Manxman

Previously wrote:

Recently on ebay a Norton was advertised for sale, it was blue it was advertised as being possibly a Manxman . Did anyone see it, was it one

Hello Rob It was Not a Manxman It was a Early 650SS with a Black seat and less chrome , Your Anna J Dixon

Previously wrote:

Previously wrote:

Previously wrote:

Recently on ebay a Norton was advertised for sale, it was blue it was advertised as being possibly a Manxman . Did anyone see it, was it one

Hello Rob It was Not a Manxman It was a Early 650SS with a Black seat and less chrome , Your Anna J Dixon

Thanks again Anna.

Hello Rob Was early last month on the UK ebay site then this is the BIKE I was on about, but there is a Norton Manxman Up for sale On the US Ebay site at $1000 start it will be interesting to see what it goes for the engine and frame number is 18-97921 built at the end of may 1961 no doubt , But if you can get your hands on one of these machines then you will not want of anything else. they are a nice bike to ride , and own ,, yours Anna j

For those who wish to see the Manxman:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1961-Norton-Manxman-/271054132006?forcev4exp=true#ht_500wt_1182

Apart from the undersized tank, the hideous bars and the particularly awful shade of blue, not to mention the seat, it looks a nice bike. Wouldn't it look so much better in black and silver? I'm just getting my running shoes now...

Previously wrote:

Apart from the undersized tank, the hideous bars and the particularly awful shade of blue, not to mention the seat, it looks a nice bike. Wouldn't it look so much better in black and silver? I'm just getting my running shoes now...

Hello Gordon still moaning about these manxman's, They did them in this colour to brighten them up from the Boaring Black And sliver , to add some glamor too there range ,I think they did a good job of it there nice bright looking bike .and Not Boaring like you old black and sliver it looks cheap , and the only good thing about black is it does not show all the imperfection the bike has, and is easy to touch up, and you need some colour in you life black is a depressing colour , thats why they use it at funerals there all depressed they lost a loved one, so get some colour in your life Hey PINK its a nice Colour Too for my nails and lips And one more thing that true The American Market machine had too be a better product than the home market machine this is why they paint them in black and sliver , too cover up the rough bits Yours Anna J

Previously wrote:

For those who wish to see the Manxman:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1961-Norton-Manxman-/271054132006?forcev4exp=true#ht_500wt_1182

Hello Eugene Well are you having a go at getting you self a real Norton Like this Nice Manxman when you ride one of these you see the difference in that they more Power and its low down too , and one would suit you sir ! yours Anna J

Previously wrote:

Previously wrote:

Apart from the undersized tank, the hideous bars and the particularly awful shade of blue, not to mention the seat, it looks a nice bike. Wouldn't it look so much better in black and silver? I'm just getting my running shoes now...

Hello Gordon still moaning about these manxman's, They did them in this colour to brighten them up from the Boaring Black And sliver , to add some glamor too there range ,I think they did a good job of it there nice bright looking bike .and Not Boaring like you old black and sliver it looks cheap , and the only good thing about black is it does not show all the imperfection the bike has, and is easy to touch up, and you need some colour in you life black is a depressing colour , thats why they use it at funerals there all depressed they lost a loved one, so get some colour in your life Hey PINK its a nice Colour Too for my nails and lips And one more thing that true The American Market machine had too be a better product than the home market machine this is why they paint them in black and sliver , too cover up the rough bits Yours Anna J

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn!!!

Hi Anna, not convinced... black has to be the only colour for me. Even my sheep are black! Keeping my lipstick and nail varnish shades to myself though. Gordon.

I'm with Gordon - the bike colour, not the sheep! Black and silver is superb but it IS quite a bloke's colour scheme I guess.

Cheers, Lionel

Previously wrote:

I'm with Gordon - the bike colour, not the sheep! Black and silver is superb but it IS quite a bloke's colour scheme I guess.

