restoration necessary in the first place? Has is been ridden lots of miles, raced, or maybe just a case of benign neglect? Lots of old bikes spend many of their useful years as office or rec-room decorations. Just curious. |
It's okay - I can talk about it. The bike's history is a bit murky. The current owner is the second owner. He got it back around 1980 and has an open title from the original owner that he never did anything with. In other words, the bike has been sitting unused since around 1980. The original title was issued to someone living on Whiteman Air Force Base in October, 1975. The bike has around 2,400 miles on the clock, but I doubt that's accurate.
Now the even weirder stuff. It's almost as if the bike had been maliciously damaged.
Headgasket blown.
Valve timing off one tooth.
All valves had been hitting the pistons.
Cylinders had been bored .010" over and crank ground .010" under.
Piston clearances too tight - squeaked piston.
Rod small ends damaged.
Incorrect crank bearings and excessive crank end play.
End of crankshaft buggered by hammer and Vise Grips.
Engine assembled with no gaskets using RTV silicone instead. Same with transmission. Silicone was clogging oil galleries and engine covers were leaking.
Various bolts and nuts in critical areas were finger loose.
Both headlamp assemblies were AWOL as was the air box - foam pods installed.
Left sidecover missing (nothing unusual about that on any old bike)
The above is just a sample of the damage. There was a lot more.
So did this bike actually have only 2,400 miles? Some items looked like that was possible, but others looked like they'd seen 10 times that mileage. It appeared to me that the bike had been run low on oil and suffered engine damage as a result. That required the rebore and crank grind. It was then reassembled by a world-class hack and quickly blew up again. It was apparently being disassembled again for another rebuild when the current owner got his hands on it. And that's how it's sat for all those years - parked in a back room in an automotive paint & body supplies store. The whole bike was covered by a thick layer of dust bunnies mixed with oil & other filth. It was really a sad sight. The pic below shows what the end of the crankshaft looked like.
Stu
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05c50
Gear Head
Joined: Oct 26, 2007
Posts: 1143
Location: Greensburg Pa
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| Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2010 6:15 am Post subject: |
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Hmmm, that engine looks like one of my "professional restorations", but I swear, I never touched it!
............Paul
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Bikegeezer
Gear Head
Joined: Dec 26, 2007
Posts: 1283
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
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| Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2010 6:59 am Post subject: |
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Here's what happens when you fail to re-torque a Norton's head bolts 50 miles after a fresh rebuild. Result - Zero compression on that cylinder. Actually, it was reading around 40 psi. But a leak down test showed 100% leak down.
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Bikegeezer
Gear Head
Joined: Dec 26, 2007
Posts: 1283
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
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| Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2010 7:17 am Post subject: |
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| jeepurz wrote: |
nope irwin cycle sales in keokuk Iowa, across the river from me. |
So you live in Hamilton, Illinois? There were two huge vintage Jap bike parts auctions there last year. Did you go?
Stu |
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fxray
Commuter
Joined: Aug 28, 2009
Posts: 272
Location: Central IL
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| Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2010 9:47 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Stu said:
It's almost as if the bike had been maliciously damaged. |
Thanks for the explanation. That story makes barn bikes sound like treasure. You know, ravaged and rotted by time and the elements, but untouched by human hands.
I heard about one of those auctions after the fact. A guy showed me the list of items they sold. It's probably a good thing I wasn't there, because self-discipline is not one of my strong points. It was an amazing list though. |
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