Useful Sources:-
Books like these are excellent and have tons more of valid information. More so than the often empty skimpy manuals of today!
Norton Motor cycles; Edgar Franks 1949-1952, My Edition C. A. Pearson Publications;
The Book of Norton; W.C. Haycraft, 1942-1948, Sir Isaac Pitman;
Norton Motor Cycles; P.L.Garratt, 1949-1962, C.A. Pearson;
The Motor Cyclist's Workshop, 1932-1954, Torrens, lIiffe & Sons ;
Motorcycle Overhaul, W.C. Haycraft, 1930-1952, Sir Isaac Pitman;
All the books are 7 1/2 by 5 inches, (190 x 125 mm) I have paid between £4:50 to £10:00 for them;
The newer Manuals are useful for bigger diagrams, usually have not got much dialogue in them though and often lack the shed mechanic's touch! For general stuff Torren's book, pictured is excellent!
John
I have had this book for…
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Another..
.. invaluable book is The Vintage Motorcyclist's Workshop by Radco of the VMCC. It was out of print and fetching silly prices but I believe is back in print now.
If it isn't, don't tell anyone but there is a pdf version floating around. I would refuse to pander to the rip-off merchants eg this one: https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=21269334384&searchurl=an%3Dradco%26sortby%3D20%26tn%3Dthe%2Bvintage%2Bmotorcyclists%2Bworkshop&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-title3
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Other stuff I have
Haynes manual 500, 600, 650 & 750 Twins, 1957-1970;
Tuning for Speed Phil Irving Turton & Armstrong, 1991;
Norton Motorcycle 1957-1970 Veloce Press;
Norton Dominator Workshop Manual, 1955-1965, W.C. Haycraft, Mercian Press;
Norton Dominator, Performance Portfolio, R.M. Clarke, 1949-1970, Brookelands Books
Motorcycle Engineering, P.E. Irving Temple Press 1961; Speedsport copy also 1975
Norton Model N0 7. Dominator , Maintenance Manual & Instruction Book, 1950, Norton motors LTD.
Norton Dominator Twins, 1949-1970 Motorcycle Monographs N0 9, Roy Bacon;
Rich Mixture, Phil Irving, Vincent Publishing Company, 1976/7;
Classic Motorcycles, Norton, Don Morley, Motorbooks International,1990.
Speed from your Motorcycle, The Motorcycle, Iliffe & Sons, 1948;
Speed & How to obtain it, The Motorcycle, Iliffe & Sons, 1962;
Norton Dominator, Mick Walker,Crowwood Press. 2009.
Pictorial history of Norton Motorcycles, Jim Reynolds, Temple Press, 1985;
Built for Speed, John Griffith, Temple Press,1965,
Ballantine's Illustrated History Norton....Ballantine Books INC, Dennis Howard, 1972;
Super-Tuning Amal Monobloc Carburettors & Intake systems, British Motocycles, J. Diamond, Victory Library, USA.2006.
And with all this reading, I reckon I know more about Norton's than "Pa" Norton himself; plus Chopped carbs, the float bowl extension Ian, kindly sold me, I reckon if the 99 won't fail to see 110 mph, I have to re-read Geoff Duke's Autobiography and Rex McCandless's Biography "To Build a Better Mouse Trap"....
The only thing that can get in the way as far as time is concerned is a Tall leggy blonde, down on the Marsh, so it's all a delicate balance...
John
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For John,
Tongue firmly in cheek
To paraphrase what an old acquaintance once said to me "110mph? - Is that lying on the tank or lying on the speedo!"
Or
How to make John’s 99 go faster:
1/ Put a 650cc crank and rods in it.
2/ Fit a hot cam and high compression pistons.
3/ Fit a pair of 'straight through reverse cone meggas
4/ Fit a pair of 1 1/8” 389 carburettors
5/ Fit a gas flowed big valve head.
6/ Fit a competition magneto.
7/ Fit clip-on handlebars, rear set footrests and a fairing.
8/ Junk the mudguards, chain cases and all non essential fittings to save weight.
9/ Drill all bolts and brackets to save more weight.
