post your motorbikes

[AngrySquirrel]

6 hours ago, Johnsond said:

500 cruised it 

Mind surprised those walking by are  managing to stand up right at that angle!

[Baldbloke]

Anything 2 stroke from that era is fetching silly money even the plain old FSIE. Stranraer beach race 88-89 I think , NOS 86 CR500 from custom and comp (Bikesport) cracking tool and nowhere near as bad to ride as is made out. 3hrs the duration was, slept well that night. Remember Scott Gardner passing me on the beach straight laid flat on his bike with his feet hanging off the back [emoji3]. Anyone who was into the off-road scene back then will recognise a lot of the stuff in the paddock [emoji106]

It seems crazy that someone with a restored Fizzy is asking for the same amount of cash as another with a more usable 750 / 1000 cc bike from the era.

[spuddog0507]

Might be of interest to a few of you, its something i bought back in the 90s as more of a investment than to ride, but it does put a grin on your face when out on it, 1954 Triton, the frame is one of the very first Norton featherbed frames and according to frame number it is about 7-8mths in to production, this frame would of been made in the very same jigs as the first Manx featherbed frames where made in but mine will be heavier tubing, Engine is a 1952 Triumph Tiger 100 500cc lightened and balanced crank, big valve head and race spec cams this is coupled to a Triumph Slick shift 4 speed gearbox and geared for 110mph as it is, Norton long Roadholder forks, Manx swinging arm, Borranie alloy rims, Norton twin leading shoe front brake, 5 gallon tank, clip ons, rear sets, Coned open megaphone exhausts, Bike goes very well stops reasonably well and corners like its on rails, its a absolute dream to ride, Day light ride only as no electrics at all only the mag for ignition,

Edited August 28, 2021 by spuddog0507

[Stubby]

7 hours ago, spuddog0507 said:

Might be of interest to a few of you, its something i bought back in the 90s as more of a investment than to ride, but it does put a grin on your face when out on it, 1954 Triton, the frame is one of the very first Norton featherbed frames and according to frame number it is about 7-8mths in to production, this frame would of been made in the very same jigs as the first Manx featherbed frames where made in but mine will be heavier tubing, Engine is a 1952 Triumph Tiger 100 500cc lightened and balanced crank, big valve head and race spec cams this is coupled to a Triumph Slick shift 4 speed gearbox and geared for 110mph as it is, Norton long Roadholder forks, Manx swinging arm, Borranie alloy rims, Norton twin leading shoe front brake, 5 gallon tank, clip ons, rear sets, Coned open megaphone exhausts, Bike goes very well stops reasonably well and corners like its on rails, its a absolute dream to ride, Day light ride only as no electrics at all only the mag for ignition,

Beautiful . Everybody wanted a Triton of some description in my day . There were two of them in our group , both with 650cc Bonnie engines . I was on my Royal Enfield 700cc Constelation .

[gary112]

13 hours ago, spuddog0507 said:

Might be of interest to a few of you, its something i bought back in the 90s as more of a investment than to ride, but it does put a grin on your face when out on it, 1954 Triton, the frame is one of the very first Norton featherbed frames and according to frame number it is about 7-8mths in to production, this frame would of been made in the very same jigs as the first Manx featherbed frames where made in but mine will be heavier tubing, Engine is a 1952 Triumph Tiger 100 500cc lightened and balanced crank, big valve head and race spec cams this is coupled to a Triumph Slick shift 4 speed gearbox and geared for 110mph as it is, Norton long Roadholder forks, Manx swinging arm, Borranie alloy rims, Norton twin leading shoe front brake, 5 gallon tank, clip ons, rear sets, Coned open megaphone exhausts, Bike goes very well stops reasonably well and corners like its on rails, its a absolute dream to ride, Day light ride only as no electrics at all only the mag for ignition,

Great looking bike

[spuddog0507]

5 hours ago, Stubby said:

Beautiful . Everybody wanted a Triton of some description in my day . There were two of them in our group , both with 650cc Bonnie engines . I was on my Royal Enfield 700cc Constelation .

The Triton has a lot of history with it, the bloke i bought it off was in Melton Mobury, he bought the bike new in 54 as a Dommi 500 in Brighton, he got married sold the bike to a mate and moved north, he then bought the bike back some 40 yrs later minus its original engine, at this time the bloke had become involved with the CRMC classic racing motorcycle club, he aquired the T100 motor and fitted then continued to build as is in the photo, The bike has done track days parade laps etc, i have some timed lap printouts some where with his best lap at Donnington being around 80mph and there is a certificate for a lap of the IOM at the manx GP with a time of 89.7 mph,, I have a fully rebuilt 740cc motor with all brand new internals to slip in it one day, a lot of the younger lads i know with bikes think its just a piece of slow old junk ? until they look round and see that your still there with em, 

[roboted]

 

[Stubby]

39 minutes ago, roboted said:

 

Tom on the Matchless dropped a bollock at around 5,40 by not stopping for the biddy at the zebra crossing 😁

