The boys are back in town.

After a grueling, rain soaked alpine tour, the boys are back in town. Despite the adverse weather, they assure me they had a good time and put bikes and gear through their paces. So much so, that they're thinking of some radical upgrades for future trips... oh dear. Anyway, they've promised to share all their photos with me so we can all see what they got up to, whereas I only have one photo to offer. I was able to ride out on Saturday and head for the Futa pass where I met up with them for the last night of their trip, then we rode back together yesterday, not without incident*, and are already planning a short weekend getaway for the end of September.

The Norton made the round trip without needing me to take out a single spanner, so I'm thrilled about that. I've now done about 1000km (is that 600 miles?) since I've rebuilt the top end, so I'd say that's a decent test to see what needs attention. There is excessive noise coming from somewhere within the valvetrain, but not always: when the engine is hot, and when it is accelerating, under load, it sounds as though the valves (I'd say on cylinder 1) were far too loose. Then if I back off the throttle it disappears and the engine runs very smoothly. The guys confirmed that there is no smoke whatsoever coming from the exhausts, and I don't think the noise I'm hearing is piston slap.

The noise doesn't seem to impair performance in any way whatsoever, and I think that if I'd lost a valve adjuster, or bent a valve, or a pushrod, I would have known about it.

So, I'll check a few things, test ride again and report when I have an answer.

Still, nice to know I've done a good enough job to take me there and back again.

(* an uncooperative generator on Marco's Beemer, diligently sorted out, repeatedly, by Witold.)