Today was a good day.  We had master fabricator and bicycle craftsman Seth Rosko of Rosko Cycle Company come to the shop and mock up an exhaust system for the Seeley NRE.  Dave Nourish is very specific with his lengths and diameters, and to keep the tuned lengths out of the way of the rider, each side will be tucked behind the frame rails, which will require some scalloping of corners of the beautiful oil tank.  Seth is the man for the job, and after an hour of cutting and fitting of pipes he had a good mockup in place, meeting all the necessary dimensions.  Look at that megga! It can be said here, with great certainty, that this bike is going to roar.  Lock up your daughters and batten the hatches.

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Seen here are two of the finest racing bikes in the world – A Minnovation Seeley 750, and a Minnovation Seeley G50.
Click for detail.

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Stay tuned for more on this great adventure as it unfolds.

When a project gets moving, sometimes it takes a while for it to show its character.  When we built up the motor for this bike, it was built around a good cam, porting, carbs, etc.  It was a race motor alone on the bench.  As we started to build up the bike around it, the function started steering the form.

With the PW3 cam and the ported head it was clear a good exhaust would be necessary.  During a shop visit one day, owner Peter Billow looked at a few of the race bikes within and asked about the idea of a Maney exhaust.  Certainly not unheard of for a street bike, but off the menu, for sure.  But we know by now that Steve Maney’s exhaust and the PW3 care are the perfect marriage, fantastic for mid-range, the power band where a street bike is used most.

I can never get enough of looking at this motor.

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The NRE 750 motor has some unusual spacing dimensions, so careful alignment is in order.  Shims and custom spacers are used to get everything in its proper place.  It all starts with getting the motor and gearbox aligned in the chassis.  Then, the clutch must align with the crank pulley.  Spacer there, moving it outboard a bit for true belt run.  Then onto gearbox-to-rear sprocket alignment.

A very handy laser alignment tool aids in locating the rear hub to its proper place for a perfect chain-run to the countershaft sprocket.  Easy and accurate, but after all this, chain-to-tire clearance can be an issue, especially when running 130mm-width tires.

We had the clearance necessary without much ado.  If not, the next solution would have been to move the countershaft sprocket outboard, or perhaps an even more radical solution; moving the drive-side engine plate outboard by spacing between the motor and drive side plate, while keeping the gearbox flush to the DS plate, but spacing equal amounts between the gearbox and timing side plate.
We’ve done it before, but again, it was not necessary in this build.  Fortunately.

After a full day of alignment tasks, the big payoff – a rolling start to a badass fast Seeley NRE racing bike, the likes rarely see here in the U.S.

Master NYC Norton technician Jon Thorndike tidies up after a good day of alignment work.

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Looking good, feeling good.  We had to work to make it happen, but the Magyar NRE 750 was shoveled in to fit to its Seeley MKII frame.  A little-known factoid about these motors: The case mounting-bolt bosses are different widths and require appropriate shimming.  No two of them are exactly the same dimensions, so a lot of attention was put into the plates to get it all into the Seeley and keep it perfectly lined up.  This, and the ribbed oil galley under the timing cover was certain to foul the lower frame tube without careful placement.  Happy to report about .100″ clearance without much ado.  The front plates are next.  Much, much, so ever so much more to come on this one.

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Almost there.  The first bike ever put onto the track by us has been almost completely resurrected (with a few upgrades, tweaks, fabrication details, etc).  Today the primary cover mounting system was fabbed and the cover installed.  Tomorrow, maybe a chain, some safety wire, and a few dyno pulls.  We’ll see.

This is an Open GP/BEARS bike, through and through.  Expect to be seeing it on the track again this year.

On Tuesday, February 14th, a crate the size of an NYC studio apartment arrived at Spannerland, having made its way across the Atlantic from Minnovation Racing.

The crate was actually smaller than some of our past deliveries, but inside was nothing but twice the fun.

In this photo, actual likenesses of Mick and Martin from Minnovation Racing.  Silly boys.

As the packing material was pulled away, the motorbike porn begins to shine through

Voila!  Two NYC Norton-spec Minnovation Racing Seeley MK2 chassis are pulled from the crate.  Folks, rest assured you are looking at something you won’t get to see very often: Two Titchmarsh-built Seeleys lined up in their birthday suits, ready for the jewelry and dresses.

Some of the aforementioned jewelry.  Engine plates, custom mounting bolts, spools, brackets, etc.  An alloy dream.

Stamped by the man himself.  Roger Titchmarsh.

Falcon alloy/Ti racing shocks from the UK.  Good, good stuff.  In the past we’ve used Works Performance and been very happy with them, but unfortunately Works discontinued their Ultralite series of racing shocks, and Falcon does racing well, so it was an easy decision.

This is as close to an assembly line as we get.  Certain to keep the shop bustling for the spring and beyond. The chassis on the left is earmarked for a Nourish Racing Engineering (NRE) 8-valve 750cc motor, built to Formula 750 specifications.  This bike will run a Marzocchi front end with twin Brembo calipers, and a flat-track-style spool-type rear hub with knock-off.  This will be heavily campaigned in AHRMA’s National Series in the F750 class.

Once completed, the chassis on the right will be our pièce de résistance – a 1007cc Steve Maney motor, fully blown with a Drouin supercharger, to run (and we mean RUN)  on the street.  Yes, that’s right, a fully blown 1007cc Norton street bike in a Seeley MK2 chassis.  Our ears are already hurting.  The motor is now complete but required swapping the alloy MAP rods with JS Motorsport’s Long Rod/Raised Piston Pin setup; the only way to go for reliability and safety to handle the boost.

Both bikes will be documented fully as we progress on their creation.  Thanks to John Magyar and International Mining Services for the contract, and to Minnovation/JS Motorsport/Comstock Engineering for their help getting the ducks in a row.

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The bodywork is out for paint, and there are a few loose ends to tie up, but it’s 90% home.  There will be a blog update with all the specs, mods and changes in the near future.