Norton Domiracer

The Norton Domiracer is a rare motorcycle, of which, very few were ever made. At first glance, it would appear to be a fairly standard Dominator motor with some performance parts added for racing. But, in reality, it's a very different motor altogether. This particular bike being very unique in that the Domiracer was mainly known to be mounted in the newly developed Lowboy frame. It was supposed to be the evolutionary racing machine to replace the Manx Norton. Intended to be a less expensive machine to manufacture, while the parallel twin Dominator had been in development / production for roughly 12 years. So as a foundation, it was surely far enough along to be highly tuned as a race bike. Strangely though, the Dominator was a pushrod motor versus the DOHC Manx. A somewhat step backwards for the highly tuned Manx Norton.

I came across this photo thru a good friend, and strangely, I had simply never seen it before. It's a 1962 full spec Manx Norton chassis, with a genuine Domiracer motor. Opinions seem to vary as to how many real Domiracer motors were ever made. Some quote the number to simply be 1 example, but I've heard that up to 5 may have originally existed. You can see all the standard Manx features for 1962, including the 4 leading shoe front brake, conical rear hub, dropped top yoke, exposed spring front suspension, Smiths ATRC tachometer, central oil tank and Works petrol tank.

You can also very clearly see the eccentric rocker spindles in the photo, with oil banjos that go directly into the spindle, to lubricate the valve gear. Also noticeable is the Lucas 3MTT magneto, and right & left handed Amal GP carbs, with the 2" inlet tract. The oil tank hangs from brackets in the frame, and instead of having an oil tank table mounted to the engine plates, it had an angled bracket affixed to the cross tube, with a simple foam pad, and rubber bands that held the tank back against the bracket. And while this machine certainly resembles the production Dominator of the era, I can see only a few features which were shared with the production line. Insignificant things such as the timing cover and valve covers look to be standard, while other things such as the engine brackets are clearly different.

As an update to this original post, I wanted to show the other side of this bike. I stumbled across this photo, and I think it helps t complete the story to see the other side of the bike.

In this photo, you can see some other interesting features, such as the camshaft breather coming out of the side of the crankcase rather than the rear. This was a feature that was later added as standard to all Atlas machines. Also can be seen, is a Manx primary chain oiler, special bracket around the top tube of the frame to hold the large Amal round remote float and also an interesting cut out to the brake plate on the rear wheel.

It's not too often that I come across such photos and have never seen them before, so I'll admit that I've looked fondly at the photos, and tried to imagine what happened to the bike. Certainly, I have no idea, but hopefully it's sitting safely tucked away somewhere, and might see the light of day again soon.

UPDATE:

I wanted to make a revision to what I wrote above. I was corrected by a good friend that knows more about the Domiracer than I do. I mis-spoke about the camshaft breather being like the one used on the Atlas. The banjo fitting in this motor, is actually a high pressure oil feed that lubricates the needle roller bearings in the camshaft. I think it's important to call out this information and correct. My apologies if anyone was misled.

If anyone has information that corrects anything that I post here, please leave a comment or email me. I'm always open minded to make corrections and ensure that the information being shared online is accurate and correct. Thank you to Benjamin for the correcting my error.

Shrine

Every garage has at least one...
It's always just some random shelf or cabinet that's stacked with random bits. Giblets, I call them. It's almost never anything too serious, but somehow it's one of the most intriguing fixtures, and always draws my attention. It's like it's some sort of shrine, or parts graveyard. Piled high with discarded, unused and often broken parts. Little things that people collect and acquire along the way. If you've been involved with motorcycles for any length of time, you'll amass a collection as well. I don't think any of it is intentional, each item just seems to end up there because there's no other place for it. We can't throw anything away either. Even broken bits of motorcycle garbage, are kept and become this strange form of garage art.

Somehow I've ended up with two or three shelves that look like this. On top of the parts bin above the work bench, a storage cabinet in the garage and even a wall shelf in the house. I've seen them with signs marked "Gifts to the God's of Speed", but mostly it's insignificant items or collectibles. It makes me feel good though. To sort of surround yourself with these things, evoking the memory of some point in time. I guess the main thing would be to not let it get out of control.

Getting there...

Although there's still a long way to go, progress continues on the drum brake front end for the Norton Atlas. This original vented hub will be mated to the John Tickle brake plate which has already been restored and waiting ever so patiently for it's day in the sun.

The hub was featured in a previous "On The Bench" post, and has certainly come a long way since then. Bearings removed, fully degreased, scrubbed and then it's face polished. New bearings will be on order soon, and then mated to a Borrani rim with new spokes. The whole set up will then be sent west to have the drum skimmed and new brake pads installed and cut to size.

