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Latest
News: |
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Last
Updated : 27/07/11
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Well
here I am again, writing an update of recent events in what
has now become no more than an annual exercise, in so much that
I was expecting to have done this update early in the New Year,
but instead it is now July 2011 – so where have the last
6 months gone? Well for me there have been quite a few developments,
not all in the Norton arena
So, for anyone that’s interested – here’s
what has been happening in the last 12 months, and an update
on anything in the Norton pipeline: |
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Balancing
Act – the Day Job vs RacingNorton |
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I will give an update on my day job versus the online Norton parts
business first, as it sets the scene for the rest of the article
and gives me an excuse as to why I have not done all the Norton
tasks I thought I was going to do this year.
As I have reported in the past, the Cammy Norton parts business,
although enjoyable, is not my main source of income and unfortunately
I also have to earn a daily crust in a more mundane occupation,
which involves me working away much of the working week.
I am an IT Programme Manager; working for a well known retailer,
with its flagship store on Oxford Street London. And like all
private companies, to stay profitable in the last couple of years
of recession has meant sweating its assets – which includes
its staff!
Admittedly, I prefer this approach to business – I would
much rather be extremely busy working for a successful business,
rather than the reverse, but since this time last year, even I
have given some thought to if that is what I want to be doing
for the next 15 years or so??, particularly as the Norton business
has seemingly reached a level where I might just be able to scrape
out a meagre living from it, if I was in a position to throw myself
into it full time.
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Then
about this time last year my job role changed again, to such an
extent that I had to re-apply for the roles offered and go through
the normal interview process, along with another colleague, just
as we would if applying from outside. As is the legal requirement
in the UK, because the job had changed so, they were also obliged
to offer me voluntary redundancy as well, which due to my years
of service, was worth considering.
This gave me the opportunity to step back and consider what I
wanted to do with myself. I actually did something I have not
done for a long time – I updated my CV and made some tentative
enquiries for other job positions in IT, that might allow me to
do more of a standard ‘9am to 5pm’ role, and therefore
have more time for my own business. Although I had a couple of
potential offers available, in the end I decided that to make
them a success (and why would anyone take on a new role wanting
to do anything less?), would mean having to put the same level
of effort in as I do in my current job, so the Norton business
would probably be no better off.
I also looked at IT project management contract consultancy again
(something I have been doing for many years, so it holds little
surprises) – as although this involves lots of travelling,
it pays very well and also pays by the hour! But in the end I
decided against this, as I am truthful enough to admit I prefer
the stability of permanent employment.
Within my own team I normally employ at least a couple of IT contractors
at any one time, and if for no other reason, they are always identifiable
as contractors because about 4 weeks before their contract is
due to end – if they have not received the ‘nod’
of an extension from me, they can be seen at every break time
on the phone to their agent, looking for the next contract . .
. on reflection, not the life for me |
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Here is a picture of one of the industrial units I was considering
at the beginning of the year - when trying to decide if it might
be worth doing the Norton business full time |
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Then finally, I considered the other option
- that this might be the time to consider breaking away from
the IT profession completely, and going it on my own with the
Norton business full time, and looking for industrial premises.
I am sure for many of you reading this – having talked
to you as customers and friends in the last 5 years –
I know this is a dream that many of us bike restorer’s
have – to be able to turn a hobby into a profession. Indeed,
I know that for some of you, you already run your own business,
and my hat goes off to you for making it work. Well I suppose
I was at that point last year, where I realised it might be
possible to just about get by doing the Norton parts business,
and probably expanding it to take on engine rebuilds and restoration
work for customers (something I regretfully have to turn down
at the moment).
I actually got as far as going out to look at a couple of small
industrial units . . . although I was struggling to find any
suitable ones which were for sale, most were for rent, which
I am not really interested in. I did find one that was available
on a long term lease . . . and with some simple arithmetic I
realised I could afford if I was to take the redundancy package
and sell one of the better bikes in the collection (a sacrifice
I knew I would have to make).
