Nelder Norton FF LHS, horizontal seat, 2-up mode
In this photo you can clearly see the rim disc front brake in the Foale-style steering. It also shows the seat in conventional 'Head First' position with room for 2.
Jan describes the bike in its current condition as follows: "It's a rolling chassis/un-rebuilt engine/gearbox, in order to check brakes and suspension at up to 10 mph on the gently sloping road outside house. Next stages include engine rebuild, designing and having made 2 pannier fuel tanks, wiring, etc to get it road legal, then bodywork eventually, for which Royce has given me some very good guidance by email. As for the "ancient" motor----well, it's the newest Commando of the original Norton model you can get, with uprated starter motor, and has probably done about 15k miles from new. You can also easily get every single part of a Commando off the shelf, including good CDI ignition at reasonable prices, and will still be able to in 10 years time ( I suspect), which is very unusual amongst vehicles, never mind one made 40 years ago.
The bike retains the improved 1975 Isolastic rubber engine mounts, which work very well, and can be adjusted ( when infrequently required) in 15minutes without special tools."
Photo: Jan Nelder
seat
it was not designed as a two person vehicle, right from the start. The seat was bought like that and was shortened later, as a backrest was incorporated into the rear bodywork. The lower seat was also later changed for a modified BMW GS80 seat, which happily included a front extension which covered rear of hottish oil tank, and much more padding! ( oil tank, not shown, sits above cylinder head)
Below the front axle, the lower ball joint can just be seen. On the original Foale upright it was on a line from top of steered upright to axle, but I wanted to provide a steering bearing there to avoid stiction in the large balljoint, so ball joint was moved rearward, under the double ball bearing tube added. This reduces trail significantly, to a bit over 2 inches, similar to the Creasey Voyager figure. 2020: have increased trail by increasing angle of steered upright, but still needs more, which requires a shorter top A arm above wheel.