Cheers, Lionel

Hello Lionel Yes You Blokes are terrible when it come to colours I think all you see Is in Black And White , Or Sliver . Anyway I like it and its the colour Norton Painted them and you lot will have to like it or lump it ether way it make on odds to Me , the Japanese painted all there frames in black to try cover up there terrible welding , now its done by a machine better welding. I remember when Honda 250s were prone to roting the frame and main stand and the exhaust pipes , I have had some of the Japaneses machines there OK when new but after 10years most of them are on there last legs There Is not many that's made it to over 50 years old like my 54 Model 88, these old Norton,s will be around well after I am gone ,

Actually, I think the Manxman is a particularly terrible shade of blue and the red seat clashes with it. There are so many better shades of blue out there too... But I still think Norton got it right with black and silver for their bikes. My Norton was red and white when I got it. It isn't now. Gordon.

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Actually, I think the Manxman is a particularly terrible shade of blue and the red seat clashes with it. There are so many better shades of blue out there too... But I still think Norton got it right with black and silver for their bikes. My Norton was red and white when I got it. It isn't now. Gordon.

Hello Well your bike must of been a De-lux model 88. and you have De-valued it by painting black and Sliver The most horrid Colour, but it covers the rust up well ! And its your bike and your loss when you come to sell it !

I always thought the best color for your bike is ................................. the color you like the most. I got a serious tongue lashing when I decided to paint my M77 Post Office red instead of the metalic grey it should have been. I figure if someone wants it to be grey (or black) as was original, its easy enough to repaint it. At least I didn't put a chrome springer front end on it from the captain america chopper , sorry to digress,keep calm & carry on!

Almost right Anna. It was a 99 deluxe, missing the bathtub and with an alloy front mudguard when I bought it for £30 in 1969. It was in awful condition. You might say it's not a lot better now...What some call rust others call patina. It's not gleaming and immaculate because it is used in all weathers all year round. At a friend and fellow motorcyclist's funeral this time last year, there was torrential rain and thunderstorms. All the promised bikers stayed at home. It was up to me and the Norton to lead the cortege through the rain. Is polish worth more than respect? Sell it? Surely you jest. Even if it is worth twice as much as I paid for it.

Almost right Anna. It was a 99 deluxe, missing the bathtub and with an alloy front mudguard when I bought it for £30 in 1969. It was in awful condition. You might say it's not a lot better now...What some call rust others call patina. It's not gleaming and immaculate because it is used in all weathers all year round. At a friend and fellow motorcyclist's funeral this time last year, there was torrential rain and thunderstorms. All the promised bikers stayed at home. It was up to me and the Norton to lead the cortege through the rain. Is polish worth more than respect? Sell it? Surely you jest. Even if it is worth twice as much as I paid for it.

Previously wrote:

Almost right Anna. It was a 99 deluxe, missing the bathtub and with an alloy front mudguard when I bought it for £30 in 1969. It was in awful condition. You might say it's not a lot better now...What some call rust others call patina. It's not gleaming and immaculate because it is used in all weathers all year round. At a friend and fellow motorcyclist's funeral this time last year, there was torrential rain and thunderstorms. All the promised bikers stayed at home. It was up to me and the Norton to lead the cortege through the rain. Is polish worth more than respect? Sell it? Surely you jest. Even if it is worth twice as much as I paid for it.

Hello Gordon yes a nice good solid old bike with lots of life left in the old girl yet , But Its time maybe to restore her to her forma glory in Dove grey and Argent blue , You see Eugene as his bike in a very nice red ,my bike goes out in all weathers it get cleaned as soon as it in the workshop and ready for the next outing , I keep a good check on all the parts on the bike and look for the odd nut or screw coming lose and check the chain and and see if there grease on it you have to keep you bike in order as never know what round the next corner ,and you need to relie on your machine, well I look forward to getting my 54 domie on the road soon yours Anna j

Hi Anna, it has taken me 40 years and 120,000+ miles to get it just how I want it, so why would I want to turn it back into the red and white aberration that it once was? If I wanted a Deluxe, I would go out and buy one... As for restoration, I, like so many others on this forum, have a lot more important things to do which take priority over dismantling a perfectly sound running bike to get it to showroom finish. If I did, what are the chances of me living long enough to complete it? At my age, something to bear in mind. No, I would rather be out riding it.

Did the Manxman come fitted with an air cleaner? As some pictures at the time of their road tests show that they do and some show thatthey just had two chrome air trumpets fitted.

Previously wrote:

Did the Manxman come fitted with an air cleaner? As some pictures at the time of their road tests show that they do and some show thatthey just had two chrome air trumpets fitted.

