1967 Norton 650SS daily rider :)

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Magnon
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Re: A tale of two motorcycles 1967 Norton 650SS and T100 Bonneville

Post by Magnon »

I do like the magneto because as you say it’s independent of the other electrics. Mine is probably a bit weak with age which can make the bike hard to start in damp weather. I’m in the process of improving by BSA, mostly adding stainless steel as it seems that modern chrome is rubbish and wheel rims/ exhaust corrode with the bike just sitting in the barn but I was also thinking of upgrading the magneto although will probably just get it rebuilt (and get the seat remade).

Monoblocs are the better carb but surprised that at the time Norton stuck with them when the new fangle concentrics were available - it’s a bit like e modern bike market where the latest pointless gizmo is added by the marketing people because fickle buyers love a trinket.

Back in the day we used to go all over Europe on Commandos. Rarely had any issues and if we did they were easily fixed. I’ve had most of my bikes for years and much as I’d like another Commando I’m not sure I’d have the patience to sort out 50 odd years of someone else's bodges!
adventure steele
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Re: A tale of two motorcycles 1967 Norton 650SS and T100 Bonneville

Post by adventure steele »

I ended up stripping my Commando engine right down to splitting the crank apart mate an sorting the previous owners mistakes after my first ride on it, good job I did as I found broken valve guides etc really close to firing that back up again and getting out on her :) I'd definitely have a word with Tony Cooper he seems to be the lad all the WD lads use an he did a great job on building my one for the 16h. Luckily I've never had any issue with the 650ss mag for starting first kick starter no matter the weather which is handy when I'm getting drenched haha! Yeah it's funny you should mention modern chrome it's mad how much more resilient the 650ss is to poor weather riding than the modern bikes I've had.

Just got back from a spin out on her again been out every day this week.

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Magnon
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Re: A tale of two motorcycles 1967 Norton 650SS and T100 Bonneville

Post by Magnon »

Lovely bike and if the chrome is original then that’s amazing. The tacho cable routing is a bit odd but I’ve looked at photos of others and they are much the same!

I remember towing a mate with the same bike with my Guzzi Le Mans. We were on our way b back from ‘festival of 1000 bikes’ at Brands Hatch (1985 or 6) to Fleet when his engine seized. The Le Mans is not the ideal tow bike as it has a very high first gear - I seem to remember that he was very relieved when we made it back.
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Re: A tale of two motorcycles 1967 Norton 650SS and T100 Bonneville

Post by adventure steele »

Damn I bet that was an adventure doing that yep thats the right routing over the exhaust same on an early Commando to, front mudguard is original Chrome rear is a pattern one I've got a rear one to go on once it's re chromed :)
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Re: A tale of two motorcycles 1967 Norton 650SS and T100 Bonneville

Post by Magnon »

This mate was very good with Brit bikes. At that time he had a Vincent Comet and others in his garage. He hadn’t had the 650ss long and when he stripped it down he found that the rebore was slightly tapered - don’t remember the details but basically when it got hot it pinched up - see why I don’t like picking up other peoples bikes with all their bodges.

I’ve had numerous issues over the years with my bikes but at least I know the last thing I changed which is probably the cause of the problem.
daveuprite
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Re: A tale of two motorcycles 1967 Norton 650SS and T100 Bonneville

Post by daveuprite »

I watched, or rather 'listened to', this video last night. Lovely sound...

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Re: A tale of two motorcycles 1967 Norton 650SS and T100 Bonneville

Post by adventure steele »

Very nice indeed I did a pure sound /raw sound series of videos about 8 months ago on my 650ss the few times the gopro internal mics Did well haha! Few others on the channel where I really open her up.

Here's my 1968 Commando before I stripped her down to rebuild the engine, to sort some out the previous owners mistskes, there's a set of videos on that in the channel :)
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92kk k100lt 193214
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Re: A tale of two motorcycles 1967 Norton 650SS and T100 Bonneville

Post by 92kk k100lt 193214 »

My uncle used to race a road legal Norton Atlas.

My aunt decided he should give it up and sell it.

So, he did that and got a Honda 50 for commuting to work.

Saturday he dutifully rode the Honda 50 to my grandads house to do things for him and usually came home happy. My grandad was a fanatic gardener but none of us as kids were allowed in his garage due to some dangerous machinery/lathes etc but occasionally got to see into it. Some of them had white covers over them.

Many years later, uncle passes and the Norton reappears. So does the truth. The ''dangerous' excuse about the garage had been about secrecy and not the machines that he did actually have. My uncle on arriving at my grandads used to arrive in his bike gear to find the Norton outside, all checked over, engine running and tank full. Honda 50 gets parked in garage, Norton out the gap and into the mountains and the Sally Gap for the afternoon all in secrecy. He 'occasionally' took a half day if it was sunny 'to go help in the garden'.

Good stories!
1992 K100LT June 2010 110,000 miles
1984 K100RT July 2013 36,000 miles, 90,000
1983 K100RS Nov 2018 29,000 miles, 36,400 miles
1996 K1100LT Oct 2020 37,990 miles
1984 K100 Sprint March 2023 58,000 miles
adventure steele
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Re: A tale of two motorcycles 1967 Norton 650SS and T100 Bonneville

Post by adventure steele »

That's absolutely epic mate!

So had a bit of a mad week :) Here's the video on the 650ss really enjoyed the ride out on the 650ss dad was on the T100 again just so much fun checking out Winnats Pass the 650ss ran like a dream as per usual. Was no wind to so the video quality came out epic. Been riding on all the other days but not had the gopro with me nice to be not getting drenched all the time!




The next ride out I had with the gorpo was a few days post jab so just a short one this Saturday on the T100 to watch the sun go down on the Cat an Fiddle

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adventure steele
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Re: A tale of two motorcycles 1967 Norton 650SS and T100 Bonneville

Post by adventure steele »

Got out again over the past two nights unfortunately I've had a neck injury so not been able to ride that's finally on the mend although a kickstart bike is out for a while. I ended up taking the Triumph Summer screen off as the helmet buffeting was horrific being 6 foot 2.

With it removed the improvement was massive no more buffeting naturally and the Arai tour x 4 had good airflow.

I refitted the bench seat as well which massively changed the character of the bike and gave me a more sporting position similar to that on my Norton which is nice.

Here's some pictures of the adventure from both days an a lil video

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