Commando editorial in Cycle World

Hi all,

Editor in chief Mark Hoyer has a "bought it back" editorial in the latest Cycle World (Feb/2012) about his '74 Roadster. I love to see the mention in a modern magazine but it makes me wonder about the future of our old mounts. If I get into a conversation at my shop with a customer who's there for state inspection or whatnot and it comes up that I own a Norton, invariably they act impressed (unless they're 20 and riding a repli-racer), even if you can tell they don't know anything about Nortons. They know the name. The rep seems to be expanding so the prices are too.

There's the rub. How many classic vehicles have suffered from increasing value giving rise to collectors squirreling them away until pricing is driven out of sight and restoring or simply maintaining one becomes exorbitant? There were actually a lot of Commandos and it would be interesting to be omniscient and know for sure how many were actually left in usable/restorable condition and what percentage of those were regularly ridden vs. stored and/or shown only. Then I'd want to know how that percentage changed each year.

The knowledge wouldn't do anything about the stack of invoices I have accumulated since 1976, of course!

Evenutally all Commandos will be owned by collectors and not ridden. That's reality. Some of the reasons Commandos can still be enjoyed on the road are the parts manufacturers (thanks Joe) and the dealers that continue to provide the "plasma" to keep them alive. I can see two things that will accelerate the decline of "the use of the Norton motorcycle". The current original generation of owners (that doesn't read original owners) will fade away and the before mentioned manufacturers and dealers will loose interest. I'm optimisitc as a member of the original generation of owners I will be able to ride my Commando for several year to come. So get those Nortons fettled and fired and hit the road. Get involved with an active club. The sound of a "squadron" of reverberating Commando engines is unapproachable.

Ive noticed just in the past few years a spike in how much used parts are, and how much people want for bikes. Just in the past 3-4 years, the price has gone up considerably!

illf8ed said:

Evenutally all Commandos will be owned by collectors and not ridden..........

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its becoming that way already really... i think there are a lot on this forum that spend more time being photographed and shown-off that actually ridden - :shock:

- it HAS happened to bevel drive ducati's and 60's triumphs (Bonneville's). Also laverda's are now becoming a "collector" bike too (Can't belive how much they fetch now)

its becoming so one can't afford their hobbies anymore - next thing they'll take away internet porn and all will be lost! :mrgreen:

LIkely more Cdo running today with more in the works than ever before but still limited market to sustain by those that always had them or always longed for one. Besides sound and nice ride and looks, its not the bike the hot blooded youngster like we once were will be seeking long term.

Yet, you've touched a point that has worried me since 2003 letting Ms Peels hair out in public, that the price of Commandos will shoot up once New Age Ms Peel comes on line to best the track times of the elite corner cripples like a full tall ratio shift faster around. If I was talking neck and neck I'd not make a peep about it but she's so good I don't see other two wheel craft as competition, just race Karts and 1000 hp rally drift cars, which can't do phase 4 turns, po things. Seriously I'm worried Peel will change the market on Commando forever and maybe the way new generations of cycles are constructed. What other craft seek MO POW in turns rather than more brakes and limiting power that upsets them, Pshaw! In public and track I've maxed out balloon tire bikes but I can't fully test Peel because I must stay tight in my lane into blinds and keep reserves to dodge surprises, so don't really know how much faster sharper harsher she can take it.

On the other hand after you old guys age beyond showing or flinging ole rubber bady buggy Cdo's around - a new cult may arise for those that live for Hi G force thrills nothing else on the ground can satisfy. If the cornering G's don't require fighter pilot black out breath control then it don't stand a chance but in bee line ho hums, which won't be enough to make up for their lost ground in the turns.

Maybe ya don't know what ya missing out on that gets more relaxing in effort the harsher its driven? I expect this feature to keep some old farts hard on it till who know how fast and old? Of course it will require a turbo belt driven to keep the G's up long enough to get away.

Vulin said:

Ive noticed just in the past few years a spike in how much used parts are, and how much people want for bikes. Just in the past 3-4 years, the price has gone up considerably!

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well. as the interest rates on savings are "not worth" keeping money in a saving account, people are buying classic bikes and cars.
Vincents have doubled in a few years, Commandos are steadly increasing, not regarded as Blue chip,but a good investment people can still ride. and not affraid of getting dirty!

"Editor in chief Mark Hoyer has a "bought it back" editorial in the latest Cycle World (Feb/2012) about his '74 Roadster"

And what ticks me off is I've been a subscriber for over 20 years with this rag and I don't get my copy in the mail until long after it's on the stands. I'm still reading the Jan issue.

Long term, I worry more about being legislated off the road than I do Commandos getting too valuable to ride. I hope that's not the case, but as fossil fuels get more expensive, and more attention paid to climate change, it's not inconceivable that someone (a crackpot) will say, "let's get these old motorcycles, T-Birds, 57 Chevys, etc. off the road. They are just a waste of resources." Maybe I'm too paranoid. To the outsiders, there is not much of a reason for the fans of old vehicles to exist. David is right in saying we need to ride them, wear out parts, and buy new ones. You know, it's amazing how many parts you can buy for a model T. And the original owners are for the most part, long gone. I actually drove one last year -what a blast! And, I do like Mark Hoyer, and have read much about his Velocette riding and rebuilding exploits. He rides 'em.

