Colin Will sent us the information below
about what is undoubtedly an outstanding bike.
The bike is very special. It was built in 1964 by Keith Corish and
raced by his very good friend Eric Debenham all over Australia until 1971 when
he sold it to Lindsay Norris who then stored it for nearly thirty years and then
sold it through one of the bike mags here in early 2002.
I was just reading the magazine after it was out for about 3 weeks and rang the
guy and it was still for sale.
Unbelievable as it is probably one of the most important bikes in Australia's
motor sport history.
Anyway after a lot of haggling I was lucky enough to buy it (there was a lot of
interest from the USA as they wanted it to try on the Salt!)
I bought it sight unseen for a lot of money and was a little concerned as far as
I knew it was just like it was when sold to him, read F****d as it was a race
bike.
It arrived and was pleasantly surprised as Lindsay had Terry Prince (Sydney)
rebuild the bike over a period of ten years so the photo in the mag didn't do
justice to it.
We have spent the last two years getting it back to race worthy condition as
there is a big difference from looking good to actually winning!
The first time out we did fastest time at the Geelong sprints (2002) for a
classic and have been consistently in the top four with the latest being 3 out
of 3 wins in October at the Southern Classic.
In fact that meeting was incredible as we were having all sorts of bother with
the clutch and gearbox and we had to start two races from pit lane and wait
until all the riders were away and we still won by about 200 yards.
The third race we were on pole and won by 3/4 of a lap. Fourth race and the
gearbox gave up.
It has been an interesting two-three years of getting race experience and
getting the bike reliable?
The bike in it's heyday in the 60's must have been an incredible sight as it was
timed down Con Rod Straight (Bathurst) at over 160 mph breaking the lap record
constantly during that meeting.
For
two years at Phillip Island the engine was misfiring at the end of Gardner
straight and was told it was carburation. We spent an awful lot time and money rebuilding the carbs etc. with no success.
I contacted Tony at BT-H magnetos after being let down by a magneto built here in Australia.
The transformation was incredible. The engine revs freely all through the range,
nearly idles?? and there is no maintenance at all which is why I wanted it in
the first place.
The engine destroyed itself in May at Winton after the timing side main bearing
let go which let the main shaft break at the crankshaft which let the whole
assembly move left and destroyed the drive side bearing assembly.
That was a little depressing as it happened during the first practice session on
the Friday. Since rebuilding the motor, changing the carburation and twin
plugging the heads it has transformed the bike into a winning combination.
The problem now is the gearbox and clutch can't take the power and these
problems are being addressed hopefully this week with heavy duty parts.
The engine is a little over 998cc and has been slightly modified. It runs Tony's
BT-H magneto and has Dellorto carburettors. It is on 10.5 –1 compression and is on
Methanol.
This will change as we get the power to the ground more consistently. I want to
be able to get it the stage where we don't have to worry about what will break
next.
At the October meeting everything was breaking even the fairing mounts broke.
The reason is as you go faster, there is a different scale.
I am really looking forward to the January meeting at Phillip Island as this
will be the first time we will have correct carburation, correct gearing (don't
go there!) and correct ignition.
Last but not least is the rider. Clive Harrop is an A grader and it's due to his
perseverance we are doing so well.
He is ever the optimist and never gets upset or flustered when things go wrong
and never takes it on the bike which is all you can ask. And he is faster than
me!
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Colin
Will's Own Norvin Webpage
BT-H
Magnetos Ltd.
