Norton featherbed
motorcycles
2008.05.27 20:55 motorcycles
Braaaap
2010.06.15 08:30 Cafe Racers, new and old.
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2024.02.22 18:58 TheReelMcCoi 1975 DRESDA FRAMED SUZUKI GT750 KETTLE
 | Dave Degens raced Tritons before opening Dresda Autos in 1961, manufacturing frames based on the legendary Norton Featherbed for the big Japanese motors of the day..... submitted by TheReelMcCoi to CafeRacers [link] [comments] |
2024.01.20 03:43 MincingHedgehog My Triton cafe racer
 | submitted by MincingHedgehog to CafeRacers [link] [comments] https://preview.redd.it/kw3vpgcocidc1.png?width=2048&format=png&auto=webp&s=f10623b6d1067f705c7f7304acb60301e35e3b1f 1956 Norton Wideline Featherbed frame 1960 T120 motor punched out to 750cc, lightened/balanced 68 crank, Carillo rods, Norman Hyde pushrods, megacycle #15 cams w/ R followers, amal 930 carbs 196? Pre unit Triumph transmission w/ 5 speed guts (from 1975) Kirby fairing Clubman racing rearset foot controls Replica Seeley swing arm w needle bearings instead of bushing Polished Unity Equip Lyta polished tank GT750 4LS front end, machined to accept Norton sized Timken bearing Akront rims Drilled conical rear hub, powdercoated black Joe Hunt magneto Bob Newby racing belt drive/dry clutch Custom clutch cable and adjustable CRZ clutch lever Minimal electric system, brake light, headlights and battery eliminator capacitor instead of a battery. Sadly for sale @ https://bringatrailer.com/listing/triton-cafe-racer-2/ |
2023.11.21 00:19 How_The_Gods_Kill05 For those that were interested in the CB750 I posted earlier on today, here's the feature on it. Specs are in the 3rd pic !
 | submitted by How_The_Gods_Kill05 to CafeRacers [link] [comments] |
2023.08.19 23:43 raysmi2018 Triton 650cc Norton featherbed frame Triumph 650cc. My cafe racer!
 | submitted by raysmi2018 to CafeRacers [link] [comments] |
2023.08.12 19:47 Economy_Platypus7249 Junkman’s GP build…
 | Making progress on my all salvage race bike. So far: 90s sportster frame, 97 1200 motor, hacked up Ducati rear suspension, Buell XB forks and wheels, Norton featherbed Manx tank and Triumph Trident racing fairing. submitted by Economy_Platypus7249 to CafeRacers [link] [comments] |
2023.08.02 14:35 Bevelhead My Norley.. 1000cc Harley Ironhead engine in a Norton Featherbed frame.
 | submitted by Bevelhead to motorcycles [link] [comments] |
2020.12.27 19:26 ritchieremo What's the modern day NorVin?
Hi, I'm currently putting together my 1972 cb250 (just trying to get a bike on the road), and have been thinking about Norton featherbed motorbikes and the like (Norley, Noriel and Tribsa come to mind), with a view to making something of that ilk for a big bike when I get my category A test (trying to sort my A1 currently). What do you think would be a more modern combination of bits that combines good handling with more power?
submitted by ritchieremo to bikebuilders [link] [comments]
2019.09.09 03:58 JimMarch Boardtracker build concept part two, history and tech.
Part one:
https://old.reddit.com/motorcycles/comments/cyhyde/boardtrack_bikes_history_and_notes_on_building_a/
In our first chapter we looked at the history of the actual boardtracker bikes. I found a few things of interest. Pretty much everything from 1910 backwards, if it was at all performance-oriented, looked a lot like a bicycle whether for straight-line speed such as Glen Curtis's bikes going back to 1903, or European bikes used in the Isle of Mann in 1907 which was actually on dirt roads, not street.
Everything in that era prior to WW1 lookS like a bicycle, and my theory is it's because bicycle parts were simply what was available. This included springs, seats, handlebars, rims and tires and even for the most part frames with modifications of course.
We know that by 1907 Glenn Curtiss was packing 40 horsepower in a bike that weighed 257lb and did 136 miles an hour, with a shaft drive instead of chain because he was breaking bicycle chains.
But then if we flash forwards in 1929, we see Harley-Davidson making the same race engine in both road race and boardtracker trim and to our surprise we find the boardtracker more less unchanged except the horsepower for a given engine size was way up.
To recap, here's that matched pair of Harley racers from 1929 (very late in the boardtrack era), one a boardtracker and one a roadracer (mostly for the Euro market):
https://stupiddope.com/2016/11/28/old-school-classics-1929-harley-davidson-peashoote
https://ironageauctions.com/auctions/238886/
Compare these bikes carefully! The boardtracker version has the wrong tires - ignore that (although as we'll see later tire choices in these size rims is tricky).
In this chapter I want to make some guesses as to what was going on with the board trackers, why they remained more or less unchanged in terms of weight, ergonomics and overall layout. I want to look at what is good about the design and what is bad.
Later in this series I'll design a theoretical modern board tracker homage that can actually hang a serious corner. This is something that most attempts to build a boardtracker have either not accomplished or didn't attempt. They may have had good reason for that of course.
Let's start with what a theoretically perfect frame looks like for a modern high performance motorcycle. I want you all the picture an egg. At one end of the egg that you're holding in your mind's eye, draw a cross, a perfect T shape with equal lines from the center point but lines going all four ways, not three. Now imagine drawing each of those lines all the way around the egg lengthwise in the four different directions so that you have a crossing point at each end of the egg.
