This should be a nice all-purpose rig. It was a blast to rid

Mike brought me his GL1500 to mount a new Kenna sidecar from DMC Sidecar. Also swapped out the bike's rear tire for a car tire.  Picked up this rig up today and left me his V-Strom to mount a Hitchhiker sidecar on.

The Norton Model 50 is a 350cc single cylinder. This particular one is a 1962 model and sits on a slimline Featherbed frame.  I ran across this one last fall and couldn't pass it by. From what I can tell there really aren't many of these around. I assume most of them were probably converted to Tritons. Who wants to ride a little 350 anyway? It was already somewhat refurbished 30 years but never finished.  I'm not all that crazy about the big NORTON script on the tank and the painted cases but i can live with it for now.  Even though it looked pretty good it was missing a few parts. There was no wiring. No pushrods. Missing some engine hardware. Carb was gone. The rockerbox and a few other parts were in a cardboard box. After a closer inspection I found that it was going to need a new piston, rings, and rebore. Also needed a couple of new valves. Here and there over the winter between other projects or waiting on parts I would put in an hour or two and work out some of the kinks.

So today was the day. Curiosity finally got to me and I decided it was time to try and get it running again. I did a quick clean on an Amal Monobloc 376 of the right size and changed out one of the jets to get the size close enough to run. I had already checked out the ignition timing, adjusted the points, and added some oil to the tank.

Tickled the carb, opened up the throttle and kicked it over 2 or 3 times.  Connected a battery up to some of the temporary wiring I ran and kicked it over once. Slight cough. Kicked it again and it started.  Let it run for a few seconds and opened up the oil cap. Yep it was even pumping oil.  Shut it down and had to get out the camera.

Starts easy enough but still needs some tuning with the carb and probably the ignition timing. It was vibrating real nice across the floor.

I never get tired of that "first start".

Not ready for the road yet. Its going to need some wiring, reg/rec, a couple of switches, etc. We still have over a foot of snow on the ground so I still have a little time. 

Working on a KZ900 restoration and I decided to send all the aluminum parts out for Vapor Blasting. Its a process that isn't widely known here in the US. The parts turned out fantastic and the surface is not prone to picking up oil and fingerprints like other blasting procedures.

Time to get on with the rebuild....

$12 shipping included - yep even shirts for the women this time

Both shirts feature SCRAMBLER CYCLE on the front and moto logo on the back.

They can be purchased in my online store.
http://scramblercycle.mybigcommerce.com/t-shirts/

I had a Kawasaki KLR650 in the shop to have a Velorex sidecar installed on it. It needed a test drive to verify the sidecar alignment. Mid 30 degree temps in January make a pretty enjoyable ride.  I also got a chance to check out my new camera.