classic motorcycle forum

I wouldn't know a BSA clutch from a bar of soap, but I'll give my 2 pennethworth. !

The band around a Norton clutch is intended to keep oil out of the clutch plates.
As long as they are not flooded in oil, they work perfectly satisfactorily without the band at all.
A trace of oil on the plates is not the disaster it once was.

Norton clutches came in 3, 4 and 5 plate versions.
A 750cc would need the 5 plate version if you expect the clutch not to slip.
A 350cc might get away with 3 plates, but you'd have to be able to assemble and adjust it  OK.

Binding when you do up the retaining nut usually means the clutch basket is rubbing on the bushing in the high gear bizzo,
maybe even pulled up hard against it.  You may need some sort of washer or spacer to hold it out slightly further on the shaft.
Could be the clutch is machined slightly differently or deeper than the original. This MUST be corrected.
How is the chain alignment. ?
Hopethishelps.

Well saved - thankyou.

This is the PowerHouse Museums postwar example, for comparison.
About identical to mine - except my (original) tank has a much finer gold pinstripe.
(as I suspect that 1939 should have ?)



Edit. Hmmm, how do I make the pic appear smaller - no auto resizing here ?

It wasn't unknown for the frames on the bigger bangers to break either !
They should really have had a reinforcing tube inside the weak points - but didn't do so.
It was with a sigh of relief that the industry moved to all welded frames mid 50s (mostly).
In fact, postwar Waratah frames had some of the fixtures welded on, rather than lugged.
Half and half, as it were.

Is there a casting number anyplace on that head lug ?
M&B in Walsall (near Birmingham) supplied a number of the big firms.
And maybe more.
I've got the little "Excelsior the Lost Pioneer" booklet, but it doesn't go into the head lug supplier details !
(nor does any other brand I can think of)
But someone might know...

Any news on that front ?
Time is a ticking away....

Meanwhile there has been a bidding frenzy.
4 bids and $600 already

Aye. High pipes was a prewar thing.

If the model you wanted didn't come with them, you could probably order them anyway.
Road trials, of the long distance type were very popular.
And having 'the look" sold very well.
Just watch out for the leg burning potential !

https://cybermotorcycle.com/gallery/norton-1939/images/Norton-1939-Trials-Cat-EML.jpg

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSz7_Ug88IXC1rM54I8AOpqoBZsFA4uKvPrJxcF8CT6eKAyMSLwdOFkeas9

However, the 1939 Excelsior brochure shows high level exhausts as std fittings on the 125cc Universal, 
so you'd expect the Waratah here to be the same ...

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/emEAAeSwa3VpZTSD/s-l1600.jpg

Only $30 for a bulb, and $15 postage
Blimey  !!

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/R-AAAOSwX-Bf7ebG/s-l1600.jpg

Wattage might be too high.
Not sure that the 2 little pins are in the right spot either .....

My little Waratah (Excelsior) postwar 125cc needs some headlamp bulbs in its Miller headlamp.
Which looks to be 5" or maybe a bit bigger.
It merely has a switch in the top of it

What voltage are these bulbs ?
I wish to use it with a 6v battery.
(and did I read that the originals powered from the flywheel were 4v ??)
There is nothing marked on the existing bulbs.



Quite a big seeming bulb - with dual filaments
And an itty bitty little screw-in pilot lamp (battery 4.5v dry cell powered.)
What should I be looking for ?



And, the little bolt securing the rim at the bottom has nothing to screw into.
Was there some sort of little bracket through the slot in the headlamp bucket ?
Despite appearances, that is 1/4" cycle thread.
So, what am I looking for ?



Hope someone knows these things ....
Thanks in advance

The frame number on my postwar Waratah is vertically on the left side of the steering head.

Prewar Excelsior.
Named Fred !
I can vouch not for its authenticity - 33d6 ?



We see that someone has opened the bidding in that auction...