Do you see those lines in your mind's eye? Good. Leave them there and get rid of the egg. Put a swingarm pivot point on one end of the egg where the cross is and put a steering head at the other. As I'm about to show you, most modern sport bikes are built on this kind of shape.
Here's the frame of an early GSXR.
https://images.cmsnl.com/img/partslists/suzuki-gsxr750-1987-h-e01-e02-04-06-15-16-17-18-21-22-24-25-34-39-53-frame_mediumsue0068fig-34_186b.jpg
As you can see it has two big beefy support lines coming way out sideways from the steering head; they go backwards, outwards and then down to the swingarm pivot point. It's got two smaller but still decent supports coming down off the steering head and going out, down and backwards to the swingarm pivot point. With some bends of course it's more or less that same egg-shaped structure with a whole bunch of support in the middle cross-bracing everything called the engine. That's right, the frame is not working just on its own, it's all internally braced all through the center of this egg shape via the engine.
Take another example from Eric buell's playbook. Eric took his egg and turned it a bit so there's a single bar on top, deleted that bar and massively beefed up the two "side bars" by doing two bars with cross-bracing between.
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/f6/9e/3d/f69e3d787b4573cd24cf893ed338ec6f.jpg
Now I can hear you saying wait where is the bottom line coming off of the egg along the bottom stretch? Well that's the engine. Even more so than the GSXR, Erik Buell uses the engine as a stressed member so the main support along the bottom that's keeping the bike stable in the vertical direction is the engine. The latticework of steel bars in the frame coming out towards the sides and dropping down to the swingarm pivot point is helping with horizontal stability, and of course some vertical stability too. The frame alone would not be nearly as stable as it is with the engine installed and acting as that big lower support brace.
So as you can see, the modern concept is to brace a frame in the vertical direction and in the horizontal direction. They use slightly different approaches to get there but the principal is well established.
In a real original boardtracker you only have support in the vertical direction, not in the horizontal. Except of course for the roughly inch and a half wide steel tubes forming the cradle under the motor and the main horizontal supports from the steering head to the seat post. But where somebody like Erik Buell is using horizontal bracing that is at least a foot and a half wide, the horizontal bracing on a real boardtracker is only about an inch and a half, the width of the steel tubes used for the bicycle frame. So if you tried to seriously corner in a real boardtracker frame, to the point of hanging off, your frame would flex alarmingly as you introduced side forces. These forces would build, start as a vibration and eventually get to the alarmibg fishtail point. Believe me, I have felt exactly that in the frame of a 1979 Yamaha XS650 which had only a bit more side to side deflection protection at best compared to an original boardtracker. It certainly isn't as good as something like a Norton featherbed frame with 1950s technology.
I may not have made it clear yet but the XS650 is the bike that I first turned into what we would now call a cafe racer and I have about five years stick time on it from 1985 to 1989, doing serious high-performance driving. By which I mean canyon racing in the Santa Cruz mountains.
So I full well know what frame flex is.
I think the original boardtrackers and their ancestors going back to at least the Curtis 1903 bike didn't care about serious cornering because they were straight line monsters. Boardtracks may have been oval but the massive banks turned them into straight lines as far as the bikes could tell.
Plus, the tire tech of 1910-1920 must have been pretty crappy :).
Let's talk seat and bars. Boardtracker seats were set back, almost to the rear axle. The point is to lay flat and keep our of the wind. Control in the corners wasn't as big as issue. Wide low handlebars gave stability, helping to fight frame and fork flex.
The upshot is this. If we take a modern boardtracker homage and put serious suspension parts on it and reasonably sticky tires in something like 23inch meant for a Harley front rim, we're going to get some hellish flame flex unless we are very careful.
Is there a solution? Without fabricating an entire new frame and engine mount system and everything else, in a bike that a reasonable mortal with basic wrenches and metal fabbing could build? Yes, I think so. And we're going to dig deep into my answer, which for sure isn't gonna be for everybody.
Stay tuned. Next chapter we're going to look at other people's builds of boardtracker homage bikes and explore what's good and bad in each.
submitted by JimMarch to motorcycles [link] [comments]
https://old.reddit.com/motorcycles/comments/cyhyde/boardtrack_bikes_history_and_notes_on_building_a/
In our first chapter we looked at the history of the actual boardtracker bikes. I found a few things of interest. Pretty much everything from 1910 backwards, if it was at all performance-oriented, looked a lot like a bicycle whether for straight-line speed such as Glen Curtis's bikes going back to 1903, or European bikes used in the Isle of Mann in 1907 which was actually on dirt roads, not street.
Everything in that era prior to WW1 lookS like a bicycle, and my theory is it's because bicycle parts were simply what was available. This included springs, seats, handlebars, rims and tires and even for the most part frames with modifications of course.
We know that by 1907 Glenn Curtiss was packing 40 horsepower in a bike that weighed 257lb and did 136 miles an hour, with a shaft drive instead of chain because he was breaking bicycle chains.
But then if we flash forwards in 1929, we see Harley-Davidson making the same race engine in both road race and boardtracker trim and to our surprise we find the boardtracker more less unchanged except the horsepower for a given engine size was way up.
To recap, here's that matched pair of Harley racers from 1929 (very late in the boardtrack era), one a boardtracker and one a roadracer (mostly for the Euro market):
https://stupiddope.com/2016/11/28/old-school-classics-1929-harley-davidson-peashoote
https://ironageauctions.com/auctions/238886/
Compare these bikes carefully! The boardtracker version has the wrong tires - ignore that (although as we'll see later tire choices in these size rims is tricky).
In this chapter I want to make some guesses as to what was going on with the board trackers, why they remained more or less unchanged in terms of weight, ergonomics and overall layout. I want to look at what is good about the design and what is bad.
