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The Kneeslider

Doers Builders and Positive People

Norton NSU Special – A Sleeker Mini Mammut

By Paul Crowe

Norton NSU special by Mick King
Norton NSU special by Mick King

Many of you remember the Munch Mammut, we’ve written about them several times on The Kneeslider, they were a fascinating motorcycle from the 1960s powered by an NSU auto engine. Very impressive engineering at the time but they looked a little ponderous, after all, that 4 cylinder engine wasn’t designed to fit into a motorcycle, what would you expect?

A few days ago, Mick King sent me a note from British Columbia, Canada, with some info and photos of a Norton special he put together in the early 1970s. What makes this Norton stand out is the powerplant, it’s a 1000cc air cooled inline 4 cylinder NSU auto engine, shades of the Munch Mammut, but this Norton seems anything but huge, actually, the engine fits in there quite well and it’s testament to Mick’s engineering that with the Norton transmission behind it, wouldn’t look out of place in any late 70s or early 80s era superbike.

Norton NSU primary side
Norton NSU primary side

Mick worked for an NSU dealership in England back in the 60s when he first saw the air cooled fours. He thought they would make a pretty impressive motorcycle engine, but it was little more than a dream at the time. A few years later, he moved to Canada and saw quite a few of those NSU cars driving around and very able to reach 100mph, his dreams of engine transplants returned and he began planning. He obtained the frame from a 1968 Norton Atlas, had it shotblasted to ready it for the project and started lining things up.

Norton NSU by Mick King
Norton NSU by Mick King

Mounting the engine in the frame went much more smoothly than he had anticipated, unfortunately, mounting the transmission was another story altogether, requiring switching the transmission around and driving it from the opposite side. A Kawasaki distributor was then modified to work in reverse rotation and the kick starter was reworked, as well.

Norton NSU transmission
Norton NSU transmission

The old NSU engine was rebuilt with all of the updates the auto engines had received up until that time. The forks and rear shocks were swapped for Commando units and a seat from a Norton Interstate was installed which seemed a better visual fit than the original.

Test fitting the Norton transmission
Test fitting the Norton transmission

Mick says that even with all of the modifications to the engine and a new ignition, the bike fired up on the first kick, which surprised everyone. He quickly ran through some carb adjustments to smooth it out, hopped on the bike and took it for a maiden run.

The eventual top speed of the bike was 125 mph. The 1000cc engine runs 4 Amal concentric carbs, 10.5:1 compression and puts out 70 horsepower. It may not be a lot by today’s standards, but back in the early 70s, that was a very impressive beast, not to mention the overall build which took a lot of initiative and ingenuity. The whole project took only around eight months from start to finish working part time!

The Norton NSU looks a lot more nimble than the Munch Mammut and is currently on display at Trev Deely’s motorcycle museum in Vancouver.

Nice work, Mick and thanks for sharing!

Posted on January 27, 2011 Filed Under: Motorcycle Builders, Vintage Motorcycles


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Comments

  1. Andy says

    January 27, 2011 at 12:45 pm

    Very nice installation, the only thing I am not sure about is the tank badge, look’s a bit Nazi.

    • rob says

      January 29, 2011 at 7:18 pm

      The German eagle goes back a long way before Nazism.
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of_Germany

  2. Ken says

    January 27, 2011 at 1:19 pm

    Makes me wonder what I could have done with the engine out of a Geo Metro…

    • Thom says

      February 1, 2011 at 6:47 pm

      I second that!

  3. Scotduke says

    January 27, 2011 at 1:26 pm

    Interesting, looks a bit like a Commando from the side. It certainly looks a lot less bulky than the old Munch Mammut too.

  4. Phoebe says

    January 27, 2011 at 2:08 pm

    Very nice conversion.

  5. todd says

    January 27, 2011 at 3:24 pm

    He must have kicked himself when the Z1 came out three months after he finished.

    -todd

  6. Bob Nedoma says

    January 27, 2011 at 9:17 pm

    O.K. I’ll go by the museum to have a closer look. What I want to know is this:
    What does it take in B.C. to licence a bike like this, or any other “one of” builds, to legaly ride the public roads. Anyone knows?

    • aaron says

      February 13, 2011 at 2:15 pm

      just need to pass an icbc inspection, and it needs to meet the regulations applied during the original bikes era. (ie no signals required on old enough bikes, etc)

  7. woolyhead says

    January 27, 2011 at 9:58 pm

    Quite impressive……shows both skill and perseverance . If one doesn’t like these types of bikes you’re not close to being an aficianado (sp?) There are youngsters that whole motorcycling experience revolves around boy racers…….there’s still room for everyone .

  8. Eric says

    January 28, 2011 at 11:27 am

    I had the pleasure of seeing a Munch Mammut in person at last year’s Daytona classic bike auction. I didn’t get a chance to sit on it, let alone ride it, but in person they don’t appear nearly as imposing as you might be led to believe. Ye, the engine is a big old lump, and along with the stout chassis I’m sure it’s a heavy bike. But in person it looks relatively compact… there’s nothing about it’s appearance that suggests it would be intimidating to ride.

    • Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" says

      January 28, 2011 at 11:43 am

      That was the same impression I had when I saw one of Mike Kron’s beautiful replica Mammuts at Mid Ohio in 2009. Smaller than you would think. They just seem to look huge in photos, but standing next to one, not so much.

      • Paulinator says

        January 28, 2011 at 12:21 pm

        I was thinking the same thing about the 2.5 litre bike from the previous post. In the video it doesn’t look monstrous.

  9. Peter says

    January 31, 2011 at 12:51 am

    When Mammuts came out I was in the throes of passion with British 500s and 650s. I thought the idea of a thumping big four cylinder, 1200ccs no less, was just the most absurd idea. Lots of big carburettors and all that stuff about Elektron wheels and chassis parts to get the weight down just compounded the folly.

    Now, as I swing my leg over my Honda CB1300 Four, and take for granted the logic of big, smooth, torquey fours, I guess I’ve come to terms with the Mammut after all! But give me liquid cooling, fuel injection, great brakes…

    Peter, Brisbane, Australia

  10. mechtech retired says

    February 4, 2011 at 10:16 pm

    PLEASE NOTE!
    TREV DEELEYS MUSEUM IN VANCOUVER BC CANADA -HAVE NOW ALLEGEDLY TOSSED OUT! ALL OF THE CLASSIC ENGLISH AND EUROPEAN / VINTAGE BIKES INCLUDING THE ABOVE NORTON~NSU 1000 FROM THERE MAIN FLOOR! IN ORDER TO SHOW MAINLY (NORTH AMERICAN) BIKES! SOO ANY OF YOU GUYS PLANNING A TRIP! OUT THIS WAY MIGHT WISH TO RECONSIDER.

    • todd says

      February 4, 2011 at 11:47 pm

      hmm, a revolving exhibit of bikes perhaps. I checked the dumpster out back and it’s empty. Dang.

      -todd

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