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Dominator SS

Submitted by ian_wilson on Fri, 29/04/2016
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Modern Nortons

Hi all, thought I would start a little thread detailing my brief ownership so far of #96. I've not bothered to post prior due to the seeming impossibility to post pictures. But I appear now to have cracked it!

I'm in New Zealand where just 4 of these bikes were allocated. The moment I saw it I knew I had to have one. To me it's a great modern take on the cafe racer look. It looks like nothing else on the road these days and I take my hat of to the factory for getting it so right.

photo image_zps4wwwagkv.jpeg

Here's my bike just out of the crate with the another couple in the background. The bike comes with the stock pipes you see, plus a set of 'race' megaphones - more on those later...

I picked the bike up in late January and being summer immediately set out to make the best of it.

photo IMAG0038_zpsmza738ia.jpg

Alas this particular ride didn't end so well. A loose fuel pump relay meant the trip home was not so enjoyable.

photo IMAG0040_zpspjbpbzwq.jpg

The bike was returned to dealer where the fault was quickly rectified along with some protective 3M wrap to protect the carbon fibre and fuel tank. For my trouble I was given an official Norton Tee-shirt, which was a nice gesture.

photo IMAG0059_zpsswhw814z.jpg

At this stage I was riding the bike most days as much to build up my own endurance as to get the break-in miles completed. Make no mistake this bike makes no compromises - in the Cafe racer tradition it's all about the looks and rider comfort finishes a distance 2nd! But I have no problems with that and as the days turned to weeks the body made the necessary adjustments (thank goodness).

All the while I'd been unhappy with a couple of things. The pipes didn't really suit the bike - which is why you won't find an official Norton picture with anything other than the megaphones. Problem is the megaphones are just too loud, unbelievably ridiculously loud. So I had two choices, either baffle the megaphones or build a complete new set. I opted for the latter option as I wanted to keep everything original (I even have the end of the crate the bike came in)...

But I'm getting a little ahead of myself. So with the break-in period at an end the bike was returned to the dealer for its first service. All good and nothing to report. However on returning home the bike was enveloped in smoke when I came to a stop. The dreaded oil in the airbox problem had shown itself. I'm guessing this is an issue at higher rpms as it hadn't shown itself before. So back to the dealer for the fix. A couple of weeks go by and no sign of the fix, not sure if the problem is with the master dealer (in Australia) or Norton itself. But in anycase I've had enough of waiting so I get the bike transported to a local specialist motorbike exhaust fabricator. Two weeks later and he's worked his magic. The soundtrack has been transformed along with the looks. He's even taken it upon himself to make a few improvements, increasing the ground clearance and better isolating the mounts from the frame. Here's the finished product.

photo DSC01685_zpsnizrgw7k.jpg

Not a bad effort in my opinion!

The bike is currently back with the dealer getting the fix for the oil issue and will be back with me early next week.

Submitted by raphael_vonaesch on Fri, 29/04/2016

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Hi Ian

Can you please provide details how and with which product exactly you protect your aluminium tank?

This would interest me strongly.

Raphael, Switzerland

Submitted by phil_hannam on Fri, 29/04/2016

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Attached photo shows what I did to protect my tank. It is just a slice of 5mm rubber sheet that has a sticky coating on one side. Very cheap and easily cut to desired shape.

I note that your sidestand is the later modified type. Lucky lad!!! I had the good fortune to be offered one of these bikes for a 4 hour test ride while my own 961 was receiving its first service. It had the standard silencers on but sounded great. It handled brilliantly, was very,very fast and yet idled happily at junctions. Comparing it with my bike was like chalk and cheese and showed me that the factory could get it right with some models.

Attachments 961-tank-mod-jpg

Submitted by charles_claxton on Fri, 29/04/2016

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Previously Phil Hannam wrote:

Attached photo shows what I did to protect my tank. It is just a slice of 5mm rubber sheet that has a sticky coating on one side. Very cheap and easily cut to desired shape.

Chris, Val and John would be proud of youSmile

Submitted by jonathan_soons on Fri, 29/04/2016

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I think it is 0.5mm (20 thou?).

Previously Phil Hannam wrote:

Attached photo shows what I did to protect my tank. It is just a slice of 5mm rubber sheet that has a sticky coating on one side. Very cheap and easily cut to desired shape.