Later in this series I'll design a theoretical modern board tracker homage that can actually hang a serious corner. This is something that most attempts to build a boardtracker have either not accomplished or didn't attempt. They may have had good reason for that of course.
Let's start with what a theoretically perfect frame looks like for a modern high performance motorcycle. I want you all the picture an egg. At one end of the egg that you're holding in your mind's eye, draw a cross, a perfect T shape with equal lines from the center point but lines going all four ways, not three. Now imagine drawing each of those lines all the way around the egg lengthwise in the four different directions so that you have a crossing point at each end of the egg.
Do you see those lines in your mind's eye? Good. Leave them there and get rid of the egg. Put a swingarm pivot point on one end of the egg where the cross is and put a steering head at the other. As I'm about to show you, most modern sport bikes are built on this kind of shape.
Here's the frame of an early GSXR.
https://images.cmsnl.com/img/partslists/suzuki-gsxr750-1987-h-e01-e02-04-06-15-16-17-18-21-22-24-25-34-39-53-frame_mediumsue0068fig-34_186b.jpg
As you can see it has two big beefy support lines coming way out sideways from the steering head; they go backwards, outwards and then down to the swingarm pivot point. It's got two smaller but still decent supports coming down off the steering head and going out, down and backwards to the swingarm pivot point. With some bends of course it's more or less that same egg-shaped structure with a whole bunch of support in the middle cross-bracing everything called the engine. That's right, the frame is not working just on its own, it's all internally braced all through the center of this egg shape via the engine.
Take another example from Eric buell's playbook. Eric took his egg and turned it a bit so there's a single bar on top, deleted that bar and massively beefed up the two "side bars" by doing two bars with cross-bracing between.
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/f6/9e/3d/f69e3d787b4573cd24cf893ed338ec6f.jpg
Now I can hear you saying wait where is the bottom line coming off of the egg along the bottom stretch? Well that's the engine. Even more so than the GSXR, Erik Buell uses the engine as a stressed member so the main support along the bottom that's keeping the bike stable in the vertical direction is the engine. The latticework of steel bars in the frame coming out towards the sides and dropping down to the swingarm pivot point is helping with horizontal stability, and of course some vertical stability too. The frame alone would not be nearly as stable as it is with the engine installed and acting as that big lower support brace.
So as you can see, the modern concept is to brace a frame in the vertical direction and in the horizontal direction. They use slightly different approaches to get there but the principal is well established.
In a real original boardtracker you only have support in the vertical direction, not in the horizontal. Except of course for the roughly inch and a half wide steel tubes forming the cradle under the motor and the main horizontal supports from the steering head to the seat post. But where somebody like Erik Buell is using horizontal bracing that is at least a foot and a half wide, the horizontal bracing on a real boardtracker is only about an inch and a half, the width of the steel tubes used for the bicycle frame. So if you tried to seriously corner in a real boardtracker frame, to the point of hanging off, your frame would flex alarmingly as you introduced side forces. These forces would build, start as a vibration and eventually get to the alarmibg fishtail point. Believe me, I have felt exactly that in the frame of a 1979 Yamaha XS650 which had only a bit more side to side deflection protection at best compared to an original boardtracker. It certainly isn't as good as something like a Norton featherbed frame with 1950s technology.
I may not have made it clear yet but the XS650 is the bike that I first turned into what we would now call a cafe racer and I have about five years stick time on it from 1985 to 1989, doing serious high-performance driving. By which I mean canyon racing in the Santa Cruz mountains.
So I full well know what frame flex is.
I think the original boardtrackers and their ancestors going back to at least the Curtis 1903 bike didn't care about serious cornering because they were straight line monsters. Boardtracks may have been oval but the massive banks turned them into straight lines as far as the bikes could tell.
Plus, the tire tech of 1910-1920 must have been pretty crappy :).
Let's talk seat and bars. Boardtracker seats were set back, almost to the rear axle. The point is to lay flat and keep our of the wind. Control in the corners wasn't as big as issue. Wide low handlebars gave stability, helping to fight frame and fork flex.
The upshot is this. If we take a modern boardtracker homage and put serious suspension parts on it and reasonably sticky tires in something like 23inch meant for a Harley front rim, we're going to get some hellish flame flex unless we are very careful.
Is there a solution? Without fabricating an entire new frame and engine mount system and everything else, in a bike that a reasonable mortal with basic wrenches and metal fabbing could build? Yes, I think so. And we're going to dig deep into my answer, which for sure isn't gonna be for everybody.
Stay tuned. Next chapter we're going to look at other people's builds of boardtracker homage bikes and explore what's good and bad in each.
2019.09.09 03:58 JimMarch Boardtracker build concept part two, history and tech.
Part one:
https://old.reddit.com/motorcycles/comments/cyhyde/boardtrack_bikes_history_and_notes_on_building_a/
In our first chapter we looked at the history of the actual boardtracker bikes. I found a few things of interest. Pretty much everything from 1910 backwards, if it was at all performance-oriented, looked a lot like a bicycle whether for straight-line speed such as Glen Curtis's bikes going back to 1903, or European bikes used in the Isle of Mann in 1907 which was actually on dirt roads, not street.
Everything in that era prior to WW1 lookS like a bicycle, and my theory is it's because bicycle parts were simply what was available. This included springs, seats, handlebars, rims and tires and even for the most part frames with modifications of course.
We know that by 1907 Glenn Curtiss was packing 40 horsepower in a bike that weighed 257lb and did 136 miles an hour, with a shaft drive instead of chain because he was breaking bicycle chains.
But then if we flash forwards in 1929, we see Harley-Davidson making the same race engine in both road race and boardtracker trim and to our surprise we find the boardtracker more less unchanged except the horsepower for a given engine size was way up.
