Engineering & Tuning service
And a collection of fabulous Norton machines……
The description "The Unapproachable" with respect to Norton
motorcycles is, I beleive, attributed to Rem Fowler after he won a trial in the
Birmingham area of England, in 1908, where these fine sporting motorcycles were
engineered. Mr. Fowler won the twin cylinder class of the first Tourist Trophy
race at the Isle of Man in the previous year on a Peugot engined V-twin Norton.
I have numerous letters and postcards written to Jas.L.Norton dating back to
1905 from pioneer riders such as Dan Bradbury, D.Royce and Seymour Smith. This
latter gentleman, who was the
"Machine
ran beautifully, no trouble of any kind.
'The
Unapproachable One' climbed everything in magnificent style".
yours
faithully,
Seymour
I wonder if this is the FIRST use of the term, or was he quoting from his fellow enthusiast?
At the Stafford Show in October 2007 I put on a
display of a 1926 Norton TT paddock………..
Click on the image to see how ridiculous we
all looked; but it created a lot of laughs.
A couple of pictures of my latest Norton; a 1957
Model 40M
Two Nortons separated by 100 years!
Taken at Mallory Park in September 2007, the idea
was to make a comparison track test between the 1907 Rem Fowler machine and the
latest 2007 Rotary Norton, developed by Brian Crighton and financed by Roy
Richards. Unfortunately it poured down all day and by the time it had dried
out, all the marshals and medical teams had buggered off!
click on image for a bigger one!
3 pictures of a circa 1951 40M I have just finished
for my good friend, Bob. It took me about 6 years! Fairly original
specification (bar the carb); magnesium cases and cambox, special cylinder head
with tufnel insert in inlet tract.
Schenk engine dynamometer.
Three pictures (click on them for bigger ones) of the construction of the ‘Dyno-room’.
Silencers, from the exhaust,
the gases and the noise is taken through
two 6 inch diam pipe to two
5 ft long silencers.
Holes cut through 16 inches of concrete block ( a
lot of hard work, probably easier to
get out of Colditz!) for the inlet and extractor fan ducts; big and heavy.
The dynamometer being moved into the room, also very
heavy!
Running for first
time 9th Nov. 2006
The Schenk
Dynamometer is an eddy current machine that converts mechanical energy of the
test engine, usually an OHC Norton engine on full chat, into heat through
electrical energy. The heat is taken away by cooling water in a closed system.
The engine is coupled to the Dynamometer by
2 to 1 reduction and fixed clutch (soon to be modified to a functional clutch),
transmitted by a ‘NEB type toothed belt of 30 mm by 8 pitch. The coupling
utilises two ‘Centaflex’ couplings, which allow strength, elasticity, wide
torque range and zero axial loading, and hopefully longevity!
The rotor of the dynamometer runs in
bearings mounted in the dynamometer casing. The frontal areas of the rotor
teeth are arranged opposite the cooling chamber. The D.C. flowing through the
exciting coil which is fixed in the dynamometer casing, produces a magnetic
field, the lines of which flow axially through the teeth and chamber services.
The rotary motion of the rotor teeth goes through the magnetic field and
produces eddy currents in a thin surface area of the cooling chambers (heat
produced by this process is taken away by the water system which has flow and
heat sensors in both the inlet and outlet tracts). The eddy currents build up
magnetic fields which counteract the rotary motion. The dynamometer casing consequently
tends to rotate with the rotor, but the load applied, in the form of an
electronic load cell, equates to the torque.
To determine the power output, it is
essential to measure the speed. An A.C. tacho-generator is driven through a
toothed belt; the generator being fixed to the cradled dynamometer casing.
Voltage proportional to the speed, is utilized for the speed indication and
dynamometer control.
The control unit provides numerous safety
features which include: water temperature, water flow rate and maximum
revolutions cut-out switches to shut the machine down in the event of impending
trouble!
The concept
of torque originated with the work of Archimedes on levers. Informally, torque can be thought
of as ‘rotational force’. The rotational analogues of force, mass and
acceleration are torque, moment of inertia and angular acceleration. The
force applied to a lever, multiplied by its distance from the lever’s fulcrum,
is the torque. For example, a force of 3 newtons applied to 2 metres from
the fulcrum exerts the same torque as 1 newton applied 6 metres. This assumes
the force is in a direction at right angles to the straight lever.
Torque has dimensions of distance X force
and the SI units are Newton-metres, but more familiar to old motorcycle engines
is the unit ‘pound- force-feet’ or ‘foot-pounds-force’.
