AGE AND VIEW ON NEW OWNERS

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speedrattle said:
Fullauto said:
The thing that saves the Commando from oblivion is that it is such a fantastic ride. There will always be people who fall under the spell of a Commando. There is nothing out there that is remotely similar and the fact that there is pretty much 100% spares availability is the icing on the cake. Iron out the bugs and there is nothing impractical about the Commando. Need an electric starter? You have a choice. And really, parts are dirt cheap! The only expensive part is that cylinder head!

i have to agree with this, for different reasons.

i've been forcing triumphs around corners since i was 16 years old, and have BSAs and other stuff as well. i have a buell that won't corner unless i climb on top of it and jump up and down to get it to lean. i own one commando, and i love it. i don't understand why it handles so well-- almost dead neutral in the corners and picking up the front wheel when i crank it after. i know very little about nortons but this is a machine that i love, anyway, everything except the 1970 purple metal flake paint, which i refuse to paint over because that's what it came with . . .

anyway, this isn't the fastest machine i own (my morgo triumph with a 21/47 is much quicker and faster) but that doesn't matter--this is the bike i start up and take to town when i only have time to run one.

why is that?

If your Triumph is faster than your Norton, you really should think about fitting the second plug lead to the Norton. They're supposed to have two.
 
As A NOC branch secretary I was contacted recently by a guy who was struggling to start a Dommie that he had bought, saying he was used to an electric start. I asked a Dommie owning member to pop over and see him. Turned out that he was about 70 years old and only needed a re-brief on the tickler and starting technique. I can't see him making the effort to visit the branch meetings.
It strikes me that many of the questions posed on this forum and the NOC forum come from people who have not done any reading on what they are buying and certainly don't own a workshop manual of any sort. You know the type " my rh indicator doesn't work what can it be?"
With regards to driving on the RHS, I was leading a group of four down through France to the NOC rally a couple of years ago. After a break in riding we set off again with me leading. Despite me being on the RHS the first follower spent the first half a mile on the Left. (he is pretty thick :roll: )
 
speedrattle said:
Fullauto said:
The thing that saves the Commando from oblivion is that it is such a fantastic ride. There will always be people who fall under the spell of a Commando. There is nothing out there that is remotely similar and the fact that there is pretty much 100% spares availability is the icing on the cake. Iron out the bugs and there is nothing impractical about the Commando. Need an electric starter? You have a choice. And really, parts are dirt cheap! The only expensive part is that cylinder head!

i have to agree with this, for different reasons.

i've been forcing triumphs around corners since i was 16 years old, and have BSAs and other stuff as well. i have a buell that won't corner unless i climb on top of it and jump up and down to get it to lean. i own one commando, and i love it. i don't understand why it handles so well-- almost dead neutral in the corners and picking up the front wheel when i crank it after. i know very little about nortons but this is a machine that i love, anyway, everything except the 1970 purple metal flake paint, which i refuse to paint over because that's what it came with . . .

anyway, this isn't the fastest machine i own (my morgo triumph with a 21/47 is much quicker and faster) but that doesn't matter--this is the bike i start up and take to town when i only have time to run one.

why is that?
You need to check your commando out if your triumph twin is quicker
 
I suggest a lot in life has to do with values, and I am not talking about money. I only ever bought my Commando motor because it was a very good option for a bit of racing power and it is relatively light. I have never owned another engine which was so responsive to tuning. It absolutely loves methanol fuel and delivers loads of torque. When installed in a frame which handles really well, you have a bike which is very competitive against other bikes of the same TYPE. And by TYPE, I mean any four-stroke twin or 3 cylinder engined bike of similar capacity. My hope is that before I die, I get the change to race my bike against a race full of air-cooled Ducatis and Guzzis. I think it would give then a very bad fright. Currently if I race historic, my main opposition are methanol -fuelled 1100cc CB750 Hondas and my Seeley 850 was right up there with the lead bunch, when I last raced it.
As far as the kids are concerned, whenever I take my bike to a race circuit, they are all over it. I think it is important that they see what is possible - bikes are about having fun - would you rather ride an electric motorcycle or an old Commando ? As far as 'values' are concerned - life is a learning process - what do you learn from a Japanese motorcycle ? Can you really improve them ?
 
Onder said:
Few things last forever. A driverless world is very close. A world without petrol or petrol that is at least affordable comes with it. Regulations will
surely close down old bikes and cars for daily use. You still see the occasional brass car on an outing but it is rare. So too will be the sight of a
Commando .
Ride now. The end is near. :-(

What a downer-
 
Onder said:
Few things last forever. A driverless world is very close. A world without petrol or petrol that is at least affordable comes with it. Regulations will
surely close down old bikes and cars for daily use. You still see the occasional brass car on an outing but it is rare. So too will be the sight of a
Commando .
Ride now. The end is near. :-(

I look at this a little bit differently. I feel that once the demand of petrol drops due to electric cars, it will still be available to hobbyists, racers, etc. Maybe not a a price we have like today, but still affordable. If we don't have a line of huge SUVs in the McDonald's drive through polluting the air, maybe the legislators will lay off of us. Nothing is assured going forward, but I need to remain optimistic.
 
You need only to look at the economics of fuel cost and supply. The less made and used the more it costs and the less likely you will find it.
As for the politics, simply note the holy war against diesels. This will be short and bloody. Once that is over they will go after all fuel
vehicles. It is new religion. Sorry I didnt start it .
Go start your Norton and ride out.
 
