Hey...what a hoot. I'm trying to piece together the kit of hirider parts onto my 72 750.
Mount handle bars, then sort out all the cables. The new norton andover spares throttle cable was to short. It wanted to idle at 5000 rpm. I had to shorten up the cable jacket. All the others were OK.
Hi-rider seat and sissy bar went on OK after machining out one of the broken off/rusted in, bar mount clamping bolts.

Instead of the originally planed "SS" exhaust, I put a attic refugee 2 into 1 TT style header, now it sounds like a vroom vroom boy racer honda 350.

I have only to fix up the fiberglass (originally tangerine) tank. Paint the tank yellow and the conversion will be complete.
A little test ride with the old tank, just to get gas and all went well on the test run.
But boy does it feel funny to ride my old trusty combat in it's new suit of clothes.
Cruising throught the 71-75 parts books it was interesting to see all the different pieces used on this hi-rider model.

Anyone else admit to having one of these?

Dave

Hi Dave,

It must be setting in for a long hard winter up there in the North East for a man to be driven to such lenghts !!!!!

You clearly need to save up some $$s and spend the summer/winter down under.

I have never seen a Hi Rider here in NZ. The Brits must have saved them all up for you lucky chaps in North America. (I was always worried about the seat. I could see myself hitting it with my foot everytime and dropping the whole plot on the ground.)

Regards

John

I have to admit Dave, you are one of the last guys I would expect to see doing a Hi rider. I had to do a double take to see who the original author was.
No, I don't have a Hi-Rider. But I will admit to mounting a set of high bars on my 73 about 30 years ago. It changed the feel of the bike drastically. I removed them the following weekend.
I will admit to always wanting to ride one with that seat just to see what it was like. I figure, like you, I'll have to mock one up myself to find out. I do understand.

Mike

I'm not sure how long my combat will stay as a hirider. The hirider kit will probably go on another rolling chassis one day. The feel of the seat is a tad lower but not a big differece compared to the bars....WOW
If you come to daytona bike week we'll have to go for a ride. I'll be coming down mainly for the vintage weekend....for the BSA event, the 50th anaversary of BSA winning the 1954 daytona.
http://www.restorenik.com/daytona/default.htm
I'm going to try and bring the BSA, the norton, and the duc MS4. Anyone from new england need trailer space?

Hey guys,whats wrong with the highrider?I have a 1974 original Highrider sitting in my garage right now.It was my highschool bike.
Sat for over 20 years in storage. New carbs some tires a tune up and took it for a spin on Halloween.WOW!I was 18 again for about an hour
or so!!!Those high bars do make it feel real wierd after riding my
V65 Sabre tho..Im over six feet tall so dont have much trouble with the seat.Sure got some funny looks while riding it, you would think
they never seen one before!Cant wait for spring!!!!!!

Dave,
Are you going to let your hair grow long ,get out the bell bottoms and the paisley shirts and the old Bell helmet ??????????????

I STILL have the old bell helmet and use it around town runs! I will need to grow hair if any is going to get long.....bell bottoms.... well only if it gets the chicks.....

Thanks for the invite Dave. Unfortunately, Daytona is on that ever growing list of things to do some day. I don't really seeing it hapening next year. But, who knows.

Mike

>I have never seen a Hi Rider here in NZ. The Brits must have
>saved them all up for you lucky chaps in North America.

I remember seeing one in Wairoa 20 years ago, the seat and bars certainly felt like an afterthought

cheers Dave

Two years ago I found an original, unaltered, 1974 Hi-Rider 850 with 1800 miles on it. It was clean, straight and rust free, but had not been started in years. After the usual trip through the carbs, points, a frozen front caliper and battery, she fired right up and I road gently (in Hi-rider trim) on the original Avon tires for a couple of weeks. I've since slowly converted to Roadster trim (and new tires). You will get a lot of bewildering looks, but the high bars I could never get used to. The seat is also impractical unless your passenger is of the opposite sex and a size 1. With a little over a gallon in the tank, you get to ride from gas pump to gas pump, and must plan even short trips carefully. Recall that they also had a rear seat bracket (grab rail?)that matched the profile and height of the seat, as well as the 5" Lucas headlight.

There was an article in the July 2002 issue of Classic Bike on a 1975 850 E-start Mk3, which claimed (according to the NOC) that fewer than 100 Hi-Riders were produced, and virtually all came to the new world. I've always assumed that referred to that year's production run, but wondered what total 1971-1974 production for the Hi-Rider was. It was certainly very low, comparetively speaking, and probably very few original examples remain...which is probably a good thing! I suppose it can lay claim as the first British factory custom. Indeed, today, they are a very odd sight, as they were back then.

BTW, great forum guys, I've benefitted greatly from the discussions, technical and otherwise, and my hat's off to you all.

Welcome to the forum. I had notice there were a few different PN for the sissy bar/grab rail....as well as seats. The different seat covering accounts for some of the seat differences. My seat is a 73 with the basket weave pattern and a fiberglass seat pan. Does anyone know if they made a steel pan for the later bikes?
I'm hoping for me that the high bars take some strain off my screwed-up shoulder. My commando with euro bars or westerns bars is almost unuseable as is my 02 ducati monster S4 for anything but short rides.
Still looking for my old bell bottoms.....
Daytona bound......
Dave

Dave,

Looking at the '74 sales brochure the Hi Rider is shown with the basket weave seat while all other models have the pleated type ('74). From that it's likely there were only fiberglass seat bases for the Hi Rider, using up stocks.

David

Thanks Dave
I did suspect it might be a fiberglass only seat, it would be a tough stamping for metal pan, unless it is multi section and welded together. We'll have to see if anyone comes forth....
But I think I remember seeing ribbed seat upholstery on the earlier versions.

Your right, the '72 brochure shows the ribbed type seat upholtery on the Hi Rider, like the rest of the line that year. I don't know about your '72 combat, but mine has a fiberglass seat base as well.

Just for laughs I wouldn't mind trying out a Hi Rider. Watch out for the bell bottoms. Mine used to get caught on the kick start. Can't put your foot down!

David

I had completely forgotten about the bellbottom / kick start issue. You're really dusting off the ole memory now.

Mike

Yes, they did make metal seat pans for the later model. The 1974 I referenced does have a basketweave pattern (smooth sides)seatcover, over a metal pan. As you surmised, the vertical component of the seat has a separate box section, probably welded to the horizontal portion of the seat pan. Will have to use a mirror to confirm the attaching method, since nothing is visable from the underside of the seat pan, i.e. rivets or spot-weld bead distortion. The same bike came with a steel tank and side covers, all still with original paint.

Sorry about your shoulder, the higher bars will likely help alot. With me it's a troublesome right knee. As much as I like my '74, either a '75 or orthopedic surgery may be in my future. Bet the Norton's way cheaper! Guess I've kicked a few too many pushrod twins. I have noted (with much amusement)that none of my younger bike riding friends have ever been able to kick-start my completely stock 850!

I'll have to look around for those bell-bottoms and paisley shirts, but hate it that those items always shrink several sizes when left sitting for 35 years!

Could probbly muster digital pics after the Holidays if you're interested.

Bill