There's a lot of little bits that go into the front end set up being changed. An NOS set of fork lowers go along with the kit, and the forks will be treated to a full rebuild. Then there's the change of the clip ons and levers, as well as a custom brake cable. I'll be swapping the brake light switch back to the original, which operates off the rear brake pedal. Some fine tuning to match it with the rear sets, and of course running new wires.

All in all, it doesn't sound like much, but when you add up each and every little thing that goes into it, the list gets long and the cost climbs quickly. Like anyone, my progress is often limited to my bank account, rather than by my motivation to turn a wrench. But winter has more or less set in, so riding time is basically non existent.

The rear brake will get new pads as well, and fully cleaned and rebuilt. If running just drum brakes, I figure I better make sure they're in top shape, and it's been several years and many miles since some of these things have had their service. And while they all still function as they should, it's good routine maintenance.

Once all the pieces are here, I'm guessing the whole thing can be done in an afternoon. Take that time frame, and double it twice, and that's usually about how it goes. Either way, time is sort of on my side, and come Spring time it'll definitely all be ready.

The Roar of History...

It's a romantic notion to think back to when Manx Nortons ruled GP racing throughout the 1950's. It's a time which I wasn't fortunate enough to experience for myself, so I'm left with just romantic thoughts, stories from those who were there and photographs form the period. And every once in a while, maybe just a small piece of a genuine race bike.

This is an exhaust megaphone from a 1960 Manx Norton 350, that I recently purchased. The stories it could tell, the rich history it must have, the sound it surely made, it's victories and defeats and it's time being ridden in anger by some brave soul that pushed himself and his machine to the limit, for the simple chance to be first across the line. It's an intriguing thought and I'm simply speculating as to the life it led prior to finding it's way to me. But any Manx Norton would have had it's fair share of racing, and this megaphone has some scars that prove it saw some time in action.

I have no immediate need to own it, but my curiosity surely needed to inspect it first hand. Perhaps I'll piece together a Manx of my own if I live long enough, or perhaps I'll run across the one guy out there that needs an original condition megaphone to complete his project. At which time, I'd gladly donate it. In the meantime though, I simply plan to enjoy it.

It's human nature to look at the past with fondness. Perhaps as some subconscious way that the brain blocks out negative memories or experiences. Or maybe the longing for a simpler time. In most cases, it's not 100% correct to think of things that way, as I'm sure that times were tough, regardless of what point in history you look at. But I know that riding a motorcycle has a way of blocking out everything in life. The past and the future have no relevance, as all you can do is live in the present. And even then, it's not a conscience thought, but rather a product of necessity as you're exposed to all the joy and danger of physically riding. I'm guessing that riding a Manx Norton race bike, in the heat of competition, would multiply that fact by about a million. So when the roar of the megaphone shuts off, the silence must be deafening, and you're left with just the memory...

On The Bench - Norton Dominator Hub

I've been looking for a standard Norton front hub for a little while now. They're easy enough to come by, and generally can be had for very little money. But of course, I had to make things more difficult than that. I wanted one that was vented, and I wanted the vent holes to be of a certain size, as I feel there's a certain proportion that's needed, as well as not wanting to remove too much of the casting and jeopardize it's strength. Of course I could easily have gotten a standard hub and milled it myself to the exact size I wanted. Simple enough task on a mill, but you need an indexing head and a bunch of patience. I have access to both of those things, so that should be the end of the story, right? Well, no, it isn't, because what I wanted was an original hub that was vented back in the day. A hub that some young lad back in the 1960's had done up to customize his featherbed Norton. It was fairly common practice back then for cafe racer guys to do such a modification, and while it probably has very little actual cooling affect, it certainly looks the part. And I've been sitting on this John Tickle brake plate and really wanted to go the distance in mating it to a period correct vented hub.

After and encounter with Ed Zender, owner of Morrie's Place, at the Davenport swap meet, I got to talking to him about what I was looking for. He had a vented hub at the swap meet, but it was set up with a standard Commando twin leading shoe brake plate, and there would have been no need to separate the two. And the vent holes on that hub were smaller than I was looking for. Ed told me had more vented hubs back at the shop, and we made some arrangements for me to head up that way at some point. Fast forward about 2 months, and I finally had enough time on a Saturday to make the trek north. A phone call ahead of time is always in order, and Ed agreed that he'd dig thru his parts and see if he could have something ready for me.

Upon arriving at Morrie's Place, Ed promptly placed a hub on the counter, and it was exactly what I was after. Perfect size vent holes and proportion to the hub. At least in my opinion. A price was agreed upon, and it was all mine.

My apologies for the terrible photo quality. After getting back to the garage, I was anxious to get started, and snapped these quickly.