Torque is part of the basic specification
of an engine producing power,
the power of an engine being expressed as its
torque X rotational speed.
To be continued…………..there is a lot to learn!!!
Three terrific machines and
three famous pilots! Taken Montlhery, France 2003
The first picture shows Stu
Rogers with his replica of the Guthrie 1935 record breaker
Click on thumbnails
This is Miles Robinson, of Walton Le Dale, who is apparently NOT on any register; with Ginger Woods 500 V-twin.
Not a Norton, but a fabulous machine.
Click on thumbnails
Finally, the remarkable Sammy Miller, with the ‘Fish’
Click on thumbnails
Ten Norton conrods; how many
can you identify? Click on thumbnail
Three pictures of 1934 Model 30 with
McCandless swinging arm conversion
Click on the thumbnails for 500 Mb pictures
Now at the NMM, Birmingham
Another Norton built in Somerset… A Model 19CS
The CS stands for custom Special and this machine
features many unique components put together by Clinton Alexander and me! A
c1956 600 OHV engine,
Note the
detail to the rocker box cover, the BSA petrol tank and the other machine
is my
‘Coronation Special’ which is featured further down the page.
Click on the thumbnails to see the quality of our
work………
the 600 is a slow revving ‘plonker’ and the short
stroke Coronation Special revs to 7,500!
"Norton Queen Elizabeth Coronation Special"
click on thumbnails to see a very trick OHV motor.
Originally built by Rodney Wright and re-engineered by me.
84mm
X 79mm ( standard is 79 X 100 ); Special flywheels; JAWA big-end & rod; hot
cams; downdraught head, twin plugs.
Picture courtesy of ace
Norton man, Ken Mackintosh.
A bronze skull alloy Cammy cylinder head after it got very hot! (click for a bigger picture)
Click on thumbnail to see a picture of my 1957 Aston martin DB2/4 MkII.
A straight 3 litre DOHC motor
which is a bit like 6 manx engines linked together by
a relatively fragile bottom
end. It is great fun to drive!
My 90 Bore Molnar Manx, at the Creg, IOM with Kate’s Cottage in the background
Another picture of me on my 1926 TT machine, at
Alec Bennett would not have looked better!!
a 1953 International model 40, 350 cc OHC built up for a friend in the autumn of 2000. A very sweet machine, click on image to get a better view! Note: Manx front hub, short circuit lyta tank, and quality of the whole package.
A 1936 CJ, with factory option
of large 3 ½ gallon tank.
A very original machine, bar
the exhaust system which emits a very healthy bark!
I have just rebuilt this fine
machine and the performance is excellent….a joy to ride!
Click on picture for a bigger
one (220 KBs)
My very good friend, Bob
Chapman, ready for the ‘run and bump’ on his
c1952 Manx 350 long-stroke
It took me 5 years to put this
one together…….a real beauty.
THE GREATEST MOTORCYCLE ENGINEER....JAMES L. NORTON
geo cohen......still learning
A
very strange Edwardian Norton with Donkey head
and monkey rider; photo taken in Sheffield
I am sure that most of you know the story behind the "featherbed" frame: designed by Rex McCandless and given its name by Harold Daniell, who described it as "riding on a featherbed" as opposed to riding the "garden gate" frame. That's the story, but a picture is sometimes worth a thousand words……….and this is the actual jig McCandless used to make the first featherbed frames. It looks like a pile of rusty iron and, infact that is exactly what it is! It resides at a friends house. Click on small picture for a larger one.
a friend in the workshop for a "fitting" for his pre-war racer!!
Steve Lacey 1931 Model 30, pictured at Guthrie's memorial, IOM; ridden by Ron Harris in the '31 Manx G.P. to 10th place ( after lying 4th for 5 laps………..did he fall off and remount during the final circuit of 37 miles or did he stop at the Creg for a few jugs of ale?)
The inscription on the monolith reads:
"James Guthrie 1897-1937. Erected to the memory of Jimmy Guthrie of Hawick. A brilliant motorcycle rider, famous on the Isle of Man course for his wonderful riding and great sportsmanship. He won the race six times, beat many world records, and was first in numerous foreign races. He died while upholding the honour of his country in the German Grand Prix, August 1937"
This machine is a 1956 Manx rolling chassis, fitted with a big fin Inter 500 motor,
standard gearbox and prepared for the road.
