The Horton: Harley-Davidson/Norton

Most of the 50-some bikes in Jason Len’s collection are period-correct restorations. And the majority of those are British machines of the Sixties and Seventies. The Horton, however, is Len’s own concoction, featuring a 2007 Harley Sportster 1200 engine in a replica Norton Featherbed frame. We asked the obvious question — why?

I visited Jason one afternoon and looked over his collection of interesting bikes. I was driven to look more closely at the Horton, as it’s called, the latest development in his long-held passion for Featherbed-based customs. With the bike in the California sun, its chrome and polished aluminum gleaming, Jason gave me background on the bike build.

Long-time relationship with Featherbed frames

“I have several motorcycles in Norton Featherbed frames,” he said. “A stock 1958 Norton ES2, 500cc single; a BSA DB34 Gold Star 500; and a Triton with a pre-unit Triumph 650 bored out to 750, with a later model Triumph 5-speed in the original pre-unit gearbox shell. So I obviously like the Featherbed frames.

“This project actually started about 12 years ago, on a business trip to England. I went to Unity Spares in Lancashire, where I  had been buying parts to build café racers for over 25 years. We usually communicated by postal mail and then email. I hadn’t met them in person.

“The owners told me that they wanted to build a frame for a rubber-mounted Sportster motor, and asked if I knew of one available. They had been building replica Featherbed frames for the solid-mount Sportster engine, and a frame for the rubber-mounts would require specialized frame brackets. I just happened to have one on the shelf. At the time I was shipping Jaguar parts that we manufactured to dealers in the U.K., so it was easy to ship the motor in the same container.”

Time to build a motorcycle

In 2017 Jason sold his Jaguar parts business of 40 years, XKs Unlimited, to Moss Motors in Santa Barbara, later selling the restoration side separately. His retirement has been devoted to building bikes and cars and traveling by motorcycle.

“Jackie Kershaw was the owner of the company and the person I dealt with for many years. I didn’t actually meet her before I got the frame, but about five years later I was riding my motorcycle to the Isle of Man and around the U.K., and she invited me to come to her house for dinner and actually meet in person. At that time I had not yet started on the project, and had to make an excuse why I had not.

“Another five years passed before I got serious on it. First, I was still very busy at work, and then when I retired I had several projects lined up before this one. Finally, in January of last year, I was looking at the frame and motor and thought now was the time to get on it, so I could finish it before I was too old to ride it! It took me about a full year to build it.

So, when it comes to developing carburetion and ignition systems, it’s more complex than it might seem at first?

“The frame was very well-built, so the motor bolted right in. The rubber-mounted motors are fuel injected, and I decided I didn’t want fuel injection. It adds a lot of complication and takes up space with an electric fuel pump and computers and sensors. Also a carb is more of a classic look. So I installed an S&S performance carb made for Sportsters. The conversion was not quite as easy as I had thought. The carb required a new intake manifold and basically bolted on, but the ignition was a much bigger problem.

“The FI engine fires off timing magnets on the alternator in the primary, so I bought an electronic replacement ignition system which would normally mount on the camshaft side. The first problem was the timing cover was not drilled to allow the rotor to bolt to the rear cylinder intake cam, like a normal early Sportster does. So I found an earlier used timing cover. Easy I thought, until I went to install it and found that the FI camshaft is not drilled to accept the rotor, so I needed new cams.  And if I was going to go for new cams I might as well go for some performance cams. I am very pleased with the Feuling Reaper cams. They give a nice boost in power.

“Then I went to time the ignition. On Sportsters with a cam-side ignition, there is a hole in the cases with a plug. Remove the plug and the timing marks are etched into the crank flywheel. Guess what? No hole. So I pulled the primary cover off, and using a degree wheel and a little basic engineering math I found TDC, and then etched the alternator rotor with the timing marks I needed and timed the ignition. When I was finally ready to try and start it I was a bit nervous that I’d got it all right, but amazingly the minute I hit the starter button the motor fired right up and sounded great!

Did the electrics present any issues, in terms of ignition, lights?

“I made the wiring loom from scratch, and to my amazement, everything electrical worked the first time. The headlamp is a period-correct Lucas piece, and the speedometer is also a proper vintage gauge. The tachometer was a replica gauge that I had re-wired to read off the electronic ignition. The coil and ignition are DynaTek performance units for a pre-injected Sportster. The switchgear is all period-correct Lucas for a Sixties Norton.

“The levers had to be Harley-Davidson, because the clutch cable on a Sportster can only work with a H-D lever. Since the clutch was H-D, I used a Sportster dual front brake master cylinder and lever. I converted them to short lever style since I wasn’t using H-D switch gear. The throttle is an S&S unit with dual cables made just for their carb.”

Which brings us to wheels, brakes, and body parts.

“The rear wheel and brake are a stock Triumph T160 hub and brackets with a replacement alloy racing caliper. The front hub is a generic racing hub with alloy racing calipers. The wheels are alloy flanged rims like a Borrani, laced with stainless steel spokes at Buchanan’s Spoke and Wheel. I have been using them for over 40 years and they do great work. The tires are Avon Roadriders.

