Pictures of your Norton Commandos

grandpaul said:

Very nice, Pedro! Cool rearsets. Looks like a Honda CB rear wheel...

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You might be right there GP, I know he wasn't a fan of the stock hubs/ discs, hence the grimeca up front. And he had a shed full of CB stuff. I didn't get a chance to get the full specs unfortunately so I'm piecing it together.

Pete

Just noticed it's left foot shift!

(not that there's anything wrong with that)

Pedro500 said:

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum. I've recently inherited my dad's '75 MKIII Commando. He bought the stock 850 about 10 years ago, stripped it and rebuilt it Dunstall style. It runs well although I'm still in the process of really getting to know it, and will probably seek some info from the forum as I go. Certainly a bit quicker than my '51 Matchy.

Pete

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more pics, more pics 8)

MS850 said:

more pics, more pics 8)

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Wot he said!!!

I have some more adjustments to do to my commando, but Grandpaul wanted to see what I did with the fairing he sold me, so without going into a lot of detail because I've rebuilt, or modified, every single part of this bike with the exception of the steering yokes which are original!... and It would just be a long list of crap that most of us know all about... The highlights are yamaha cast wheels and a dunstall fairing for a honda.

I'm still having an issue with the handlebars. I like them narrow, but would rather not mount clip ons because I don't want to ride in that position. My hands bump into the fairing with the current 24" wide, "nearly" flat bars. The actual flat bars in the same shape as my current bars won't allow the brake lever to be mounted due to interference with the fork tubes. My choices seem to be, go with a wider flat bar or clip ons... unless someone here has a better solution.

As always, thanks to everyone here for all their help and advise which is priceless...









I'm also planning to thermoform a slightly lower height windscreen out of thicker plexiglass. The gustavson's plastic windscreen I have now is paper thin.

Also I need to figure out some mirrors now too...

You could try the high or semi high adjustable clip ons from
discovolante.co.uk

They sell a lot of good stuff for cafe racers , I've had several of their items and always been pleased. There is a good price drop on the above at the moment.
Like your bike.
sam

Looks good, Frank!

Good idea also on a lower / thicker windscreen; I never had a go at even mounting it, and you're all in.

I was able to adjust my stubby handlbars to work with the fairing. I loosened both instrument clusters and the handlebar clamps, then rolled the bars backward and downward. I found a happy medium where my hands don't hit the fairing, the bars don't hit the tank when I turn them to full lock, and the levers are at a comfortable angle. I also lowered the fairing another 1/2" which visually makes it look better.

I'm going to order Napoleon bar end mirrors in black chrome from oldbrits and then the only things left to do are, thermoform a new windscreen, and repaint the rear fender, which looks shabby with the new paint everywhere else.... but there's nothing really keeping me from riding it.

I've gone on 2 rides on it so far. The second time I had the handlebars adjusted right, but had no mirrors. The fair'ed bike doesn't feel like it handles too differently than the mini fairing bike, but I am being conservative initially so I can identify any handling issues before I have a problem. So far, so good. I've done 90mph already down a long hill on the hiway near my house and everything felt solid.

I can't wait to get it out on the road again... but it's winter here...

Hi Frank,

That is a belter photo of the bike way back, I've looked at your bike before checking out the exhaust pipes(mufflers to you) I fancy something similar on my new prep roadster. Think it would be a change for the better.

Finaly got one

Very original numbers put it in between the first 60-80 made all matching and all the right finishes on the crank cases etc really need to find somewhere to do that on my 650ss

If anyone can spot anything that needs changing lemme know wanna get it bang on will post some better pictures soon

Thought I'd post a few photos of my 1974 Norton 850. My bike is a cNw build 76 (2009) which recently went through a major retrofit in 2016 with all of Matt's new parts and a Landsdowne damper kit. I am also in the process of switching out the Roadster tank and side covers for the Interstate tank and panels which will give me greater range. In Canada, Chevron offers Chevron Supreme Plus fuel which contains NO Ethanol; however, it is not available at every Chevron and the distance between fill-ups can be problematic on longer rides.

As received

After some work

Lovely job!

gortnipper said:

Lovely job!

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Much obliged. Lots of credit goes to Matt at cNw, J. Comstock and this forum for lots of great experiential advice and direction.

Started him today. Now, gotta fix the stripped fork oil drain plug threads. Ugh!

S

My new 72 Combat that I just picked up on Sunday. Really, REALLY digging this one..

Beautiful bike.
I noticed the open breather line exiting at the rear fender.
Where is the connection back on the oil tank or engine?

Thanks! It vents out the back of the oil tank

I've been digging through shoeboxes of pictures for the Norton when my dad had a Vetter fairing mounted to it, to no avail. However, my older sister just sent this to me;

That looks to be behind the dealership where Dad bought it (Buzz Chaney's), and I was about 14-15. He already had the taller bars added, but she was still running the stock Interstate mufflers. Notice the Akront front rim in the lower-right. It might have been one of the Rickmans they sold there.

Nathan

That's an AWESOME picture Nater!

My 70 Commando, in 1974. Rode from LA to Bannf Nat Park, gone a month, about 3K miles. Got back to Burbank with a dime in my pocket, we started with $500. Worked at Yamaha International in Buena Park, they wouldn't give me a extended vacation, so me and my friend both quit. Friend rode a Moto Guzzi