The market for really old veteran stuff doesn't seem to have died does it? Even though guys and girls who owned them first time around have!

So I'd guess the same thing is gonna happen with the Commando et al. In fact, as everything becomes more electronic, driverless, dull, surely there'll be a cultural backlash to simpler, more mechanical toys?

Time will tell I guess.
 
I think someone mentioned on a different thread that Commandos are not collectible because there are so many extant.
A lot more than veteran brass cars Im sure. Of course how many gray heads do you see at the average bike rally?
Quite a few!
Ride whilst you are still able to and interested in doing so.
 
I was in the garage when my 24 year old Son dropped by with his friend, my Commando is a new addition, so I asked him what do you think, he enjoys riding another bike I have, is it cool ? He was just taking pics and was totally impressed and I asked his friend who said yea old school is cool, they were taken back by the bikes charm !

I asked them would they ride an old bike like the Commando and fell chill ok doing it, again they said they would and with pleasure.

So I have a first account of what I was myself questioning :)
 
The Norton Girl adds doomed me when I was a teenager. Little did I know that the bikes were real nice as well.
Good question though. I have a pretty fair collection of old bikes and am very concerned my sons will be able to take care of them if leave the bikes to them. They won't know points or carbs etc. And they won't be able to afford to have someone else fix them.
 
I am 32 and have had one for 2 years, does that count as young? always wanted one, so it was always going to happen
 
I am 32 and have had one for 2 years, does that count as young? always wanted one, so it was always going to happen

Funny I first saw them in New Zealand when I was 14, it took another 46 years before I finally became an owner this summer in Holland, but on the other hand I have had a lot of other bikes in between :)
 
I used to dabble with Model A Fords a while back and even then there were damn few owners that had one when they were new. Most were at least one generation out, some two or three. The hard part for generations to come will be finding an unmolested one. My 31 A coupe was restored, but back to bone stock with just period accessories. I can't tell you how many people tried to by it from me hoping to turn it into a hot rod with modern brakes, automatic trans and big V8 power.
 
I am 32 and have had one for 2 years, does that count as young? always wanted one, so it was always going to happen

At probably half the average age of a classic pre-76 Norton Commando owner, I reckon that you qualify as the younger of the demographic. :)
 
BREAKING: Paris has announced that it will ban the sale of gasoline and diesel-powered cars by 2024, with the goal of removing all combustible engine cars from city roads by 2030.

http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/355169-paris-wants-to-end-sale-of-gasoline-vehicles-by-2030

Paris wants to get gasoline-powered cars off the city’s roads by 2030, the latest bet by officials that electric vehicles are the cars of the future.

“We have planned the end of thermic vehicle use, and therefore of fossil energies, by 2030,” Paris deputy mayor in charge of transport Christophe Nadjovski said Thursday on France Info radio, according to The Associated Press.

Paris City Hall issued a statement Thursday emphasizing that officials plan to keep discussing the idea with residents and carmakers in the coming months, but called the tentative 2030 deadline “a feasible and realistic” goal, according to the AP.

The development comes after France announced this summer that it would end the sale of gasoline and diesel vehicles by 2040 as a way of reducing pollution and reaching its emissions targets under the Paris climate agreement.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has also announced plans to ban all diesel cars in the city in time for the 2024 Summer Olympics, which Paris is hosting.

Meanwhile, Volvo announced this summer it would stop manufacturing vehicles with conventional engines by 2018, producing instead only all-electric and hybrid vehicles.

France is the leading manufacturer of electric vehicles sold in Europe, according to the Agence France-Presse, though hybrid and electric cars accounted for only 3.6 percent of new cars registered in Western Europe in 2016.

In the United States, Bloomberg New Energy Finance projected that sales of electric vehicles would overtake those of cars with traditional internal combustion engines within 20 years.
 
If they outlaw motorcycles only outlaws will have motorcycles. I wonder what a Commando would fetch on the black market? ;)
 
My estate agent told me that 'something is only worth what you can get for it when you sell it' ? What is the Mona Lisa worth or a close copy ? Or a genuine Type 35C Bugatti ? The Brazilian replicas are excellent, but if you chemically test all the bits, you will find the materials used in making it are modern. I only own my Seeley 850 racer because I had it in the 70s and did not sell it. Whenever I take it to a race meeting, the kids are all over it, - however to me, there is nothing special about it. So value what you have and in the future you will become the object of envy.
 
My estate agent told me that 'something is only worth what you can get for it when you sell it' ? What is the Mona Lisa worth or a close copy ? Or a genuine Type 35C Bugatti ? The Brazilian replicas are excellent, but if you chemically test all the bits, you will find the materials used in making it are modern. I only own my Seeley 850 racer because I had it in the 70s and did not sell it. Whenever I take it to a race meeting, the kids are all over it, - however to me, there is nothing special about it. So value what you have and in the future you will become the object of envy.

Brazilian Mona Lisas? That's quite a thought.
 
There is a guy who bought one of those Brazilian Type 35 C Bugattis in Victoria. He did a bit of work on it and it is to die for. It will never be the genuine item, but I'd still love to own it. I would not know what to do with an imitation Mona Lisa - hang it in my toilet ? As far as commandos are concerned - to my mind, a very original MK 2 A 850 has more intrinsic value than a new 961, but I'd be more likely to buy the 961.
 
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