To recap, here's that matched pair of Harley racers from 1929 (very late in the boardtrack era), one a boardtracker and one a roadracer (mostly for the Euro market):
https://stupiddope.com/2016/11/28/old-school-classics-1929-harley-davidson-peashoote
https://ironageauctions.com/auctions/238886/
Compare these bikes carefully! The boardtracker version has the wrong tires - ignore that (although as we'll see later tire choices in these size rims is tricky).
In this chapter I want to make some guesses as to what was going on with the board trackers, why they remained more or less unchanged in terms of weight, ergonomics and overall layout. I want to look at what is good about the design and what is bad.
Later in this series I'll design a theoretical modern board tracker homage that can actually hang a serious corner. This is something that most attempts to build a boardtracker have either not accomplished or didn't attempt. They may have had good reason for that of course.
Let's start with what a theoretically perfect frame looks like for a modern high performance motorcycle. I want you all the picture an egg. At one end of the egg that you're holding in your mind's eye, draw a cross, a perfect T shape with equal lines from the center point but lines going all four ways, not three. Now imagine drawing each of those lines all the way around the egg lengthwise in the four different directions so that you have a crossing point at each end of the egg.
Do you see those lines in your mind's eye? Good. Leave them there and get rid of the egg. Put a swingarm pivot point on one end of the egg where the cross is and put a steering head at the other. As I'm about to show you, most modern sport bikes are built on this kind of shape.
Here's the frame of an early GSXR.
https://images.cmsnl.com/img/partslists/suzuki-gsxr750-1987-h-e01-e02-04-06-15-16-17-18-21-22-24-25-34-39-53-frame_mediumsue0068fig-34_186b.jpg
As you can see it has two big beefy support lines coming way out sideways from the steering head; they go backwards, outwards and then down to the swingarm pivot point. It's got two smaller but still decent supports coming down off the steering head and going out, down and backwards to the swingarm pivot point. With some bends of course it's more or less that same egg-shaped structure with a whole bunch of support in the middle cross-bracing everything called the engine. That's right, the frame is not working just on its own, it's all internally braced all through the center of this egg shape via the engine.
Take another example from Eric buell's playbook. Eric took his egg and turned it a bit so there's a single bar on top, deleted that bar and massively beefed up the two "side bars" by doing two bars with cross-bracing between.
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/f6/9e/3d/f69e3d787b4573cd24cf893ed338ec6f.jpg
Now I can hear you saying wait where is the bottom line coming off of the egg along the bottom stretch? Well that's the engine. Even more so than the GSXR, Erik Buell uses the engine as a stressed member so the main support along the bottom that's keeping the bike stable in the vertical direction is the engine. The latticework of steel bars in the frame coming out towards the sides and dropping down to the swingarm pivot point is helping with horizontal stability, and of course some vertical stability too. The frame alone would not be nearly as stable as it is with the engine installed and acting as that big lower support brace.
So as you can see, the modern concept is to brace a frame in the vertical direction and in the horizontal direction. They use slightly different approaches to get there but the principal is well established.
In a real original boardtracker you only have support in the vertical direction, not in the horizontal. Except of course for the roughly inch and a half wide steel tubes forming the cradle under the motor and the main horizontal supports from the steering head to the seat post. But where somebody like Erik Buell is using horizontal bracing that is at least a foot and a half wide, the horizontal bracing on a real boardtracker is only about an inch and a half, the width of the steel tubes used for the bicycle frame. So if you tried to seriously corner in a real boardtracker frame, to the point of hanging off, your frame would flex alarmingly as you introduced side forces. These forces would build, start as a vibration and eventually get to the alarmibg fishtail point. Believe me, I have felt exactly that in the frame of a 1979 Yamaha XS650 which had only a bit more side to side deflection protection at best compared to an original boardtracker. It certainly isn't as good as something like a Norton featherbed frame with 1950s technology.
I may not have made it clear yet but the XS650 is the bike that I first turned into what we would now call a cafe racer and I have about five years stick time on it from 1985 to 1989, doing serious high-performance driving. By which I mean canyon racing in the Santa Cruz mountains.
So I full well know what frame flex is.
I think the original boardtrackers and their ancestors going back to at least the Curtis 1903 bike didn't care about serious cornering because they were straight line monsters. Boardtracks may have been oval but the massive banks turned them into straight lines as far as the bikes could tell.
Plus, the tire tech of 1910-1920 must have been pretty crappy :).
Let's talk seat and bars. Boardtracker seats were set back, almost to the rear axle. The point is to lay flat and keep our of the wind. Control in the corners wasn't as big as issue. Wide low handlebars gave stability, helping to fight frame and fork flex.
The upshot is this. If we take a modern boardtracker homage and put serious suspension parts on it and reasonably sticky tires in something like 23inch meant for a Harley front rim, we're going to get some hellish flame flex unless we are very careful.
Is there a solution? Without fabricating an entire new frame and engine mount system and everything else, in a bike that a reasonable mortal with basic wrenches and metal fabbing could build? Yes, I think so. And we're going to dig deep into my answer, which for sure isn't gonna be for everybody.
Stay tuned. Next chapter we're going to look at other people's builds of boardtracker homage bikes and explore what's good and bad in each.
submitted by JimMarch to CafeRacers [link] [comments]
https://old.reddit.com/motorcycles/comments/cyhyde/boardtrack_bikes_history_and_notes_on_building_a/
In our first chapter we looked at the history of the actual boardtracker bikes. I found a few things of interest. Pretty much everything from 1910 backwards, if it was at all performance-oriented, looked a lot like a bicycle whether for straight-line speed such as Glen Curtis's bikes going back to 1903, or European bikes used in the Isle of Mann in 1907 which was actually on dirt roads, not street.
