Wheelwright..........

Hi Sue, It could be a spoke problem ,but also lots of other things , I would get an old bike (nut)! friend to look it over as it may be something simple like a loose axle nut , or complicated like a broken frame ,certainly would not ride it till something amiss is found. With an old bike its good to have senses finely tuned to spot things that need attention . !936 is a great year for bikes,I have a 36 Rudge Ulster. If you have an old style Mot man locally he would probably run the rule over the bike for a Tenner.

Previously susan_harris wrote:

Can anyonerecommend someone to check/adjust the spokes on my 1936 Norton 50 somewhere in/near Kent? Rode her at Mallory recently & have a disconcerting wobble entering a corner at speed....so I slowed down! Was told my spokes may need checking so the rear wheel is "true". If it's not that, then I presume it may be the frame, but I want to check the wheels first.

Thanks

Sue

hello well the word wheel right was for a man making wooden wheels for carts or horse drawn carriages, and with the age of your norton model 50 when did the wheel bearings get any attention , as wheel bearing have been known to collapse in the past, so I would strip the all of the rear end and check everything is the only way to find the culprit good luck yours anna j

Hi, I have a Dominator and a Electra. The full width rear wheels are without the RH Side cover plate. is there a method or a replacement kit To remove the broken rivets?

Regards Malcolm

mewing2202@aol.com

07970439302

Previously malcolm_ewing wrote:

Hi, I have a Dominator and a Electra. The full width rear wheels are without the RH Side cover plate. is there a method or a replacement kit To remove the broken rivets?

Regards Malcolm

mewing2202@aol.com

07970439302

Have a look at this thread...... https://www.nortonownersclub.org/noc-chat/technical2-heavy-twins-forum/596641017

'hello well the word wheel right was for a man making wooden wheels for carts or horse drawn carriages'

Corrections in terminological usage by Anna - I do believe I've seen it all now.

Hi Sue

If you need help with the wheels, I am over the water in Rochford Essex and can rebuild and or true wheels.

Paul

Previously susan_harris wrote:

Can anyonerecommend someone to check/adjust the spokes on my 1936 Norton 50 somewhere in/near Kent? Rode her at Mallory recently & have a disconcerting wobble entering a corner at speed....so I slowed down! Was told my spokes may need checking so the rear wheel is "true". If it's not that, then I presume it may be the frame, but I want to check the wheels first.

Thanks

Sue

I do believe Anna is correct. 'Wheelwright - a Middle English term dating from 1250-1300, a person who makes and repairs wooden wheels, wooden carriages etc'. Not many Nortons around back then, except in place names!

Still Sue, we know what you mean, and you have found one! I doubt Paul refers to himself as such though, although he may start doing so now

Ian

Seems OK to me. What Sue needs is someone to make the wheel right.

Previously howard_thompson wrote:

Seems OK to me. What Sue needs is someone to make the wheel right.

If it was an ex army bike it would be right wheel

wheelright

noun

Before calling on anyone to help fix the bike, I suggest looking over it yourself.

Take a look at the axles. Are they tight? Look over the forks and see if anything is coming loose. Check the fork action by bouncing it up and down. With the front wheel off the ground, try pulling the front wheel back and forwards. Any free movement in the steering head? Make sure the three nuts holding the rear wheel to the drum / sprocket are tight.

If the bike has a centre stand, put the bike on it. Rotate the rear wheel. Does it spin freely? Are the wheel bearings OK or is there free movement of the whole wheel? Watch the wheel rim- does it move side to side? Take a spanner or similar tool, and tap each spoke with it. Do they give an even ting, or are some tight and others give a flat tonk? They should be even tension

Now raise the front wheel and do the same.

If the wheels seem OK, then have a look at the wheel alignment. Set the front wheel so that the steering is straight. Go to the front and look, so that you can see that the wheel really does point at the rear tyre. Now you know it is straight, look from behind the bike. Sight along the side of the rear tyre both sides. Is the rear wheel pointing at the front? If not, that may be your problem. Readjust.

If you still find no issue, then you need to check for issues in the girder forks, or for a bent or cracked frame. Take a look, you may spot a gaping crack.

happy hunting, hope that helps

Paul

I forgot some vital checks.

When you check the steering for slackness in the bearings, also check for tightness. With the steering damper slacked off, try waggling the handlebars. They should turn freely, without any stiffness.. The sweet spot in steering adjustment is where there is no perceptible fore-and-aft slack in the steering bearings, and no stiffness. Feel for 'notches', where the steering head balls may have worn indents into the head races

What state are the tyres in? Check for damage and deterioration. Is the pressure correct?

Also, that big wobble you experienced on the track might have been due to some external factor like oil or debris on the track. It's a bit late to check for that, though.

Paul

Previously howard_thompson wrote:

'hello well the word wheel right was for a man making wooden wheels for carts or horse drawn carriages'

Corrections in terminological usage by Anna - I do believe I've seen it all now

well look up the name Wright is an old english name for some man that works with wood and wheel making in wood

True enough so, I imagine, a playwright produces stuff for the sort of wooden actors you see in television soaps.

Hi Sue,

I thought I would get this thread back on track (pun?) as it seems to have drifted into dictionary corner. Most of us call them wheel builders, but each to their own. The wheels on your bike are the same back and front, it's only the drums which differ, and they have an off-set to bring the rim central in the frame when the drum is fitted.Try andcheck if your back wheel is in-line with the fame top tube (you will need to take the petrol tank off) and then get 2 long straight-edges to check it with the front wheel. You also need to check how true the wheels run. You can put the bike on the rear stand and start the engine and run it in bottom gear to give you an idea if there is a problem with the back wheel. Look at the rim to see it runs true and then the tyre in case it has been badly fitted. The front wheel will need spinning fairly fast by hand to show up any problems.

You didn't say where on track you had the problem, but I guess it was most likely to be going round Gerrards bend. For anyone not familiar with Mallory this bend is a fairly constant 190 degree curve about 400 yards long which on a rigid Model 50 you can take at about 60mph. This means you are cranked over at a fair angle for about 15 seconds. What may have caused your wobble could have been gyroscopic procession, probably better known as a 'tank slapper'. To get an idea of how this affects the steering, get a loose bicycle front wheel with tyre fitted, hold the spindle in each hand and get a friend to spin it as fast as possible then try and turn or lean the wheel one way then the other. When you feel the effect on a light bicycle wheel you can imagine what it's like on a heavy motorcycle wheel at speed. You only need to hit a small bump to set this off when you are cranked over especially with rigid and girders. If you go again and you are happy the bike is O.K. tighten the steering damper down so you can just about get round the hairpin. You can also move your body weight inside (I really had to hang off my Model 18) to help settle it.

Regards, Richard.

P.S. See the effects of this on Hi-tech superbikes atthe I.o.M. TT races.

I agree with Richard that the Giro effect of a heavy flywheel can be noticed,especially if you have changed down before the corner and got the revs up. Not sure thats what caused your problem though. Are the tyres orriginal!!

I have no personal experience of the things, but looking at the typical pair of girder forks there would seem to be a long list of sources of possible trouble.

I would suggest taking that corner in small speed increments until you have confidence in the wheels/suspension.

Mike