When I delivered Luis' bike, he handed over a bunch of Norton stuff as partial payment; besides that pile of parts, I already had another pile of parts including various tanks and seats. (my spare parts pile was getting BIGGER, not smaller, the more bikes I built). To be sure, I had enough stuff to play with some mock-ups...
This red stuff; hard as a brick Corbin seat (but it looks good), and nice tank that would likely start oozing honey as soon as the modern gas hit it...
...and this black tank in fair shape-
Besides some faded red Interstate stuff, there was also some more Dunstall stuff (Reg Curley?)
...and this little High Rider tank & roadster seat
I tried out various exhaust mock-ups as well (plus a spare cafe racer seat I had on hand)-
Then I went ahead and bought another pile of parts including a set of Norton Production Racer (PR) bodywork. To this day, I don't know if it was original Norton stuff or pattern copies, but I'm guessing it was PROBABLY pattern stuff. Anyway, that settled it. I sold most of the other stuff off, including the original High Rider seat, sissy bar & ape-hangar handlebars for some decent money to a guy in Europe. Now i had my play money and I cut loose. I was able to obtain another Combat engine and got to it.
This is what rolled out of the shop in 2011- '72 Norton 750 Combat Commando Production Racer replica "Flying Banana" often referred to as "Yellow Peril"
Powdercoated frame & cradle, vernier adjustable stainless isolastics, Taylor rod-linked head steady
Overhauled forks, NJB shocks, cleaned up original Dunlop rims & overhauled original brakes; drilled disc
Home-made rearset footpegs and brake pedal, clubman handlebars and refurbished original controls
Total engine refurb with all new bearings and seals, optimized clutch stack, reed valve case breather
Combat SS cam, .020 over pistons, honed cylinder, valve job, overhauled carbs
Polished all the alloy stuff, refurbished "Green Blob" meters, K&N dual-neck air filter
Sparx electronic ignition, hand-made wiring harness, re-worked aftermarket lighting & mounts
This was a more refurb than resto, partial custom build (not a lot). This bike ALMOST cost me a pile of money when the state told me I could release it to the shippers (to NC) after it had already been inspected by law enforcement and all paperwork cleared. When they returned the paperwork as "incomplete" and were requesting a re-inspection, I was quite ticked off. Anyway, the local DMV was able to sort it out, and the title was processed to the new owner within a month.
It's a banana, but some people love bananas. Sold it under stress and barely broke even. By this time, I was doing more "part-time" computer & surveillance camera work than motorcycle work, our adopted son was a year old and growing fast, and the writing was on the wall.
This red stuff; hard as a brick Corbin seat (but it looks good), and nice tank that would likely start oozing honey as soon as the modern gas hit it...
...and this black tank in fair shape-
Besides some faded red Interstate stuff, there was also some more Dunstall stuff (Reg Curley?)
...and this little High Rider tank & roadster seat
I tried out various exhaust mock-ups as well (plus a spare cafe racer seat I had on hand)-
Then I went ahead and bought another pile of parts including a set of Norton Production Racer (PR) bodywork. To this day, I don't know if it was original Norton stuff or pattern copies, but I'm guessing it was PROBABLY pattern stuff. Anyway, that settled it. I sold most of the other stuff off, including the original High Rider seat, sissy bar & ape-hangar handlebars for some decent money to a guy in Europe. Now i had my play money and I cut loose. I was able to obtain another Combat engine and got to it.
This is what rolled out of the shop in 2011- '72 Norton 750 Combat Commando Production Racer replica "Flying Banana" often referred to as "Yellow Peril"
Powdercoated frame & cradle, vernier adjustable stainless isolastics, Taylor rod-linked head steady
Overhauled forks, NJB shocks, cleaned up original Dunlop rims & overhauled original brakes; drilled disc
Home-made rearset footpegs and brake pedal, clubman handlebars and refurbished original controls
Total engine refurb with all new bearings and seals, optimized clutch stack, reed valve case breather
Combat SS cam, .020 over pistons, honed cylinder, valve job, overhauled carbs
Polished all the alloy stuff, refurbished "Green Blob" meters, K&N dual-neck air filter
Sparx electronic ignition, hand-made wiring harness, re-worked aftermarket lighting & mounts
This was a more refurb than resto, partial custom build (not a lot). This bike ALMOST cost me a pile of money when the state told me I could release it to the shippers (to NC) after it had already been inspected by law enforcement and all paperwork cleared. When they returned the paperwork as "incomplete" and were requesting a re-inspection, I was quite ticked off. Anyway, the local DMV was able to sort it out, and the title was processed to the new owner within a month.
It's a banana, but some people love bananas. Sold it under stress and barely broke even. By this time, I was doing more "part-time" computer & surveillance camera work than motorcycle work, our adopted son was a year old and growing fast, and the writing was on the wall.