Well this is a good point , the very early bikes like my one did not have them on but later ones did ,this bike is a later manxman built in late may of 1961 or there abouts anyway you are suppose to be restoring one of these machines how is coming along you seen to keep things like this to your self and not sharing your experiences with us all , just like the unified twin all we you have a experimental Norton engine and a year or so later theres is a nice bike built , now how did you go on with getting all the right parts for this engine Did you end up making parts you self , or did you come across some from somewhere , I am not nosy just interested , yours Anna j

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Hi Anna, it has taken me 40 years and 120,000+ miles to get it just how I want it, so why would I want to turn it back into the red and white aberration that it once was? If I wanted a Deluxe, I would go out and buy one... As for restoration, I, like so many others on this forum, have a lot more important things to do which take priority over dismantling a perfectly sound running bike to get it to showroom finish. If I did, what are the chances of me living long enough to complete it? At my age, something to bear in mind. No, I would rather be out riding it.

Well Gordon all i can say is enjoy you riding while you can , and your well enough too do this ! I am not too good my self but I do get out for a ride out now and then , yours Anna j

Previously wrote:

Did the Manxman come fitted with an air cleaner? As some pictures at the time of their road tests show that they do and some show thatthey just had two chrome air trumpets fitted.

Mr. Curzon,

The parts book for the Manxman has the air cleaner under the list of optional equipment.

My Manxman parts book the one that Berliner Corporationproduced does not have an optional equipment list, but both of my 1961, and the 1961/2 parts books have an options list. They both show an air cleaner assembly, so i shall fit one to my Manxman

Anna I am at the moment trying to build a Norton Atlas Scrambler from one of the first batch made and dispatched in October 1963. The twin carb version of the next Unified Twin is now well on the way to being completed. I have had new a crankshaft and con rods fabricated, as well as some camshafts and a set of rockers made out of solid EN24T steel. I have also had to have fabricateda new inner gearbox casting. You only see the completed bikes in the press, as I do not feel that the Norton's that I collect arethe ones thatany one wouldthat interested in. I can remember going to a rally in Weybridgeover20 years ago with my N15CS, and being told to move it by allot of parked Norton owners bikes as they did not want it near their own bikes.

There will always be a couple of pin heads out there, but I think you will find that the majority of Norton enthusiasts are veryinterestedin the more obscure & interesting models.

i think all bikes are interesting but especialy Nortons ,when i was at brooklands 2 years ago i had some comments about my commando because the silver paint on the tank has gone flat where i spilt fuel on it one owner scoffed at it asking if it was "the primer" but thats the way i like it

Norton publication PS217 is specifically for the USA spec 650 Manxman. It lists the tachometer and 150mph speedo as standard equipment on page 33. No other Norton roadster pre-1963 had a tacho as standard, and the Standard and Deluxe 650 Norton had a 120mph speedo. This publication has towards the back the optional equipment list which includes air cleaners, a conversion to a Single Carburetter, siamese exhaust, 19" rear wheel, enclosed rear chaincases, a LIGHTED tachometer as opposed to the standard 1302 non-lit item, crash bars, hand rail, steering damper etc..

Previously wrote:

Norton publication PS217 is specifically for the USA spec 650 Manxman. It lists the tachometer and 150mph speedo as standard equipment on page 33. No other Norton roadster pre-1963 had a tacho as standard, and the Standard and Deluxe 650 Norton had a 120mph speedo. This publication has towards the back the optional equipment list which includes air cleaners, a conversion to a Single Carburetter, siamese exhaust, 19" rear wheel, enclosed rear chaincases, a LIGHTED tachometer as opposed to the standard 1302 non-lit item, crash bars, hand rail, steering damper etc..

Hello Ben yes your right my bike as a 150mph Speedo The Tachometer Is one from a BSA RC1303/03 3:1 reversing its a lot rarer than the right one RC1302/00 I would do a swap if any one whats to do this, my one Ok its Been checked by Alan Gagg of Nottingham dealer and has a new glass and bezel and new needle its worth £350 , It also Look like someone got a real bargain last night With this Norton Manxman 650 it sold for $8.100 , that around £4056 yes it went cheap , yours anna j

Yes there is one born every minute!!

