Thanks for the nice words Martyn. The '73 Norton Roadster is a first year 850. The stock silver painted barrel is the tip-off. I bought that bike in 1980 and sold it to a collector on the west coast in Sept of '03. In retrospect, I kind of regret selling it, but the bike was due for a major overhaul and I just didn't have it in me.
I bought the Meriden Bonnie with the money I recieved for the Norton from my brother (Brit-Iron runs in the family) with just 5200 original miles on it. New top end and new rear brake cylinder were all it needed to get it on the road. Non-original parts include: Boyer electornic ignition (tired of adjusting points on the side of the road), Japanese Dunlop K70 knock-offs (Dunlops no longer made in England) and Chinese knock-off silencers (I couldn't find originals at the time I was looking). Paint scheme is '79 (Black/Silver) and should be Pacific (Polychrome)Blue/Ice White. If I run across $500 US I may job the tank out to original color scheme.
Work to be done this winter includes: Replace the single-phase stator with a 3-phase (US laws require headlights on at all times and Triumph didn't accomodate this until '79), rebuild the rear wheel (off-set is incorrect and the tire is off-center left), and replace the speedo drive and cable (speedometer bounces all around, quite common for the old Smith's I'm afraid).
Hope someday to own a Bonnie America or Speedy, so I've kept up with this very fine site for the last couple of years.
If you're interested in the older Brit classics, may I suggest:
http://www.classicbike.net/mx/It's full of Blokes, Aussies, and Kiwis discussing the older bikes with plenty of great pictures.
Regards,
