1958 '99' Dominator

Looks immaculate, almost too good to be true. First, you should have no problem finding an owner's manual for this model, on the internet. Second, has the bike been bought to be ridden, or as a showpiece? The previous owner of my '54 Dominator 88 had restored it cosmetically, but had only covered 56 miles in 15 years, mechanically it was crap.

Get a manual, as your first priority. Remove the sump drain plug, before attempting to start ( there may be more oil in the sump than in the tank).

Regarding oil, there will be dozens of opinions, but, Norton were recommending 20/50 multithreaded.

Hopefully your Dominator will be seen ridden on the road, not going to shows on a trailer!

The battery type may be given in the manual, however you should make a few checks first, Is the machine still positive earth ? 6v or converted to 12v?, which way round should the terminals be? ,(usually positive earth with plus on the right) ,Is there space in the battery box or is it used for housing something else. I cant see the rectifier ,may be fitted with a modern rec/regulator ,the orriginal system had poor control of battery condition and if retained i would fit a battery breather tube down past the brake pivot to avoid acid stains If there is no method of restraining the battery pack in place with pipe insulation or similar.What comes out of the sump can be put back in the tank which with normal classic use only needs to be half full. .I would avoid fully synthetic oil,thin engine oil will wet sump ,Primary chain (if still there) needs thin non synth oil and only to the bottom of the level plug,some use red ATF,(don't mix with engine oil). .Gearbox can use engine oil but many owners now use green EP 80 or 90 to the level plug .Different colour oils help pinpoint oil leaks ,engine oil is soon turned brown!.

Previously william_mitchell wrote:

Hi, my father (William Mitchell) has just purchased a very fine example of a dominator â99â 1958. we do not have any owners manual nor workshop manual and would greatly appreciate some email/phone technical advice on some of the following:

oil type ,grade, amount for transmission, engine. also he want to purchase new battery, have you a correct battery code,recommendation?bike has been in storage and has been showed twice in last year in northern Ireland and uk but we havenât had it running yet. is there a start procedure we should follow? we are concerned if in case there has been oil leaked to lower crank case before attempting start, how to check etc? we donât want to put pressure on rings etc. i have photos to help identify bike uploaded to my Facebook account as originals are 7mb+ in size.facebook account is malcolm.mitchell.777. alternatively my father can be contacted on 02830264920 (Northern Ireland). thanks in advance for any help / advice, best regards Malcolm Mitchell

A lovely looking bike! First thing to do, as has been already mentioned, is get yourself a manual, and parts list...

http://www.andover-norton.co.uk/Books.htm

They are very enlightening, giving yourself a much greater understanding, anfd therefore enjoyment, of the bike.

As John said, drain the sump, but you will need a new sump plug washer, as they are single use crush washers, Buy a few....

Good advice from Robert.Filter the oilthrough an old pair of tights, and examine for any debris, before tipping it back in. If in doubt, use fresh classic 20/50 mineral oil; at least you will know what is in there.Basically, you need to refer to the manual and give it a service, or at least an end-to-end check over, before starting.

Let us know how you get on!

One more point:- Filter the oil, when you drain the sump, by all means, to check for debris, but, do NOT re-use it. You don't know it's age, or even if it is the correct grade.