I did not know that the publication PS217 was produced just for the Manxman. I have had an almost new one for years and I did not know it was for the Manxmanâs. It did always look odd to me that it listed a Lucas K2FC magneto for a standard 650. Why did Norton not put export models, or aname of the models on their earlier parts books, as it would have helped to restore the much more obscure models. I bought all their parts books when Taylor Mattersons closed down in about 1977. No one was interested in Nortonâs of any home market bikes back then. I was even given all their service release notes that the factory sent them about all the modifications required for the Commando's from 1968 through to 1978. It even has the Triumph service releases in them.

I read the ps214 publication too quickly and missed that the std and D/L 650s also are listed with the 150mph speedo, it was the 99 and smaller bikes that had the 120mph job.

I have seen a number of the early 650ss and Atlas bikes that were imported into the USA for the 1962 model year, and they very often were supplied in almost the exact same trim as the Blue USA Manxman bikes, with the high bars and small tanks and 18" rear wheels. But almost every one of those 1962 USA 650ss and all of the 62' Atlas bikes were sans a tachometer, they just had the alloy blank-off plate on the timing cover. In contrast every one of the blue Manxman bikes I ever saw had the tacho setup on it.

The PS217 publication, listing the tacho and twin carbs as standard along with the 18" rear wheel points right at the only Norton ever equipped such as standard equipment, the blue USA Manxman.

I do not have any other Manxman specific parts manuals. Heinz Kegler who was over working at Norton testing motorcycles and components when the Manxman was being built said in a letter to me 20 years ago that the assembly of them was a very rushed thing, that they fabricated the exhausts systems for them in-house because they did not have time to wait for them to be supplied. The PS217 publication is marked as being for 1961 and 1962 model years, which makes me wonder when it was printed and supplied to USA dealers, and if it was supplied after 1961, what the dealers had when the first Manxman bikes arrived late in 1960 or early in 1961. I used to own a Manxman that was numbered 9364X, and it was purchased new in my area in April 1961. I know where the 3rd and 13th 650 Nortons are sitting, and I am keeping an eye out for others in the first batch, hoping that one of them will be found with some information on when it was purchased out of the dealers showroom. In early advertisements there is apparently an early prototype Manxman with a Model 99 style head which has been modified with special manifolds to give it the parallel downdraught twin carbs, what happened to that bike and what number was on it? Hopefully Manxman number 1 and 2 are sitting in some shed or corner intact waiting to be found.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=251262408254365&set=a.251259451587994.57327.187441501303123&type=3&theater

Previously wrote:

Anna I am at the moment trying to build a Norton Atlas Scrambler from one of the first batch made and dispatched in October 1963. The twin carb version of the next Unified Twin is now well on the way to being completed. I have had new a crankshaft and con rods fabricated, as well as some camshafts and a set of rockers made out of solid EN24T steel. I have also had to have fabricateda new inner gearbox casting. You only see the completed bikes in the press, as I do not feel that the Norton's that I collect arethe ones thatany one wouldthat interested in. I can remember going to a rally in Weybridgeover20 years ago with my N15CS, and being told to move it by allot of parked Norton owners bikes as they did not want it near their own bikes.

Antony Well your restoration work it very impressive, And you do a very good Job, But on the other Hand so do I with very little Money that I have coming In , I only work part time As A Security warden now and I am not in the best of health with my bladder on the blink, and I can only see with one eye at the moment , there some Hospital appointment pending For operation on my left ankle so I can walk better and then is my left eyes turn to get some treatment so I can see with both eyes , then I will can ride better this week end I did 161 mile on a ride out in the East yorkshire wolds And My manxman did not miss a beat , I have just rebuilt the Cylinder Head And fitted New Bronze Valve guides And New Valves And cut the sets and ground the valves in fitted Terry's valve springs also De-glazed the barrels and got a nice cross hatch on the bore and fitted new Standard size BHB piston rings, and now the motor runs very nice, Some time later I will have a look at the crankshaft, It was checked this time round by me and a good friend of mine who it also a engineer, Up to now I have put on 461 miles after this rebuild so that 549 miles to go before I change the oil and check all it OK, I check my bike after every run out , its just good practice ,you need to check the light and brakes and chains tyres and there pressures and do not forget the nuts and bolt check too , Antony Its would be nice to see you Norton Atlas Scramble bike These are very thin on the ground now, your doing a very good job ! Yours Anna J