Bought a Norton, need to ID it

After riding sportbikes for years, I made a bit of an impluse buy and picked up a Norton project.
It was listed as a 1972 Notron, no model given, no motor size given.
It has been Revinned by the state, so I will be able to title and register it. I can not get to the orig Vin on the neck.

The only visable numbers on it are
C20M35/142515 - On the left front of the block
C24347 - On the right rear of the head?
The C's are very difficult to see, so they could be 0's or somethng else.

Has clip on handlebars, but has perches for regular bars. Drum brakes front and rear.
Came with a tool kit and under the battery was a patch for the 1971 isle of mann tt, which is a neat find.
Tank and side covers are plastic. Has a chrome rear fender with a circle tail light. No blinkers. Also came with a beat up (fiberglass?) solo cafe seat with leather button snaps.

I will work on pictures as well. It was running within the last couple of years, but I haven't been able to start it, (haven't tried yet) but I can see where the kick starter is hitting/has hit one of the pipes.

If anyone can help me ID the bike or point me in the right direction so I know what i'm working with that would be great. If there are any dead give aways I should look for let me know and I'll wander out to the garage to check. I have feeling it's a combat just from pictures and searching the boards.

Thanks

That would be a 1971 model COmmando.

Welcome!

wow that was fast! Thanks

It's a 750 correct?

parked said:

The only visable numbers on it are
C20M35/142515 - On the left front of the block
C24347 - On the right rear of the head?
The C's are very difficult to see, so they could be 0's or somethng else.

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I don't know why it appears to have a 'C' or '0' as part of the engine prefix, but I do know that the '5' is an 'S', so is actually (C?) 20M3S/

My unofficial list shows it as a 71 Fastback MK III. Starting with s/n 142583 they started the roadster MK II. I don't know how accurate my list is though.

Dave
69 'S' project

Hey DogT... Does your list say how many Commandos were made? just curious... Thanks, Don

DonOR said:

how many Commandos were made?

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There's no exact figure as far as I know, but it's been estimated to be somewhere around 50,000 to 55,000.

My unofficial list shows it as a 71 Fastback MK III.

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Certainly NOT a Mk III (only '75 was Mk III). What makes you believe it is a Fastback and not a Roadster or Hi-Rider? To the best of my knowledge it is not possible to determine original model build by the engine number.

Comparing it to pictures, it looks closest to a 71 Commando, but who knows what is stock and whats not. It could have been a race bike or someones cafe project for all I know.....at least we got the year hammered down.

I'm surprised that that many nortons were made, I always thought these were very rare bikes. 55K produced, but how many survive today...I guess thats what makes them rare. My car is 1 of 2760 produced (svt contour, I believe its called an st220 for the folks across the pond) and I see them everywhere. I've been riding for years and am yet to see a norton at a bike night, but to my bike night crowd early 90s was considered old school.

Hoping to have it much closer to running by this weekend. I'll tear into it by wednesday and prob post more questions. I already see a rats nest of wires that should be loads of fun to trace and test.

parked said:

Comparing it to pictures, it looks closest to a 71 Commando, but who knows what is stock and whats not. It could have been a race bike or someones cafe project for all I know.....at least we got the year hammered down.

I'm surprised that that many nortons were made, I always thought these were very rare bikes. 55K produced, but how many survive today...I guess thats what makes them rare. My car is 1 of 2760 produced (svt contour, I believe its called an st220 for the folks across the pond) and I see them everywhere. I've been riding for years and am yet to see a norton at a bike night, but to my bike night crowd early 90s was considered old school.

Hoping to have it much closer to running by this weekend. I'll tear into it by wednesday and prob post more questions. I already see a rats nest of wires that should be loads of fun to trace and test.

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If you want you can add your location to your profile. Perhaps where you are they are rare...

Being a '71 model, your sidestand is retained by a clip on a pin. Many of these have already broken and it was only too common for them to lose the clip or have the pin fracture. If this happens while riding it can be quite exciting as the stand hits the pavement while attaced by the spring!

If your bike still has this stand, check the integrity of the pin and the security of the clip. If it is broen or missing, I would suggest welding on the later style lug (available from OldBritts and others) and using a later sidestand leg which pivonts on a hardened bolt.

There is a safety fix for the side stand. I saw it on this forum somewhere. The rear brake should have a safety spring too, if the cable fails, that can be quite pants filling too.

I should have said that my unofficial list is a list of individual bikes I found on a UK site years ago and printed out, it is no longer there. It lists 141783 as a Jan 71 Fastback and 142583 as a Jan 71 Roadster. I agree that there is no way by serial number to tell what a bike was made as, much less what it went off the showroom floor as. I am sure there was a lot of swapping of parts going on at the dealer level. The list does seem to agree with others I have seen as far as dates and serial numbers.

Dave
69 'S' project

Ron L said:

My unofficial list shows it as a 71 Fastback MK III.

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Certainly NOT a Mk III (only '75 was Mk III).

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Not entirely correct. Athough the 750 mark numbers can be regarded as being somewhat unofficial.

750 Fastback MkIII = manufactured between January and December 1971.

Original 20M3 Commando 4/68-3/69
Fastback 3/69-8/70
Fastback MkII 9/70-12/70
Fastback MkIII 1/71-12/71
Fastback IV 1/72-3/73
Fastback LR (Long Range) 4/71-12/71
Fastback LR MkIV 1/72-2/73

"After riding sportbikes for years, I made a bit of an impluse buy and picked up a Norton project."

I say old chap, some of us still regard the old Commando as a bit of a sporty thing !

It's strange but on the subject of build quantities, I can't believe that so few were made. I must know about 10,000 of them. I'm pretty sure that nearly all my friends and acquaintances have at least two or three.

I'm sure that once you get out and about on one, you'll be surprised how many there are.

Now that you can buy newly made ones perhaps it will be like some other rarer models.

They only made 5,000 of which only 7,000 are still out there!!

Can't remember which bike he was referring to, but damned funny.

Not entirely correct. Athough the 750 mark numbers can be regarded as being somewhat unofficial.

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Oh yeah, I forgot all about that 750 Mk number stuff. When I see MkIII I automatically think e-start.

Considering that Commandos were made from 1968 through 1975 (some titled as late as 1977), and made in a variety of models, 50,000 doesn't seem like a lot. Seems like there are a lot more Commandos around than Atlases or Dominators/Mercurys.

Before I got mine, almost 2 years ago, I had only seen a couple. Since then, I've seen maybe a hundred in person, and know of perhaps 25 here in South Florida.

Seems like there's always a new one in my local guy's shop, but they're almost always Roadsters - I've only seen 2 fastbacks in running condition, and maybe 10 Interstates.