I know wood - you know mechanics

Hi Mack - and welcome!

i love wooden boats too, but sadly don’t have one to restore! If you want to restore it I think your biggest challenge will be finding the tinware, mudguards, oil tank petrol tank etc, if you are not too fussy about exact originality then it wouldn’t be a difficult job. Or are you hoping to recommission it as it is - that would be much easier. 

What are your hopes for the bike - oily rag chopper, smart custom or restore back to original? 

Ive put your pics below for ease of looking!  ........ just noticed your front brake, nice!i

Hi Mack

With the skills and attention to detail required for your wooden boat restorations why not rebuild the bike yourself. The costs wouldn't be very different as parts still need to be bought and the Easy Rider ES2 would be a great first project to learn and acquire basic mechanical and electrical skills.

Nortons and wooden boats make a great combination. I have a small boat resto to start at some stage. It's a 1960 Twinkle Twelve dinghy, mahogany over oak clinker built powered by a 1970 Seagull Silver Century Plus outboard. I completely rebuilt the Seagull, which has an Amal carb and choke lever for a throttle and a 14mm adapter for a modern Iridium spark plug.

I'll finish the boat according to US restorer Rebecca Wittmans beautiful book, Brightwork, the Art of Finishing Wood. Further info I got from visits to the annual Thames Traditional Boat Show. There are open workshops for similar boats and owners who freely offer advice so I'm confident in producing a good result. 

I restored an early enterprise dinghy a few years ago I think it was number 43, originally built in the 50’s.  I also had a couple of Seaguls, almost indestructible but are noisy and shake your fillings out! They used to race them too! 

I think your plan is best - if you want to have a go yourself there’s a very good video the club sells on rebuilding the gearbox which really is very straightforward. 

I think there is one for the motor And wheels and forks too. https://www.nortonownersclub.org/nocshop

What spares the club doesn’t have RGM, Norvil and Andover Norton usually sell.  Dan   

Mack,

Your forks look like they're from a Matchless/AJS, about late 1950's.  Spares should be OK for these.  I've never seen a Triumph front brake fitted to these forks before, but reputably a very good twin leading brake.

Good luck with this project.

Seagulls..... sorry to hijack the thread! ....not a ball bearing in it as I recall!  can’t remember what plug mine used I think it might have had an adaptor, but I did get a jet kit so it could run on 20:1 instead of 10:1! I tried rubber mounting mine but it still shook the boat ! 

The enterprise was like the mirror in that it was sponsored by a daily newspaper, it was a double chine plywood and mahogany boat with big sails and no spinacre. A bit like an early GP 14.

Anyway i agree, Mack I think you should give it a go!  Take loss of photos as you go, label everything and keep it clean, and you should be able to do most of it yourself. 

Dan 

Yes, good to think outside the box, the most knowledge and expertise is around the engine, the rest is just bigger "Mecanno" skills.

Singles are the simplest motors about, can anyone test the motor for you, compression test, does thet run?

The forks are Matchless Teledraulics, copied and refined from BMW telescopic forks, courtesy of Jock West, late 30s, helped during the war, despatch rider duties; as are the fork yokes as Phil identified. Spare parts can be got from Russell Motors London.  My suggestion would be to take the engine and gearbox out, and see whether anyone has a more suitable proprietary frame, for a Norton single. Once you have found a more suitable frame, sell the Chopper frame to some Custom builder, look at the frame has it got Identification on it, if it's a "Uncle Bunt" or a known maker, it could be worth more than you think!

Someone, somewhere must have a spare Norton single frame within the NOC Membership, that they are never/ever going to use!

What about Norton Owners in Sweden?

Put an advert in the paper asking if anyone retired, is mechanically minded. The only daunting bit is measuring wear and tear from an engineering perspective, but the motor may be sound, long distance on Choppers generally doesn't happen, except in Cult American films!

I have just looked on Ebay for frame prices, got to be some old frames around!

John

Hi Mack,

You could do worse than looking in the NOC shop. (4th tab along under the banner). The single cylinder section has some parts, parts lists and some tools.

