Clutched

Made some decent progress clutch-wise on the Norton over the last few days. Sadly, both times I worked on it I forgot the cameras, but surely my vivid descriptions will suffice. After the initial rebuild, the clutch lever on the kicker side wouldn't budge, and I couldn't figure out why as it was my dad who rebuilt it. When I pulled the clutch lever, the clutch basket moved only very slightly, but as a whole unit, and clearly, not as it was supposed to. We thought something may have been wrong internally, but couldn't find out because we couldn't get the spring nuts off. The notch for the screwdriver is divided in half and between the halves is a hole for the rod that holds the springs underneath to go through. The rods were flush with the top of nuts, leaving no room for a screwdriver to undo them. I had made a special tool for this job out of an old chisel and a hack-saw, but it was in my toolbox at home.

So today I brought the tool over and loosened the springs which freed it up. It works great now, except I found that after tightening the adjuster nut until it touches the clutch rod, the cable adjustment doesn't seem to do anything at all. Tomorrow I'll put it in gear and use it a few times to see what happens.

Dual Purpose

Finally brought the two-fify home today, and, with a friend's help, the Bonneville. The two-fifty fired up on the fourth kick, which surprised me. I'm getting ready to license it and I regret not doing it today, but that wouldn't have left me enough time to bring the Triumph home.

Surfing around, I found a Hare Scramble event being held near by on May 16. I'm just sorting through the rules now, and they seem achievable. I plan to enter the Veterans "C" class, which is from 85 c.c. - open. I'm contemplating whether to use either the two-fifty or Ricky's four-hundred, but I need more details about the race to decide.

Loooking Goood

Finally got some work done on Project: Atlas 66. The loom is now labelled and ready to mount to the frame. First, dad and I sorted the original on the kitchen table, using Saturday's Leader Post as a table cloth. We ran into a snag trying to figure the multitude of dual red wires, but quickly overcame it. This time, I remembered to ask him why two six volt batteries were better than one twelve volt to which he replied that two sixes will have more plates and therefore more amps, but with the same voltage. His dad used to use that set-up on the farm with the tractors, but I'll have to do some more research on the subject before I run out and buy anything.

This week I am pretty busy, plus the Bristol race is on Sunday, but maybe afterwards I'll have a few hours to spend on her. Next on the list is to adjust the clutch lever in the gearbox, which shouldn't be too difficult if what my dad told me is true. After that comes the oil-lines. I'm planning to add a Commando oil filter via a bracket made by Dyno Dave at http://Atlanticgreen.com. He also makes a great "clutch rod seal" that prevents oil seepage through the primary case via the gaps between the clutch rod and its cylinder. Then comes determining the route from the pump to the filter, and from the filter to the oil tank without kinking the line. The other difficult part is that the dowels on the filter housing unit are smaller than those on the oil feed off the tank. Do they make tapered hoses?

I also need to address the centre-stand situation. I believe that I may be missing a couple small parts to make this thing work, but hopefully the package with the spring has what I need. My other fear is that the stand may not fit due to the fact that both it and the frame are powder-coated. I haven't actually measured the thickness of the powder-coating, but if I had to estimate, I would believe it to be anywhere from 0.5 -- 1 mm, which can be prove to be quite thick in small spaces.

The Smith's speedometer is broken, but I have no drive for it anyway. A speedo is necessary in order to register it for the Saskatchewan road, but I am still unsure whether the drive gear is supposed to be 1/2 or 8/15, and whether or not the ratio depends on the type of speedometer used or the size of the wheel and tire being used.

Things are looking up, and I think she may actually hit the road this spring.

My Theory

Growing up in Canada in the 1990s means that I wasn't alive when Norton Dominators and Triumph Bonnevilles roamed the streets. Therefore, all the information I have about either one is from external sources. The Triton was born from mating a Triumph 650 pre-unit engine (most likely the earliest versions were T110s) with a Norton (wideline) Featherbed frame. Up until the release of the 650SS, the Norton Dominator Featherbed series consisted of the Model 88 (500cc) and the Model 99 (600cc), which produced about 31 hp, so it seems no wonder why these weak engines were swapped for the superior Triumphs.