“The gas tank is British alloy racing tank, also from Unity Spares, made for the Featherbed frame. I found it at a motorcycle show and swap meet I attended while visiting in the U.K. The fenders are just generic alloy racing fenders. The seat was a café racer style that I liked and made the mounts to fit the frame. The exhaust is a slightly used Supertrapp pipe that I found on eBay.

So how did it do when you hit the road?

“I’m always a little nervous with the first road test on builds like this: did I forget to tighten something, will anything fall off? Like any custom project of this sort there are always some unknown issues, but after three test rides I had them sorted out. The first was a leak in a rear brake line fitting. With that resolved I found the jetting was a little off, and when that was fixed I realized an oil line was rubbing on the chain. Oh, and the speedometer drive took a little fiddling.

“I am very pleased with the way this bike came out. As expected, Featherbed frames are great handling frames with a classic vintage feel. And I really like Sportster/Buell motors. They may not be the most powerful motor, but the massive low-down torque makes them a delight to ride. The Horton has the right feel and sound, they match perfectly for a motorcycle that I wanted to look like something from the 1960s. There have been many Featherbeds built with Vincent V-twins, and that is a great motor. But for one-tenth the cost you get more power, a better clutch, 5-speed gearbox, more reliability, and that great Harley sound! (And fewer oil leaks.)

“As with all rubber-mounted Harley-Davidson motors, they have some shake and vibration at low speed, which, to me, adds a great feeling of character to the bike. And once you get moving it smooths out, so I’m happy it turned out so well. This one has the classic Norton Featherbed handling with the great sound and torque of the Sportster engine. Plus it has the look and feel of a classic but with great brakes!

“After so many years on the shelf, the timing must have been right to put this one on the road. I really enjoy the process of restoring or building a motorcycle as much as I do riding it. I was aiming for something with the character of a Sixties roadster and the performance of a modern bike. While the Horton is no modern Ducati on twisty a road, it’s a stunning ride by Sixties standards. And yes, I know it would look much more sporting with clip-ons, but at 74, I appreciate the narrow but higher bars.”

Footnote: When the bike was first shown, Jason got plenty of name suggestions — Sporton, Norley, Narley, Hardon, Harlton, Gnarly-Davidson, Norlay, and more. He chose Horton, inspired by the Norton-style font in the logo of Reverend Horton Heat, the stage name of Texas guitarist James Heath and his rockabilly band, currently touring the West Coast. MC

Goodman HDS 1200

Veteran observers of Anglo-American crossbreeds will remember the Goodman HDS 1200 of the early Nineties. Also a Featherbedded Sportster 1200, the Goodman was set up as a café roadster, with low bars (below yoke) or higher (above yoke),  and some impressive specs: Reynolds 531 tube frame, 42mm Marzocchi fork, Brembo 2×4 brakes, and Koni shocks. Five gallon tank, 58.5 inches of wheelbase, 450 pounds dry.

Builder Simon Goodman, whose great grandfather John founded Velocette, had in mind a production motorcycle. Most of the major components came from his own shop; in addition to the frame, Goodman manufactured “the swinging arm, all the aluminum castings, top and bottom yokes, exhaust system, oil and petrol tanks, and side panels.”

The wheels and fork were built to Goodman’s specs in Italy, and he used Magura switches and a Lucas headlight. The 18-inch wheels wore Avon Super Venoms The engines were to be provided by Harley-Davidson. Finished in a black-and-gold paint scheme, with a Connolly leather seat, the HDS 1200 had the requisite lean and hungry stance of a thoroughbred street racer.

Writing in the March, 1992, issue of Cycle World, tester Roland Brown asked Goodman about the frame. “We started from scratch, keeping the Featherbed lines,” he says. “It had to be much stronger because the original had a tendency to nod its head, and it wasn’t designed to stand the braking force from two massive, great discs.” The swingarm is made from oval-section 531 tubing, with chain-adjustment facilities at the pivot, says Goodman, “because it’s stronger that way.”

The frame’s steering head was set at 26 degrees, with 3.2 inches of trail. Goodman employed Metalstik bushings to help dampen the Harley’s vibration, which must have worked, according to Goodman. “Apparently, the Metalastik system really does work, calming most of the stock Sportster’s judders until the revs get above about 4,300rpm, at which point the dancing pistons make their presence felt through bars and seat. The tuned test bike’s tall gearing meant that by the time it was turning 4,300rpm, it was traveling at more than 80mph, so for backroad riding, the HDS was comfortable and respectably quick.”

While Brown found the HDS an engaging ride in the twisties, and a few of the $20K specials were sold in the States, the bike had a short future as a production model. According to one former employee, only 15 were ever built, and one is now displayed at the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Alabama. But Harley-Davidson was reportedly unable to provide more engines, since Sportsters and their Buell counterparts were selling well, and the HDS was consigned to history.

Damn shame, many would say. Fine looking motorbike.