Commando Bible?

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walt_mink

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Hi all,

I have fallen in love with the Commando over the past few years and want - no, NEED - to get one.

I've been reading through page after page of posts here to try to educate myself on the topic, but still feel pretty far behind. I'd like to really know a lot about the various incarnations and caveats of each model year and style before I hit the streets to buy a bike. Is there a resource (book, site, etc) that I should be chugging through besides this fine forum to get all of my Commando knowledge?

Also, where do folks go to find a decent runner? I've been stalking the Seattle and surrounding area craigslists, but haven't had much luck in the past month or two. The bikes I find online are either completely mint ($$$) or are basket cases that the owner is a bit too proud of. I'd like to get something I can ride around and upgrade for a few years before stripping it down for a full rebuild.

Thanks a lot in advance. I really enjoy reading about all of your excellent bikes.

Walt_Mink
 
As of this moment there are 405 pages of topics which then go into volumes of discussions within. Now, if you go into your user control panel and hide a few overzealous contributors, you will reduce this considerably making it more readable.

For example and more in accordance to your request, type "Norton books" in the search function and you will get 16 pages and 239 matches dating back to 2004. Type just "books" and you will get 37 pages and 551 matches.

Some books are much better than others but you have to read a lot of them to figure which is best for you.
Your first book should be the work shop manual. Seriously! Read it, study it, the technical info alone is a read in itself. I also have a Haynes manual.

Seattle? Lots a great Norton people out there. Welcome to the Forum.

Don't worry, many many more will chime in with specific books that they recommend.
 
Welcome to the forum, walt_mink.

walt_mink said:
I've been reading through page after page of posts here to try to educate myself on the topic, but still feel pretty far behind. I'd like to really know a lot about the various incarnations and caveats of each model year and style before I hit the streets to buy a bike. Is there a resource (book, site, etc) that I should be chugging through besides this fine forum to get all of my Commando knowledge?
Click to expand...

There are a number of books covering the Norton marque, but not so many that are concerned specifically with the Commando and some of which are currently out of print. No single publication could really be described as being the definitive work on the subject (I think that would take a series of volumes rather than a single book!).


Norton Commando by Mick Duckworth - Recommended
Norton Commando by Matthew Vale - Interesting
Norton Commando Essential Buyer's Guide by Peter Henshaw - Pocket book guide
Norton Commando All Models by Roy Bacon, - small but useful book.
Norton Commando Super Profile by Jeff Clew
Norton Commando Gold Portfolio a compilation of Commando road tests.

Other more general Norton books that include information on the Commando models.

Norton Twin Restoration by Roy Bacon
Norton Story Bob Holliday
Norton, The Complete Story by Derek Magrath
Norton Twins by Roy Bacon
Norton, The Illustrated motorcycle Legends by Roy Bacon
Norton, The Complete Illustrated History by Mick Woollett
Norton Motor Cycles From 1950 - 1986 by Steve Wilson
Norton Illustrated buyer's Guide by Roy Bacon

There are also various technical publications and manuals etc. available.


I think you've already found the best place for Commando information, so I suggest you continue reading. :D
 
another good site just to get a concise outlline of Commando models by year is the NOC website.
www.nortonownersclub.org

Seattle trivia: the 50 foot needle on the space needle was what structure during construction?
 
Re Space Needle trivia...I'm guessing it was the crane.

Now for finding a bike. You might want to find an active Norton club and start hanging out at meets. You could look at bikes, talk to owners and you might find something to buy. You can always put a wanted ad in the classifieds here. That or buy Kraakevik's chopper and swap everything over to the spare frame. You would learn a lot in the process and it wouldn't be that hard of a job. I wish somebody would do this before I have to!

Russ
 
Welcome Walt. You may want to read through all the brochures, just to get a feeling of the different models. Not that one can't be changed into another with the appropriate parts. http://www.classicbike.biz/Norton/Broch ... chures.htm

You will find that the early bikes are smaller and nimbler, and the later bikes are heavier but have more upgrades to them. A current member is making an early Fastback with disk brakes. So nearly anything is possible. Any of them can be made reliable.

Dave
69S
 
illf8ed said:
Seattle trivia: the 50 foot needle on the space needle was what structure during construction?
Click to expand...

Hmm - don't know the answer to that one. And here I was feeling all cocky about living here for 13 years. Do tell.


Thanks everyone for the responses. I've bought a bunch of the books that LAB suggested, am looking for a local Norton club, and will keep searching through the site as pvisseriii suggests. It's a daunting task that I'm pretty excited to take on. Now I'm off to sell my 2009 bike to make room for the new toy. :)
 
walt_mink said:
illf8ed said:
Seattle trivia: the 50 foot needle on the space needle was what structure during construction?
Click to expand...

Hmm - don't know the answer to that one. And here I was feeling all cocky about living here for 13 years. Do tell.


Thanks everyone for the responses. I've bought a bunch of the books that LAB suggested, am looking for a local Norton club, and will keep searching through the site as pvisseriii suggests. It's a daunting task that I'm pretty excited to take on. Now I'm off to sell my 2009 bike to make room for the new toy. :)
Click to expand...

The nice folks at the Northwest Norton Owners would be crushed that you haven't found them yet!
 
swooshdave said:
The nice folks at the Northwest Norton Owners would be crushed that you haven't found them yet!
Click to expand...

I did just find them! They have a meeting tonight, but I don't think I can afford both a bike and a divorce, so I'll have to wait for next month. :p
 
The Tech Digest through the merchandise section at http://inoanorton.com/Merchandise/index.html I think is helpful. You can also get a DVD with all of the national club's newsletters dating back to 1974 or whenever which is kind of interesting. TheEnglish NOC has similar info to the INOA Tech Digest here http://www.nortonownersclub.org/support/technical-support-commando.
I would agree with the suggestions to look to your local owners group as a good source to find a rider.

I think I lived near the Walt Mink band house in South Minneapolis in about 1990.
Brendan
 
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