I took about 3 weeks to make a final decision
– which came as a bit of surprise to my boss. He thought
it was a reasonably simple restructure, and wasn’t expecting
the redundancy option to be taken up! However, I confess that
in the end I chickened out and conceded that both my family
and myself were far too used to a regular income to risk this
for a business that would be at best borderline for a couple
of years at least. I suppose I am fortunate in being in a reasonably
well paid occupation, and although I am away a lot (and therefore
the actual hourly rate stinks!) it would be very difficult to
give that up unless forced into the position, with no other
option.
So
here I am, 10 months down the line from making that decision
– I am now working away in Ireland or London most of every
week, as I now manage the IT Supply Chain systems across two
companies of our Group, still spending every weekend and what
time in the week I can doing the Norton business, and unfortunately
getting very little time for anything else. But that was my
choice, so I can live with it and actually, 10 months later
– I have no regrets. As I said at the beginning of the
article, it has been a reasonable year, and from a professional
point of view – a very challenging and rewarding one.
And as a small confession – I did not just rollover and
take the package offered to me by my employer, if I was going
to stay and take the ‘Kings shilling’, I wanted
to make sure it was at least partly on my financial terms! |
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And another picture of the same unit, from the other end. What
appealed with this unit, was that it had a mezzanine office
area above. I considered trying to purchase the lease, then
initially take just the office area myself, and sub let the
bigger area - but was not sure if anyone would take up this
arrangement |
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Graham on the left has now joined me part time, to assist with
the fullfilment of online Norton orders |
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Recent
Racing Norton Developments
Therefore, with having made the decision to stay in my 'day job',
around January of 2011 I realised I could no longer carry on on
my own, trying to fulfil the online orders for customers, while
also doing the job I do. Although I greatly appreciate the custom
you have all given me, and very much want to ensure I can give
a friendly personal service, at the same time I know it has become
too much for me to do on my own, and after a very busy Christmas
period, that extended well into February, it became clear I was
falling too far behind with orders and email to carry on like
this. Apart from everything else it was not fair on customers
and I was starting to resent doing it – definitely not the
way to go, so I started considering taking someone on to help
me with this side of the business.
Since that time Graham has joined me, working part time, and although
it has not been easy for either of us - due to the logistics of
the setup, it is slowly getting easier and is allowing me to now
finally get my head above water again. I am also now aware, that
without someone to help with the mail order side of the business,
it would not be able to continue |
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Rocker Pin sets are one of the longer term projects I was pleased
to be able to get completed this year |
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New
Developments and Norton Parts This Year
Hopefully, regular customers would agree with me in saying it
has been a pretty reasonable year for new parts, and I have
been very pleased to get some of the more difficult to find
cammy Norton parts made – i.e. the valve gear, including
springs and spring holders, rocker pins and bearings, decent
mudguards etc.
Another positive point has been finally getting the outer timing
covers completed, which if I say so myself are quite nice, although
the matching inner covers are still Work In Progress (I need
to check progress in the next couple of weeks).
Overall
therefore, the last year has been very positive from a manufacturing
perspective and many of the parts I have had done recently have
been in larger batch’s than previous years, which highlights
the more commercial approach I have been trying to adhere to
in the last 2 years – doing this makes them more commercially
viable and means I am less likely to run out of stock, however
it also requires bigger up front investment. Against this, I
have already found that for some of my more regular items, I
am on either my second or third time of producing them, indicating
their popularity and this approach makes more sense
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The other boundary of the business I have been slowly continuing
to expand over the last year is the actual amount of items I
am able to offer. I would estimate that in total I have added
approximately an additional 100 items over the last year, and
this means in total the I can now offer just over the 450 item
mark. Still very much ‘small fry’ compared to the
household names of the classic motorcycling world, but then
again, I am not trying to compete with them.
This increase brings its own set of associated problems, not
least being that, despite me trying to keep the number of items
I am actually involved in myself to a minimum, I am still doing
some of the manufacturing operations myself, which means this
is taking a lot more of my time overall, with continually having
to make more batch’s of some of the more popular parts.