10/ Pump the tyres up to 70psi
11/ Drain and flush the oil system and refill with 'Castrol R30'
12/ Drill out the main jets and fill the fuel tank with methanol'
Then….
Sell it and buy a CBRYZFZXRGSXR1000 and you will have a great handling, really fast bike.
Seriously though John, time is now to get the spanners out and start building it. Summer will soon be over! Books are for indoors in the wintertime when the garage is cold!
Regards, George.
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Long Dark Nights
George!!
I am not planning on reading books on those long dark Winter, nights....hence the distraction on the Marsh!
I was walking on the Marsh last Spring and I met a couple and She was very stunning, statuesque attractive blonde, (women), and he said to me, "I don't like paying for a TV licence, so I go round to hers to watch TV"! I was very polite and smiled, the last thing I would have been thinking about round at her place was watching TV!
I don't have a Licence or a TV either! I just gone past mental block of being Widowed for five years, June 2020 and last year I started to come out of "it" so imagine my disappointment when 2020 went "Tits up" as the Kent Farmer's say!
A "99" should be able to do 110 mph surely, with a bit TLC & heavy breathing so to speak!
Maybe!
John
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Hi John, I hope you weren…
Hi John,
I hope you weren't offended- it certainly wasn't my intention, and I'm glad you are coming to terms with your loss. Of course a modified 99 should be able to achieve 110mph and I salute you in wanting to try. A 'sports' fairing would certainly help you in your venture.
I served my racing apprenticeship on a home made 125 BSA Bantam that could get to 97mph (electronically timed) and a lap speed of 75mph at Snetterton, so I know what it is like to try.
However, I pushed for that speed on a race track, not on today's camera comtrolled overcrowded roads full of inattentive drivers. Do you really want to be doing 110mph on a 60 year old bike with (by modern standards) marginal brakes? If you need to go that fast, use your Kawasaki for that. Build your Norton to enjoy it. Make it 'yours' as much as you want. (I have with mine). You will be riding it sooner, it will be cheaper and easier to do as well.
Regards,
George.
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Offended! Not me, George! …
Offended! Not me, George! The first bike I had in 1974 was a D10 4-speed Bantam Supreme, the first thing I did was get a book Tuning two-stoke book out of the Library and a set of needle files!
It was a good bike and handled well.
When you loose your Wife in your 50s it is a big wake up call and a hill to climb, once you get, over the top you walk down the other side and have to make decisions what to do, then pick the pieces up n' make a new jig-saw.
Every "joy" is being slowly taken away from us, sad but true, enough said!
Glad you had that racing time, must have been a good experience.
John
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If I wanted to go fast (and…
If I wanted to go fast (and I don't) I would take out the 22year old Honda..It would go as fast as Rollie Free's Special black Lightning ,and do it time and again. It can accelerate faster than a Black Lightning over the quarter mile and cruise at 130mph. Its astonishing the progress the Industry has made. And yet its worth about half of a decent ES2 !!. We must all be a bit bonkers to be so obsessed with our old Nortons.
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Our English products, ( why…
Our English products, ( why call them British?, nearly everything was made in Angle-land, have charm, but are agricultural in origin and conception. The Japanese make high tolerance Industrial engines from a different era, they can as you say replicate the performance again and again. I should have bought last year a Kawasaki ZXR 400, really a race bike for the road, I could have had it for less than a £1,000, 4 cylinder-4 stroke 59-65 bhp depending on spec' less than 390 lbs fuelled up, low weight and would give many 750's and 1000's a run for their money up to 130 mph and a hell of a lot quicker on the road than many Leviathons!
Instead a "grand" went on yet, more Norton bits!
My old mate has CBR250 RR, which was quicker than his NC30/ V4 400cc job, he has now and that is bloody quick! he is 73 and some days I have to push my 400 cc Kwacker hard to stay with him! $00ccc clas is often overlooked they are a bit like an older 250 on steroids, a little bit like the 250/350 RD's and LC's of yore!
John
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I have had this book for many years:- Modern Motorcycle Maintenance by Bernal Osbourne. Lots of useful information for the Newbie.