'71 Fast Back Long Range and '79 Bonneville Special

L.A.B. asked me to post some pics of my LR. I took the Bonny out of storage at the same time so I did some pics of it, too. I didn't do any cleaning before taking some of the pics. I did vacuum the squirrel's nest out of the battery box and rephotographed it.



There was a fellow in Germany who was pretty handy with an airbrush. He did the custom paint.



My son, Fifteen, calls this mural "Ancient Egyptian Smut."



This is Thor, tossing ligntning around. Seems to me it'd be more at home on a BSA.




Nort & Bonny hangin' out together.




In the seventies, I left the bike in my mother's storeroom here in Tulsa while I was back in Germany. Stuff got thrown in the room on top of it.



About 20 years ago, I did an experiment with a Mity Max battery eliminator and a Pirhana electronic ignition. It didn't work. The squirrels damaged the wiring on the Mity Max, but I'm going to throw it away anyway. The Pirhana should work. I had good luck with one on my old BMW.




While still in Germany, I ordered a European tank, side covers, saddlebags (from the Bonneville Executive) and the Executive Fairing. The fairing never arrived. Sadly, the saddlebag frames weren't with the other stuff. I hope I can replace them, otherwise the luggage is trash!





The shop I worked for in Germany sold a lot of Specials but were never able to get them to run right with the stock exhaust system. We ordered Alphabets 2 into 1 systems and replaced the stock ones on each new bike. We threw the stock pipes away. I wish I had them all now!!!




On the trip over here from Germany, the left muffley rubbed against the instide of the crate.



We found the missing left rear turn signal lens amongst the spares and replaced it.






Here's the way the battery compartment looked when I took off the side cover. Some of the wiring has been chewed up by the squirrels but most of the damage was done to the Mity Max, thankfully!

Still, it looks like I have a lot of work ahead of me, mostly cleaning and polishing. The Bonny's rear brake seems to be non functional. The pedal won't depress (haven't stomped hard on it) but the brake isn't dragging.

The tyres are cracked and must be replaced, but the Bonny's were still holding air... the Norton... not so much.

I have some tiny rust specks on the chrome and thought I'd try Never Dull. Does anybody have any better ideas or tips?

Al

Tulsaalva said:

L.A.B. asked me to post some pics of my LR.

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Thanks for showing us those photos Al (actually it was 79x100 that asked).

Tulsaalva said:

While still in Germany, I ordered a European tank, side covers, saddlebags (from the Bonneville Executive) and the Executive Fairing. The fairing never arrived. Sadly, the saddlebag frames weren't with the other stuff. I hope I can replace them, otherwise the luggage is trash!

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Things like that still turn up for sale new/used in the UK. Strangely enough, I heard about somebody only yesterday fairly close by, who is breaking a Bonneville Executive, although I expect the postage to the US would be quite costly?

Another case of brain fade on my part, L.A.B. Sorry.

I'd be interested in the luggage frames, but I imagine they'd go with the bags and mine have never been used. The fairing would also be interesting if the price is right. I always liked the Executive. I'm sure the cost of shipping would be high but if the price of the parts is low enough...

The bags were made in England, I think, by a company named Sigma. Are they still in business? They look very much like Krauser bags fitted on BMWs, but I don't know if the locks would fit. Probably not.

Thanks for the tips!

Al

Tulsaalva said:

I'd be interested in the luggage frames, but I imagine they'd go with the bags and mine have never been used. The fairing would also be interesting if the price is right.

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I will make some enquiries on your behalf about those Executive parts.

Tulsaalva said:

The bags were made in England, I think, by a company named Sigma. Are they still in business? They look very much like Krauser bags fitted on BMWs, but I don't know if the locks would fit.

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Yes, I believe the boxes were made by Sigma, I've no idea if they are still in business or not, nothing shows up on the Internet.

I have another question about the website, y'all.

I'd like to select an avatar and would prefer to use the second picture up from the bottom of those posted above — the one of the LR.

Can someone direct me to instructions on how to do that? I have Photoshop elements.

Al

Tulsaalva said:

I'd like to select an avatar and would prefer to use the second picture up from the bottom of those posted above — the one of the LR.

