Hi All I am trying to piece together a 18ss, I have not had it dated yet so I cannot tell you the exact year.(it was first regestered for road use in Jan 1969, but this doesnt mean its a '69 model) My problem is I got the bike with no front end, that is no forks, clocks or wheel. What I am looking for is the fork lenghts, the center distance of the triple clamps ( as I have scrounged up a couple of sets of clamps but the center distances are different, so I am not sure which is Norton) same for the stanchon tubes etc. Has any one got some good diagrams or photo's of how the triple clamps attach to the frame (bearing locations etc) Kind regards R

The early bikes were 6" C-C fork legs. 61-62-63? The later ones were 6-3/8". Around 68 the triple trees changed to UN threads indicated by a series of circles stamped on the lower triple tree. Prior to that there were BS based. You really should find out what year it is... Or decide what year front end you want to install. early commando and atlas are almost the same triple trees. commando forks tubes and internal dampers are different from featherbed. The lower legs evolved over the atlas-commando era. Yes the evolution is somewhat mind numbing and the options are many.

Thanks for the info ! How would be the best way to find out what year it was made? are there any websites around? I am also trying to contact a local classic bike club, but they only meet once a month. I now got hold of a few old forks and spent a couple of hours stripping them today (well more than a couple) as they are all seized with rust, all the alloy lower legs are the same length, but the stanchen tubes are different lengths Alloy lower leg = 280mm (11.023") Stanchen tubes = 555mm (21.850") I have 2 off Stanchen tubes = 633mm (24.921") also got 2 off Any idea which is the best/correct length? I'm leaning towards the 21.023" purely by leaning them up against the bike and eye-balling it ( not very scientific I know) R

21.850" legs are for featherbed (and 650ss). The damper bodies you want are 7-3/4" not 9-1/8"