Shorten (extreme) long roadholders

Shortening RH. I did this years ago and it ended up a moderately easy job. Do NOT think of shortening the stanchions from the top, getting a tap for the nut thread will be (nearly) impossible. But a good job on the bottom with a lathe was easy enough. Again shortening the internal damping rod was straight forward. BUT I would recommend that you sort out the internal damping rod (and spring) before you start work on the stanchions. So you know where you are going with the project.

Long road holder sliders only differ from short ones by the way the shrouds fit and the oil seal is retained.  But they do not have damper tubes, just a tapered rod at the bottom. It's not clear what you have from your description however short roadholder dampers will fit right in without any modification to the sliders.   As you say you'll  also need a new set of short roadholder stanchions and bushes/seals - I'd recommend Andover for them - I have found the quality from other suppliers isn't as good. You'll also need a set of dampers tubes, dampers, rods and springs, and fork screw caps - I think RGM sell improved dampers which moves the oil hole to avoid harsh bottoming out. 

I've put short roadholder/commando internals into my long roadholder sliders (on 2 bikes) and am happy to talk you through it if you like but it is straightforward. 

I'm not sure how serious your racing is but I'd guess that getting the best suspension at the front is important so even if you bought a set of used forks unless you were very lucky you'd prob want to change the stanchions springs and internals anyway! 

Lastly and perhaps most importantly look closely at your yokes - long roadholder yokes are different to short roadholder yokes the stem is a different diameter and I'm not sure how easy it is to fit them to a featherbed frame. 

I should add that I had an accident earlier this year going to the club meeting at Sammy Millers - the end result was a new set of stanchions and short RH sliders from Andover - they are noticeably smoother than their predecessors! However they are not cheap! 

ps on my scrambles bike my long roadholders measure 31" from the axle to the top of the fork cap - and there is some sag. 

Dan 

Hi Tim,

   If you have long Roadholder yokes these will not fit the featherbed frame with-out a lot of conversion and then the steering angle will be completely wrong as the long type yokes have a raked angle between top and bottom yokes, whereas the short type are parallel to the steering head. If this is your first Norton build, you will need to get all the information sorted or you could end up with lots of unsuitable parts. 
   As Dan says, it depends how competitive you want to be. A standard Model 50 engine will need extensive tuning as the bikes in that class are capable of speeds of 110+ mph. Your budget of £4K will be a challenge to get all the good parts for a quick bike, but also racing in the U.K. is expensive these days with a week-end meeting costing around £400 altogether.

Just to say scrambles racing is much cheaper - ~ £50 annual licence and £50 entry plus fuel. Engine build is equally expensive! My model 50 is now a 520.

dan