Can someone direct me to directions on how to do that? I have Photoshop elements.

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You will need to re-size a copy of the photo to a maximum of 80 pixels wide by 150 high, then enter its Url into the box at the bottom of your 'Profile' page and then >Submit.

You may want to crop some of the width off before resizing, otherwise the avatar will be rather small as it's a landscape photo.

I can get it to 80x70 without cropping much off the bike.

So you could save this one to your computer and upload it to Photobucket if you like?

Thanks, L.A.B.! As you can see, with the help of my son, Fifteen, I got the LR pic put up as my avatar. I may change it later, but, for the time being, it makes me feel more at home here.

Al

Tulsaalva said:

As you can see, with the help of my son, Fifteen, I got the LR pic put up as my avatar.

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Just a small [er... BIG] problem Al, you've entered your avatar photo without re-sizing it from 1010 down to 80 pixels wide , so the avatar is taking up nearly the whole page!

Please could you correct this by deleting the avatar from your profile, and then uploading an 80 wide version of it....thanks.

Sorry, L.A.B.! It's gone. I'll work on a new avatar later. I have a meeting this morning.

Al

OK Al, -no problem.

If you want to do it the easy way, then right click on the thumbnail of your pic. below, as that is 80 wide, and save it to your computer, then upload it to Photobucket as you did with your photos, then add its Url to your profile?




Or of course, you can have a go at doing the re-size bit yourself?

Tulsaalva said:

I'd be interested in the luggage frames, but I imagine they'd go with the bags and mine have never been used. The fairing would also be interesting if the price is right. I always liked the Executive. I'm sure the cost of shipping would be high but if the price of the parts is low enough...

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Unfortunately I was told today that the Executive specific parts from this bike have already been sold.

I will still keep an eye out for others though.

We have begun restoration on the '71 Commando Fast Back Long Range. My son, Seventeen, is enrolled in a class in motorcycle mechanics at Tulsa Technology Center and has taken the bike to the college for a class project.

The first problem we had was that the ignition key has been lost for years. Seventeen removed the entire ignition switch and brought it home. We took it to Jack's Motorcycles here in Tulsa and were pleased to find that the owner, LaNelle, had the tumbler assembly in stock with two keys included.

There is a hole in the switch assembly into which one must insert a probe to push on a button on the tumbler assembly so the tumbler assembly can be extracted from the switch assembly. At first, I found I could not pull the tumblers out because the probe was hanging up on the hole in which the button lives. I soon found that the job became easy when the probe is slowly lifted as the tumbler assembly is extracted.

So, we now have a complete ignition switch. LaNelle also had a battery in stock so we bought that, too.

Seventeen will be posting on this account but will sign his name to his posts.

Al

Seventeen changed his mind and will be posting under his own account.

Al

I just wanted to let y'all know that the Fast Back Long Range Norton in this thread is being auctioned on eBay. The auction ends on Friday. The item number is 270595791194.

Again, please understand how much I appreciate all the regulars who have helped in our work on the bike. Unfortunately, the death of my wife of breast cancer set me back so much that I can't finish the project and am hoping it will sell to a true Norton enthusiast who can restore this very rare Commando and save a part of history.

Y'all have been tops and I'm grateful.

Keep those classic Brit bikes alive!

Tulsaalva

Very sorry about the loss of your wife, here's to many happy memories that won't fade away.

Make sure to cross-post the For Sale listing in the classified section so that folks who are looking will see it.

I sure hope you do well with the auction.

grandpaul said:

Very sorry about the loss of your wife, here's to many happy memories that won't fade away.

Make sure to cross-post the For Sale listing in the classified section so that folks who are looking will see it.

I sure hope you do well with the auction.

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Thanks, Grandpaul. We had thirty years together. A lot of those memories are of the two of us on a motorcycle in both Europe and America. She was a wonderful life's mate! Make sure your wife never misses a mammogram, Okay?

...and Thanks for the tip. I would not have thought to list the bike here. It was easy to do! ...and where else could one find a more qualified person to take care of my long time friend?

Alva