Manx fairing question

Previously mikael_ridderstad wrote:

Two days ago I visited an old friend to ask him about my recently aquired 350from -59, which he raced quite successfully back in the sixties. When he looked at photos of it, he noticed that it missed the fairing. He told me that it had a fairing with oil tank integrated in the left side. Is there anybody who have a clue on what make it was and if it is possible to find any? My present plan is keep it as similar to what it was then. He also said that the fairing made it 20km/h (a bit more than 10 Mph) faster, and that was the reason why it was fitted with a Arrgard 5-speed gearbox back in -61. When geared for top speed the extra low gear was needed for the hairpins. Anybody who can confirm this?

Is this a full fairing - several people had these made before they got banned in the 50s, I have a photo of one that worked OK, but some tended to lift the front wheel.

All I can say is that no Manx Nortons left the factory with fairings fitted so it had to be an aftermarket fitment

Jack

Hello Mike,every serious Racer in the sixties used a fairing on his motorcycle to achieve a higher top speed on racing circuits.

The most common fairings for english singles used in the sixties were the Peel Mountain Mile Fairing, the Kirby Fairing and the Avon Fairing.

Peel Mountain Fairing

Kirby Fairing

Avon Fairing

The racing fairings in the sixties wer made of glasfibre and usually sold unpainted in white. TheRacers painted the fairings on their own.

Because of the long first gear the Racers used to slip the clutch to keep their Manxes on a high rev level on cornering and the clutch was often burnt before the end of the race. So clever engineers like Michael Schafleitner from Austria who built a six speed gear cluster into the existing AMC gearbox shell and the Swedish engineer Torsten ArrgÃ?rd who built a 5-speed unit in the early 60's added more gears to the Standard 4-speed gearbox.

Sven Gunnarsson Manx

Motorcycle racing; 1949-1968 nostalgia

Schafleitner six speed Gearbox

ArrgÃ?rd five speed Gearbox

Esso Gunnarssons Manx with Peel Fairing

Three Piece Jakeman Fairing

Ask www.meadspeed.comfor a new ReplicaJakeman Fairing!

PS: Schafleitner built a six speed gear cluster into the existing AMC gearbox Shell. Torsten ArrgÃ?rd modified a Norton Laydown gearboxand built a 5-speed gearbox with an outer gearchange mechanism as in the Picture I added before.

Best regards Roland