Spring Updates

Time for an update! The Norton had a good season last year, other than developing an oil leak that blew gearbox oil all over the right muffler. It turned out to be from the kickstart o-ring (no oil seal conversion on this bike). I pulled the cover, put some silicone in the groove, and installed a new o-ring. No more leak, for now anyway. I need to do the same with the primary case sealing band. ATF gets through behind the big o-ring and it drips onto the floor. Otherwise the bike is drip-free.

For this season, the rear wheel received some attention. I decided to remove the rim clamp as it throws the wheel way out of balance and does not seem to be necessary anyway. I found the original Dunlop steel rim to be heavily rusted inside when I removed the tire. I cleaned it up as best as I could for now, but the bike needs a new rim. I'd like to find another good steel rim if I can, but NOS ones are hard to come by and the new reproduction steel rims are said to be of poor quality. So I may end up having to go with an alloy rim.

I'm also replacing the oil pump and switching to monograde oil soon, to hopefully get the wetsumping under control. I bought a used pump on ebay and took it apart to do the lapping procedure. That's almost done, just needs the final cleaning and reassembly. The pump that's in there has gotten so bad I have to drain the sump if the bike sits more than three days. I'm hoping the rebuilt pump will do better!

The Howling

Summer has almost come and gone, so I guess it's time for an update.

The rear brake developed a problem about a year ago. Occasionally, when I would apply the brake, it would make a loud howling noise and a shuddering sensation through the pedal. It felt as it the brake shoes were chattering. I had the brake drum off a couple of times but didn't see anything wrong. But the howling persisted.

So a couple of months ago I took it off again and disassembled the brake plate. Again, I didn't really see anything wrong other than an accumulation of brake dust. I cleaned everything up with brake cleaner, regreased the pivots with disk brake grease, and put it all back together. This time I took care to center the brake plate by holding the brake on while tightening the stub axle nut. I had been a little lax about that recently.

Results: no more howling! The brake seems to work better too. So I think doing the centering procedure is important, and an occasional cleaning and greasing is probably helpful too. It pays to do things the right way.

Spring Tuneups

It's been a late spring here, so the Spring Tuneup isn't quite done yet. But it's getting there. I did the primary drive maintenance recently, changing out the ATF and cleaning the clutch plates. They were getting a little sticky from either gearbox oil or ATF, I'm not sure which. I might install a clutch pushrod seal kit next I go in.

I was having some problems with the carbs flooding and I noticed the float levels were set too high. I set them to spec, which is done by warming the bowls (I used a heat gun) and adjusting the position of the float seat with a small pin punch. It took me a few tries to get it right, but they're back on now and I haven't had any more flooding.

I also reached a milestone, wearing out my first rear tire on the bike! So I bought a new K81, fitted it to the front, and put the old front tire on the rear. The tires are easy to change with the Dunlop steel rims, but the rear was a bit difficult to balance with the rim clamp throwing things off. I'm not sure if the rim clamp is really necessary, but since it was original fitment and it's still there, I'm still using it for now anyway.

Still to do: gearbox and engine oil changes. Then The Norton should be ready for another season!

The Long Cold Winter

Winter drags on, but December and January are behind us now and Spring is around the corner.

In the meantime, I can work on the bike without worrying about losing riding time. The fork oil change is done and the fork sliders and clockholders repolished. I like to do my fork oil changes the hard way, by removing the legs, taking the springs out, and allowing the oil to drain for a few days from the upside-down legs. Then I pour in a little solvent to flush out the sludge, let that drain, and they're ready to be refilled. It's more work this way, but I've found that just removing the drain screws and pumping the forks doesn't do a very good job of getting all the oil and sludge out.

The next task will be to fix the rear brake light switch and wiring. Both have gone non-functional. The cheap Lucas-imitation switch has expired, so I bought another cheap Lucas-imitation switch to replace it. I also have to trace out the problem with the wiring.

After that, drain the sump and that will be it for now. The rest of the maintenance - oil changes, new rear tire, new AGM battery, and timing chain adjustment - can wait until spring.

Deep Freeze

Winter has settled in and the riding is over for a while. The Norton rests quietly, awaiting warmer weather and clear roads. I drained the fuel system a while ago, and the contents of the oil tank have transferred themselves to the crankcase. I'll have to drain it before trying to start the bike. It doesn't like to start with three quarts of oil in the sump. I bought a brand new oil pump and I'm going to install it to see if that helps with the wet sumping.

Other maintenance work planned is a readjust of the timing chain (I think I did it a little too tight last time), a new rear tire, a change of all fluids including fork oil, and a new AGM battery. I'm still running the battery that came with the bike when I bought it four years ago. The battery still seems to be fine, but enough is enough. I think it's time to retire that battery to timing light duty.

Season Wrapup

Well, The Norton did fine this season, needing nothing more than routine maintenance. It's been 4,000 miles since the rebuild now, and the bike is doing fine. We had our last big club ride of the season a few weeks ago, the annual Plains Ride. This route was a bit longer than usual and the bike logged 165 miles for the day. That's the longest ride I've ever done on the bike.

That oil leak turned out not to be the cylinder studs after all. I eventually traced it to the left rocker banjo. It seems an old crush washer was stuck to the banjo bolt head and I didn't notice it. Old used washer plus new washer equals oil leak! The oil then ran down the space in the middle of the head and collected at the front, looking exactly like leaky studs.

So, that leak is dried up! Now if I could just get the tach drive sealed up...

Back to life

It was a long, hard winter and a cold, wet spring, but The Norton is out of hibernation and has been for a while now. It came back to life on the second kick and has been running great. No major work is planned for now, but I have noticed several leaks on the cylinder head that I would like to fix. Oil is coming up the front studs and I've noticed a leak from somewhere on the left side. I haven't quite pinned that one down yet, but it might be coming from the rocker feed banjo. I want to fix the leaks, but the bike is running so good I don't want to mess with it! So I think this will be added to next winter's work list.