In particular, where I find most time is spent – is when
having a new item made by one of my suppliers, no matter how
careful and diligent we are with the manufacture, I can often
find one small fault, for instance an edge that has not been
de-burred. This is where having my own workshop has a tremendous
advantage, as it is actually quicker in the long run for me
to set one of my machines up and just do them myself –
rather than sending them back to the manufacturer, where at
the very least I have to pay postage and insurance etc. I am
not sure how small business’s get by without this facility
– unfortunately it just costs me time!
All in all, therefore, I am pleased to report that it has been
a positive year for developing the catalog, but I think I am
now getting close to the capacity I can take on at this current
time on my own. I would still like to develop some of the larger
and rare cast items, like heads, barrels and cambox’s,
but these will be slow ‘back burner’ projects, as
I know from experience these all take lots of time and money,
and mistakes can be extremely expensive! |
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One of the manufacturing tasks I do myself - Oil Pump Drive
Plates, in this case milling the end tangs |
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Crankcase
Patterns and Core box's - including components to differentiate
between pre-war and post-war types
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M30
Magnesium Crankcases
Talking of expensive, time consuming projects, this is a case
in point. I was pleased to be able to show some very positive
progress on these in the last 6 months, and my patternmaker has
done a really first rate job of the quite complex patterns –
resulting in a collection of over 20 pattern components . I have
now had two sets of trial castings made – one pair of the
pre-war variety and another post-war. The differences between
both are very minor, but I wanted to get them right, even though
is has meant an additional number of extra pattern pieces to be
able to produce both types.
Unfortunately the next step is being hampered by the large outlay
that will be required for making machining jigs and initial machining
setup, but I am hoping to have this done and the first production
casting run in motion by the end of this year.
These crankcases are exact copies of the pre-featherbed type magnesium
crankcases employed on all proper SOHC racing engines and pre-featherbed
DOHC engines from approx 1935 to 1950. I am hoping that by providing
these, it will enable some rare but fragile racing Norton’s
to appear back on the tracks and be used again in anger. I suppose
I also ought to see if there is any interest from the Cooper car
boys as well, as the pre-featherbed Longstroke Manx using these
crankcases was also very popular in these F3 cars. |
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.
. . and inside faces, showing additional 'meat' added around
timing side main bearing
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First trial castings of SOHC magnesium crankcases, look pretty
good, with detail touches as per original
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Underneath
of crankcase shows cooling fins and pinchbolt area - denoting
Post-War type
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Compare the picture above to these original magnesium crankcases
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My Own Bike Progress This Year
Yes well, perhaps not as much progress as I would have liked in
the last 12 months (for the reasons I talk about above), but neither
has it been a dead loss: |
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1937
Road-going International (current build project):
I am not going to do this one in any detail, as I have also written
a couple of separate articles covering this bike separately –
other than to say, the engine is now almost finished. It just
needs the vertical shaft height confirming and final valve timing
setting then it is done.
I have also made progress with the chassis, and started accumulating
the other smaller parts, so as soon as the engine is completed
I will be starting on the gearbox, TT carb and mag-dyno before
commencing a loose assembly. No timescales on this, but it would
be nice to have something loosely assembled by Winter. |
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1937
Road Inter engine is now nearing completion, as I write this
article I am setting the valve timing
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Chassis
loosely placed on purpose made build trolley. Frame is a rigid
to Racing Inter spec
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1938
Racing Inter had been stripped down since early last year, while
having a new cambox built, but was re-assembled in time for
Mallory 1000 Bike Festival in July
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1938
Racing International
Yes, I have made some progress with this . . . although I admit,
not entirely successful progress, but I have covered this too
in a separate article, so take the link here to read it and laugh!
Racing
Inter Issues |
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This
photo was taken when reassembling with the new magnesium cambox,
which has replaced the alloy cambox, now been used on the 37
road engine
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1938
Big Plunger Manx
I am almost ashamed to say I still have not ran this bike yet,
since totally restoring it the year before last. I am even more
ashamed to say I have not even fitted throttle and magneto cables
yet – and in some perverse sort of way have been using this
as the excuse for not starting it!
