Commando frames?

Patents are history, because they last only a limited time, so even Nortons rotary engine patents have now run out. Featherbed frames are a well-documented story. They were invented by Rex McCandless during the second worl war, who then went to Norton, worked there and sold them the patent. The early ones may have been put together by Renolds, but they weren't a Renolds invention.
The Commando frame was the brainchild of the Commando development team, and the story goes the early ones broke until Renolds supposedly found the solution with the small diameter tube running under the spine tube. Whether that was really a Renolds inspiration, or whether somebody inside the team found the solution I do not know, and most people who were on that team now ride motorcycles (Nortons, no doubt) in the clouds........
Andover Norton's featherbed frames are made in England, too, and not by Renolds. We farm the welding out, but the components (bent tubes mainly) are made for us according to factory drawings. Same as our Commando frames.

It should be fairly easy to sort this out.
Measure the tubes, if it's imperial increments , then there is no reason to think the italians made them.
Then in 73+ the metric tube frames were interspersed with fractional tubes.
Before that I find no metric tube frames except for ebay rehash bitza rebuilds where the date stamp on the frame gusset has no correlation with the VIN plate.

Funny one of my earliest memories racing at the IOM was the "Renolds" frame service operated by Snr Sprayson, I did think it was a bit of a man in a van type business and not a world class operation.

I wish I could have afforded him at the time to fix my TZ frame which we spent every night welding up!

Gino Rondelli said:

I did think it was a bit of a man in a van type business and not a world class operation.

Click to expand...

Are you refering to the whole british motor industry ????

ZFD said:

and most people who were on that team now ride motorcycles (Nortons, no doubt) in the clouds........

Click to expand...

Maybe Frank Damp knows, hopefully he's still around.

Gino Rondelli said:

Funny one of my earliest memories racing at the IOM was the "Renolds" frame service operated by Snr Sprayson, I did think it was a bit of a man in a van type business and not a world class operation.

Click to expand...

World Class Operation - does that describe 1950s and 60s and 70s british motorcycles ? !!

Bit before my time, but have you seen the pics of the "Factory Norton Race Team" van that went to the continental GP races. Looks like another man-in-a-van type operation.
Some of the stories told of that time sound like it, too.
Not to mention the privateer racers, living a hand-to-mouth existence.

Its not that long since greasy floors gave way to mega boutique stores, after all. ?
Honda etc have a lot to answer for.....

ZFD said:

Patents are history, because they last only a limited time, so even Nortons rotary engine patents have now run out. Featherbed frames are a well-documented story. They were invented by Rex McCandless during the second worl war, who then went to Norton, worked there and sold them the patent. The early ones may have been put together by Renolds, but they weren't a Renolds invention.
<snip>
Andover Norton's featherbed frames are made in England, too, and not by Renolds. We farm the welding out, but the components (bent tubes mainly) are made for us according to factory drawings. Same as our Commando frames.

Click to expand...

Interesting. Whose names appear on the various patent applications, I wonder ?

Reynolds wouldn't have made any featherbed frames since the 1960s.. ?

Just how many different (factory ? ) drawings do you have of featherbed frames.
At a quick count, there would have to be 20 different versions, at least.

Cheers.