1968 Commando

Does anyone know , for sure, the release date of the first Commandos in the UK and US?
In the September 1968 Cycle world test article they claim to have to have tested " the first Commando in America, out of the crate"
The latest issue of rider claims 1967.

Although the pre-production Commando was exhibited at the Earls Court motorcycle show in October 1967 actual production didn't begin until around April 1968 (February '68 according to Roy Bacon, however, according to 'Motor Cycle' 27th March '68 issue; "Early in April, the first batch of 745cc Norton Commandos will start to roll off the production line.").

FYI, My 126XXX FB dated May 13th 1968 and was delivered to Berliner's New York.

jimbo said:

FYI, My 126XXX FB dated May 13th 1968 and was delivered to Berliner's New York.

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Yours must be an early one. Mine starts with a 127... but I have no idea when it was delivered to the US.

commando6868 said:

Mine starts with a 127... but I have no idea when it was delivered to the US.

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AN, the VMCC or UK NOC could probably tell you (for a small fee).

https://andover-norton.co.uk/en/factory-records/
http://www.vmcc.net/Factory-Records
https://www.nortonownersclub.org

I just message a buddy who confirmed he bought his FB in May of '68, SN 1264XX, one of the very first in Canada, came in through Firth's in Toronto.

B

Mine is titled as a 67 and it is number 123671. I think someone blew up the engine and it was shipped back to England and dismantled, then it somehow ended up back here in the states.

Don't think that anything like a release date is available, the pre-production bikes were about in Oct '67, maybe earlier as they would have need to have been tested prior to showing and for magazine articles. The first I know of a Commando crossing the pond is the show bike that was at Amsterdam, it arrived back in the UK end of Jan '68 to the surprise of Norton at the time, it was planned to be shipped to Canada with other show bikes early February, sadly no numbers for this bike.

Bacon's book is an accurate snapshot, but not the whole story.

The above is fact, below is conjecture,

It does seem strange that production started some time after the '67 showing of the bike, suggesting that it may have been a test that could have been dropped if it was not given a warm welcome, I also don't think that name of the bike and the decision to produce was fully decided upon until Feb/Mar '68. With this in mind, it may have have been possible that pre-production bikes were shipped to the US in '67, but not being described as Commando. These would have possible gone to the likes of a major dealer, as they had the bulk of shipments that were sent by a large margin.

Considering the numbers sold in the UK and USA, it would have been a strange business decision not to give your biggest customer in your biggest market preview of the proposed new bike. Tastes are different, and if the buying public in the US did not like it, it would have to go back to the drawing board - the UK market at the time would not have kept Norton going.

I have a letter from NJ Hinton of the UK Norton Club when I inquired about my bike in 1995 and he said that a bike with the number "...123667 was built in 1967 and eventually went to a Mr. Byron Black in USA. No other details on that except the date 14/8/68?"

The first two Commandos were on the N-V stand at the 1967 Earl's Court show. Only one of them had engine internals, as I understood it. N-V Wolverhapton was unceremonially dumped form the Commando activities when the production program moved to Plumstead Road.

I did a bit of testing on a P-11, then got up to my armpits in the AJS Stormer program. I finally pulled the plug after Easter '68, having landed a job at Boeing. We left the UK in early July - our first full day in the US was July 4th, their Independence Day.

commando6868 said:

Does anyone know , for sure, the release date of the first Commandos in the UK and US?
In the September 1968 Cycle world test article they claim to have to have tested " the first Commando in America, out of the crate"
The latest issue of rider claims 1967.

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shameful plug on my FB sale

Broken link removed

jimbo said:

shameful plug on my FB sale

Broken link removed

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Damn, was that thing buried?

black cat said:

Damn, was that thing buried?

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pretty much!

That is a very early one, as it has the "Norton-Villiers Norton" decal tank badge. The early tanks were intended to have the "green blob" pseudo badge, which didn't need a recess and a fairly large batch of tanks were made to that pattern. It was at least 6 months (as I remember from 50 years ago!) before the tank version with a recess for the traditional "Norton" badge appeared. I think the tanks were made by a specialist fiberglass company in batches of maybe 50 tanks, then stored (presumably at the Plumstead factory) until used on the assembly line.

frankdamp said:

That is a very early one, as it has the "Norton-Villiers Norton" decal tank badge. The early tanks were intended to have the "green blob" pseudo badge, which didn't need a recess and a fairly large batch of tanks were made to that pattern. It was at least 6 months (as I remember from 50 years ago!) before the tank version with a recess for the traditional "Norton" badge appeared. I think the tanks were made by a specialist fiberglass company in batches of maybe 50 tanks, then stored (presumably at the Plumstead factory) until used on the assembly line.

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Sorry Frank, that is a plastic badge in a recess. However your comment on the non recessed early early tanks is very interesting as I have a very early Fastback, one of the first 300 and it has recesses .

frankdamp said:

That is a very early one, as it has the "Norton-Villiers Norton" decal tank badge. The early tanks were intended to have the "green blob" pseudo badge, which didn't need a recess and a fairly large batch of tanks were made to that pattern. It was at least 6 months (as I remember from 50 years ago!) before the tank version with a recess for the traditional "Norton" badge appeared.

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Frank, it's been pointed out before when you've mentioned this, that the very early production tank such as the one above had the recess for the circular silver Norton Villiers Norton badge, all later Fastback tanks with "the traditional Norton badge" were smooth, as the Norton "badge" was a sticker/decal.

https://www.accessnorton.com/NortonCommando/68-commando-tank-badges.16669/#post-243187
https://www.accessnorton.com/NortonCommando/s-timing-cover-minus-the-norton-logo.23645/#post-348659

1969 Fastback
http://www.classicbike.biz/Norton/Brochures/1960/69NortonCommandoBrochure.pdf

Was it Reg Curley that produced those 'glass tanks?

Around 6 years ago, I bought my 68 commando form a guy in Laconia NH, It was his Dads bike, that he bought from a friend who was the original owner. The son never rode the 68, he was just selling it for his Mum, Dad was gone. It was in running condition, only the ignition switch, tach drive and sidestand missing. $3500.00. The rear rim was black, but it was just years of oil grime. I cleaned it and it still has really good chrome on it. Now restored and rebuilt, don't know what it would be worth today. 1100 miles on the rebuilt motor. When I park it for coffee, People walk past the HD's and Ducks to look at the Commando.

I stand corrected, guys. I'd bailed out of N-V by Easter of 1968 and I didn't see many production bikes, since I was at N-V Wolverhampton, 100 miles or more from the Plumstead Road factory until I left. I'd never seen the "Norton Villiers Norton" badge before this thread.

My only meeting with anyone connected to N-V after I emigrated was when the works M-X team came out to the US West Coast and raced at a venue in Washington State. Peter Inchley led the group, but I can't remember who the riders were.

commando6868 said:

Around 6 years ago, I bought my 68 commando form a guy in Laconia NH, It was his Dads bike, that he bought from a friend who was the original owner. The son never rode the 68, he was just selling it for his Mum, Dad was gone. It was in running condition, only the ignition switch, tach drive and sidestand missing. $3500.00. The rear rim was black, but it was just years of oil grime. I cleaned it and it still has really good chrome on it. Now restored and rebuilt, don't know what it would be worth today. 1100 miles on the rebuilt motor. When I park it for coffee, People walk past the HD's and Ducks to look at the Commando.

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Cool, post a photo of your bike.