Though I’ve been riding and tinkering with motorcycles for nearly 40 years, the actual, hands-on building of engines has been a skill I’ve never accrued. Being busy both working a demanding journalism career (or three) and simultaneously struggling to maintain a family life and an annual riding season of around 10,000 miles has left little time for serious wrenching. Nevertheless, I’ve learned how to tear down and make general repairs all sorts of bikes from four-valve Ducati superbikes to antique Tritons and Nortons and Hondas, picking up the necessary knowledge by plenty of trials and more than y fair share of errors. It wasn’t until meeting CRM’s resident Norton guru, Nick Coumos, that the opportunity to wade wrenches-first into the intracacies of engine repair came my way and in the two years since, the knowledge Nick has shared continues to amaze and impress. Having ridden and repaired Norton twins for over 50 years, Nick’s tutoring has made understanding the inner workings of these staid old Britbikes a fairly straightforward affair. I’m always shocked when he has me to his workshop for a regular tech lesson where I inevitably find that the task that I’m so apprehensive about tackling (and possibly getting wrong) generally proves far easier than, say, learning a new word processing software program on the computer. Now, with a 1967 Norton Atlas engine nearly complete with Nick’s guidance, I’m confident that the classic British bikes in my garage will remain roadworthy well into the future. Hats off to Nick.