Everything in that era prior to WW1 lookS like a bicycle, and my theory is it's because bicycle parts were simply what was available. This included springs, seats, handlebars, rims and tires and even for the most part frames with modifications of course.
We know that by 1907 Glenn Curtiss was packing 40 horsepower in a bike that weighed 257lb and did 136 miles an hour, with a shaft drive instead of chain because he was breaking bicycle chains.
But then if we flash forwards in 1929, we see Harley-Davidson making the same race engine in both road race and boardtracker trim and to our surprise we find the boardtracker more less unchanged except the horsepower for a given engine size was way up.
To recap, here's that matched pair of Harley racers from 1929 (very late in the boardtrack era), one a boardtracker and one a roadracer (mostly for the Euro market):
https://stupiddope.com/2016/11/28/old-school-classics-1929-harley-davidson-peashoote
https://ironageauctions.com/auctions/238886/
Compare these bikes carefully! The boardtracker version has the wrong tires - ignore that (although as we'll see later tire choices in these size rims is tricky).
In this chapter I want to make some guesses as to what was going on with the board trackers, why they remained more or less unchanged in terms of weight, ergonomics and overall layout. I want to look at what is good about the design and what is bad.
Later in this series I'll design a theoretical modern board tracker homage that can actually hang a serious corner. This is something that most attempts to build a boardtracker have either not accomplished or didn't attempt. They may have had good reason for that of course.
Let's start with what a theoretically perfect frame looks like for a modern high performance motorcycle. I want you all the picture an egg. At one end of the egg that you're holding in your mind's eye, draw a cross, a perfect T shape with equal lines from the center point but lines going all four ways, not three. Now imagine drawing each of those lines all the way around the egg lengthwise in the four different directions so that you have a crossing point at each end of the egg.
Do you see those lines in your mind's eye? Good. Leave them there and get rid of the egg. Put a swingarm pivot point on one end of the egg where the cross is and put a steering head at the other. As I'm about to show you, most modern sport bikes are built on this kind of shape.
Here's the frame of an early GSXR.
https://images.cmsnl.com/img/partslists/suzuki-gsxr750-1987-h-e01-e02-04-06-15-16-17-18-21-22-24-25-34-39-53-frame_mediumsue0068fig-34_186b.jpg
As you can see it has two big beefy support lines coming way out sideways from the steering head; they go backwards, outwards and then down to the swingarm pivot point. It's got two smaller but still decent supports coming down off the steering head and going out, down and backwards to the swingarm pivot point. With some bends of course it's more or less that same egg-shaped structure with a whole bunch of support in the middle cross-bracing everything called the engine. That's right, the frame is not working just on its own, it's all internally braced all through the center of this egg shape via the engine.
Take another example from Eric buell's playbook. Eric took his egg and turned it a bit so there's a single bar on top, deleted that bar and massively beefed up the two "side bars" by doing two bars with cross-bracing between.
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/f6/9e/3d/f69e3d787b4573cd24cf893ed338ec6f.jpg
Now I can hear you saying wait where is the bottom line coming off of the egg along the bottom stretch? Well that's the engine. Even more so than the GSXR, Erik Buell uses the engine as a stressed member so the main support along the bottom that's keeping the bike stable in the vertical direction is the engine. The latticework of steel bars in the frame coming out towards the sides and dropping down to the swingarm pivot point is helping with horizontal stability, and of course some vertical stability too. The frame alone would not be nearly as stable as it is with the engine installed and acting as that big lower support brace.
So as you can see, the modern concept is to brace a frame in the vertical direction and in the horizontal direction. They use slightly different approaches to get there but the principal is well established.
In a real original boardtracker you only have support in the vertical direction, not in the horizontal. Except of course for the roughly inch and a half wide steel tubes forming the cradle under the motor and the main horizontal supports from the steering head to the seat post. But where somebody like Erik Buell is using horizontal bracing that is at least a foot and a half wide, the horizontal bracing on a real boardtracker is only about an inch and a half, the width of the steel tubes used for the bicycle frame. So if you tried to seriously corner in a real boardtracker frame, to the point of hanging off, your frame would flex alarmingly as you introduced side forces. These forces would build, start as a vibration and eventually get to the alarmibg fishtail point. Believe me, I have felt exactly that in the frame of a 1979 Yamaha XS650 which had only a bit more side to side deflection protection at best compared to an original boardtracker. It certainly isn't as good as something like a Norton featherbed frame with 1950s technology.
I may not have made it clear yet but the XS650 is the bike that I first turned into what we would now call a cafe racer and I have about five years stick time on it from 1985 to 1989, doing serious high-performance driving. By which I mean canyon racing in the Santa Cruz mountains.
So I full well know what frame flex is.
I think the original boardtrackers and their ancestors going back to at least the Curtis 1903 bike didn't care about serious cornering because they were straight line monsters. Boardtracks may have been oval but the massive banks turned them into straight lines as far as the bikes could tell.
Plus, the tire tech of 1910-1920 must have been pretty crappy :).
Let's talk seat and bars. Boardtracker seats were set back, almost to the rear axle. The point is to lay flat and keep our of the wind. Control in the corners wasn't as big as issue. Wide low handlebars gave stability, helping to fight frame and fork flex.
The upshot is this. If we take a modern boardtracker homage and put serious suspension parts on it and reasonably sticky tires in something like 23inch meant for a Harley front rim, we're going to get some hellish flame flex unless we are very careful.