[openspaceman]

22 hours ago, spuddog0507 said:

The Triton has a lot of history with it, the bloke i bought it off was in Melton Mobury, he bought the bike new in 54 as a Dommi 500 in Brighton, he got married sold the bike to a mate and moved north, he then bought the bike back some 40 yrs later minus its original engine, at this time the bloke had become involved with the CRMC classic racing motorcycle club, he aquired the T100 motor and fitted then continued to build as is in the photo, The bike has done track days parade laps etc, i have some timed lap printouts some where with his best lap at Donnington being around 80mph and there is a certificate for a lap of the IOM at the manx GP with a time of 89.7 mph,, I have a fully rebuilt 740cc motor with all brand new internals to slip in it one day, a lot of the younger lads i know with bikes think its just a piece of slow old junk ? until they look round and see that your still there with em, 

Good story and lovely bike,  a Metisse was my desire in the 60s. Nearest I've got to that era so far is a Lewis Leathers quilted jacket.

I don't think I could manage a kickstart now but how I'd love a 5 gallon tank.

 

So the production featherbed only differed from the Manx Norton in the gauge of the tubes?

 

My understanding about tritons is that the Norton factory would not sell the manx 500 overhead cam engine and it was sought after for one of the car formula classes. So the big money bought Manx Nortons complete and took the engines out. In the meanwhile the Turner designed 360 twin ( horrible for vibration in the T100ss I rode) bounced a bit in the Triumph frame because of the single front down tube. So the inferior but much cheaper engine got fitted to the redundant featherbed frames.

 

Later tritons presumably used cooking norton frames .

 

 

[spuddog0507]

2 hours ago, openspaceman said:

Good story and lovely bike,  a Metisse was my desire in the 60s. Nearest I've got to that era so far is a Lewis Leathers quilted jacket.

I don't think I could manage a kickstart now but how I'd love a 5 gallon tank.

 

So the production featherbed only differed from the Manx Norton in the gauge of the tubes?

 

My understanding about tritons is that the Norton factory would not sell the manx 500 overhead cam engine and it was sought after for one of the car formula classes. So the big money bought Manx Nortons complete and took the engines out. In the meanwhile the Turner designed 360 twin ( horrible for vibration in the T100ss I rode) bounced a bit in the Triumph frame because of the single front down tube. So the inferior but much cheaper engine got fitted to the redundant featherbed frames.

 

Later tritons presumably used cooking norton frames .

 

 

The Manx frame was originally a single front down tube that was called a garden gate frame due to it flexing in corners, Rex mcandlles was asked to design a more rigid frame that the Manx engine would fit in to, he came up with the Manx Featherbed frame and how that got its name was from Harrold Danniels a works Norton rider at the time, he went out testing it and when he returned to the pits he was asked what it was like, he just looked at pit crew and said its like riding on a featherbed,, and that name has stuck with it, 

Norton raced the new chassis at the TT in 52 with i think 4 Nortons in the top 6, so not bad really, they then went on to dominate the world championships, with the likes of Geff Duke, Bob Mc who was the fist man to do a 100mph lap of the TT course in the 50s some 70 years ago, If you zoom in on the photo you will see that the rear subframe is bolted to the main frame hence why they got called a bolt up back end frame, Norton had great success with the chassis and decided to trial it in some of there faster road bikes, so they made some in the same Jigs as the Manx frames was built in and they sold well, the bolt up back end frame was made for the road bikes from Oct 53 - Feb 55 so not a long run really, from Feb 55 they had a welded back end to speed production up and the design was changed slightly as it was many times later, 

The Tube used was all Reynolds tubing but the Manx race bikes got a higher grade steel than the road going versions, and as you say is correct, Norton would only sell the full bikes and not the engines, and yes they were fitted in to race cars and there was a lot of Manx frames that ended up with a Triumph engines in them, when i went to buy the one i have i noticed the bolt up back end and stood there hoping the frame number started with a M but unfortunatly it was a J , after buying it i did a bit of reserch on the frame (very ltd internet info back then) so i had to ask the old boys i knew about it, some i visited and was asked many times is that a Manx frame, one old guy i knew worked for the Norton works race team from the mid 40s till the end and he was the man who made all the alloy tanks for all the works race bikes, i have a brand new 5 gallon hand made Alloy tank for this bike made by the said bloke, its upstairs in the wardrobe in a box wrapped in bubble wrap, its a true work of art, 

I hope this is clear for you to read and makes sence but unfortunatly many Manx and featherbed frames have been written of over the years and to find a good original frame is now getting hard to find, i bought several back in the 90s as they wernt that sought after then, i had about 8 once over but sold all but one now but, when i paid from £70- 150 for each frame and sold them for £500 it wasent a bad investment really, If i can find a photo of a mates Triton i will post it, Its 56 with a 820cc Puma Westlake motor fitted and its a genuine 140mph + bike, 

Edited August 30, 2021 by spuddog0507
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