F: Frame Norvin out of Dominator 88

[vibrac]

Somewhere in the bowels of MPH is a story of my ride to Snetterton and a day spent circulatiing the circuit and a ride back on a steel blue 750ss with a tank that had the fuel level stripe
I think it was entitled something like 'a ride on a series E'. now from the vantage point of age I can see I was as usual deceived

 

[stu spalding]

In the early 70's it was a toss-up between a Black Shadow and a 900ss, after hearing all the horror stories about Ducati cranks, bevels and electrics I bought the Vincent, although the Ducati was certainly the best looking, best sounding bike around. Cheers, Stu.

 

[Bill Thomas]

Having been at the TT in 78 and seen Mike Hailwood On the Ducati , One was on my wish list,
Till now, Had no idea they were trouble.

 

[timetraveller]

Bit like lusting after a beautiful woman. If they realise that they are good looking then one is likely to end up with a whole world of pain and expense.

 

[Chris Launders]

I have to admit I haven't used mine for many years, I rewired it when I got it to my own system design and also stripped it and changed to R40, had no problems with it electrically or mechanically after that, put away as it was starting to smoke a bit and had no spare money at the time, I think it's done about 46k now.

 

[Little Honda]

Bill, I think you will find that the frame, engine, electric starter where the original dynamo was and much more are all the work of one of our German members, Ernst Hegler. He makes the engines etc from scratch and his pre- engaged starter is a pleasure to behold. He brought one of his twins, in what at first sight looks to be a Norton frame but isn't, over to one of Dick Sherwin's barbecues a few years ago and I had a ride on it. A very nice handling bike but I never understand why people put an engine/gearbox unit, designed to be strong enough to be the frame, into a frame.

From my personal point of view, the reason for the Norvin idea is very simple: The best engine in the best frame - end of discussion. If it is done well - like Ernst Hegeler´s version - it is a much more comfortable bike to ride,
than any other original Vincent twin. The frame´s nickname "featherbed" relates to its comfort, not to its
racing quality, which is also there. Regarding rumors about being "head heavy", " higher centre of gravity",
"heavy steerability" , let me tell you, they are all caused by wrong engineering. The major complaint about
being head-heavy is simply not true. I have weighed mine, getting 204kgs, fuel tank 2/3 full, of which 47%
were front weight and 53% rear weight. Besides, total being some 4 kgs lighter, than a standard Rapide!
With me on my Norvin, the weight distribution is app. opposite, ie, 43% front and 57% rear, depending on
seating position. I cannot complain in any way, whatsoever, about my Norvin´s roadholding. There is no
steering damper, and I have never experienced the slightest wobble, not even a thought of it.
To get an impression of these measurements, I weighed my 650cc HONDA Hawk (RC31) in the same way, which is one of the best bikes to ride on country roads : Believe it, or not: 47% front, 53%rear, total 185kgs
ready to ride, 60 hp. Wheelbase: 1445mm, Norvin: 1417mm !
The Hawk is of course, much easier to ride than my Norvin, but because of 20kgs less weight, much better
brakes and more modern tyres/ sizes and easier performance, possibly, because using a flywheel with 2
big ends. The weakest point (though being one of the best in its days) on the Norvin is the roadholder forks.
It may be good at a 120kgs - Manx Norton, but not in comparison with modern forks, after having been fitted with harder springs for being part of a Norvin. I decided to live with it, having it optimized by MAXTON, because I want to have correct historic looks of my Norvin.
I think, if you order a replica featherbed from Unity for use in a NORVIN build, it will be 1 in longer, than
std., for easy fit of the Vincent twin engine. I am using an unaltered wideline frame of an Atlas99. I did not
alter my exhaust piping, nor did I cut rear head fins. It is possible, but not easy! I also did not flatten my
frame downtubes to let the chain pass by. I used a 5/8"x1/4" chain instead the std. one. I am running 19"
front and rear, using Dunlop TT100´s.
And, if you want to reduce weight any further on your Norvin, use a real Manx race frame, you will arrive
at below 200kgs for your 1000cc bike, which is still very competetive, today!
Ref. registry in Germany: Not possible without previous registration with docs. So, no replica frames.

