Japan Meets Britain

G-Man · Post by **G-Man** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 4:48 pm

Vince

I think those are rubber gaiters on the forks. The wheels are the 'wrong way around' for a Norton so the original bike would have had a left hand chain guard an and the front brake stay would be on the right.

I like the way it all fits well together. The Honda engine looks nicely balanced in there. I think that I would have done something different with the gas tank but it really is a very nice job.

The only thing that would make it better is to replace the CB72 with a Laverda SF engine.....

Perhaps the kickstart is there for cosmetic purposes?The owner said that it was built for peanuts but that 5-speeder must have been expensive even in the 1960s.

G

teazer · Post by **teazer** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 10:22 pm

Good point Vince. That must be a 4 speed or he left the kicker on for visual effect. The only 5 speed back then was race kit and they were usually hard to find and expensive. That doesn't mean he didn't know someone who got him one at the right price of course.

Interestingly, the motor doesn't look as lost as Dave Simmond's CR motor in a featherbed.

GORDON BROWN · Post by **GORDON BROWN** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 7:58 am

Hello everybody

The old bike in the picture could be a 5 speeder with a kickstart, as far as I know the old Honda race boxes allow you to still use the starter. Mind you you would have to put up with the high first gear etc. but then people were running Gold Stars and the like with high gearing at the time.

Gordon

SAFOJ

G-Man · Post by **G-Man** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 2:32 pm

Hi Teazer

I was think about the comparison with Dave Simmonds CR. Maybe it's because of the bigger gas tank and the 'oil tank' filling up the gaps. It really does look good though.

G

teazer · Post by **teazer** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 7:22 pm

Gordon from my Auld Reekie,

I used to love Edinburgh when I was there at Edinburgh Uni all those years ago. I used to enjoy walking along the Portobello beach in winter with no tourists.

That's possible. I checked the parts lists and it's not clear one way or the other on that.

G_man,
I think it's the fact that the street version had more side cover "stuff" around the motor filling up space. Dave S's CR had an engine sitting in there on its lonesome.

Vince Lupo · Post by **Vince Lupo** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 4:46 pm

Went for a short ride today after a four week hiatus -- beautiful weather for early March! Bike wanted to go go go, and it screamed down the road with reckless abandon. The new Heidenau tires seemed fine, but of course the real test will be on the wet roads, so stay tuned for that.

Wish it could have been a longer run today, but dinner was calling......next weekend maybe!

jensen · Post by **jensen** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:39 am

Hi Vince,

The Heidenau tires will do fine in the rain, as the do in general situations.
Reason why I shifted to modern tires is (the the BT45 for example), the overall handling.

Don't get me wrong, the Heidenau 's aren't bad, but these tires are missing something compared to the BT45. btw, the Heidenau 's are widely available here, and cheap too.

There are some advantages living in ancient Europe after all,

Jensen

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Japan Meets Britain

5 speed Horton ?