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Guzzis @ Norton Motorcycles

GuzziMoto said:
I have looked at the various Royal Enfield options. And honestly, there are many aspects of the build quality that are impressive. Many other brands, including Guzzi, would be doing well to build them that well.
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And of course "Luigi" and "Guizzi" are reknowned world leaders when it comes to slapping grease into their bearings - NOT.

If a big name like BMW sets up a factory in India for assembling their 310GS, trains their staff and enforces rigourous quality control. I don't see it being any worse than being assembled anywhere else in the world.
 
mother goose said:
I was lucky enough to see a rotary Norton being raced. Man what a fantastic sound it made..
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I got a couple of photos of a Norton Commander that was at a big motorcycle show at America's Car Museum in Tacoma a few years ago. I knew it was rare, but I found out later just how rare.

NortonCommander1.webp NortonCommander2.webp
 
PaulDavies said:
And of course "Luigi" and "Guizzi" are reknowned world leaders when it comes to slapping grease into their bearings - NOT.

If a big name like BMW sets up a factory in India for assembling their 310GS, trains their staff and enforces rigourous quality control. I don't see it being any worse than being assembled anywhere else in the world.
Click to expand...

I have never experienced any bearing failure nor have I ever repaired one on any Moto Guzzi I have owned, and I’ve owned a bunch and wrenched many more.

The BMW 310 is plagued with quality control issues. For that matter, BMW is full of quality control disasters for several years now.

People can spend their money however they like, but MADE IN INDIA is something that will never be on anything in my garage, ever.
 
scottmastrocinque said:
I have never experienced any bearing failure nor have I ever repaired one on any Moto Guzzi I have owned, and I’ve owned a bunch and wrenched many more.

The BMW 310 is plagued with quality control issues. For that matter, BMW is full of quality control disasters for several years now.

People can spend their money however they like, but MADE IN INDIA is something that will never be on anything in my garage, ever.
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My son and I replaced the wheel bearings, on the '96 Sport 1100 (carbi) project bike. Three were still good.
The one that wasn't failed because a prior owner forgot to install the inner spacer when they transferred the "sprocket" from the stock wheels to the Dymags.
 
I assume the comment about Guzzi's and greasing bearings was about the common issue of late model Guzzi's to be severely under greased in certain areas like the swing arm pivot and steering head, as well as the shock linkages.
Wheel bearings are typically not greased as part of assembly of the motorcycle. They are greased in the bearing plant they are made in.
As has been mentioned before, the main reason Guzzi build motorcycles is so you get the right parts when you buy one (or at least the right NUMBER of parts).
 
Hydrolastic said:
I got a couple of photos of a Norton Commander that was at a big motorcycle show at America's Car Museum in Tacoma a few years ago. I knew it was rare, but I found out later just how rare.

View attachment 19664 View attachment 19665
Click to expand...
That is very nice indeed . Some lucky police officers in England got to ride a few just like that only in white with blue lights and sirens and a huge battery for the radio back then . Still getting paid to ride bikes and in that case rotary Norton's was an alright job . I had a loan of a Kawasaki kz1000 police for a couple of days . It was a fast comfortable bike I really liked the saddle and running boards . It's as close to being a cop as I ever got
 
Glad to see some interest in Norton amongst my fellow Moto Guzzi owners. I grew up 5 miles from Brands Hatch and loved watching the rotaries racing there, I couldn’t afford an F1 but managed to buy an air cooled rotary rolling chassis which I then used as the basis for my race inspired custom creation.

There’s a short bit of film of my bike here:



and a couple of stills here

695A0EFA-DCFD-4858-88BA-1E4165FD8CE9.webp 8F6E9324-4F22-4F21-9BAE-DCB66126EBC8.webp

It’s fabulous to ride. Light as a 250cc but with about 90bhp. Sits nicely in my garage between my 2 Guzzi’s.

David
 
Thanks Raven, it settles down when it’s warmed up. Needs to be revved to get the best out of it but with zero engine braking it’s quite hard on the front brake so I ride the gears quite hard, One day I’ll experiment with some different gear ratios.
 
I don't care for the fat dirtbike, I mean "Scrambler" look. But for a fat dirtbike that looks fine to me.
The only thing I would change is blacking out (or bronzing out) that shiny clutch cover.
 
scottmastrocinque said:
That is ONE UGLY MOTORCYCLE. YUCK!
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ROFL !
The Thing sitting in the cradle that doesn't present the viewer with anything readily identifiable Is the Biggest Ugly !
( It think GuzziMoto might be taking a Leap of faith saying that big shinny round thing is the Clutch cover :) )

I'm not going to say this isn't a *Bit* weird Looking ( Ok maybe a LOT Weird Looking ) but the Engine still looks like a Engine.
as well as other recognizable pieces, clean, minimalist and Ride-able :nerd:
UMC-038_MARIN_Left.webp UMC-038_MARIN_Detail5.webp
 
Could be my phone screen, but that looks like the bastard love child of a KTM and a Ducati.

Way too industrial looking and “Not my cup of tea” at all.
 
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I know, I know, I don’t need to show you guys what a rotary motorcycle engine looks like but i had these pictures on my phone from when i last rebuilt my Norton and couldn’t resist.

That was before rebuild and shows a very worn rotary.

91BFCC59-310A-4E67-9BE3-E3D94563B6D8.webp 73029D20-0391-4512-AD4D-816117C1750C.webp
 
David Bracey said:
I know, I know, I don’t need to show you guys what a rotary motorcycle engine looks like but i had these pictures on my phone from when i last rebuilt my Norton and couldn’t resist.

That was before rebuild and shows a very worn rotary.
Click to expand...
I want to see a picture of the bike w/ engine ;) in - does it look like a engine ?
 
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