Is there a solution? Without fabricating an entire new frame and engine mount system and everything else, in a bike that a reasonable mortal with basic wrenches and metal fabbing could build? Yes, I think so. And we're going to dig deep into my answer, which for sure isn't gonna be for everybody.
Stay tuned. Next chapter we're going to look at other people's builds of boardtracker homage bikes and explore what's good and bad in each.
2019.05.23 22:06 MichiganAce Finally finished my 1966 Triton Build!
Hey Everyone!
Wanted to share the 1966 Triton I built over the last year. Started off with a rusted out Featherbed frame and a box of T120 engine parts, a year later couldn't be happier with the result. Bike runs strong and have even had the chance to get it a couple shows including 3rd in the Masterclass at the Battle of the Brits show in Milford and 1st in the European Custom category at Autorama in Detroit. Looking forward to the next show at the Gilmore Vintage Motorcycle Weekend! Major thanks to this sub for the inspiration and countless hours drooling over everyone's machines!
Photos;
https://imgur.com/a/FYQo5up
Uploaded a PDF detailing the build to scribd if you want to check out some behind the scenes shots;
https://www.scribd.com/document/411254360/1966-Triton-Build
Build Details;
Frame: 1966 Norton Atlas “Featherbed”
Engine: 1966 Triumph T120R 650cc
Front Suspension: Norton Commando
Rear Suspension: Ohlins S36PL
Wheels: Buchanan’s Spoke & Rim
Fork Yoke: NYC Norton
Gauge: SpeedHut
Petrol Tank: TAB Classics
Oil Tank: Lowbrow Customs
Seat Pan: Legendary Motorcycles
Carburetors: AMAL 930 MK1 Premier
Ignition: Boyer Bransden Electronic
Clip-Ons: Woodcraft 35 mm
Front Brake: Brembo Full Float 4-Piston
Exhaust: Custom 2:2 Undertail
Shifting: Rearset Conversion
Paint: Advance Custom Paint
submitted by MichiganAce to vintagemotorcycles [link] [comments]
Wanted to share the 1966 Triton I built over the last year. Started off with a rusted out Featherbed frame and a box of T120 engine parts, a year later couldn't be happier with the result. Bike runs strong and have even had the chance to get it a couple shows including 3rd in the Masterclass at the Battle of the Brits show in Milford and 1st in the European Custom category at Autorama in Detroit. Looking forward to the next show at the Gilmore Vintage Motorcycle Weekend! Major thanks to this sub for the inspiration and countless hours drooling over everyone's machines!
Photos;
https://imgur.com/a/FYQo5up
Uploaded a PDF detailing the build to scribd if you want to check out some behind the scenes shots;
https://www.scribd.com/document/411254360/1966-Triton-Build
Build Details;
Frame: 1966 Norton Atlas “Featherbed”
Engine: 1966 Triumph T120R 650cc
Front Suspension: Norton Commando
Rear Suspension: Ohlins S36PL
Wheels: Buchanan’s Spoke & Rim
Fork Yoke: NYC Norton
Gauge: SpeedHut
Petrol Tank: TAB Classics
Oil Tank: Lowbrow Customs
Seat Pan: Legendary Motorcycles
Carburetors: AMAL 930 MK1 Premier
Ignition: Boyer Bransden Electronic
Clip-Ons: Woodcraft 35 mm
Front Brake: Brembo Full Float 4-Piston
Exhaust: Custom 2:2 Undertail
Shifting: Rearset Conversion
Paint: Advance Custom Paint
2019.05.23 21:23 MichiganAce Finally Finished my 1966 Triton Build!
Hey Everyone!
Wanted to share the 1966 Triton I built over the last year. Started off with a rusted out Featherbed frame and a box of T120 engine parts, a year later couldn't be happier with the result. Bike runs strong and have even had the chance to get it a couple shows including 3rd in the Masterclass at the Battle of the Brits show in Milford and 1st in the European Custom category at Autorama in Detroit. Looking forward to the next show at the Gilmore Vintage Motorcycle Weekend! Major thanks to this sub for the inspiration and countless hours drooling over everyone's machines!
Photos;
https://imgur.com/a/FYQo5up
Uploaded a PDF detailing the build to scribd if you want to check out some behind the scenes shots;
https://www.scribd.com/document/411254360/1966-Triton-Build
Build Details;
Frame: 1966 Norton Atlas “Featherbed”
Engine: 1966 Triumph T120R 650cc
Front Suspension: Norton Commando
Rear Suspension: Ohlins S36PL
Wheels: Buchanan’s Spoke & Rim
Fork Yoke: NYC Norton
Gauge: SpeedHut
Petrol Tank: TAB Classics
Oil Tank: Lowbrow Customs
Seat Pan: Legendary Motorcycles
Carburetors: AMAL 930 MK1 Premier
Ignition: Boyer Bransden Electronic
Clip-Ons: Woodcraft 35 mm
Front Brake: Brembo Full Float 4-Piston
Exhaust: Custom 2:2 Undertail
Shifting: Rearset Conversion
Paint: Advance Custom Paint
submitted by MichiganAce to projectbike [link] [comments]
Wanted to share the 1966 Triton I built over the last year. Started off with a rusted out Featherbed frame and a box of T120 engine parts, a year later couldn't be happier with the result. Bike runs strong and have even had the chance to get it a couple shows including 3rd in the Masterclass at the Battle of the Brits show in Milford and 1st in the European Custom category at Autorama in Detroit. Looking forward to the next show at the Gilmore Vintage Motorcycle Weekend! Major thanks to this sub for the inspiration and countless hours drooling over everyone's machines!
