Help on frame ID

O.K. , This is what its actually supposed to look like .



Have you seen these , fairly atmospheric etc , gives one a appreciation of themes .( Link Click below )

few-cool-commando-pictures-t12280.html

Id look at these ,






Oh . But if youre talking about the Frame , Check Over the one you have , with a fine tooth comb .
A bird in the hands worth two in the bush . Mainstands to me you have to look and see if its still in the shed.
probably safer to chuck it up under the house.somebody might give you good money for it , or a trade . :mrgreen:

Low Time-ing all the fitings and fixtures would be a priority . no Way Id loose the Front end , to scarce / irraplaceable
and cool old world looking .And the discs could keep the trafic out of the teeth , effortlessly. Id Hope .

So , you can collect all cool sorts of clothes 9 tanks etc , for your whims . theres a commando Disc brake front end on Now
goes tamarra , probly twisted . :? . looks it , maybe triple clamps 7 staunchions twisted . :? Maybe Not .( Aus ebay )

best idea is go through the mechanics , find out whats trying to empty your pockets , get on top of that .
Then start getting serious about irrelevancies .

Once / if , you find out what it was originally built as , if you put it back to original , it still wouldnt be ' original ' ,
so a lot better to get a bit creative in bulletproofing it . Shocks , Brakes , Mechanically A1 , and as exhausts etc arnt
excessively priced , you can get a bit creative there , or have a coustom system , stainless or whatever , from thunder
wotsit in Nelson .

Iso's also want to be spot on . But Id stick to the original shim type . PERFORMANCE is EVERYTHING . :mrgreen: 8)
even if its just bog stock ( S type ) and puttering trough green lanes . Nitrous probly wont be neccesary . :|

As this bloke says , http://nortoncommando.tradesman4u.com.au/tips.htm Mk II Amals , etc . . .
But Id only fit a single carb , for off road ( Dirt / gravle ) rideing . 70 mg on twin Mk II 32s touring .And a 500 rpm idle .

MORE pictures PLEASE , we havnt SEEN the half of it yet . You could dismantle the gearbox , lay it all out on white paper , and let us comment . :mrgreen: Then theres the Primary . And , If you Mention ' S ' type , Dog T will give you acres of advice

I forgot to mention both my '71 frames have the bracing at the front, rather than under the gearbox. The numbers are 1462** and think the other is 148***

Haven't got a clue what spec they were when the left the factory.

Hell I didn't realize these old Norton's needed so many mods to make them usable, its like owning a old ford,you do it to preserve history but basically pointless.( PS the Norton's worth it).

Im a Lumberjack , and Im O.K. , :?



If its Worth Doing , Its Worth Doing Properly . 8) Being meticulous will ensure that youre
not running an old dog into the ground . So cleanliness and thoroughness will have their rewards.

Do it once and do it right , which means do it right once.The big problems figureing out whats right .
Once youve got that done , you only have to do it once . :lol: 8) Theyre pretty straighforward ,
largely a matter of meticulous inspection . And the odd drop of Loctite in the right place .
Pre Lubeing all assemblies .Why , theres only a thousand or two parts , total . :mrgreen:

Just Getting you familiarised . The Cat & nine tails , salt in the wounds , and the like .
Just pays to gain a bit of familiarity .Nothing worse than buggering good parts , or haveing
to fix buggered parts . Ordinarilly there in quite sound order , even if requireing reconditioning.
The dreaded Drilled timeing case & breather , Layshaft bearing , nd No HJap parts being Prime
Ordanances . Though we'll let you off the latter in this case .Would cause severe disbelief of
my followers in a previous lifetime . THEN theres PLASTIC . It wasnt like this when . . . . :|

Your the best Matt , reading your posts makes me laugh :lol: in a controlled fashion of course BUT such a selection,options,choices im just a buzz with my next step into the world of Norton,bugger it i am off to the garage. Brain wave lets put it together :mrgreen: .

L.A.B. said:

myjota said:

Just seen this thread - I would say early 71 is right. A friend of mine had a 71 reg with this frame/yoke/engine combination and I still have the botton of his frame as an engine/gearbox stand after it was written off. I think the frame change over was phased in over different models in 1971 and the roadster still used this frame as it used the square oil tank so as to use up the old stock.

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If it was an early '71 serial number then I would tend to agree, however serial 146666 April '71 is considerably further on than 141783 when these changes were supposed to have occurred. It was also a period when they were producing only two main models, Roadster and Fastback.

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Wasn't the Spring of 1971 when they produced the 'SS' and began production of the Hi-rider?