The truth is, I have not had time or inclination to do so. I know
that as soon as I start it up it will need some fettling to get
it sorted properly and to do this will just distract me from other
projects. I do think it is a very pretty bike though and one of
my nicest restorations, it has many nice details points –
like the genuine ‘new old stock’ pre-war racing clutch
and brake cables, and really if I could find a suitable museum
or such, I would happily lend it out, so at least people could
get some enjoyment from looking at it.
However, the reason I mention this bike, is that just recently
I have been having a set of racing (Manx spec) girders re-tubed
by Jake Robbins, and am hoping to have them back with me in the
next two weeks. The forks currently fitted to the Big Plunger
are actually International specification forks – in that
they have a side damper fitted – genuine racing forks of
this era did not, relying instead on just parallel checksprings
(in my own experience with the Racing International, not entirely
successful, but who am I to question the most successful racing
team of the 1930’s!). Anyway, if all goes according to plan,
I am intending to have these powder coated (but will probably
still paint over them myself, as normal) and then will swap them
on the Big Plunger for the other set of forks, currently on them,
which in turn will go onto the road going International I am building.
This will also then be the right time to fit throttle cable and
other little bits needed to get the bike ready for running.
Footnote: Just as I am publishing this article, the fork blades
have arrived back from Jake and look excellent (see photos). Therefore
over the coming months as I assemble all the chassis parts for
the Road Inter for painting, so will I also have these forks powder
coated (and will probably topcoat myself as well) and then swop
these over on the Big Plunger Manx, so it frees up the currently
fitted girders to go on the Road Inter.
If you need any remedial or refurbishment work done on your Girder
Forks then Jake can be contacted on the following number: Phone
- 07986 254 144
Or
by email : elkforks@aol.com
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Big
Plunger Manx - notice girders have side damper fitted
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Newly
retubed racing girder forks (notice no side damper) look excellent
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Before
retubing, the fork legs had taken a serious clout to the side
and were badly corroded - Although repaired, they did not look
safe, or inspire confidence
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Now
after retubing, they look totally different, in fact almost
like new forks - I feel a lot more confident about using them
now!
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Royal
Oilfield Constellation
I reported last year that after some continued grief I had finally
got the Royal Enfield Constellation back on the road, following
a bout of blown head gaskets. I had then switched to using a new
type of gasket Hitchcock’s were able to offer – the
compressible car type head gasket – easily identifiable
in so much that it costs three times the amount of the original
copper type! This seemed to be holding reasonably well last year
and I had managed a couple of nice rides on the bike.
Well, as a footnote to this story, on its first ride of this year,
while just returning home and pulling onto my estate, there was
a scaringly loud bang, followed by what sounded just like I would
imagine half a conrod would sound like banging against the walls
of the crankcase. I freewheeled to a halt, and looked down, resigned
to the fact I would probably be able to see the conrod for myself
any moment now, and expecting a large pool of oil on the road
underneath the bike – but no, no signs of either. As I was
only a quarter of a mile from home, I decided to push first and
ask questions later (a Constellation is a big bike when you live
atop a hill!).
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Once
home, I gave the bike a number of kicks (on the kickstarter, on
the kickstarter! . . . it wasn’t that I was just pissed
off!), and it did turn over, but as the engine turned over, there
was also a godawful noise coming from it, like a Camel farting
after a bad curry,
A few minutes later, having roped in a luckless passing neighbour,
and asked him to examine the Camel’s arse, while I continued
kicking, he was able to confirm my suspicions – that yet
again the left head gasket had cried enough.
I suspect, that while the standard hard copper gasket just starts
leaking and on stripdown shows a blackened area, these compressible
type gaskets have what is called in the aerospace industry a ‘catastrophic
failure’, and pretty much disintegrates.
Regardless, that was enough for me! Much as I love the Royal Enfield
Constellation ( . . . in a similar way to loving a very old incontinent
pet, that you kinda hope will die in its sleep soon – only
kidding!) I have now lost the will to want to strip the bloody
thing down again – for the third time in just over a year,
to fix another blown head gasket. It does not help itself by being
such a sod to strip down anyway, and frankly it took too much
time last year anyway, so it has now been relegated to the back
of the garage, and the covers put back on it, until I decide it
is forgiven and I can be bothered to strip it down again. Besides,
I know now the only way I am going to make the left pot sealable
is to skim the head (probably what I should have done last time),
so that will mean a bigger job anyway.
