Ship it out

Sold!! I had an offer from a guy in Madison that I really liked. He offered me cash plus his 1975 R60/6 in a box. I will elaborate on the R60 later but I thought that this was a really cool deal in that I had boxes of parts a couple of weeks ago and then I put it all together and now I have the cash that I need so badly and I have boxes of parts too! Well, my enthusiasm will be crushed later but today is a good day.

Wrap it up

Installing the instrument cluster, the headlight, adding fluids, adjusting things, double checking nuts and bolts, . . . . . finishing touches. I have video that is dated April 18 that is of the first start-up and alley test ride but I was still finishing things like wiring and such up until this day.

I had an issue with the shock absorbers; they would collapse as I was riding until the fender was into the tire. When I parked it they would slowly extend. This is not good. I swapped them out with a used pair that worked a little better.

Upgrade instrument cluster

This bike came without any speedo or tach; no instrument cluster at all. Way back when we located and won an eBay unit from Germany. This is a newer type with an electronic tach instead of the mechanical cable driven one. That is not a problem; it can be converted easily enough. What I didn't think about was the way that the indicating lights had been rearranged, both physically and electrically. At first I thought that I would just rewire it in the headlight shell. Nope, the plug from the instrument cluster goes straight into the main wiring harness. I cut the cable about a foot down from the plug and rewired it there by solder splicing them back together. That worked nicely.


Then I ran a separate wire the ended outside the cluster in an automotive connector. I hooked this up to a wire that I ran to the points wire on the coils. Now I have an electronic tach.

Initial start up

Off the stand

What is this? Competition??


It was really easy for me to put this frame on the stand all by myself but it is much heavier now. Had to use the hoist to lower it off the stand. I am such a wimp.

So now I can get the header, muffler and foot controls on.
Also, notice that Paul painted the "R75/6" badge on the starter cover. That made a big difference in blending the black to aluminum.

Handlebar is on ... or is it?

No, it is not. Another snafu. I was going to use these "S" bars but didn't realize that they will hit the tank if using the stock /6 triple tree top plate. These are coming back off and I will have to use the USA bar that I have; can't afford to buy the Euro bars that I would like to see on here.

Two wheeled motorcycle

The tank and seat are just set in place for conceptualization.
For the full black on black I was thinking of using the flat air filter assembly from the eighties. That is not going to happen. I didn't realize that the /6 tank's petcocks are placed differently than the newer ones and interfere with the air filter assembly. So, I am defaulting to the cast aluminum stock air filter assembly and starter cover.

It is really beginning to look like a motorcycle now.
Rear wheel is on.
Installed turn signals and taillight.

That is not a gray ghost in the background, that is the Norton all covered up.

Keep it up.

Fenders and front wheel.
I am pleased to see that the 17mm axle is working out just fine.
I am beginning to see the black on black come together.
It is bugging me that my photography sucks; there is a Norton Atlas that is cluttering up the picture in the background along with a bunch of other junk.

I mean it this time.

On go the triple tree, front forks, headlight shell with the wiring harness, coils, relays, ... pretty good days work, starting to build momentum here.

On with it

Organize, on the stand and attach the sub-frame. Now that there is a sub-frame we can attach the rear fork, drive shaft and shocks.