I note that your sidestand is the later modified type. Lucky lad!!! I had the good fortune to be offered one of these bikes for a 4 hour test ride while my own 961 was receiving its first service. It had the standard silencers on but sounded great. It handled brilliantly, was very,very fast and yet idled happily at junctions. Comparing it with my bike was like chalk and cheese and showed me that the factory could get it right with some models.

Submitted by raphael_vonaesch on Fri, 29/04/2016

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Thank you Phil.

With the polished aluminium tank you will need more protection surface than that. But I guess this is only possible when you get it painted...

Submitted by ian_wilson on Sun, 01/05/2016

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Previously raphael_vonaesch wrote:

Hi Ian

Can you please provide details how and with which product exactly you protect your aluminium tank?

This would interest me strongly.

Raphael, Switzerland

Hi Raphael, it's the standard 3M film used to protect against stone chips. They managed to cover the carbon fibre panels with single pieces but the tank is to curved, so you can see the joins if you're looking. Spraying the tank with clear coat would be another option. Will post a photo when the bike returns.

Submitted by raphael_vonaesch on Sun, 01/05/2016

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Thanks Ian

I am waiting for your pics. Advantage if not painted is that you can always polish scratches, but if you have to polish after every ride it is a bit too much...

Submitted by ian_wilson on Thu, 05/05/2016

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Bike arrived back today. Typical after weeks of no rain it's drizzled all day.

Raphael here's a quick pic of the tank with the 3M product so you can see the seams. As I mentioned not all the tank is covered.

photo image_zpsyrogkbj7.jpeg

Next a shot showing the oil in air box fix (circled in red).

photo fix_zpsglluklvz.jpg

Submitted by raphael_vonaesch on Thu, 05/05/2016

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Thanks Ian

I am considering this with the 3M. I guess you had to repolish your tank several times as well.

BTW, do you have a different fuel cap in the meantime? I mounted a Monza cap...

Submitted by raphael_vonaesch on Thu, 05/05/2016

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Hi Terry

As I never drove with the stock cap, I can not make a comparison. But I noticed that you should not fill the tank completely up to the cap as if the bike is on the side stand during fuelling the highest point of the tank is the cap, because it is situated on the right side of the tank. If you have the bike upright fuel level will then be slightly higher than the cap and you may observe some leakage.

Nevertheless I glued the cap to the tank which might help a bit against leakage and also theft of the cap...

Submitted by ian_wilson on Thu, 05/05/2016

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Hi Raphael, I did buy a Monza cap but it was the wrong thread. I returned it and ordered what I had hoped was the correct thread, that went missing in the post so gave up after eight weeks and the seller has just posted another. This one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/83-5201B-Fuel-Tank-Cap-2-Alloy-Monza-Flip-up-Type-WW72034-/331816981502?

Regarding the tank I've never polished it Surprised I'm not very good when it comes to spending time cleaning bikes or cars.

Submitted by ian_wilson on Fri, 06/05/2016

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Furthermore.... Took the bike into work today and gave it a good thrashing on a long run home tonight - not a drop of oil at the end of it! One thing I did notice is that Norton have not supplied new rocker covers without the breather tubes as they have for some. I would have preferred the new covers as they get rid of the old breather hose which takes up space in an already congested area.

photo image_zpswevnrdhz.jpeg

The other significant improvement was the installation of an improved engine map. In my case it was the Dominator megaphone map. The bike now starts and idles perfectly from cold or hot. It snorts and farts a bit from cold at low rpm on the move but bear in mind I have a custom system and in any case it's a minor observation. It's a huge improvement over the old map and I would strongly encourage anyone with idle issues to get it installed.

I'll be putting the bike on the dyno next week to see what difference the new map makes compared to the old (the bike has been on the dyno with the stock and my megaphones using the short exhaust map).

Submitted by raphael_vonaesch on Fri, 06/05/2016

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Previously ian_wilson wrote:

Hi Raphael, I did buy a Monza cap but it was the wrong thread. I returned it and ordered what I had hoped was the correct thread, that went missing in the post so gave up after eight weeks and the seller has just posted another. This one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/83-5201B-Fuel-Tank-Cap-2-Alloy-Monza-Flip-up-Type-WW72034-/331816981502?

Regarding the tank I've never polished it Surprised I'm not very good when it comes to spending time cleaning bikes or cars.

This is exactly the one I mounted to my tank.

Attachments image-jpeg

Submitted by terry_woods on Fri, 06/05/2016

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Mine to but the cap to tank boss sealing gasket is to thin to make a good seal so I have obtained an O ring to try and resolve the problem.

 


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