classic motorcycle forum

Certainly Nortons (and others) stopped using chrome on the tanks and wheel rims for a while in the early 1950s - they had to reduce their chrome use by 70% was it - but they NEVER stopped using satin-chrome on all the nuts bolts and small fittings. And the exhausts and handlebars and fittings were all still chromed, as usual.

Anyone know when Nortons, under new management (AMC) stopped using satin chrome ?  By the Commando era, it was zinc and cad.

Lesson 2 in how to steal a moidasickle ?

Is this info still required ?

There is a video which sounds like it may help
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D00FcmgXxb8

Note that I haven't watched it...

Starting a bike which no-one is familiar with can sometimes be very tricky !
I've heard of folks selling them in despair.

Yes, the magneto lever should be part retarded for starting - assuming it pulls the timing full advanced for normal running, you set it back a bit.
Yes, if there is a choke lever - for normal running you pull it full up - you should feel it pull the choke slides up. For starting, drop them back down a bit - full down will probably be too much.

The valve lifter, which is normally near the clutch lever (but a shorter lever) is squeezed, and the kick starter gently pressed down - you should feel a piston go over top dead centre, and then the pressure comes off the kickstarter. Continue to squeeze the lever, and press down again on the kickstarter. Doing this, you find that you get 2 compressions in fairly close succession, then a long period where the flywheels can easily be turned over. The idea is to just ease over the second compression, stop squeezing the valve lifter, and then give a hefty kick to try and start it. This gives a l-o-n-g period of flywheel rotation to build up momentum during the kickstart kick, which should bounce it over compression, fire up and keeping running.

If this is too vague, can go into more detail.
Someone who is familiar with starting a big single should be able to help here too, its just a matter of finding the right crank position to start it. Setting the controls.  And that long swinging kick.

Have fun.

The ES2 Norton used almost entirely satin chromed nuts bolts and bits, with a few chromed ones, so neither kit will work here if you want original.

Lightly bead blasted stainless will more or less duplicate this, but many of them were the factory special shapes, so not available off the shelf anyway.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the speedo drive pic Leon.
Still not entirely obvious what is holding it there... ?

Fishtails are evident, but a bit faint.
http://www.ozebook.com/acme.jpg
http://www.cybermotorcycle.com/gallery/classics_a/Acme_125_Australia.htm

Go inside the rear stand.

Cheers.

ACME ? - by Bennett and Wood in Sydney.

http://www.ozebook.com/acme.jpg

Tough to find a pic of a real bike that matches this - the details seem to vary with each different bike. Maybe this bike matches it !!

Is it possible to get a detail close-up of that speedo drive setup.
Looks interesting.

Interestingly enough, this is not the same bike.
This one is a Harley Davidson - note the different shape/design of front forks, and different more squarer shape of tank. It is a Model J, teens I think without looking closely. An update on the slightly older Indian, perhaps ?  Although not by much ?

Great pic.
Bike is an Indian. It has the sprung front forks,  and is a v-twin with inlet-over-exhaust valves, it still has pedals and rather plain mudguards so its circa 1910 to 1913 or so. Could just be an export model, which had a slightly different arrangement of back brakes ?

So someone who knows their Indians should be able to pick the exact years and model. Someone who knows their cars could probably pick the year and model of the car in the background, and say if its Italian or USA - the car is about the same era. Its interesting that "Indian' is not visible on the tank, the logo was usually quite prominent.

P.S. In 1913 and 1914 , Indian was manufacturing in excess of 30,000 bikes per year, so was by far the worlds largest motorcycle manufacturer (or Motocycle, as Indian called them). And did a huge volume of export business.

Opethiselps.