Photos;
https://imgur.com/a/FYQo5up
Uploaded a PDF detailing the build to scribd if you want to check out some behind the scenes shots;
https://www.scribd.com/document/411254360/1966-Triton-Build
Build Details;
Frame: 1966 Norton Atlas “Featherbed”
Engine: 1966 Triumph T120R 650cc
Front Suspension: Norton Commando
Rear Suspension: Ohlins S36PL
Wheels: Buchanan’s Spoke & Rim
Fork Yoke: NYC Norton
Gauge: SpeedHut
Petrol Tank: TAB Classics
Oil Tank: Lowbrow Customs
Seat Pan: Legendary Motorcycles
Carburetors: AMAL 930 MK1 Premier
Ignition: Boyer Bransden Electronic
Clip-Ons: Woodcraft 35 mm
Front Brake: Brembo Full Float 4-Piston
Exhaust: Custom 2:2 Undertail
Shifting: Rearset Conversion
Paint: Advance Custom Paint
2019.05.23 20:18 MichiganAce Finally finished my 1966 Triton Build!
Hey Everyone!
Wanted to share the 1966 Triton I built over the last year. Started off with a rusted out Featherbed frame and a box of T120 engine parts, a year later couldn't be happier with the result. Bike runs strong and have even had the chance to get it a couple shows including 3rd in the Masterclass at the Battle of the Brits show in Milford and 1st in the European Custom category at Autorama in Detroit. Looking forward to the next show at the Gilmore Vintage Motorcycle Weekend! Major thanks to this sub for the inspiration and countless hours drooling over everyone's machines!
Photos;
https://imgur.com/a/FYQo5up
Uploaded a PDF detailing the build to scribd if you want to check out some behind the scenes shots;
https://www.scribd.com/document/411254360/1966-Triton-Build
Build Details;
Frame: 1966 Norton Atlas “Featherbed”
Engine: 1966 Triumph T120R 650cc
Front Suspension: Norton Commando
Rear Suspension: Ohlins S36PL
Wheels: Buchanan’s Spoke & Rim
Fork Yoke: NYC Norton
Gauge: SpeedHut
Petrol Tank: TAB Classics
Oil Tank: Lowbrow Customs
Seat Pan: Legendary Motorcycles
Carburetors: AMAL 930 MK1 Premier
Ignition: Boyer Bransden Electronic
Clip-Ons: Woodcraft 35 mm
Front Brake: Brembo Full Float 4-Piston
Exhaust: Custom 2:2 Undertail
Shifting: Rearset Conversion
Paint: Advance Custom Paint
submitted by MichiganAce to motorcycles [link] [comments]
Wanted to share the 1966 Triton I built over the last year. Started off with a rusted out Featherbed frame and a box of T120 engine parts, a year later couldn't be happier with the result. Bike runs strong and have even had the chance to get it a couple shows including 3rd in the Masterclass at the Battle of the Brits show in Milford and 1st in the European Custom category at Autorama in Detroit. Looking forward to the next show at the Gilmore Vintage Motorcycle Weekend! Major thanks to this sub for the inspiration and countless hours drooling over everyone's machines!
Photos;
https://imgur.com/a/FYQo5up
Uploaded a PDF detailing the build to scribd if you want to check out some behind the scenes shots;
https://www.scribd.com/document/411254360/1966-Triton-Build
Build Details;
Frame: 1966 Norton Atlas “Featherbed”
Engine: 1966 Triumph T120R 650cc
Front Suspension: Norton Commando
Rear Suspension: Ohlins S36PL
Wheels: Buchanan’s Spoke & Rim
Fork Yoke: NYC Norton
Gauge: SpeedHut
Petrol Tank: TAB Classics
Oil Tank: Lowbrow Customs
Seat Pan: Legendary Motorcycles
Carburetors: AMAL 930 MK1 Premier
Ignition: Boyer Bransden Electronic
Clip-Ons: Woodcraft 35 mm
Front Brake: Brembo Full Float 4-Piston
Exhaust: Custom 2:2 Undertail
Shifting: Rearset Conversion
Paint: Advance Custom Paint
2019.05.09 15:16 erdeebee Triton by Stile Italiano (a 1960s Triumph T120 pre-unit motor, wedged in a 1964 slimline Norton featherbed frame with custom alloy brackets)
 | submitted by erdeebee to MotorcyclePorn [link] [comments] |
2019.03.05 06:24 Twincky Triumph 650 on a Norton Featherbed frame
 | submitted by Twincky to motorcycles [link] [comments] |
2018.01.11 12:00 GatorCallASAP 1950 Norton Featherbed
 | submitted by GatorCallASAP to TTSuperbikes [link] [comments] |
2017.12.19 01:25 GatorCallASAP John Doe's Ultimate Geoff Duke Challenge
6L's Isle of man 1950 Norton featherbed. A challenge for the HC gamer. As far as im aware im the only one that has ever done it some years ago. Took me around 2Hrs20min with one pitstop, and a best lap just dipping into the 22min50's, but it whould probable take most ppl considerable longer like 2-1/2Hrs lol Like I said it was some time ago, but I be ready to do it again, if anyone is up for a challenge? Anyway I call it John Doe's Ultimate GD challenge, because that was my tag on the old Jester forums back when I first came up with the idear
submitted by GatorCallASAP to TTSuperbikes [link] [comments]
2017.01.19 19:11 Bevelhead My Norley... Harley XL1000 engine in a Norton Featherbed frame
 | submitted by Bevelhead to CafeRacers [link] [comments] |
2015.10.13 04:00 MrBattleRabbit Can r/motorcycles pull an r/buildmeapc? My buddy has a smashed CB550K with a good drivetrain. How would you rebuild the bike with as many off the shelf parts as possible?
