What do you do with a half finished 2001 Buell X1 Lightning project bike? That was the question facing John Whitby when he saw it. His friend, Mark Blundell, runs a salvage yard in Canada where the owner brought the non running Buell to get it off his hands. When John and Mark later looked at the Buell, adding new plugs, a battery and some fuel, they had a runner, though still half way to somewhere only the previous owner could know. It sat in a corner for a year when John figured he could do something with it, he had visions of a cafe racer.
Buell X1 cafe racer in the Norton Manx style
Stripping the Buell down, a Lyta-style three-gallon short circuit Norton fuel tank was ordered plus an alloy oil tank and matching seat. Of course, those would never fit the Buell frame so surgery was involved, cutting away the top of the frame and rebuilding it to serve as the base for the tank and seat and creating the look of the Norton featherbed frame it was meant to emulate.
Buell X1 cafe racer in the Norton Manx style
A BMW fender, Lucas style lights, Norman Hyde handlebars, a Sportster carburetor in place of the fuel injection, lots of custom fabrication and all of the remaining Buell pieces combine to make a pretty convincing Norton Manx with some fairly obvious modern touches. In other words, you get the look of the old Norton with the handling of a modern Buell, in my mind, that’s a pretty satisfying combination and far superior to some of the repurposed Buells I’ve seen. Nice work, John!
I stumbled onto this bike, as I do so often, because it’s currently for sale on eBay. Cycle Canada has a very nice article about it, too. It seems to me, the new owner would have a pretty sweet ride and it serves as a source of ideas for anyone with an older Buell who might be tempted to rework it into something new.
By most accounts, owning a vintage Norton Commando can be a quixotic experience. For many, it’s the romantic ideal of a classic motorcycle—but you’re likely to need good spanner skills to keep the bike going. The alternative is to locate a Commando that has been subtly upgraded as well as restored, by someone such as Matt Rambow of Colorado Norton Works. Almost 100 bikes have rolled out of his workshop to date, and his mission is to “re-build the finest Norton Commando motorcycles on the planet, to match the taste and riding styles of our individual customers”.
This particular bike, #89, is a 1974 Norton—an 850cc Roadster model. And like all recent CNW bikes, it’s benefited from over a hundred upgrades. That includes a rebuilt engine with dual Keihin carbs and a thorough head job, complete with a 3-angle seat cut and Black Diamond valves. Rambow has upgraded the transmission with his own design of hydraulic clutch, and changed the primary to a belt drive. The electrics have been given a shot in the arm with a high-output alternator, tri-spark ignition and a single-coil setup. The brake system is also modernized, with a Brembo 320mm full-floating disc and a 4-piston caliper. Matt also modifies the front and rear hubs, and fits his own design of billet triple trees.
It’s the perfect compromise: the style and character of a vintage Norton, with modern dynamics and reliability. A compromise I’d be very happy to pay for.
When function defines form, the results are often spectacular. And so it is with this lovely vintage racebike, one of the stars of Cafe Racer TV. Built by four-time AHRMA National Champion Kenny Cummings of NYC Norton for Dan Rose, the bike is a modern take on the classic Seeley Mk II Norton racer. Its pedigree is perfect: for starters, the frame was hand-fabricated by Roger Titchmarsh in the UK, the only man permitted to replicate the original Colin Seeley design. And it weighs just 24lbs (10.9kg), including bearings, bushings, and chain adjusters. (Bonus: this design also allows you to remove the cylinder head and block without taking out the engine.) The Norton Commando 750 motor was assembled using racing components, and there’s hardly a lick of paint on the unfaired bike—just bare metal.
Checking the specification reveals a remarkable amount of skill and knowledge going into this build. It’s craftsmanship of the highest order, using period-correct components—like the Norvil 6-bolt racing front hub, AP Racing calipers and 70s-era Brembo brake masters. The suspension looks equally vintage, but has actually been heavily upgraded by specialists Cosentino Engineering. There are modern Showa fork internals with adjustable compression, pre-load and rebound damping. The back end is supported by Works Performance shocks.
The engine merits a whole article in itself, being full of trick parts from JS Motorsport and Steve Maney, and topped off with a Fullauto Technologies 850cc head with 33mm inlet ports.
The specs match the AHRMA vintage motorcycle racing regs for the Formula 750cc class. In essence, it means that most components are limited to those you might find on a pre-1972 GP motorcycle. Power output is around 70 hp, which is extremely good considering the regulatory restrictions and 300 lb (136 kg) weight of the bike.
Top marks to motorcycle apparel maker REV’IT! for helping to make this bike possible. The Norton also has a beautifully-designed website devoted to it—packed with information and high-quality photography. It’s one of the best motorcycle-related sites I’ve seen for a long time, and well worth a few minutes of your time. Check it out here.
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Airing only on Youtube and www.caferacertv.com, you’re watching Cafe A La Cart- a sub-series of Discovery HD Theater’s Cafe Racer TV. Interviews and behind the scenes footage of real guys just like you talking about what they love, fast, vintage Cafe Racers! See more of this cool sub-series at www.caferacertv.com today!
Buell X1 cafe racer in the Norton Manx style
Buell X1 cafe racer in the Norton Manx style
Buell X1 cafe racer in the Norton Manx style
