classic motorcycle forum

i noticed the chainguard youve got on the bike has been chopped and messed about with - if you want to restore the bike to original, id suggest you keep an eye out for one starting now, because theyre notoriously rare

same applies for the correct mudguards - if you havent got them, its never too soon to find some

Thanks, Blue. The chainguard does look chopped but there is a spare, which I hope is original spec.

There is the number 14 stamped into the side of the crank case and 99c stamped at the rear.

There is also the number 2448. Does anyone know what this means?

We have got a new mudguard for the tail and a relatively decent spare for the front. We've also got quite a few petrol tank, oilbox and toolbox spares, all with slight variations, so we'll have to figure out which one is correct for this model.

Chapter 3

Saturday 27 October 2007

Bike restoration was interrupted early due to the World Cup. South Africa won or, at least, every other team lost. New Zealand especially. Hopefully there won't be too many more interruptions. Bought a sports calendar so that we can plan around important events in 2008. Outside of the Currie Cup, Super 14, Tri-Nations, Cricket Tests in Australia, Olympic Games and end of year rugby tour there's not much on. There are at least five Saturdays available in 2008, a big improvement on the two from 2007.

Spent the day dismantling the bike. Good news is that all the bolts came off quite easily and there's little corrosion. Bad news is that Matt still doesn't own a belt and I've seen more crack than a Columbian customs official.



Managed to disassemble most of the bike but we've left the engine and gearbox attached to the frame for now. That's likely going to be a whole day job removing those two and we don't particularly want to rush it. Worryingly there's already one stray bolt that we found after cleaning up.



Closeup of the carbs. The bike is listed in the archives as a "Special" (not an SS, the engine stamp is 99c) so it may have been an owner requested mod for twin carbs or something else. Anyone else know what it could have been for?

I thought I'd start a restoration thread on the forum to catalogue my experience of restoring a motorbike for the first time. Actually, it's my first time restoring anything. Prior to this project I had no understanding of how an internal combustion engine worked. A couple weeks later I still have no understanding but I at least know what it looks like. My hope is that I'll be able to receive pointers from all the experts out there at each stage of the rebuild and that, once finished, anybody who, like me, has no experience of restoration will be able to read through this thread to get a good idea of how it goes.

Chapter 1 - in which I collect the bike of my dreams

Saturday 22 September 2007

Picked up the bike from its previous owner, Tony. Used the trailer that Matt (the mate I'm going to be restoring the bike with) had borrowed and drove up into the Natal midlands along with my wife and her folks. The bike looks like a complete heap of rust. But it's MY heap of rust now.

Thanks, Catgate. I've taken your advice and bought a book called "Norton Twin Restoration" by Roy Bacon. From your post and from what I've read of the book so far, I've started to realize that concours and weekend rider are two different things. A bit of a relief to tell you the truth. I can't imagine how much work it must take to get a bike into concours condition. I want the bike to look good but not to the extent that I'm scared to ride. There'd be no point in that for me.

A couple more questions for anybody who knows:

• Does anyone have any diagrams or pictures of what the 1958/1959 model 99 Dominator frame should look like? I need to see it on it's own, without parts since a previous owner of the bike had started welding bits on to convert it into a café racer.

• The book I have lists the colour schemes but not the exact colours. Does anyone have Pantones for this model's colour schemes? Does anyone have photos of the various colour schemes (other than the ubiquitous grey bikes)?

• The bike I have has a dent in the frame just in front of the engine, as if it struck a rock or something. Is this a problem? Could this weaken the frame (it's right in the curve as the frame comes down from the handlebars and then turns underneath the engine)?

Any help will be much appreciated. I'm asking around to try and find these things out for myself but the temptation to post all my problems on a web forum in the hope that an expert comes across them is too great.

Really valuable advice there, Blue. Thank you and very much appreciated.

Hi There,

I've just bought a Norton Dominator (Built on 29/12/1958 as a 1959 model 99c, described as "Special", although not SS).

I have never restored a bike before and would like to know from experienced restorers here in what order one should go about restoring the bike.

Fortunately the previous owner ordered a lot of parts from Norvil as can be seen in the picture. He seemed to know what he was doing and I'd guess that 99% of the body parts are there. Engine-wise, the engine is a bit derelict but it does turn. The guy that owned the bike before the chap I bought it from had tried to turn it into a café racer, hence the slight alterations to the frame at the rear.