 

[Little Honda]

From my personal point of view, the reason for the Norvin idea is very simple: The best engine in the best frame - end of discussion. If it is done well - like Ernst Hegeler´s version - it is a much more comfortable bike to ride,
than any other original Vincent twin. The frame´s nickname "featherbed" relates to its comfort, not to its
racing quality, which is also there. Regarding rumors about being "head heavy", " higher centre of gravity",
"heavy steerability" , let me tell you, they are all caused by wrong engineering. The major complaint about
being head-heavy is simply not true. I have weighed mine, getting 204kgs, fuel tank 2/3 full, of which 47%
were front weight and 53% rear weight. Besides, total being some 4 kgs lighter, than a standard Rapide!
With me on my Norvin, the weight distribution is app. opposite, ie, 43% front and 57% rear, depending on
seating position. I cannot complain in any way, whatsoever, about my Norvin´s roadholding. There is no
steering damper, and I have never experienced the slightest wobble, not even a thought of it.
To get an impression of these measurements, I weighed my 650cc HONDA Hawk (RC31) in the same way, which is one of the best bikes to ride on country roads : Believe it, or not: 47% front, 53%rear, total 185kgs
ready to ride, 60 hp. Wheelbase: 1445mm, Norvin: 1417mm !
The Hawk is of course, much easier to ride than my Norvin, but because of 20kgs less weight, much better
brakes and more modern tyres/ sizes and easier performance, possibly, because using a flywheel with 2
big ends. The weakest point (though being one of the best in its days) on the Norvin is the roadholder forks.
It may be good at a 120kgs - Manx Norton, but not in comparison with modern forks, after having been fitted with harder springs for being part of a Norvin. I decided to live with it, having it optimized by MAXTON, because I want to have correct historic looks of my Norvin.
I think, if you order a replica featherbed from Unity for use in a NORVIN build, it will be 1 in longer, than
std., for easy fit of the Vincent twin engine. I am using an unaltered wideline frame of an Atlas99. I did not
alter my exhaust piping, nor did I cut rear head fins. It is possible, but not easy! I also did not flatten my
frame downtubes to let the chain pass by. I used a 5/8"x1/4" chain instead the std. one. I am running 19"
front and rear, using Dunlop TT100´s.
And, if you want to reduce weight any further on your Norvin, use a real Manx race frame, you will arrive
at below 200kgs for your 1000cc bike, which is still very competetive, today!
Ref. registry in Germany: Not possible without previous registration with docs. So, no replica frames.

 

[Bill Thomas]

It's funny what we will put up with if it's close to what we want.
I have Commando forks on mine, can I call it a Norvin?
OK it's a "C" with Norton Forks and Brakes.
I have made them a bit longer, which I think will not make them work as good as on a Norton but even on a Norton they said in the press, they had stiction!
This was in the 70s, so I think the later stuff is better but this is all I can afford and it works OK.

 

[Chris Launders]

Norton modified the damping around the time the Commando was introduced I think, personally I use multi-rate springs and 20w/50w oil on mine both on the Norvin and Atlas. Unity frames can be ordered longer if required but he gets them from these http://www.loweframefabrications.co.uk/

 

[Little Honda]

Norton modified the damping around the time the Commando was introduced I think, personally I use multi-rate springs and 20w/50w oil on mine both on the Norvin and Atlas. Unity frames can be ordered longer if required but he gets them from these http://www.loweframefabrications.co.uk/

Ernst Hegeler´s Norvin, too, has the Commando forks fitted. More comfy than mine. His frame is an
original Slim Line, being lengthened by 2 in. It rides very similar to a Commando. This year, he let me ride
it to a section meet in northern Germany, near the danish border. About 400 miles in total. Most beautiful
country roads with low traffic. Somewhen, I met 2 police riders in uniform, training formation riding. I stayed
behind them, enjoying their riding, which was dead simultaneously, even, when overtaking cars. After some
time, I followed as their third link for some 25 - 30 miles. On empty roads, we exceeded 100mph, some time,
not changing positions for more than a yard. Most enjoyable! We have a speed limit of 60mph on country
roads, so I thought: " If they stop now, they´ll take your license for speeding!" But I continued. I saw, that they
enjoyed it, as well. Later, we entered a short distance of motorway, where they went over 125mph on their
modern BMWs, and I slowed down, not to risk Ernst´s bike. On country roads, a good Norvin is not inferior
to modern touring bikes, even with much more power, due to the much higher weight of modern bikes -
except super sports bikes, which is a different matter.