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The Kneeslider

Doers Builders and Positive People

Belt Drive Norton Featherbed Cafe Racer

By Paul Crowe

Norton belt drive cafe racer by Jean Des Rosiers
Norton belt drive cafe racer by Jean Des Rosiers

Canadian Jean Des Rosiers knows his way around Nortons and thought we would like to see his slightly different take on a Norton cafe racer, he added some of his own ideas and the result is this very nice looking Norton 850. Besides all of the other detail work, he added some features you can’t get from a catalog or swap meet, Jean designed and fabricated both the primary and secondary drives with belts. Neat!

He documented the entire process in an extensive photo blog. Take a slow cruise through the images and you’ll appreciate what a great job he did. Just because you’re building a bike others have built doesn’t mean you have to do what they did. Very nice, Jean!

Norton belt drive cafe racer by Jean Des Rosiers
Norton belt drive cafe racer by Jean Des Rosiers

Link: Jean’s photo blog

Posted on January 8, 2010 Filed Under: Motorcycle Builders, Vintage Motorcycles


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Comments

  1. SteveD says

    January 8, 2010 at 11:03 am

    I worked at a soda fountain in a drugstore when I was young (14-19). The other guy was about 4 years older than me and bought a Norton 750(I think) commando. I saw the whole process and of course saw the bike a lot once he got it. This was really my first experience with motorcycles so Nortons always look “right” to me. I think this is why I’ve always leaned toward Triumphs and Sportsters as they have the same “feel”.

  2. Jon W. says

    January 8, 2010 at 11:59 am

    Great bike! I know our members will like this. Sending them your way for a read.

  3. David/cigarrz says

    January 8, 2010 at 12:04 pm

    What a gorgeous bike, very well done.

  4. Boog says

    January 8, 2010 at 12:14 pm

    Good idea, changing over to belt drive. The old Nortons (mine at least) had a problem with the primary chain cover leaking oil, mainly due to there being only one bolt in the center of the cover holding it in place and a big rubber gasket around the perimeter. But, back then, toothed belt drives were in their infancy, used mostly for blower drives on drag rails. I don’t know who was first responsible for belt drives on bikes (well, come to think of it I had a friend that had a Whizzer that used a V-belt drive), but seriously, folks…

    Nice looking Cafe…hard to beat this classic style…

  5. John says

    January 8, 2010 at 12:29 pm

    Very nice job.I wonder about vibration as unless I missed it, it is a solid mount motor.

  6. Gitan says

    January 8, 2010 at 12:31 pm

    Waow ! Terrific work.
    I liked the poor man milling machine (wonderfull work done with it), the tank which suffer but still going and, the new fork crown nut all these sort of things…

    Un cousin avec la clavicule gauche dans le sac également 😉

  7. Al says

    January 8, 2010 at 1:08 pm

    Nice looking Norton! I agree, they will always look “right.”
    Boog, FWIW, the “modern” toothed belt drive came to the marketplace in the mid-eighties on Harleys. They put the new aramid fiber reinforced belts on the primary and secondary drives like Jean did here in his Norton. Quiet, reliable, no lube/no leaks. Before that it was all nylon/rayon belts, which were not stiff enough to hold their profile under the large torque ripple of the big twin.
    I know because at the time I went out to the belt manufacturer in Denver to look at the belts, sprockets & tooling for drives on automated guided vehicles; AGVs don’t like oil leaks either, it really messes with their guidance systems when they get oil on the tires!

  8. Rosscoe says

    January 8, 2010 at 1:29 pm

    Very nice work Jean ~ very nice indeed ! ! !

  9. Walt says

    January 8, 2010 at 2:29 pm

    I LOVE the neat cutaway look of the front brake backing plate stays, rear brake lever and the like. Distinctive and well integrated, since the same design is used throughout. Excellent work!

  10. powermatic says

    January 8, 2010 at 2:49 pm

    Beautifully designed and meticulously realized. My only quibbles are that the belt drive looks oddly out of place to my eye, and I’d have the tach front-and-center with the speedo doing secondary duty (and a much smaller, bicycle-type electronic speedo), but those are just personal style issues that bear no reflection on this great build. Congratulations on what was obviously a labor of love.

  11. todd says

    January 8, 2010 at 3:28 pm

    The Cafe Racer style works well in this application. Otherwise your foot would get stuck under the primary cover without rearsets.

    Really nice work. I would have left all the chains and devised a better primary cover seal (the primary cover on my AJS 18CS leaks too…) but that’s just me.

    -todd

  12. Secaman says

    January 8, 2010 at 8:32 pm

    Nice work. Love the new Nortons now made in UK. Yours is trick.

  13. Hellcat Boss says

    January 8, 2010 at 10:59 pm

    It’s hard not to feel the love when viewing the photographs; I am moved by the build. An heirloom book for family members awaits to be printed with all the photographs to be sure. Ace Cafe, in London anyone?

  14. WRXr says

    January 8, 2010 at 11:47 pm

    Don’t mean to be a downer, but have Cafe Racers become the new Chopper? I think so.

    Don’t get me wrong, I like them…I have one…but it just seems to be the new fad in customizing.

  15. steve w says

    January 9, 2010 at 12:04 am

    very nice work! I don’t think Cafe Racers or Streetrackers are the new fad or will ever approach the number of choppers or bobbers but it is really nice to see a a nice cross section of machinery.

  16. Scotduke says

    January 9, 2010 at 4:56 am

    Nice, cafe racers are very much ‘in’ here in Europe and there are far more on the roads than bobbers or choppers. You should see the parking area at the Ace Cafe. This would fit right in.

  17. FREEMAN says

    January 9, 2010 at 5:03 am

    Another beautiful build. The photo blog was a great inspiration. The collar bone patch job… looks like it hurt like hell. Lots of love and sweat and blood went into this bike and it shows.

  18. Matt S. says

    January 9, 2010 at 8:51 am

    I wish that cafe racers would become the new choppers,I am so sick of those 18″ wide rear tires and 8′ long forks,give me a bike that I can ride somewhere other than in a straight line.

  19. Walt says

    January 9, 2010 at 10:00 am

    I agree you, Matt. Cafe racers, their elder cousins (bobbers) and their later descendents, streetfighters, all have a practical side: they work. I’m personally not in love with drop bars, but otherwise love the style.

  20. vincent says

    January 10, 2010 at 10:21 am

    Jean
    C’est vraiment un sacré boulot que tu as fais, le pire c’est que l’on ne voit rien !
    Je t’ai programmé sur le blog courant Janvier
    Meilleurs voeux 2010
    Vincent

  21. Buck Norton says

    January 10, 2010 at 1:36 pm

    Jean;
    The thought at the back of my mind through all these pictures was why you solved problems we had all encountered so long ago. The last picture with the coin in the tack drive (I used nickels) and its caption solved it all. You’ve been there all along…
    Salute’!
    Buck

  22. Thruxton-Texas says

    January 11, 2010 at 12:22 pm

    Excellent craftsmanship and design work! Hiding the horn under the seat hump is an idea worth copying on my Yamaha RD400 project; it will utilize the wasted space under the Norton Manx style seat that I plan to use. I also like your Licence plate bracket……James.

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