But once Norton produced the 650SS along with the new "slimline" version of the Featherbed frame, I imagine there was minimal performance gain from the engine swap, but that the prestige of the Triton had already been solidified, leading many a young man to continue the switch for reasons other than performance alone.

In the case of the Atlas, which was originally named the "750SS," the rumour is that the increased displacement caused excessive vibration. I spoke to Brian Chrichton, an editor of Classic Bike Magazine who owns an Atlas, about the vibrations. He said that his bike actually vibrates less than some other 650 twins that he's ridden throughout the years. I'm of the opinion that the "excessive" vibrations of the Norton Atlas were exaggerated, a mis-understanding that fueled the hasty transformation from Atlas and 650SS to Triton. But we shall see.

Phase One, Project: Atlas 66, Nears Completion

On the last leg of Project: Atlas 66, a rebuild of my 1966 Norton Atlas. Project: Atlas 66 is Phase One of Project: Atlas Verses Triton, my larger project that focuses on the difference between the Norton Atlas and the infamous Triton.

Working on the wiring loom, but it is slow going, mostly because I only have time to work on it about once a week, as it's not currently kept in my unheated garage. I vow to have it finished for Spring, but I've said that before. I especially need to finish it because the Bonneville may be leaking oil through the rings, and I need a bike to ride once the snow is gone. Before I put the Bonnie away for winter I noticed some splashes of oil down my side-cover, but lacked sufficient time to locate the true source. There was no apparent oil anywhere else on the bike, and my theory is that some oil is spurting through the breather, which leads into the airbox, which the side-covers cover. If that is the case, then I can reasonably deduce that some oil is getting past the piston rings and being blown out through the breather. However I just recently read on www.Bonnevilleperformance.com that their breather filter was the "PERFECT ANSWER TO WASTE OIL BEING DIVERTED DIRECTLY TO YOUR STOCK AIRBOX," which of course leads me to think that the waste oil may just be "waste oil," and not blowing past the oil rings. The Bonnie is in storage right now, as the temperature is currently minus eight degrees outside and the ice covering the roads is still six inches thick, so I've no way of investigating further until the weather breaks, which won't be for another month.

But the Atlas is in a nicely heated, carpeted garage, with an array of tools and my father's know-how. We rebuilt the two-fifty a few years ago, but most of his experience is in rebuilding two-stroke Kawasaki snowmobile engines. The loom has not yet proven to be insurmountable; I am still in the process of corresponding its wires to the original. I have replaced the original stator with the correct, three wire version, so hopefully there should be no problem there, but this is naive, for we all know that problems usually come up in the least expected places. I am, however, planning to implement Podtronics to replace the Zener Diode and Rectifier, so that may throw a Whitworth wrench into my plans. But I seriously doubt it, especially because I have a few contacts who I'm sure would help me out. I am also undecided as to whether to use a single twelve volt battery or the original two six-volt set-up. My dad says that two six-volts would be a better, but I've yet to understand why.

The T110 engine is approximately 2/3 complete. The major components I am missing are the camshafts and the head. There were a few nice ones on Ebay recently, but I couldn't justify the expense, as my motorcycle budget is currently committed to finishing the Atlas, fixing the oil leak on the Bonneville, and replacing her tires with some enduro-types. This last expense is necessary since the front tire is still original (it's never needed replacement since the tread is still decent, but cracks are now developing in the side-walls), and I definitely need to replace the rear since I noticed a crack when its wheel was being relaced last summer.

Come spring, the streets of Regina are covered with gravel from the city's attempts to add some traction to the icy roads. Eventually the street-sweepers do their job, but move more around than they actually remove. Sometimes ten-foot long patches of inch deep gravel line an intersection all year, which can make Regina's streets feel like the grid roads of LaFleche. So instead of complaining about it to the city and the Leader Post like I have in the past, I've decided to adapt the Bonneville to suit my riding conditions. There are two very capable tire sets out there that should do the job. The first, more expensive route are the Metzler "Tourances," and the second, cheaper route are the Avon "Distanzias." Guy at the shop said that the Metzlers would be better, but they cost a lot more than the Avons, and add to that the $45 dollars per tire installation (after I've removed the wheels from the bike myself of course), and the price adds up quickly. I must decide soon, although depending on the source of the oil leak, I may not be riding her for a while anyway.