Newsletter
March 2010
Newsletter
March 2010
A
Glimmer of Sunshine!
After what
has been a very long winter the sun is at last starting to show through and
warm up. Not before time I may add, I suspect the cold weather has kept many of
you out of the garage as well (unless you are lucky enough to have a heated
garage). Two weeks ago I visited Applecross (in the car) for a weekend, it was
the first time in my life I had seen the inland loch’s completely frozen over,
Loch Lagan, Garry and Clunie looked like something from the ice age (I know
some of you probably remember that!) Only when I reached further West and the
sea Lochs did the frozen landscape melt. Hopefully it’ll be a good while before
we see that again.
Time then to get your bikes polished up and
serviced ready for the many miles ahead this spring and summer.
Last
weekend ( 14th of March) we had our first lunch meeting at the
Killin Hotel and I was very pleased with the turnout. Six Nortons (5 Commando’s
and George on the Rotary) and Sandy on his 500 Matchless made up the Classic
contingent whilst the rest of our 14 strong team were on assorted Japanese and
Italian Machinery. Good effort from all who came along. Excitement (apart from
Norton watching) was provided by the Royal Navy Air Sea Rescue guys dropping in
for lunch, they parked their Helicopter in a nearby field but never got to eat
as they had to scramble to pick up an Injured climber on Ben Nevis. The one
thing we all noticed was how long it took from the guys getting into the
chopper and getting the engines starting, maybe they flooded it! Maybe it would
have started easier with a Mikuni, or perhaps the electric start wasn’t working
and they had problems kicking it!!
Those of
the team who came up via Crieff had a very dry run and arrived with bikes gleaming,
those that came up via Aberfeldy had wet roads from the melting snow and had
some cleaning to do! John H Emailed me the next day to say he and Phil had
Norton Cleaning on the agenda as the salt was caked thick onto the bikes when
they got back. A good day out and one that must be repeated, and on that
note…..
Weekend
meeting Rogart Railway Carriages April 10th
The next
event on our Calendar is a night away at Rogart staying in the Railway
Carriages. There are 3 railway carriages each sleeping
eight and one sleeping four,
totalling twenty beds. Each carriage has full self-catering facilities,
lounge and showers/toilets. Sleeping compartments have two beds. There is ample
parking alongside Rogart has a well stocked shop, post office, pub/restaurant
and garage.
Please
call and book yourselves in if interested, mention the NOC and let me know if
you are intending going. The Contact details for Rogart are]
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Phone: |
01408 641 343 |
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Email: |
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Post: |
Rogart Station, |
Also
on the horizon
Scottish
Classic Club Gathering Glenfarg Hotel, Glenfarg 25th April
Heid o
the Glen Rally May 29th – 31st
A combined
Sidecar and Classic Rally organised by Norrie Milton at Glen Clova, well worth
a visit, contact Norrie on Norman.milton@tesco.net
for details
BBA Café
Racer meeting near Waregem Belgium 6th June
More
details at http://users.telenet.be/bba-meeting/nl%20frameset.htm
And don’t
forget to start thinking about the Begonia Rally on 27 -30th of
August in
The other
events (National , International and Norton day) are well advertised and you should be aware
of the dates and details, if not contact me.
Hopefully George will provide me with a list of local events
he has pencilled in for the next newsletter.
NOC AGM
The Club
AGM will be held at the National Motorcycle museum on the 18th of
April.
With many
changes being mooted including the possibility of a paid officer this will be a
critical year for the club. The Current Chairman Chris Grimmet is standing down
and after much talk and discussion I have proposed Peter Cocks as the next Chairman.
Peter intends standing for just one year (at the moment) to use his skills to
guide the club through the various proposals that will be put before the AGM
this year, I have known Peter for a long time (indeed Peter came up on the
first night we ever had a Tay Valley Branch meeting to help get the ball
rolling) and trust he is the right man for the job.
From
the Shed!
Landsdowne
Damper kit
I ordered a
couple of sets (one for Alex) just before Christmas and after some teething
troubles have got mine fitted and working. Basically it’s a case of taking out
the internals out of your forks and replacing them with the kit supplied by
Landsdowne engineering, the only external difference is the new Fork top nuts
have the damping adjustment built in; one leg does compression and one rebound.
Last weekend was a 200 mile test run for them, it appears to have helped the
front end ride the bumps better, I replaced everything else at the same time (Stanchions,
bushes, seals etc) so will give them a 1000 miles to “run in” before I start
playing too much with the settings. Anything that makes a Commando more
comfortable on long journeys is worth a try I think. I’ll keep you updated.
David
Templeton is making
good progress on the Smokey Joe rebuild after his catastrophic engine failure
near
And
Finally
I got
myself an early 71 fastback a couple of weeks ago, passed its MOT test last
Friday so just another few things to do now following the test ride, change
the 19 tooth gearbox sprocket, sort out
the clutch and the isolastics and then it’ll be fine to go! The engine was
rebuilt by the late Charlie Pirie a few years ago and the crank Dynamically
balanced, the Iso’s appear to be running with no clearance, fine for a racing
bike but I like the front and back end being held together with only a rubber
band! Taking it for its test last week I was having treble vision with the
vibes and no it wasn’t the drink!
And
Finally Finally
Still no
sign of bikes flooding out of the Norton Factory at Donnington, only the sound
of silence!!!
The Small Print
The views and opinions contained within this
publication are not necessarily those of the NOC or of the branch but are
probably mine as I wrote it.
No one accepts any responsibility for anything,
if you have a good time don't say I didn't warn you.
Gino Rondelli