Oh, and my Cycle World arrived yesterday. My wife just left it in the stack of mail, and didn't inform me immediately of its arrival. The nerve!

I wonder what made Mark want to write about his Commando… :mrgreen:

Brithit said:

we need to ride them, wear out parts, and buy new ones.

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My Commando is the only motorcycle I own. I ride mine regularly. I will admit that I have considered buying a modern bike so I wouldn't worry as much about breaking down when I am far from home. However, I have yet to be stranded by anything I couldn't fix "enough" to get me back home. I still can't get it out of the back of my mind when I am 100 miles from home, though... :shock:

Chris

When Money magazine put the word out with "THERE ARE NO MORE MUSCLE CARS HIDDEN IN BARNS, BUY A BRITISH BIKE" featuring a Bonnie on the cover Norton parts immediately became expensive and hard(er) to find. I was pulled over and made lowball offers for my Commando regularly (Brit-bikes did not exist before the Money cover so folks thought that they could get in for super-cheap).

In the 1990's when farm implement (H-D) prices went nuts temporarily the auction at Daytona was CRAZY!! with clapped-out Brit-bikes fetching 4 or 5 times what they were worth, after letting these "investments" sit for years folks started bringing them out to sell and were SHOCKED when they found out that they had made a bad deal and then made it worse by leaving it in the garage until the rubber-parts had gone bad!, I had to call the Cops on one guy because I offered him $1,800.00 for an A65 and he wanted $9,000.00! and he threatened to beat on me.

With American Pickers-type TV shows folks think that anything old has big-value, a guy recently tried to sell me one of those 50cc 2-stroke Aremachii "Indians" for $2,500.00, I offered him $250.00 and he got mad.

The point is there will always be "investors" but the market seems to be very cyclical so just wait the speculators out and look at the bright side, the bikes will be all shiny and they are not getting miles put on them!

Vince

snare1998 said:

I still can't get it out of the back of my mind when I am 100 miles from home, though... :shock:

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As my 19-year old son would say...."I am so with you on that point". But, you know, that's what makes Nortoneering so much fun! To me, it's like "birds of a feather..." I always ride with a Norton-owning buddy...yeah, we've been stuck for a few hours 100+ miles away from home a few times over the past few years...but it's just that...the Nortoneering Brotherhood that draws us together, good bonding friendships that alow us to travel all over Florida together knowing we can help each other out when that "oh sh*t" moment comes and you find yourself roadside, trying to get it figured out and screaming down the asphalt again. I wouldn't give it up for a "dependable" modern ride for anything...just gotta love it...or park it.

I'm not worried at all. Parts are cheap. Nortons are easy to work on and I'll keep riding it until I can't anymore. Why worry?

I'm not convinced that we should be concerned about increasing values ruining the hobby of riding and owning Nortons. I think the opposite is more likely. Look at the recent drop in the price of all toys, including Nortons, given the soggy economy.

And I don't think we should underestimate the demographics. By now anybody who wants a Nortons probably has one (or two or three). The demand is pretty much saturated. The owners bought the bike they imprinted on when they were 16. Which means, if you take a 1973 Norton, that most owners are now about 64. There is no younger wave following who is going to prop up the prices. Soon it will be like Model Ts, and you won't be able to give them away.

Unless of course, you firmly believe that there is something magical about a Norton that will transcend economics and demographics. Kind of like a Vincent. Now there is a question worth noodling over: is the Norton Commando the next Vincent????

Stephen Hill
Victoria, BC

Stephen Hill said:

I'
Now there is a question worth noodling over: is the Norton Commando the next Vincent????

Stephen Hill
Victoria, BC

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no....................

I think it was our very own Joe on this forum who, after owning a Vincent and then going to a Commando said that the Norton was "twice the fun with half the problems." At least a lot of people ride their Commandos.

Fullauto said:

I think it was our very own Joe on this forum who, after owning a Vincent and then going to a Commando said that the Norton was "twice the fun with half the problems." At least a lot of people ride their Commandos.

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A friend who has owned and put many miles on both said he enjoyed them equally...saw the Vincent engine apart and heard what is required to set them up with the pinion, timing gears, rockers etc., very involved...the Norton engine is much simpler

My comment, "Is a Norton Commando the next Vincent?" wasn't meant to compare a Norton to a Vincent per se. The purpose of the question was more along the line of:
Is there something unique enough about the Norton Commando that makes it stand head and shoulders above other similar vintage collector bikes, and as a consequence price the bike accordingly?
In my humble opinion, market uniqueness will be required to sustain and increase Norton values in the face of a soggy economy and aging demographics.

Stephen Hill
Victoria, BC

When I was a young man, someone gave me a subscription to Playboy. after a couple months it stopped coming in my mailbox. About 20 years later an old school mate confided that he had become the postal carrier in my neighborhood. He kept my Playboys for himself.

You think they're expensive in the US??? Try it in Australia. I almost cry when i see the prices you are paying/being paid over there :cry: