1973 Commando 850

That is so cool !!! Very happy for you, as that is a really great find. I'm REALLY curious if you called Chris Wedman about your Norton yet ... at:

http://www.wedmanmotorsports.com/

If I was betting money, I would bet he did your motor and tranny (of course I could be wrong too.) As far as the gas tank, I would buy an "EMGO" repop and have it painted what you want. Of course, I recommend Brent "the Vintage Vendor" ... cause' he has done such great work for me. You know the metric bikes and obviously XS650s, so you'll have NO problems, as Nortons are super easy. Good luck

thanks for your kind words, i appreciate it. i haven't called him yet, but the most the previous owner could remember was that a guy named Gary rebuilt it. not much to go on, but i will likely call after i get done with finals next week. i really want to get started on it, she just looks so bored over there in the corner haha

long time, no update. Went with the steel tank from emgo. It needed a little work after i got it, had a ding on the topside and already had contact rust throughout. Cleaned it up and sent it off for paint, side covers went with it. Sent them to Brent Budgor aka The Vintage Vendor, for paint, and he did a very stand up job, they look great. Frame went to powder coat, so that will be cleaned up as well. The forks are laid out on the garage floor at the moment getting a full rebuild. Polishing wheel is ready to go for the fork lowers, and wheel hubs, should look nice when i get it done. i also set the motor up on my bench and ran it, no issues so far! For now though, ill just post a couple of pictures of how it looks now... Everybody will have to wait to see it together

i did end up getting the rest of the story for those interested. The story i was told was, well... slightly exaggerated but its still pretty darn cool. When i bought the bikes i got them from a young guy, who sold them to me with the story i was originally told. it was actually an estate sale here in Oklahoma City where the buyer (young kids dad) ended up with quite a few rare classics. He apparently missed out on a few due to price tags getting too high (supposedly an ariel or two and some 20s-30s era bmws) They were all in pretty poor condition, but all found in a warehouse-type shed behind the house (not the basement). i guess the PO bought as many of the bikes as he could and the estate administrator transferred all of the titles to the bikes by simply signing them. after the sale, the administrator attached all of the titles to the corresponding bikes, and they were moved for storage and forgotten since 1994. Dad is not interested in them anymore and was selling the property, so his kid sold it to me. Im trying to track down what happened to the rest of the bikes, i have the original owners name, id love to know more about him. If anybody on here lived in oklahoma in the 70s-80s and was a part of the bike scene back then, please let me know. thanks

mschlake21 said:

First question. Im used to working on japanese bikes. I've done two or three of them. I'm trying to reinstall the norton clutch, and i can't find clutch bolts/springs anywhere. and instead find this goofy plate made of spring steel. Does this serve this purpose? does it even have clutch bolt/springs?

Click to expand...

Welcome to the wold of Norton Commando! I think you scored! Like the others said, you need the shop manual and parts book. The Commando clutch, when set up properly, is a beautiful thing.

Good luck!

Tobin

Great find. I'm jealous.
You might want to get some pool noodles or foam water line insulation to wrap around the frame, to keep,from bunging it up.

Just at first glance from your photos, it looks like the frame was not properly masked at the main mounting points for the engine. If that is the case, it is probably worse at the transmission cradle which must have not only been masked at the bolt holes, but also the outer 1/8" of the main isolastic mount tube (same for the front mount), as well as the flats where the swingarm bushing faces slide in place...

I hope I'm just seeing things that are not there; if not, you have a few hours with a dremel burr and some sandpaper in your future!

Tin Man said:

Great find. I'm jealous.
You might want to get some pool noodles or foam water line insulation to wrap around the frame, to keep,from bunging it up.

Click to expand...

A friend of mine recently suggested bathroom shower rod covers, sold at Home Depot etc. He says they're the ideal size for his Guzzi V7 frame. More durable and thinner than insulation.

I didn't have the cradle powdercoated, it already looked pretty good. You are right... the powder coated screwed up. They had pretty explicit instructions too. Powder inside the swing arm too! I've already been at it with the Drexel, frame is clear now.

Yeah, for the first time in over 10 years, I had to address the parts on the '75 MkIII I'm doing right now. Pain in the butt (and neck, and back, and shoulders...)

Well guys, she lives. It took about a year and a half, but i got her going. i keep finding myself going out to the garage just to look at it... such a beautiful bike. All i have left to do to have everything going (yeah right, lets be honest) is fix one turn signal that doesn't want to work, and do another re-torque. Surprisingly enough, the only leak i have right now is coming from the head gasket. Hopefully the re-torque will cure that. Thanks for the help everyone gave me!