Back at it

The riding season is over, the BMW is put away, the leaves are raked and the other household projects are under control. It's back to Dissembling Trixie.

Small Progress

After several weeks of looking at Trixie in the garage, I finally had a couple of hours to continue the disassembly. The good news is that the spring service is complete in the Dakar and I've gotten out for a couple of day rides.

Joinery

The other day I had a couple of hours and continued the dismantling of the Norton. Most of this involved removal of the electrical, so much marking of wires and note taking transpired. Often when I come across a vehicle of interest or a piece of furniture, my eyes are drawn to how it is joined together. If it is furniture, are the drawers dove tailed, hand or machine cut. How are the corners of the cases joined, etc.

For restored automobiles, it is how do the panels fit, are they level relative to the others and are the gaps uniform. On motorcycles, it is the welds of the frame. Up till now I've mostly looked at Trixie from the point of view of what the bike needed and what I want the finished product to be, but as I spend more time with the bike, I'm seeing and learning more about it.

I'm impressed by the quality of the welds where the frame was modified, the builder was skilled.

Small Progress

Another hour became available and I dismantled much of the ignition system. Among the best advice is taking many pictures, before and during the dismantling. This was true even in the days of film cameras, but digital photography and the ability to print at home, allows you to take the picture and mark up the print as you proceed.

Undoubtedly, I'm among the last to discover this but I still appreciate the ability.

Oh, it Should be So Easy

For the first time in a couple of weeks, I was able to find an hour to begin the marking and removal of the electrical systems, starting with the tail light and blinkers. Having only the hour, there wasn't time to warm the garage, so I bundled up to pull and mark wires in the balmy 25 degree space.

Next step will be to remove the coils and ignition system and then remove the cylinder head to get an idea of what lies in those dark holes.

Today at the Local Beach

Alas, not much has been accomplished on Trixie, life and responsibilities, ugh.

A front has been pushing through over the last couple of days pushing the temperatures into the 50's even 60's. Last night a strong storm passed with the typical effect on the ground swell. A couple of hours before this picture was taken the surf was a mushy mess, then the wind shifted to the SW and the waves smoothed out and the lips held up. Surfers should have been happy.

A Small Start

The other night I had a spare hour and took the opportunity to remove the gas tank and tail light assembly. I've also had an opportunity to spend some quality time examining the shop manuals and have decided to remove the drive train as a unit to begin the examination of the condition of the engine and transmission.

Next step is to mark and remove all the ignition wiring and systems.

Jim

Today on the Local Beach

Normally the local beach looks some thing like this...

But today it looked like this...

This is the result of mixing seawalls with powerful storms. Sandy did the initial damage and last week's Nor'easter simply stripped away the remaining sand. Interestingly some of the missing sand was deposited a mile or so to the south on a section of beach that typically has only rip-rap.

Jim

Why name the Norton Trixie?

The first bike I named was my F650 Dakar, which received the sobriquet Crisco, as in Fat in the Can for the bikes appearance when fitted with aluminum panniers.

Casting about for a name for the Norton, I thought of the Jackie Gleason sit com from the 1950's, the Honeymooners, and remembered Gleason's on air buddy was named Norton, but I couldn't remember the first name. A quick look up showed that Norton's name was Ed and that his wife's was Trixie and that Trixie was a former burlesque performer. Norton: "Every night I'd meet her backstage and hand her a rose ... It was her costume!" My Norton will lose some parts during its revival and it will be entertaining, so why not Trixie, the name is more interesting than Ed.

Jim

Progress Report

The only progress on Trixie has been the receipt of a set of Whitworth sockets, work and finishing a kitchen project have been a priority. But I have given some thought the direction the the revival will take.

The first task is to get the head off and evaluate the condition of that and the cylinder, which I expect will need work. Hopefully the bottom end is still bathed in 20 year old oil, but its not leaking and being British, that's a concern.

The bike will be fully disassembled the subsystems, brake cylinders, wheel & steering head bearing etc, will be rebuilt. I'll replace the wiring harness and electrical components, figuring it is better to start fresh than trouble shoot the old.

The gauges and switch gear are intact but with a broken lens on the tach and the fact that Trixie was left outside for several years, its doubtful that they work. By the way, there are 18,847 miles on the bike, maybe. I'll likely be evaluating replacement gauges and switch gear. Suggestions welcome.

I know this is stock, but it will go.

Depending the the choice of direction, mostly stock or lightly modified I expect to replace

the out of scale tail light and turn signals with something more discreet. Did Euro & UK bikes have different tail light assemblies?

It would be interesting to replace the headlamp with a bi-xenon or LED unit. More light and

less draw on the electrical system. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated?

Jim