Norton / Harley Ironhead Cafe Project.. Build thread

I didn't get very far with lacing the front wheel, so on the basis that the only stupid question is the one you don't ask, I popped around the corner to see Bill, a chap in his eighties who has been restoring veteran bikes since before I was born. Bill who soon pointed out my beginners error. When I unpacked the spokes, the rear spokes were in two bags. I did check to see if there were any differences but they were the same length and had the same angle of bend. So without further thought I got stuck in. Bill pointed out that I had two different spoke sets, one of which had a slightly longer bend, these should be used when a spoke crosses on top of another at the hub. Mystery solved, he kindly offered to finish the wheel for me and true it up, in the meantime I admired the last of the three 1920s Sunbeams he'd restored, from being piles of rust dug up out of ground of a old scrap yard. Not to mention his Velocette, Vincent Rapide and a couple of specials.. I must remember to take my camera next time I visit.
 
I did a quick test fit of the seat from Unity Equipe, the two stubs which mount it to the frame didn't quite match up, but I threatened them with a big hammer and eventually the seat went on. It seems a bit too far back, but not sure yet..



 
With the wheels built at last, I reused the front disc spacers from the original bike on the new hub, with some machining to fit the EBC discs. The rear disc mounting holes also had to be widened (as HD hubs use bigger bolts on the back than the front) and disc manufacturers don't seem to bother drilling the correct size holes. I needed to find a rear Nissin caliper before I could make a caliper mount and wheel spacers for the back wheel.

Here's a blurry vid I just took of progress to date, you can see there's not much room as I'm working in the conversatory, as the garage is full up with my other bikes.

http://youtu.be/MeqE9wE2gTY
 
One of the favourite parts I've bought so far is this toggle for the tank strap, lovely bit of kit. The tank strap has to be sized and a hook pop rivetted onto the strap, but need to make the buckle at the other end yet.




Its almost on its wheels by now, just waiting on the tyres (Avon AM26s). The rear is a 120x18, when I started out on bikes that seemed a huge tyre, now it looks like it belongs on a moped :)


My mad plan for a one off hydraulic clutch conversion are starting to come together, as I swapped an old roll of roofing felt for a mint Brembo clutch slave cylinder :)

..and here it is, a good swap for some old roofing felt I didn't need.. just got to work out a neat way of bolting to the case and extending the clutch pushrod.. sounds easy.. it wasn't ! As you'll see....



 
Nice work mister!!
I`m deeply inlove with them featherbed frames!
Such a shame they are way 2 expensive to build from scratch.(In Norway)
I am planning to put a BMW gs 800 engine in one,but i have to save some money when the Norwegian goverment wants at least 10.000 usd in taxes for a new build :'(.
But i am on it in a year or soo i hope!
Keep up the good work mister.
 
Thanks, is that 10,000 usd just for a frame?? !! Mine came from Norley, cost approx. £1500, with the petrol and oil tanks, came to a total of £2200. Its a really nice frame, very light, made from T45 tubing .. an updated version of the classic Reynolds 531 tubeset.

Here's a little video I took when I visited their workshop for the first time... I like the way they have a Vincent engine just lying about on the floor..

http://youtu.be/NVT_yPK_4Pg
 
No its just fee to the goverment to have a licence on it, i have the frame and the engine laying in my fathers workshop,i can build it and use it as a trackbike without anymore costs,but i want it streetlegal and thats bloody expensive for sure. And i have to register as a new (2013)bike :'( :'(
Nice vid.
 
oh man, I love me some Ironheads. I was sorely tempted to go this route with my 900, but went chopper instead. Next time...
 
Floegstad said:
... i have to save some money when the Norwegian goverment wants at least 10.000 usd in taxes for a new build :'( .

Floegstad said:
No its just fee to the goverment to have a licence on it,

You mean it costs 59,338.28 NOK to title a bike with a built from scratch frame?!? ???
 
Did you bother to weigh the POS you started to compare with the new ride? Interesting build and fee structure over there. Would certainly prevent some from starting from scratch.
 
Becouse his parts are all researched and will work together. You just bought stuff to brag about.
 
o1marc said:
Did you bother to weigh the POS you started to compare with the new ride? Interesting build and fee structure over there. Would certainly prevent some from starting from scratch.

