1968 Commando on show

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Petersen

Petersen

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I stumbled across this photo the other night. It's from the motorcycle exhibition in Stockholm in 1968. Is this one of the Earls Court bikes? Not sure I've seen that kind of tank badge before?

1968 Commando on show
 
It has a bottom rail running back from the bottom of the headstock, so if it is an Earls Court bike then the frame has been changed or rectified in the interim. When I was involved in the making of cars for shows they were rarely used for more than one show as they were wrecked by the end of the shows by visitors manhandling them, too much effort to rebuild them over starting fresh.
 
I imagine it looked quite futuristic back then (I wouldn't know, I couldn't see from my cot).

But, frankly, it looks a bit odd today I think.
 
Unless it was re-badged before the Stockholm exhibition, It's not one of the Earl's Court bikes. The Norton name didn't appear ANYWHERE on the bike. Where your photo shows a badge with "Norton" in it was just a green "blob", hemispherical in shape but not full depth. The PR outfit that dreamed up that disaster wasn't around very long.

As I recall the tales we heard in Wolverhampton, the folks at Plumstead Road had about 60 tanks ready to use on the production line and none of them had the required depression for the traditional metal Norton badge. They were originally delivered with a decal that looked like your photo. There was such a stink about it, that, I believe, those tanks were replaced by a redesign that had a depression for a "proper" metal badge, at N-V's expense.

I've never seen the badge example in your photo before. It looks like there is a depression in the tank, but I don't remember seeing the design with the green color above and below the Norton name. The rest of the paint job is identical to the bikes on the Earl's Court stand. I'll bet that the primary chain-case didn't have the Norton logo in it either
 
I honestly don't remember, Jimbo. The two prototypes I rode didn't, but the one in the photo may have been an N-V try-out by the folks at Plumstead. The Wolverhampton engineers were already working on the AJS Stormer street/trail 250.

There's a photo of the Earl's Court display on here someplace, and I'm in it. It shows the right side of the bike. Right now I don't have time to go look for it, but I'll have a go later today.
 
850commando said:
i find the enclosed chain case of interest.
Click to expand...

Jimbo is right. Lower run of chain is not encapsulated. Even the chainguard extension (#060843) may not be fitted.
The chainguard itself is a variation of the chainguard fitted on 650SS/750 Atlas models (NM21832A).

-Knut
 
kommando said:
It has a bottom rail running back from the bottom of the headstock, so if it is an Earls Court bike then the frame has been changed or rectified in the interim.
Click to expand...

I think that's actually the (widowmaker frame) tank support bracket.
1968 Commando on show
Wieze 2017-46R
by Paul Coene, on Flickr
1968 Commando on show
Wieze 2017-02R by
Paul Coene, on Flickr

It has some differences to the Earl's Court bike but it still appears to be a pre-production model with squared-off airbox bottom, finned rectifier (?) now fixed to the underside instead of the front of the airbox, Edit: I think that is actually a 19" rear wheel (Earl's Court model had 18"/4.00 rear), star type seat knobs, now has the Wipac handlebar switch instead of CEV, Isolastics have rubber gaiters, timed breather line running over the crankcase instead of under etc....

frankdamp said:
Unless it was re-badged before the Stockholm exhibition, It's not one of the Earl's Court bikes. The Norton name didn't appear ANYWHERE on the bike. Where your photo shows a badge with "Norton" in it was just a green "blob", hemispherical in shape but not full depth. The PR outfit that dreamed up that disaster wasn't around very long.
Click to expand...

By the time the bikes went into production they had the recessed tank with the silver 'Norton Villiers Norton' badge. Later (69-on) 'Fastbacks' had smooth tanks with 'Norton' decals.

1968 Commando on show
 
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I think the tube under the tank is one of the coils, as on the early bikes these were stacked one on top of another.
 
There was a show bike on the continent in Jan '68, the dispatch records only seem to record it coming back from Amsterdam which is recorded with rather surprised comment which seems to imply 'when did we send one over' it was then allocated for shipping to Canada in Feb '69 but no shipping number is entered against this or the other bikes that came back from Amsterdam.

Stockholm bike looks more advanced compared to the Earls Court model, as the manifolds allow the carbs to sit level. I would imagine the Amsterdam bike would have been more like the Earls Court machine.

There is also a press comment and photo of a Commando that says that the Commando debuted at the show, but the photo is taken in a sterile area with nothing around to indicate it is actually at the show, this model does not have Norton on it anywhere. What is surprising is that the bike with no badges from a '67 magazine actually calls it a Commando, the two establishments were still starting and dating drawings for it called Atlas Mk3 even in early May '68

The photo that Frankdamp is after could be the one on the AN website.
 
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