So, we move on. |
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Constellation
in happier times, when it was still merrily roaming Leicestershire,
leaving little oil patch's where ever it stopped - like a dog
marking a tree . . .
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Ducati
916
If like me, you have more than one bike in your collection, then
I am sure you too are familiar with the concept that keeping them
running is a bit like a merry-go-round, in as much that you tend
to go from one bike to another, fixing something, or spending
some money before moving on to the next, which becomes a never
ending circle.
Well, with the RE Connie out of commission and me sulking with
it again, my thoughts turned instead to another bike that had
been sat in my garage gathering dust – the Ducati 916. I
had not ran the bike at all last year and the year previous to
that I was well aware that the rear chain was so loose it felt
like it had a rubber transmission, with no adjustment at all remaining
in the rear wheel – so I was well aware it was due new sprockets
and chains on its next airing.
Added to this, it needed a full engine service, as it had not
had a full one since I first bought the bike. Imbetween, each
year I had done my own servicing - oil changes etc, but I know
my limits and much prefer to hand it over to the Ducati experts
to check valve tolerances etc.
Besides which, the other expensive bit I had nagging in the back
of my mind, was that the engine had not been turned over at all
in the last year and therefore it would need new cambelts to be
entirely safe (sounds silly really doesn’t it – leave
a bike standing for a year and it costs you £300 to have
the cambelts changed! But with Ducati’s I am reliably informed
it is a real risk if you don’t). |
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Ducati
916 having just come back from full service
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Lay-by
and farm lane make nice backdrop
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In fairness though, I knew this last year when I decided not to
run it, that although I only do a very small mileage on the Ducati,
I knew the belts had not been replaced since I first bought the
bike, so last year was a conscious decision not to turn it over,
because that would force me to get them changed before I next
used it.
So with this backdrop, and knowing my chequebook was about to
have open heart surgery, I dropped it off with Jeff Green at GTEC
(previously the service manager at JHP Ducati Coventry, but now
running a very nice operation of his own), for a full service
and sprocket change. I had already bought genuine Ducati sprockets
online, as well as supplying the fully synthetic racing oil –
as I still have a trade account for Rock Oil, but never the less,
I still had a good idea that it was going to cost a sizeable amount
of money. Luckily I had accounted for this, so had purposely been
holding back money in my road bike fund for this purpose.
I picked the bike up just over a week later and was very pleased.
Apart from anything else, I had polished and waxed the bike before
sending it, but they had also made sure that as part of stripping
it, everything was cleaned when it was put back and it looked
spotless. |
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Now
14 years old but still a style icon
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I
am now running it again, after a two year lay-off and had forgotten
what a gorgeous – but uncompromising bike it is. It is deceptively
fast (almost loping . . . to give it a term that best describes
it), extremely uncomfortable – like riding a racehorse,
handles brilliantly, and sounds awesome. It suits my style of
riding, short fast hops around Leicestershire, normally less than
100 miles, which is when the wrist starts to hurt and the dodgy
hip begins aching badly, and reminding me I am fast becoming a
geriatric.
And of course, the other thing about it is; when I stop anywhere
for a break, I can get off and look at it, and remind myself what
a gorgeous work of art it is to behold. Very much the Ferrari
of the bike world at a distance, then as you get closer, you see
all the mechanical trinkets like the Corse slipper clutch and
the Ohlins damper and rear shock, not forgetting of course all
the carbon and titanium titbits and the billet footrests. Not
surprisingly, it also attracts a fair bit of interest from bystanders
as well, which is always nice. |
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Ducati
Corse slipper clutch and billet footrests are both trick performance
parts, and look the dogs doodah's
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All in all, it is still one of the prettiest and most desirable
modern bikes I know of, and having owned it for about 7 years
now, I am pleased to say I still have no desire to sell it –
which is a good job considering it has just cost me £900+
for that all important service stamp and the other little jobs
I had done at the same time – sheesh, I have bought complete
bikes for less before!