No I didn't weigh the original bike, but specs say it weighs approx. 525 lbs. I'm aiming to lose 100lbs. I have weighed the OE frame, wheels, forks etc, and the new equivalent parts. So far lost 73lbs and should get close to my target by the time the exhaust, electrics are done. I have cheated a bit as it wont be getting mirrors, rear pegs and so on.

Here are some examples of old Vs new part weights (in lbs)

OLD NEW
Frame/SA 53 34
Front wheel/tyre/discs 31 29
rear " " " 38.5 30.1
rear fendor/seat 10.5 2.7
oil tank 7 2.3
tank 7.5 6.5
front fender 3 0 (not having one)
footpegs/controls/mounts 16 2.9
rear brake caliper/mount 5.7 2.3
Forks/yokes/calipers 36 31
Rear shocks 8.4 7
Bars / risers / grips 5.5 1.8
 
I'm getting almost up to date now, at last it was on its wheels and I could sit on it and make brum brummm noises when no one was looking ;)

Still needed to sort out the wheel spacers and a brake caliper for the rear wheel, but bodged a couple of spare spacers I had for now. Then I had one of those strange incidents that leave me baffled.. I knelt down to fit the front wheel, trying to line up the spindle with the first spacer, and the spacer fell to the floor.. need three hands for this job.. I fished around for the spacer, couldnt find it. I stood up, had a look around my feet, no spacer. I had a good hunt around, no spacer, I moved everything in the blooming room, no spacer.. god knows where its gone, it only fell a foot, so it could hardly have bounced off somewhere.. must have a black hole in there, its the only explanation. I'll have make another, in the meantime another spare spacer was bodged on.


At least I didn't lose this cool replacement choke 'enrichener'.. since I wont be using a standard teardrop S&S air filter with its choke lever, this little gizmo takes its place..

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I cut out the shape of the reverse cone megas I'm thinking of buying, just to see how they might look.. I need to decide between high level XR750 style or traditional low level, one either side style????
HIGH

Or LOW


I finally went for the classic low level option, as the high level pipes would toast my leg even with heat shields. One easy job was to make an undertray to sit beneath the seat hump, as that's where most of the electrics will be going. So I cut up a cereal box to make a simple template..


I made it longer than expected, so I can use it to mount the seat a little further forward if needed, I can always cut it back a little to look neater. Then to save myself a lot of hassle, I went over to a local fabrication workshop (best welder in town) who is happy to make stuff for me for a few quid cash in hand. When he isn't on site working at places like Kellogs and Heinz, he works out of a small place in an old converted barn..




Where he soon made me the tray in 1.5mm stainless plate, all I had to do was bend it slightly to follow the lines of the seat loop when I got home. Just need to drill a few mounting holes and sort out some kind of P clips to support it at the back. I don't want to weld any tabs onto this frame, its too nice to mess up.

 
I sat down the one evening and listed all the jobs and parts I still needed to finish the bike.. it came to 3 pages of A4 .. oh well, best keep going then.

I ordered a few more parts, big 7 inch headlamp, ignition barrel, tail light etc. The tail light is a bit of a cliche perhaps, but I like it. need to make a mount for it now and for the number plate too.. Ill add it to the list.


Next I fitted a Tomaselli throttle and grips, it will need a one off cable to work with the S&S carb, that can wait for now..


Next my plan for a hydraulic clutch conversion is going ok, had to use a Banjo bolt with a built in bleed nibble for the slave cylinder. It sticks out a fair bit from the case and looks as if it'll need some kind of protection in case its gets knocked or the bike falls over (fingers crossed it never will). I need to work out how long the clutch rod extension needs to be to work with the slave cylinder.. another item to add to my list..

Old Bembo slave cyinder on the left, we used its piston and seal in the new one..

The one off slave replaces the clutch inspection cap in the Primary cover

I tried a few calipers I had, all Brembos, a couple from a 916 and one from a CB500. None really worked how I wanted, so I ended up buying a new rear caliper at a very good price. I'll take the swingarm and wheel to Jeff workshop and make the wheel spacers and a caliper mount. It means the bike will have two black front calipers and a gold rear, which bothered my OCD tendencies a little, till I noticed that a BMW 1000RR has gold front Brembos and a black rear, so if its good enough for BMW its ok for me..


Shiny new caliper.. need to make a mount, torque arm and wheel spacers next..
 
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