This is a largely hypothetical post, just trying to farm out some ideas for my friend. He has a CB550K that he bent up about a year and a half ago, and the bike has just been in storage in his dad's garage since then.
We've been tossing ideas around for the drivetrain for a while now, and everything from building a 3/8ths scale Bugatti Type 35 to slapping everything that works into a Norton Featherbed replica frame has come up.
As the bike sits, the forward part of the frame and the fork are both pretty well boogered, and we're more inclined to replace the frame than fix it.
How would you build a sport-oriented, cafe-ish bike using a CB550K drivetrain? I KNOW this is vague, I'm just trying to help him get ideas for now. Any suggestions and tips will help this process. I don't know if he fully comprehends how many options he really has.
submitted by MrBattleRabbit to motorcycles [link] [comments]
We've been tossing ideas around for the drivetrain for a while now, and everything from building a 3/8ths scale Bugatti Type 35 to slapping everything that works into a Norton Featherbed replica frame has come up.
As the bike sits, the forward part of the frame and the fork are both pretty well boogered, and we're more inclined to replace the frame than fix it.
How would you build a sport-oriented, cafe-ish bike using a CB550K drivetrain? I KNOW this is vague, I'm just trying to help him get ideas for now. Any suggestions and tips will help this process. I don't know if he fully comprehends how many options he really has.
2014.09.21 20:25 LaoFuSi Ride of the Day Sept. 21: 'Norvin' hybrid, a Vincent engine in a Norton Featherbed frame
 | submitted by LaoFuSi to TheVeneration [link] [comments] |
2014.03.09 17:58 gruffallo365 Spotted today, Gsxr1100 engine in a norton featherbed frame. Lovely.
 | submitted by gruffallo365 to CafeRacers [link] [comments] |
2014.03.09 17:56 gruffallo365 Spotted on a ride out today. Suzuki Gsxr1100 engine in a norton featherbed frame.
| | submitted by gruffallo365 to motorcycles [link] [comments] |
2013.06.11 19:57 protomech Two electric motorcycles complete cross-US trip in 4 days
Two near-simultaneous efforts wrapped up last week.
The first effort was Terry Hershner. He modified a production 2012 Zero electric motorcycle to double the battery pack, then added more powerful onboard chargers to charge from two J1772 stations at the same time, or 50A RV service. An aerodynamic fairing designed by Craig Vetter pushed his highway range out to approximately 200 miles.
Terry traveled from Santa Monica, CA to Jacksonville, FL over 5 days and 15 hours, including a 40 hour delay when his modified motor failed. (He ordered a new motor and replaced it in the parking lot of a hotel). He charged on a combination of dual J1772 plugs (18 kW, approx 180 miles charged/hour), 50A RV service (12 kW, approx 120 miles/hour) and at times from a 120V wall outlet (1.5 kW, approximately 15 miles/hour).
The second effort was a group called Moto Electra racing, which has built a racebike based upon a 1950s Norton Featherbed chassis. They raced in the TTXGP in 2010 and 2011. They took their race bike, slapped additional battery saddle bags on the side, and brought a support vehicle with a large offboard charger (20 kW) powered by a generator.
Moto Electra traveled the opposite route, Jacksonville to Santa Monica along I-10, in slightly less than 4 days. Terry's aero fairing worked slightly better, resulting in less energy per mile .. but Moto Electra also demonstrated that an available high-power charging infrastructure results in relatively convenient charging stops.
Both of these bikes can charge in approximately an hour, which is fairly safe for modern batteries. High-powered charging systems, like Tesla's Supercharger network or CHAdeMO/SAE J1772 DC charging stations, could potentially charge a touring bike battery (2-3 hours of freeway riding) in ten to twenty minutes .. provided that the batteries can safely accept that level of charging.
These bikes are not the first EVs to travel across the US, but both bikes were substantially faster than the previous records of seven days with a Tesla Roadster.
submitted by protomech to motorcycles [link] [comments]
The first effort was Terry Hershner. He modified a production 2012 Zero electric motorcycle to double the battery pack, then added more powerful onboard chargers to charge from two J1772 stations at the same time, or 50A RV service. An aerodynamic fairing designed by Craig Vetter pushed his highway range out to approximately 200 miles.
Terry traveled from Santa Monica, CA to Jacksonville, FL over 5 days and 15 hours, including a 40 hour delay when his modified motor failed. (He ordered a new motor and replaced it in the parking lot of a hotel). He charged on a combination of dual J1772 plugs (18 kW, approx 180 miles charged/hour), 50A RV service (12 kW, approx 120 miles/hour) and at times from a 120V wall outlet (1.5 kW, approximately 15 miles/hour).
The second effort was a group called Moto Electra racing, which has built a racebike based upon a 1950s Norton Featherbed chassis. They raced in the TTXGP in 2010 and 2011. They took their race bike, slapped additional battery saddle bags on the side, and brought a support vehicle with a large offboard charger (20 kW) powered by a generator.
Moto Electra traveled the opposite route, Jacksonville to Santa Monica along I-10, in slightly less than 4 days. Terry's aero fairing worked slightly better, resulting in less energy per mile .. but Moto Electra also demonstrated that an available high-power charging infrastructure results in relatively convenient charging stops.
Both of these bikes can charge in approximately an hour, which is fairly safe for modern batteries. High-powered charging systems, like Tesla's Supercharger network or CHAdeMO/SAE J1772 DC charging stations, could potentially charge a touring bike battery (2-3 hours of freeway riding) in ten to twenty minutes .. provided that the batteries can safely accept that level of charging.
These bikes are not the first EVs to travel across the US, but both bikes were substantially faster than the previous records of seven days with a Tesla Roadster.