Finally finished!!! Well, almost... (Pic Heavy)

[Stripes]

But I finally do have it in my posession, well sort of...




It is now tucked in safely at D-Mac's shop next to his project bike waiting for it's turn to be loved!

We're going to be doing 4 of the primary things that I asked Cafe Racer Ypsi to do but seemed to not be a priority.
1. Reline the inside of the fiberglass tank. Cafe Racer Ypsi said that it didn't need to be done, just to make sure I didn't leave any gas in it after I was done riding for the day.
2. New tires. The tires that are on there were installed in the year 1999 but they looked brand new to the shop. They shouldn't be as hard as bricks... right?
3. Exhaust. Returning the exhaust to the original style reverse cone pipes.
4. Side stand. Mostly for convenience purposes.

After a quick polish on the rims while they're off of the bike getting new tires, installing a kick start rubber, light bulbs in the guages & a couple of patches on the seat it should be good to go. Then in the Spring I'll send the tank & side panels off to get repainted. Cafe Racer Ypsi doesn't know how it happened, but there was a nice gouge in the new paintjob on the tank & a sweet wrinkle in one of the Norton decals. More to come later. Cheers

[miles]

The worst bike I ever owned was a Norton Commando.  If I'd had any sense it would have turned me off motorbiking entirely.


That said, good luck with your project.  

[Stripes]

The worst bike I ever owned was a Norton Commando.  If I'd had any sense it would have turned me off motorbiking entirely.


That said, good luck with your project.  

I didn't buy it. It was my Dad's. He is the original owner of it. It's been sitting mostly outside of his place in Maine since 2001 so he decided to give it to me early. He was going to leave it to me in his will, but he wanted it to go to a good home & he knew I would take care of it & appreciate it.

Thanks for the good luck wishes!  I'll need all of the luck I can get. If it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all. I'm so unlucky that if it were raining pussy, I'd get hit w/ a dick.

[CLAY]

That thing is so sweet...  

[veefer800canuck]

I would do this, right down to a T:

[miles]

I didn't buy it. It was my Dad's. He is the original owner of it. It's been sitting mostly outside of his place in Maine since 2001 so he decided to give it to me early. He was going to leave it to me in his will, but he wanted it to go to a good home & he knew I would take care of it & appreciate it.

Again, good luck.  What I wished I could have done with mine was strip it all the way down, rebuild it completely, and then sell it and buy a Honda.












Just kidding.  I enjoyed it immensely when it actually ran.

[Stripes]

That thing is so sweet...  

Hell yeah! Thanks!  

[Mr.Black]

I would do this, right down to a T:

[Stripes]

I would do this, right down to T.

W/ the exception of the bars, disc brakes & seat that is pretty much what I am going for. That's what the original exhaust looked like & that's what I'm putting back on it. The original color was black w/ gold as well, but I love Aluminum Silver. It was inspired from my '05 Sprint ST & '04 Thruxton fenders!

[stromgal]

Just kidding.  I enjoyed it immensely when it actually ran.

That was my experience as well. Every time I tried to ride it outside the city limits, it would strand me. It ended up being a brief summer fling.  

[bluepoof]

I'm so unlucky that if it were raining pussy, I'd get hit w/ a dick.

I was watching a race once and the announcer said that a rider was so unlucky that "if he fell into a bucket of boobies, he'd come up sucking his thumb."  

[Stripes]

Well today I ordered 2 new mufflers, 2 new tires, a sidestand & all of the hardware that goes w/ it & a kickstart rubber. It should all be available for p/u tomorrow afternoon so after work Wednesday I'll be taking a trip to Garden City! I'm still waiting for the tank liner that I ordered last week, but I'm hoping to do the tank & put my new parts on this weekend. I'll snap some before & after photos. As soon as we get those tires changed I'll be taking it for a quick spin! Cheers

[Stripes]

Woo hoo! Christmas came early for me! I have all of my parts that I ordered so now it's time to get this thing finished. I'm hoping if all goes well this weekend & w/ a little help from D-Mac on the tank lining process I should be able to ride it before next year... I'll take some before, during & after photos to show my progress w/ the project. Cheers

[sammyseaman]

I was watching a race once and the announcer said that a rider was so unlucky that "if he fell into a bucket of boobies, he'd come up sucking his thumb."  

 

[Stripes]

First off I'd like to thank TheRedOnesAreFaster, D-Mac, my Mom, my good friend Ken & Mike at British Only in Garden City, MI. Without the help of these 5 people I'd be sitting on a $4000+ pile of scrap. I picked this bike up from my dad in March of 2011 & mistakinly took it to Cafe Racer Ypsi on November 1st, 2011. After blowing $2300 cash & trading over $1000 in stock & custom racing Thruxton Parts & many promises & not delivering on those promises, enough was enough. So TheRedOnesAreFaster, my Mom, one of my employees & I drove there to p/u the so called restored Norton. Please keep in mind that they never had to touch the engine. Everything I had asked them to do was purely cosmetic. I asked them to re-line the tank, put new tires on it, replace the exhaust w/ an original style one, install a sidestand, new paint & clean it up a bit. The only thing that they did that I asked them to do was polish the chrome & stainless parts & give it the roughest, pittiest, non-clear coated, nicked up worst paint job ever. After promising me week after week that I could pick it up this weekend, I finally told them after they had it for over 1 year that we were coming to get it. I was fed up & ready to take it some where else, but after a few conversations w/ the motorcycle restoration genius D-Mac, I was convinced that w/ his help & the help of the others mentioned above that we could handle it.

So without furtherado, 3 weeks after picking it up from Cafe Racer Ypsi & $800 worth of parts, here is the finished product. (I'm getting it re-painted at a later date, but for now I'm going to tolerate it):



Before, during & after pics w/ some explanation to follow... Enjoy!

[SprintRSrider]

Lookin good man!  Those mufflers look fantastic.  

[Stripes]

Lookin good man!  Those mufflers look fantastic.  

Except for the big ass dent on the other pipe that you don't see in the pic, I agree.  More details on that to follow...

[Stripes]

Okay, before we get started w/ all of the boring details, here's a couple of photos the day I brought him home

[Stripes]

The 1st thing I did was install the kickstart rubber. It seemed fairly easy!


Cafe Racer took it upon themselves to rebuild the forks, but when they tightened everything back down they had the Speedo & Tach all out of whack


So I loosened the nuts on the top a little bit, moved them to where I thought they looked better & tightened them & tourqed them to spec


I also had to readjust the bar end mirror, after Cafe Racer Ypsi put the new grips on & re-installed the mirror the clutch lever would hit it & all I could adjust it to see was my fat ass &/or the rear tire


I figured I would start off by doing the easy stuff 1st!

[Stripes]

I also installed a new ignition cover. It wasn't something that would keep it from going down the road, but I just thought it would look a whole lot better!

Before:


After: