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A tachometer could also be added but required fitting a drive gear from the camshaft behind the timing cover blanking plate. However, there are many Mercuries around with the TLS brake, though whether retrofitted (a straightforward modification) or from the factory isn’t clear. The rest of the chassis and running gear were traditional Norton including the Roadholder front fork - though the Mercury was fitted with an 8-inch single-leading-shoe front brake (not the twin-leading-shoe brake from the Commando) and a tachometer was optional.
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A black finish with red or silver gas tank also seems to have been available, and stainless steel fenders were an option. The Mercury appeared in 1969 in a striking Atlantic blue paint scheme (oil tank, toolbox, fenders, primary chain case and chain guard) with a silver gas tank and chrome badges. AMC, Norton’s parent company after 1952, also stuck to 600cc for their Matchless and AJS twins until the 650cc G12 and Model 31 of 1958 - even though 650cc had been the class benchmark since Triumph’s Thunderbird and BSA’s A10 Golden Flash of 1949.
Mercury rising full#
Why it took Norton so long to build a full 650cc bike is bewildering when the company must have been losing sales to 650cc BSAs and Triumphs. market, though a “home” market 650SS with lower bars and twin carburetors followed in 1961.
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The first 650 was the cruiser-style 1960 Manxman, intended for the U.S. The 500 became the Dominator 88 in 1953 (in the Featherbed frame) and was joined in 1956 by a 600cc Dominator 99 with an alloy cylinder head. Pushrods were fully enclosed in the cylinder casting, and the cylinder head incorporated the rocker boxes, reducing the opportunity for oil leaks. Unlike Triumph’s 500 twin, the Norton engine used a single camshaft driven by chain from a half-time pinion, making it mechanically quieter. The 650cc engine fitted to the Mercury’s “slimline” Featherbed frame was a development of the 1949 Model 7 Dominator 500cc OHV parallel twin. The earlier frames were known as “wideline,” and the later as “slimline.” The production-bike frames adopted mild steel tubing rather than chrome-moly, and (after 1960) featured top tubes that swept inward behind the gas tank for more comfortable seating. The Featherbed was more expensive to manufacture than traditional lug-and-braze frames, so its introduction to Norton’s production twins wasn’t completed until the late 1950s. A rear subframe was welded on to support the swingarm suspension and dual shocks. It was a full duplex cradle frame made from chrome-moly tubing, strengthened with cross braces, triangulated around the headstock, and bronze welded. The Featherbed famously started out as a race chassis for the Norton Manx. But the 650 worked beautifully in the Featherbed chassis, either in standard 650 Manxman form or as the dual-carb 650SS. The 750’s tuning potential had to wait for the Commando’s Isolastic frame. The largest capacity version, the 750 Atlas, produced such teeth-loosening vibration in the Featherbed that it was first sold as a mild-tune, low-compression tourer.
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The long-stroke 650cc engine was considered the best development of Bert Hopwood’s 1949 parallel-twin. Although no doubt intended to clear out Norton-Villiers’ stock of pre-Commando parts, the company created what is sometimes described as the nicest Norton ever. The result was the Norton you’ve never heard of - the 1969-1970 Mercury 650. But the Commando, with its vibe-killing Isolastic frame, was such a success that by 1969 the remaindered items in the company’s parts inventory included Featherbed frames and a quantity of 650cc engines from the Manxman and 650SS. When the 750 Commando was launched at London’s Earls Court motorcycle show in 1967, cynics were quick to point out that Norton had ditched the best feature of its heavyweight motorcycle range - the sweet-handling Featherbed frame - and retained its main liability - the 20-year-old parallel-twin engine. Transmission: Chain primary, wet multiplate clutch, 4-speed, chain final drive