Norton troubles

The 750 had a 2 valve/cyl overhead cam engine that was quite powerful for the day and sounded great. It had a lot more grunt than my 650 BSA Firebird but didn't handle quite as well. The oil filter was a real pain to replace and quite expensive being a welded assembly.

From what I've read, the TX500 was ahead of it's time with double overhead cams and 4 valves/cyl and a 5 speed tranny. It was an engine that liked to rev but didn't have a lot of bottom end torque.

The big issue with both bikes was the OmiPhase engine balancer that rotated counter clockwise to the crank frothing up the engine oil. Remember, oil in the 70s didn't have the anti foaming agents they have today and with a dry sump left the oil pump sucking air quite often.
 
These Norton clowns must have read everything they could about the E-H revival by the Hanlon brothers. Leave the Norton name in the dustbin. We can then remember them for much more than what they were.
 
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