Stock paint has crooked emblem, clear coating over it, what to do?

[chuck hahn]

Set up a cross ventilation system with a 20 inch box fan or maybe even two. Have then blowing out to exhaust fumes and airbourne spray. Have a framed in furnace filter at the inlet end to filter out any debris from being let it from outside. Start the exhaust fans half an hour before starting to spray to kinda preclean the environment. And shop vac the hell out of the floor to get that as clean as you can. Idea is to create as sterile area as you can to avoind dust nibs or tiny bugs getting inti the paint. NOTHING will get you miffed more than everything being perfect then you see the nibs or a tiny gnat lands on the paint.

OOPS. I should have read the above post better. I see you have air filtration planned

[oldGSfan]

I finally made the paint booth and plan to paint the two full sets of 1100E body parts tomorrow. I am applying a primer sealer, mainly because it will help me determine visually if my prep work is satisfactory. If good, I can shoot the blue base coat within 2 hours and avoid scuffing or sanding.

I have a big side area at my place with an awning that measures about 9' x 20'. To make the booth nice and big (9' x 10' or so), I needed to move it, as there's a big gym setup and shelving taking up space, and it would be too cramped to make the booth between them. After pondering where to grab two volunteers to help my son and me lift the beast, I had a brainwave and asked my son to grab two skateboards. I put them under the far supports (there are 3 per side) and we easily hoisted the other end, lifted it clear of the shelving, and got to work with plastic. Tomorrow AM, I need to tape in the box fan/filter and rig up some paint shelves from spare wood and sawhorses for some parts, and wire up hangers for other parts. Thankfully, the awning's frame is exposed for using thin wire to hang parts.

For the booth, I got a roll of 6 mil plastic, 10' x 50', some big 2.4" box clips, a stick-on 7' zipper, and clear packing tape. About $50 for the lot. I already had a box fan, furnace filters and a spare helper.

[Grimly]

Thanks Ed - I am selling it for her. It's going to cover the funeral expenses, and a bit more.

That's a very decent thing.
The deceased would doubtless be relieved to know that.

[Rob S.]

Were you able to find NOS 'hot pants'? Were you able to restore the legs?

[oldGSfan]

Excellent! Your video of half way kicking the beast, and watching it come to life was a master stroke!

Did you buy it from the Widow, or selling it for her? Either way, great contribution to civilization!

Thanks Ed - I am selling it for her. It's going to cover the funeral expenses, and a bit more.

[Nessism]

Well, soon I hope. I sold the Norton today. Took $1K deposit and the guy is coming out from Texas to pick it up in a week. Got the price I was asking.

Excellent! Your video of half way kicking the beast, and watching it come to life was a master stroke!

Did you buy it from the Widow, or selling it for her? Either way, great contribution to civilization!

[oldGSfan]

When do we get to see some blue parts? i love those Nortons too. Yellow looks good on it.

Well, soon I hope. I sold the Norton today. Took $1K deposit and the guy is coming out from Texas to pick it up in a week. Got the price I was asking.

[chuck hahn]

When do we get to see some blue parts? i love those Nortons too. Yellow looks good on it.

[oldGSfan]

The tank on that Hi-Rider looks suspiciously like the Matchless/Norton N15/G15 tank, without the mounts protruding down in the front.

[Rob S.]

Ever since I bought my first Cycle World in November of 1971, I wanted that Norton - IF it came with that girl!

Seriously, I really wanted two other bikes they previewed in that issue. The new Kawasaki 750 H2 Mach IV two stroke triple and the newly enlarged to 1000cc Sportster, complete with 4 gears, right side shift and drum brakes front and rear.

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Rob S asked me to post this up here. Not sure if you can zoom in to read the copy. Will post the highest res I can.

From November 1971 Cycle World

[Rob S.]

I know Trevor always wins "Best Garage," but Honorable Mention to you. What a stable!

Both the Yellow Peril and the Red (?) are so cool I could picture Michael Parks on them.

[oldGSfan]

OK last word on the Norton. I know people like videos.

[oldGSfan]

I have put the bike up for sale for $7,900. I hope it fetches something close to that, but you never know. BringATrailer will only accept it with no reserve, and I'm not much of a gambler.

The last two issues were a slipping clutch and a bad miss at 1/4-1/2 throttle. It has the original Amal Concentric carburetors. Slides and needles wear quickly on those, as does the carb bore. I didn't want to have the widow sink $700+ into new Amal Premiers, which are admittedly vast improvement with all those bits hardened, but a big outlay, so I carefully inspected the carb bores (and gave them a polish), and determined that they may be OK with new slides and slide needles.

An Amal carb guide that I found showed me how to inspect the slides, and importantly pinpointed the exact issue with a worn slide needle causing the 1/4 to 1/2 miss. I had swapped the plug leads (they fire same time, 'wasted' spark as they alternate their ignition timing - no change. So it was the carbs. I got reproduction sllides/needles for both sides, even though the left was the bad missing one. It was about $60. Well, it worked.

Now it starts as easily as my N15, 1 or two kicks for the well-tuned Norton leg, idles at 1K, and pulls strongly through the range with no hiccup. The clutch had been modified incorrectly. It turns out I could put the plates in differently (putting a metal one first against the clutch hub, and removing one friction plate) and reduce the stack height, therefore strengthening the grip from the diaphragm spring. Bingo! Sorry to make your eyes water with such details, but I'm proud of myself.

https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/mcy/d/mission-viejo-1971-norton-commando-750/7851613144.html

https://youtube.com/shorts/eOojIOPzb0I

There's a whiff of smoke out the left pipe on the overrun as you can see in the video.

It sat a long time. The compression is 187 on each side now, after 100 miles or so, and the smoke has diminished to negligible - but they all smoke a bit. These bikes didn't come with rubber valve seals, but they can be fitted. Maybe they are on this one, I threw some STP in there, and it stopped, so I think so, LOL. My N15CS only has cast iron guides, and there's no smoke at all. I think they are 10K bikes before a refresh.

Not sure why the video never shows a thumbnail, I select 'video' from the toolbar. I'm a feeb.

Now that it's done and running perfectly, I can get back to the Suzuki's blue bodywork, painting, and emblems, remember them? Finally! I'm the worst thread derailer, sorry for the diversion.

[Rob S.]

Man those bikes are cool. If any fool tries to put a trunk or a fairing on either one, you kill 'em and I'll take the rap.