Auckland Classic Show

72Combat · Jan 25, 2014

Nice turnout at the Norton Owners Club stand, all Commandos.
I had a look as I had 3 BMW's on another stand.

I commented that's its not often you see a Highrider....the reply was " Why would you want to"
My Missus laughed at the photo as she said it looked like a chopper.....er yes its supposed to.

I think this has never been run, its a bike in crate one.

.com/user/rednzep/media/DSC05943_zps073c1ee9.jpg.html]

[/URL]

There was a Manx on the racing stand and I heard grumbling from some old boys about it not being pre 1984 ( the current classic cut off) :roll:

There was also a CS1 that they started up a few times....LOUD.
My fav was the 1949 thunderbird in grey and the 1902 Adler.

gortnipper · Jan 25, 2014

There were three or four other Nortons in the bike aisles, including another Manx and a Domi and a C,do with an Alton ES. That John Player is a a factory original, not a replica.

mike 850 · Jan 26, 2014

Hi John my bike was on the stand black 850 Interstate in your second picture.
cheers Mike

ntst8 · Jan 26, 2014

Not a bad show, not sure that there were quite as many bikes a last time? Went with my son whose favourite bike was the bevel 900SS near the Norton stand, not a Norton but not a bad choice. Dave started up the CS1 for him when we were looking at that. It goes as well as it looks.
Nice panniers on your 850 Mike, i had a close look over those. Also measured up the mounting bracket on the WIndjammer just in case i get enthused to fit the one in my shed.

acotrel · Jan 26, 2014

You have to give it to Norton, they really made a beautiful classic bike in the commando. I think a lot of people expect too much of them instead of just loving them for what they are. I like Ducatis too however I would never own one, they are as stupid as Ferraris. A commando is more like an Aston Martin. You can actually work on it yourself.

Rohan · Jan 26, 2014

acotrel said:
A commando is more like an Aston Martin. .

Shouldn't that be more something like a Ford Mustang
Pushrod, and mass produced, for the masses .... ??

Brooking 850 · Jan 26, 2014

Hi John, thanks for posting those, looked like a great show, missed that as I was down in Wairoa for the BEARS (no Japanese) drags on the runway on Saturday.
For a charity fund raiser.

Great day and huge Brit turnout, Gisborne bikes took out the Pre Hinckley Twin class , my stock Roadster did 14.0 secs to take the class win.
There was about 8 classes, only serious casualty was a HD lifted off the front barrel about 2 inches (50mm) during ones of his 1/4 mile runs.
Regards Mike

Rohan · Jan 26, 2014

gortnipper said:
That John Player is a a factory original, not a replica.

Does that make it more, or less, valuable ?!
They do look flash though ....

72Combat · Jan 26, 2014

acotrel said:
You have to give it to Norton, they really made a beautiful classic bike in the commando. I think a lot of people expect too much of them instead of just loving them for what they are. I like Ducatis too however I would never own one, they are as stupid as Ferraris. A commando is more like an Aston Martin. You can actually work on it yourself.[/quote

So please explain to me as a 25 year owner of a Ducati 900 why they are stupid like a Ferrari? :?:

gortnipper · Jan 26, 2014

Rohan said:
gortnipper said:

That John Player is a a factory original, not a replica.

Click to expand...

Does that make it more, or less, valuable ?!
They do look flash though ....

Well, only~200 made. This one is very clean.

Time Warp · Jan 26, 2014

72Combat said:
acotrel said:

You have to give it to Norton, they really made a beautiful classic bike in the commando. I think a lot of people expect too much of them instead of just loving them for what they are. I like Ducatis too however I would never own one, they are as stupid as Ferraris. A commando is more like an Aston Martin. You can actually work on it yourself.[/quote

So please explain to me as a 25 year owner of a Ducati 900 ..

Click to expand...

You just reminded me,31 years this years.

Things are always complicated when you do not understand them.
I remember being on a tank job (Wiri terminal) in the mid 1980's (The UK miners strike was on and as a boilermaker payed a levy to it)
One rainy smoko someone asked if I wanted a game of chess,I replied something along the lines of 'its a silly game to which he replied,so you can't play chess (which was correct)
I became a reasonable player from that day on and seem to remember my best time for changing a SD counter shaft bearing was a shade over 4 hours,engine out,cases split and engine back in.

I would compare a Commando to a 100/6.

Rohan · Jan 26, 2014

Time Warp said:
I would compare a Commando to a 100/6.

Naaa, the comparison may be right, but not nearly as exclusive.
Maybe that should be a Sprite (bugeye). ?

Same number of cc,
and same number of carbs.
Not quite the same performance though...

Rohan · Jan 26, 2014

gortnipper said:
Well, only~200 made. .

And equally more made up later ?
Its all just bolt-on though.
Take it off one, and put it on another, you can't even tell the difference.

And the low numbers are because the punters discovered that the 'race replica' was slower than the plainer ones,
and they wouldn''t buy them ... ?!

P.S. Aren't the factory records all lost for these, so it can't even be verified for most of them that they are 'genuine' or not ?

rvich · Jan 27, 2014

Rohan said:
acotrel said:

A commando is more like an Aston Martin. .

Click to expand...

Shouldn't that be more something like a Ford Mustang
Pushrod, and mass produced, for the masses .... ??

There is somebody here who owns a vintage Mustang who will get pissed off at this comment I am sure. But why America fell in love with that car is sort of a mystery to me. Of course I grew up being jammed in what passed as a back seat. They were relatively light and with the 289 had enough pop to be fun to drive but they really didn't handle that well, the interiors always seemed to be falling apart and there wasn't enough room in them to get laid at the drive-in. When I see an early Mustang in nice shape it turns my head, sure, but then I remember what it was like to jammed inside one. VW bugs had a more comfortable interior! They might have cornered better too!

Just sayin...

Snorton74 · Jan 27, 2014

The seventies was a good 'year', lol!

Mustangs? Meh...

72Combat · Jan 27, 2014

I would have thought MGB B. long outdated mechanicals dressed up to look modern with a longer than intended production run as there was a healthy export market.
The Commando could have been made in the 50's really.
I wonder if I have BMW motorcycles because I have VW Buses...?

OldBalz · Jan 27, 2014

Snorton74 said:
The seventies was a good 'year', lol!

Mustangs? Meh...

Nice GTO.....I had a new 65' with tri-power engine . Sadly I had to sell it in 1966 when Uncle Sam called.

Question.....Why is the triangular Pontiac emblem on the front of the hood on upside down?

I worked at Pontiac Motor Div. during 1965 and am quite familiar with Pontiac cars of this era.

Snorton74 · Jan 27, 2014

I was wondering if anybody would notice that. I ripped the pic from the internet so who knows.

Matt Spencer · Jan 27, 2014

ANY OLD IRON .

http://forums.autosport.com/topic/10000 ... ars/page-3

http://forums.autosport.com/topic/89162 ... 70s/page-4

Auckland Classic Show

72Combat

gortnipper

mike 850

ntst8

acotrel

Rohan

Brooking 850

Rohan

72Combat

gortnipper

Time Warp

.......back to the 70's.

Rohan

Rohan

rvich

Snorton74

72Combat

OldBalz

Snorton74

Matt Spencer

Similar threads