Probably
the most interesting thing for me though, getting back on the
Ducati after a two year break, is the comparison it makes with
my other current two wheeled transport – the KTM 660 SMC
Super Moto bike. When I first rode the Ducati again, almost
back to back with the KTM I could not believe how two bikes
could be so extreme and powerful in such completely different
ways. The KTM is absolutely arm wrenching in acceleration and
has trouble keeping its nose down in the first 3 gears. It’s
handling is also awesome, and super quick. I remember when I
first got the Ducati years ago thinking the same thing, but
back to back with the KTM, the KTM handling is superfast and
can be thrown into a bend at some ridiculous angle, even at
slow speed – not sure I would trust doing that on the
Duke. Below 90mph neither does the Ducati feel as extreme as
the KTM, but after that the KTM is just hard work particularly
with no fairing, while the Ducati is just coming into its own
and feels like it was built for these speeds and above. Then
there is the driving position, the Ducati totally uncompromising
with feet tucked up under backside, while the KTM you are bolt
upright and nicely stretched out. Having them both on the road
at the same time is a great experience and means I can choose
what kind of ride I would like on the day – but knowing
either one I choose will be great fun. |
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KTM
660 SMC makes interesting contrast to Ducati
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Holiday
Scribe - Portugal This Year
And with a faint trace of deja-vu, I am aware that like last year
I am doing this update from the pleasant surrounds of this years
chosen holiday villa, so I suppose I have to accept that this
update has itself become almost an annual literary pilgrimage
for me, and is now part of my holiday routine, albeit a far more
pleasant one than the waiting in crowded airport lounges or reminding
myself that the driving test in Mediterranean countries does not
require the applicant to have ever driven a car before, and certainly
not to understand what the indicator stalk is there for . . .
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So
I might as well finish by describing where I am holidaying now,
and then I will get on with all the other articles I am supposed
to be writing!
This year I am in Portugal, on the south coast(’ish),
in a very private villa – so private in fact that the
neighbours on at least 3 of the four property boundaries are
actually the local wildlife - which is just how I like it!
Sandy excelled herself this year, picking this location; realising
that I ‘don’t travel well’ and having to share
breathing space with my fellow holidaying countryman –
normally accompanied with ball kicking offspring, or portable
noise devices just stresses me out, which in turn quickly relates
to the rest of the family getting stressed out, so this location
with its own swimming pool and beautiful flower garden can only
be described as idyllic.
As always, I have bought my laptop with me and the early mornings
- before any of the other female family members have risen and
hit the sunbeds - are a perfect time to relax, take in the balmy
sun and pen a few articles. As I start this update, we are actually
closer to the end of the holiday than the start, but at least
I have managed to write another instalment of the 1938 road
International engine build (what can I tell you . . . it should
have been done 3 months ago, hey ho) and the latest Newsletter
is ready to publish as soon as I get back to Blighty. And as
yesterday was an ‘out and about’ day, I am looking
forward to a whole day of lounging by the pool with family today,
and writing a couple more engine build articles.
Hopefully by the time you are reading this, it means I am back
home and have managed to publish on the web at least 3 or 4
new articles.
I would like to tell you I have lots more articles in the pipeline
– which is true, but the reality is that at the moment
I do not seem to be getting much spare time for writing them,
so best just to say I will get to them when I can, and let you
know I have a few new ideas for the website I would at least
like to explore before the year is out.
Best wishes
Paul Norman
August 2011 |
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Very
pretty villa in Portugal was this years holiday location
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Lovely
pool and garden, with no neighbours was a bonus
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Trying
to look like I am doing something . . . writing an article while
my younger daughter asks when I will be making lunch.
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 .
. . Later on, I oblige, here is a picture of the dinner queue
- where the communial crisps get passed in order of seniority
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Family
shot on a day trip to local Sealife centre. My two daughters
Abi and Stef are now old enough to be asking when I will be
selling a bike to buy them a car. Mmmm . . .
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Another
pool shot, this time Sandy and I looking very formal. Amazingly,
the second year on holiday for me without
alchohol - which is why I can balance on tiptoe!
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