Cycle World: 50 Years of Commando

The latest issue (December) of Cycle World magazine just arrived with a pretty good three article section under the heading "Celebrating 50 Years of Norton Commando". One article each by Peter Egan and Mark Hoyer on living with them and a third that's a bio of Dennis Poore.

A friend of mine has an Atlas which he has improved. It is obviously the end of the line for that sort of bike, however it seems to be very good. He raced it in the 1960s in A and B grade races and did quite well with it. There were complaints back then, because it was obviously a road bike and the others were all racers. Pretty obvious that Norton had to do something about smoothness , if it wanted to compete against the CB750 Honda in the commuter market. But the Atlas was not all bad.

A pretty good piece by Mr. Egan. Very telling were the sketches of the stillborn Mk IV. New instrument binnacle, relocated turn signals, different taillight and restyled side covers. More band-aids and little actual improvement.

I was disappointed by the article. Most MC magazines, along with the rest of the industry, are suffering.

xbacksideslider said:

I was disappointed by the article. Most MC magazines, along with the rest of the industry, are suffering.

Click to expand...

What had you hoped it contained? I am familiar with Egan's first mag piece in which he wrote about his Commando misadventure. Most folks, after buying a new machine that blew up on it's first trip would never have another two-wheeled hand grenade if given one and he has owned several since. Any story relating to the "old" British motorcycle industry is tinged with sadness and resignation.

We, as motorcyclists, feel every blow the industry takes, but in reality, the rise and fall of motorcycle manufacturers has had little effect on dedicated enthusiasts or the economy in general. Bikes are better than ever and the variety of types assures every niche is filled. The Indians are now doing to the Japanese what the Japanese did to the British. China and Asia in general are huge markets with millions of two-wheelers on their roads. The pendulum swings.

More than some sketches and a re-hash.

For us long-time enthusiasts, the article was old news at best, other than Egan's wry kudos to Norton for everything in his life other than his wife, and SHE likes 'em.

For the new (young?) and curious, it may be a good intro, telling them there's an old bike you can actually ride as if it weren't so old.