Otherwise a google search will also bring up suppliers of spanners and sockets. I can suggest as a minimum you get a set of Whitworth spanners - these can be used on BSF, BSCY and BSW nuts and bolts which proliferate on the bike. The sizes are NOT the same as the more popular AF sized spanners. A set of 3/8" drive sockets and or some box/tube spanners will also be very useful. Laser are ok at the cheaper end of the scale, Britool are excellent, but can be pricy. I have a mix - the ones that are used a lot,(3/16", 1/4", 5/16") I have Britool, but have the cheaper ones for the less regular sizes.

I'm sure Sweden has its fair share of old bike specialists and vehicle restorers - I believe Mikael Ridderstad, who often posts on here, resides there and may be able to advise you better, so it may be worth contacting him. Otherwise, widen the search to include different makes - Triumph & BSA owners will know the good places.

I do hope that you can get the assistance you need.

Regards,

George.

PS: I think you are 100% right to keep it as a 'chop'. It isn't too extreme, and it shows you like the less serious side of the bike world. 

Your brake unit is either a 7" BSA/ Triumph 250cc Star Fire Barracuda one or an 8" unit from a 500/650/750 Twin and Triple, Thunderbolt/Lightning/Bonneville/Tiger/ Rocket Three unit. The activation lever on those bikes is parallel to the road. But your brake installation is set at an angle to  perhaps miss the Teledraulic forks!

The torque stop was on the BSA forks  and fitted into a recess on the BSA  TLS brake plate.

John

That brakeplate install looks good to me, the 68 suffered from a long loopy cable that caught under the mudguard. Your install removed that issue, torque arm is under compression as required. Only check I would do is the thickness of the torque arm as the brake is good but can be grabby first application so the torque arm needs to be able to cope with that.

The only problem is the Air-scoop not being parallel to the road is angle down towards the road and rain and debris will enter more easily!

I ran a BSA for 10 years on a brake like that with no problems or "oh! shit" moments!

John

John

Books like these are excellent and have tons more of valid information. More so than the often empty skimpy manuals of today!

Norton Motor cycles; Edgar Franks 1949-1952, My Edition C. A. Pearson Publications;

The Book of Norton; W.C. Haycraft, 1942-1948, Sir Isaac Pitman;

Norton Motor Cycles; P.L.Garratt, 1949-1962, C.A. Pearson;

The Motor Cyclist's Workshop,  1932-1954, Torrens, lIiffe &  Sons ;

Motorcycle Overhaul, W.C. Haycraft, 1930-1952, Sir Isaac Pitman;

All the books are 7 1/2   by 5 inches, (190 x 125 mm) I have paid between £4:50 to £10:00 for them;

The newer Manuals are useful for bigger diagrams, usually have not got much dialogue in them though and often lack the shed mechanic's touch! For general stuff Torren's book, pictured is excellent!

John

Hi Mack this is on display just over a mile from where I live on the Isle of Thanet! It should be re-commission made sea-worthy again and put out as a tourist attraction but English Local Council are as imaginative as a "dead rat"! So it sits there, slowly rotting away, now surrounded by a spike railing so the children can no longer climb on it!

How much would a Viking ship cost to build nowadays?

https://community21.org/communities/newington/directory/heritage/10396

If things get worse maybe I will sell all my stuff , have  one built and go a roving!

John

hello Now I have Many Friends In Sweden  and all the Swedish NOC  But whether they what to Restore this Chopper or not is the other matter But you can only ask  try contacting Anders Larsson Near Stockholm the Swedish NOC will tell you about him  As He as many Articles in the Swedish bike magazines   He as restored many Nortons over the years and Has his own Norton collection well worth seeing,  So there you have it,   Yours   Anna J    

Mack, Thanks for the Links; they, Dragon ships are  surely are the most beautiful amazing things a perfect synergy of form and function.

Thought out by people, perhaps mostly men, with minds and brains which had the ability to transfer their thoughts into the physical world and artefacts , to hone a concept, until it was at its pinnacle of development.

It makes me sad to see that Viking ship too,  immobile and slowly, rotting away. It needs rescuing!

John