snort'n Norton, the pointless? thread

I don't know much of carburetors But this bike is in my view going in the stock direction
Not knowing what has been done already.
Problems ??? Jaeeh 50 year Old British Motorcycle ..Well it is a well known fact one is asking for Trouble .
Courtesy Mr Lucas and others.. More or less.
But as the saying goes " If it was simple everyone would do it "
I believe I have seen somewhere that Amals are produced New --Can be Wrong
Yup and with many of the same old issues LOL
I bought a set of Amal Premiers for the last commando go around. Meh. Your experiences may vary.
 
I bought new Amal’s for my old Bonneville , when I restored it, I always thought they were pretty good carburetors.
Simple design, easy to work on, the bike ran great. We won’t talk about getting gas on your fingers when you have to use the ticklers them to start up. :laugh2:
I know the Norton guys love to put a single Mikuni on them.
 
The TM36/68 spigot OD is only 2 mm. fatter than the spigot on the VM34 and will squeeze into the same mount without too much encouragement. Go on, uncouple a flat slide pumper and hang it, you know you want to! Those radial smoothbore type carbies are a little hefty, a bit of back support wouldn't be a bad idea. I didn't believe it either when I was told, but that's the easiest carburetor to tune that you've ever had.

So the PO had a bigass MJ in the VM34, did he? Means either he didn't change much and there's still a Q2 NJ in there, or he went too small on the NJ and tried to compensate with a fat main. Don't know who had that bike, so I'll withhold comment.
 
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The TM36/68 spigot OD is only 2 mm. fatter than the spigot on the VM34 and will squeeze into the same mount without too much encouragement. Go on, uncouple a flat slide pumper and hang it, you know you want to! Those radial smoothbore type carbies are a little hefty, a bit of back support wouldn't be a bad idea. I didn't believe it either when I was told, but that's the easiest carburetor to tune that you've ever had.
Saw the FCR's TMs when I was rooting round for the test tank in the shed yesterday.
iu
 
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It's cleaning up nicely.
Drained 2 quarts of oil out of the "dry" sump, easier to kick through now.
The parts needed list is up to page 2.
I'm in FINE company;
https://www.cycleworld.com/2008/06/26/a-tale-of-two-nortons-first-look/
No NOT put one of those in-line check valves on your Norton. Sort of line a hand Granade with the pin pulled. They will fail maybe not right away but the will and take your engine with it. Check AMR's Nortech conversion. They take your timing cover and modify it so it works like a Mk3 Norton set up.
 
FCRs? You lucky dog, that's the gold standard, no doubt about it! Throttle shaft rides on needle bearings, slide rides on nylon rollers, Keihin spared no expense. Too rich for my blood new and never found an affordable used set either, but I've looked and drooled a bit.
 
FCRs? You lucky dog, that's the gold standard, no doubt about it! Throttle shaft rides on needle bearings, slide rides on nylon rollers, Keihin spared no expense. Too rich for my blood new and never found an affordable used set either, but I've looked and drooled a bit.
Oops called it wrong, what ever those carbs you sent me, what 3-4 years ago? are. LOL
 
No NOT put one of those in-line check valves on your Norton. Sort of line a hand Granade with the pin pulled. They will fail maybe not right away but the will and take your engine with it. Check AMR's Nortech conversion. They take your timing cover and modify it so it works like a Mk3 Norton set up.
I see the (72 only) crankcases will accept a reed valve in the breather line to improve oil "control" . Funny how these big parallel twins all have the same issues.
 
Congratulations Gary! Sounds great! Just for the record, I didn't do anything to that bike prior to it shipping out to you. That's my way of disclaiming any responsibility for whatever is plastered all over that intake.
 
Those carbs are Mikuni TM36/68 4-stroke flat slide pumpers, Gary. They're from the Radial Smoothbore design group. In their (questionable) wisdom, Mikuni gave them the TM designation instead of RS because as sold they're set up for single carb use, and RS carbs are configured only in banks of 4.
 
Congratulations Gary! Sounds great! Just for the record, I didn't do anything to that bike prior to it shipping out to you. That's my way of disclaiming any responsibility for whatever is plastered all over that intake.
iu

With all that "stuff" cleaned out, the float level set correctly, and a few other oopsies rectified, it started and ran up and down the road a mile or so today, all seems well, and it's charging too. That's enough for me to proceed with getting this old gal ready for next years riding. @GLJ would it be Hoyle to ride a Norton to an XS650 shootout :shrug: ?
 
With all that "stuff" cleaned out, the float level set correctly, and a few other oopsies rectified, it started and ran up and down the road a mile or so today, all seems well, and it's charging too. That's enough for me to proceed with getting this old gal ready for next years riding. @GLJ would it be Hoyle to ride a Norton to an XS650 shootout :shrug: ?

I'm pretty sure you'd be welcome riding a Norton anywhere!
 
As long as the "shootout" doesn't include running an endurance event against competently fettled Yamahas, you'll be fine, Gary. If it does, you may be mocked and reviled. Hey, did I ever tell you the one about the certified Norton mechanic, the University of Illinois graduate electrical engineer, and the Norton Electra? The Prince of Darkness ruled them all, and he didn't need no stinkin' ring to do it.
 
Hi WideAWAKE,
It's all in how you tell the story:-
The truth:- I once owned a Royal Enfield and a Norton that were once the property of HM King George VI.
The kinda boring:- I only got them after the army sold them in the civilian market when the war was over.

Kinda meant boring in the sense that you just buy it and park it in the garage and ride. No involvement in making it come to life (to me the fun part).
 
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