My understanding of the SS was that it didn't sell, they stopped the run after about 3 months, and many of those produced were converted to Roadsters or Hi-riders. This may help explain why this particular bike seems to be a mishmash. Hi-rider would be an easier conversion for an SS, since both models used the same tank and headlight, but I see no reason why a dealer would not have converted to a Roadster, but left the SS handlebar and headlight.
I have never seen an SS in real life - just the picture of that red one at a campground that keeps popping up. Is it possible they may have been built from '70-style frames?

I doubt Norton records will note which model 146666 was originally dispatched as

BillT said:

L.A.B. said:

myjota said:

Just seen this thread - I would say early 71 is right. A friend of mine had a 71 reg with this frame/yoke/engine combination and I still have the botton of his frame as an engine/gearbox stand after it was written off. I think the frame change over was phased in over different models in 1971 and the roadster still used this frame as it used the square oil tank so as to use up the old stock.

Click to expand...

If it was an early '71 serial number then I would tend to agree, however serial 146666 April '71 is considerably further on than 141783 when these changes were supposed to have occurred. It was also a period when they were producing only two main models, Roadster and Fastback.

Click to expand...

Wasn't the Spring of 1971 when they produced the 'SS' and began production of the Hi-rider?

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Yes? (SS from 145234, Hi-Rider 146074)

Both of which were '71 models introduced some months after the start of '71 production and several thousand serial numbers after 141783, therefore making the SS and Hi-Riders even less likely to have been built up from any left-over '70 frames and fork yokes in my opinion.

So with the bike being a US model does this make a difference?, hope its not a high rider :?.

kiwi46 said:

So with the bike being a US model does this make a difference?

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I can't see how that would make any significant difference.

kiwi46 said:

hope its not a high rider

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It can be whatever model you want.

Both the SS and Hi-rider were made for the American market - Norton missed the mark with the SS, but the Hi-rider was pretty popular at the time.

The advantage of these machines is they are all basically the same. Change a few bits and an SS or Hi-rider becomes a Roadster or Interstate.

As LAB stated, you can make it pretty much whatever you want.

In my mind, it likely started life as an SS and was converted to something else. From what I've read on the SS, a large percentage were converted to other models before being sold, because the market wasn't there for a Street/Scrambler with limited ground clearance.

I would still like to see an original SS in person to see if it has any '70 characteristics.

kiwi46 said:

So with the bike being a US model does this make a difference?, hope its not a high rider :?.

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If youre going to persist in being awkward , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHY5zXP-Gs4 :lol: :wink:

Well i cant keep on stalling so must get a start on the old girl so where is a good place to get new bits, good quality new parts in the deep south?.

In Centuries past , it was quicker & easier , if you had plastic , to Fax Andover Norton . Theyed be there in two weeks at a
quater of what some importers charged . Is a Norton outfit Wellington way , race the yellow suckers, maybe able to help .

The links here have the prime vendors , most of who would advise on suitabliity . Tell em what year & model your building , and Relevant serials . Most will recomend updated rubber 7 wearable items , if its not a concours dead original restoration .

My young son found a few photos of the bike on his cellphone which is great. Here is what it looked like just after it was delivered to my home.

BillT said:

In my mind, it likely started life as an SS and was converted to something else.

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I really don't see why you would think a machine, SS or otherwise, manufactured 4800+ numbers after introduction of the new frame and yokes would have a '70 frame and yokes?

It just looks like a bitsa from the photos. It has braced handlebars, but they don't even look like original SS bars.

No the bars are supposed to be P11 not SS. I dont really care what the bike was when originally manufactured its just one of those things that would be nice to know. Yeh it is a bit of a bitsa but thats not how the bike was sold to me, matching engine,gearbox,frame with a norvill front disc set up, oh how things have turned out :roll: .

Chuck us some pictures of the FRONT HUB , Norvil ? possable .
and the Caliper Mounts / Sliders if you would be so kind .looking for welds
there , or otherwise.So Caliper Lug to Slider area is the intrest .

Press on rewardless.Onward and Upward .

Better grab the NZ NOC and twist a few arms ? ! , should have their ears to the ground on whats available & where , in N.Z. .

Some photos, not sure on disc numbers 1H is clear and am guessing its 9H not H6.

kiwi46 said:

Some photos, not sure on disc numbers 1H is clear and am guessing its 9H not H6.

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Somebody welded a different caliper mounting bracket onto that lower fork leg. McGyver lives.

Do you reckon brackets welded on both fork legs? or was there a supplier of this sort of thing after market?, as the welding is impeccable and not some back yard job.