Norton also based much of its advertising on the prowess of its racing Manx. Race shop boss Joe Craig was fiercely defensive of his budget and until Norton quit racing in , development funds were directed to the Manx program. Thirdly, what sporting Norton buyers wanted was the race-derived Featherbed frame.
Norton lacked the facilities to build the all-welded chassis, so contracted the work to frame maker Reynolds. While Reynolds got up to speed, Norton continued to put most of its Twins into old-fashioned lug-and-braze frames: only the sporting Dominator models 88 cc and 99 cc got the Featherbed frames.
Norton did get a Featherbed in—the Manxman tourer—but it was only available for export. Finally, in the SS arrived and was an instant hit. It seemed to be the bike every Norton Twin should have been. But it was top dog for scant seconds. As a result, few Norton s made it across the pond. Like the top Dominator, the SS breathed through twin Amal Monoblocs, but with the intakes now angled downwards. Finish went from the 99SS two-tone scheme to a classic black frame, silver painted tank and optional chrome fenders.
Handlebars and seat also known aftermarket commando style. The bike was in pieces when I bought it — the bike did not have registration when I bought it from back country in Arizona and does not include registration papers. Simple enough with your local highway patrol but something you will have to attend to. These were taken after a quick wash so the liquid on the ground is water not oil :. The bike is available for viewing in San Jose.
California by appointment and I am available all week and weekend. Most of all, it should be a lot of fun. I'm hoping to keep the spirit of this build nice and light and no doubt it will be entertaining! Just to introduce myself, I have been a huge British bike fan since I was a kid living in Barrow-in-Furness, then West Yorkshire and then Scarborough, before emigrating to the United States in I do have a day job, but my passion is these great old bikes. I have my own Youtube channel about Brit bikes, including club events, rides, workshop projects, tech sessions, etc.
We're up in the top left-hand corner of the States. It's a lot like England in that it rains.. We have some fantastic guys in our Norton club and so I'm hoping to learn from their expertise and moral support along the way. There is also a bent frame to deal with, thanks to Robert and Howard above for spotting that. I will be in touch again soon with more pics, first steps and perhaps a first video of the bike including a look on my face that says "what the heck have I got myself into" haha.
Hello everyone, Finally getting around to making a first video of the Manxman and the beginnings of a restoration project. Thanks again for your help and I'm sure that I will more questions as I discover what lies beneath the rust and bondo! Hope you will enjoy it.
Cheers Mike. The first two Manxman were tested in the UK prior to shipping. I should have a copy of it somewhere. The test was favourable but, sadly indicated that they would not be for the UK market. Well, the disassembly process has finally begun! Below is a link to a Youtube playlist of the project and I will add to this hopefully on a regular basis. I had read that the Manxman silencers were ss silencers turned through 90 degrees with a different mount which seemed odd.
However looking at Anna's picture of the silencers that is what they are so should be an easy task to modify a set of ss silencers. Although not common they do come up regularly on ebay USA particularly Atlas ones and I have sourced two from the USA so even these should not be too difficult.
You just need to search for 'fenders' and be aware that quite a number will have been shortened by 6 inches bobbed - in the UK I most of them were binned and alloy ones fitted! A 2mm thick pair of silencers would slow you down on those Yorkshire hills! Maybe that's why they stopped making them! It hardly seems necessary for the club to spend money it will not recover on a pair of silencers for a bike that wasn't even sold in the UK. It isn't as if not having the genuine articles will keep it off the road.
This looks to me like one of things you will have to get made specially. For those members who enjoy reading the finer details The factory records list the first Norton off the production line as 18 with a dispatch date of 7th November However this bike and around others were stored until being shipped to the USA in January After proving the Manxman was a viable product this machine was given a make-over plus a later identity before being sold off to a private owner.
Two other machines from the first batch remained in the UK and were registered for road use. This bike was fitted with standard 99 chassis parts and painted all black, in essence making it a non-Manxman. It was fitted with high output electrics and probably had an enlarged battery box to take twin 6 volt batteries plus a single seat. A second machine was also briefly used as a road-testing by Bracebridge but then sold on to Norton dealer Claude Rye of Fulham.
Plus at least 3 other Manxman bikes were re-imported back from the USA into the UK to private ownership that same year. These ending up in Dorset, Surrey and Kent.
Also 18 shop eng was initially exported to Falkland Islands….. There is some speculation that this bike may also have made it back to the UK at a later date. There was a Mk 2 Manxman built but this model was essentially a SS painted in the earlier colour schemes of the Mk 1. Nearly of the Mk 1 Manxman model headed off as export models. Most to the USA. Many of these bikes were only ridden for a short while before ending up in long term residence inside barns, garages and sheds.
However, more and more derelict Manxman bikes are now being brought back to life so it would not surprise me too much if some enterprising person, in the US, commissioned a batch of Chinese or Indian made silencers soon. How many times do we need to go around this? I have told you a number of times that if you come to me with a costed and quoted offer for making Manxman Silencers then we will look into it. You know more about these that I do so I have to rely on you to get official quotes, in writing, from suppliers to manufacture and chrome.
If you also have a list of potential customers who can provide expressions of interest then that will help to convince me it is worth pursuing. Thanks again for your advice about the bent featherbed frame. I finally stripped the bike last week and compared the frame with another I have from a '62 Atlas. It's very clear to see the bend. I'm feeling very positive that he will do a terrific job and the frame will be as good as new again soon.. As for the silencers, why is it the EC's problem to solve, they are busy enough and have lives that involves riding their bikes like most of the membership.
What next? There is a local company where I live, who I will be taking a pair of genuine Manxman silencers to, and see about getting a quote to make me a pair. They will be made in stainless steel, which can then be chromed. As soon as I can get there the company has informed me that they can give me a quote for their fabrication. I can get a price, and then see what it will cost. The exhaust pipes I shall have to get fabricated on the bike when it is being constructed.
Simple really. During the video you thought that the left hand stanchion may be bent as it was difficult to remove. Just after removal you rotated the bottom yoke and the bottom covers came into line and did not appear parallel suggesting that the bottom yoke may be twisted, probably at the same time as the frame was bent. And I will Say this Again only a highly skilled fabricator, Will be the only one to be able to make Manxman silencers, This is why some make UK silencer fabricators have turned down the offer of making a batch has there too hard to make, And you have to make the tooling before you can start making Them, And you cannot buy them off the shelf any more, hence the one off cost are higher,!
Hello my mate Russ who owns Quality chrome tell me too chrome on stainless will peel off in time and go yellow with the heat yours anna j. Hi Mike, Looking at your vids it would appear that the PO slotted your engine plates to allow fast engine removal ,probably the bike has been used for off road fun which tends to bend featherbeds. Slotted plates do introduce weakness so worth welding them up.
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