These hubs are of course cast aluminum, and the castings are a bit rough. Which in a way, is the beauty of the piece. It sort of just is what it is. But with some elbow grease and a lot of patience, they clean up nicely.

This is the point in the post where I again emphasize NOT to bead blast these cast aluminum parts. It simply looks terrible and also opens up the already porous aluminum and makes them prone to getting dirty much quicker. If the aluminum is in way too bad of shape, or if you're the type of person that just doesn't have the time or patience, then at least do yourself a favor and send them out for vapor blasting. There's a number of places you can send these parts to have them vapor blasted for about $35, and it's much better for the part, gets them spotlessly clean and peens the pours closed so they stay nice. But, in all honestly, this is ones of those parts that you can do at home with a soft bristle wire brush.

I'll remove the bearings, clean the entire thing, polish the vented face, lace it to a wheel, skim the drum surface and then it'll be ready for action.

A special thanks to Ed for accommodating what I was looking for. If you're ever in the Northern Illinois area, or anywhere close to it for that matter, do yourself a favor and stop by. In the meantime, click the link below and get information for how to contact them.

Morrie's Place

Under the Hammer - ex Francis Beart Manx Norton

Just this last weekend, Bonham's held an auction in Stafford for what they titled "Important Collector's Motorcycles". Among the impressive line up of machines, was the ex Francis Beart 350 Manx Norton, which was reported to be raced by the likes of Joe Dunphy and Keith Heckles. In 1966, Heckles placed 2nd in the Junior TT aboard this very machine. And although it was raced again after that, 1966 was apparently it's most impressive showing. You can read the auction description which is lengthy and detailed.

Francis Beart was a well renowned tuner and many of his machines featured the now famous, pea green paint. And among other tuners of the day, he was known to stamp his initials into crank cases and other bits that he worked on. As can be seen in this photo, his initials, month and year are clearly visible.

Most collectors tend to gravitate towards the 500cc Manx Norton, and the estimate for this auction was between 40-48 grand (USD). When I first saw that, I thought that it seemed low for such a prestigious piece of British motorcycle racing history, and low and behold, it over doubled the high estimate. Machines of this nature, rarely come for sale, so I think it's a real pleasure to see it.

You can see a lot of interesting details with this bike. Upside down rear shocks, adjustable megaphone bracket, adjustable front brake fitments, custom made alloy top yoke and the list goes on and on. I encourage all to really study the details and admire what must have gone into them.

A random fact that I heard to be rumored was that Francis Beart had nicknamed the custom alloy petrol tank "Sabrina". Who knows if that's really true, but it's a cool bit of information to ponder. Things like that really give these old bikes some truly interesting history. The sheer thought and sight of them tends to take us back to a simple time. When real men rode real machines, in anger, with no regard to the importance those very machines would have half a century later. Some very wealthy, and very lucky new owner will surely enjoy this bike. Hopefully he's smart enough to bring out for others to enjoy and see.

The full listing and detailed photos can be seen here: Francis Beart Manx Norton

Hoarder versus Enthusiast

After you've spent any stretch of time interested in old motorcycles, you're bound to come across those guys that hoard things. In almost every case, those guys are hoarding parts that they have no use for, no intentions of ever using and no motorcycle that they could ever use them on. This is a phenomenon that I simply don't understand. I get the fact that people like cool stuff, they need to have spares for bikes they have, and in general, just like to be surrounded by these things. But, in reality, what's the point?

I've got a few key spare parts for bikes of mine. They're parts that generally wear out, and will need to be replaced at some point since I ride the thing. I'd personally never give someone a hard time for having spare parts. It's smart to have things like that. I also have a project bike that I'm actively building, and therefore I'm collecting the components I need to complete the project. But these are scenarios that I'm not talking about. I'm talking about the guy that just has stockpiles of parts with no home. Orphan parts piled up and tucked away in a garage, shed or basement. These parts are collecting dust and will never have get to be used. Meanwhile, there are other guys out there actively hunting for those same parts. Needing them to replace worn out originals or simply to complete the rebuild of a machine they're bringing back to life.

There's no photo to go along with this post, and maybe it's just a rant out of frustration. There are parts that I know people have right now, that I need, and they do not. Yet they're somehow not for sale. I'm not saying that people should just give things away. I think they should be sold off at a fair price so they can be used. I think the whole goal for anyone that's an enthusiast, should be to get more old bikes back onto the road.

So be honest with yourself. How many bikes can one man rebuild or restore? How many bikes have you completed over the past five years? How many could you possibly restore if you worked on them everyday for the rest of your life? What's going to happen to this stuff after you're gone? Are you an enthusiast, or a greedy hoarder?