Help with Norton model anyone?

Hello all, I want to rely on your Norton expertise, because I just bought my first Norton a couple weeks ago and don't know much about them. I have Triumphs and Zundapps. This is a 1971 commando, that much I know, and it was a complete barn find. The guy didn't even remember that he had it! He said it was 100% original and has been sitting in a trailer for 30 years. The tranny is torn apart, but other than that the bike is complete. I haven't found one online that is exactly like it, and I figure that means maybe its not as original as the guy said. If he didn't even remember having it, he may not remember what he may have changed. What has puzzled me is that the sheet metal isn't metal at all, but fiberglass or plastic. It also has a 2 into 1 exhaust. I thought it might be aftermarket, but it seems so original to the bike and doesn't have weird mounting which you normally see in knock off aftermarket junk. The pinstriping is also slightly different than other 71s I've seen online. Is it a roadster? They seem to have metal tanks that I have come across.

Here is a pic...

http://pictures.sprintpcs.com//mmps... parts I may need to order. Many thanks, Dan

That is a very small picture :lol: please post better pictures for the experts (which I am not), but ight off the bat, the 2 into 1 exhaust is not stock, as for the rest, hard to tell from that angle, so I will call it a bitsa, probably made from different parts from many years, no harm in that if it is cleaned up and made to run.

Jean

Looks like a 71 Roadster with a MAC header.

71 sounds right.

2 into 1 and the mufflers (what can be seen) may be Dunstalls. Look for markings on mufflers toward the back.

As for paint or pinstriping... a lot could have happened in the last 40 years, never assume anything is stock unless you pulled it out of the crate yourself.

More pics!

Dunstall 2-in-1-to-2 pipe joined up very close to the head, then ran a single pipe down and under, then split back into 2. "Power Pipe", with "Decibel" mufflers.

That's a MAC header, I have one just like it.

westernjesus said:

I haven't found one online that is exactly like it, and I figure that means maybe its not as original as the guy said. If he didn't even remember having it, he may not remember what he may have changed.

Click to expand...

It looks like a fairly standard 1971 Roadster model to me, except for the exhaust system?


http://www.nortonmotors.de/ANIL/NCRoadster.htm

Some better photos would probably confirm this?

westernjesus said:

What has puzzled me is that the sheet metal isn't metal at all, but fiberglass or plastic.

Click to expand...

What you have would be correct for 1971, as the factory only started fitting Commandos with steel tanks from 1973-on (with the excepton of the Fastback "LR" models) because of changes in the law regarding plastic and f/glass fuel tanks.

Thanks everyone for posting...it is looking like a not quite original 71 roadster from your expertise. Here are some more photos per your requests, though I do not think I am embedding them properly. My apologies!

[Photo info edited by the moderator (L.A.B.) so should be OK now. ]

westernjesus said:

Thanks everyone for posting...it is looking like a not quite original 71 roadster from your expertise. Here are some more photos per your requests, though I do not think I am embedding them properly. My apologies!

Click to expand...

When you are pasting the image URL you are somehow deleting or pasting over the last "[" or bracket. It needs to end in [/img].

I sure think that looks like a Dunstall muffler. Clean that bike up and take some pictures with something other than your phone. :mrgreen:

As you will hear from folks, something that has been sitting that long shouldn't just be gassed and ridden. Feel fortunate to have such a complete bike to start with.

I think the seat, or the seat cover is from a later Roadster model, otherwise apart from the exhaust system, it looks like a standard '71 Roadster.

That's a pretty unmolested one. When I was a kid we all changed them a lot.

Lucky find in that good of shape. Disconnect the speedometer asap. You might get it working with a cleanup without any damage.

Hey, i gotta say thanks to everyone. My dad talks about a rift between triumph riders and norton riders in the past, but gotta say, you guys really came through. I didn't know anything about this bike before, never paid much attention to them, besides hearing they were the 'fast bikes'. Never saw one in person before. The guy I bought it off of was selling a bunch of old jap bikes and i intended to buy a throw away bike to keep from putting miles on my trumpet; then i found this. (my triumph has nearly 70k on it) i'm not gonna say how much I paid for it, for fear of making you guys cry =) but now, knowing what it is, and that it is pretty much all original, I'll let you know I intend to keep it original (besides handle bars and maybe a corbin seat). Just get it running right and ride it like it should have been for the past 30 years. After confirming what you guys said and that it was INDEED a 71 and (mostly) original, I bought some parts and hopefully within the month, i'll get her to fire for the first time since Carter was in office (and i was born). Once I figure out what may or may not have been wrong with the tranny, she'll be on the road. If you see a guy riding a faded black commando with a grin in PA, say hi. I ride my bikes like they were meant to be. I intend to keep her original.

Thanks again, and hopefully I will eventually become part of this community. Posted on Triumph sites before and didn't get as much feedback! Maybe I should have been a Norton guy from the beginning! (sorry dad)

Thanks!
dan lucas

53 zundapp
54 zundapp
55 enfield
72 triumph
and now 71 norton woohoo!
30yrs old and in need of a garage

L.A.B. said:

westernjesus said:

I haven't found one online that is exactly like it, and I figure that means maybe its not as original as the guy said. If he didn't even remember having it, he may not remember what he may have changed.

Click to expand...

What you have would be correct for 1971, as the factory only started fitting Commandos with steel tanks from 1973-on (with the excepton of the Fastback "LR" models) because of changes in the law regarding plastic and f/glass fuel tanks.

Click to expand...

Les the steel tanks was introduced here in the states some time in early 72. the one I purchased new in 72 was steel and the one I have now is also a steel tank


windy

bill said:

Les the steel tanks was introduced here in the states some time in early 72. the one I purchased new in 72 was steel and the one I have now is also a steel tank

Click to expand...

Yes, I stand corrected, steel tanks were actually used '72-on.

Speaking of steel tanks, is the fill neck backwards on the aftermarket steel tanks? The pics of the aftermartket ones all show the hinge to the rear.

JimC said:

Speaking of steel tanks, is the fill neck backwards on the aftermarket steel tanks? The pics of the aftermartket ones all show the hinge to the rear.

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Poking around the web it seems that they may have been that way on some original tanks.

Ebay link to original tank

or this (I assume not Pakistani):

JimC said:

Speaking of steel tanks, is the fill neck backwards on the aftermarket steel tanks? The pics of the aftermartket ones all show the hinge to the rear.

Click to expand...

The filler cap hinge direction was certainly reversed on the original late model tanks for safety reasons, I believe?

As in the event of the motorcycle and rider being involved in a head-on collision, with the cap pivot towards the rider, the cap then presented less of a danger to the rider's genital area if it unlatched and flipped up due to the force of the impact .

I believe there was US legislation introduced during the mid-'70s that required filler caps to be designed so they would not cause injury to the rider in the event of a collision.

L.A.B. said:

What you have would be correct for 1971, as the factory only started fitting Commandos with steel tanks from 1973[edit: 72-on]-on (with the excepton of the Fastback "LR" models) because of changes in the law regarding plastic and f/glass fuel tanks.

Click to expand...

What was the situation for glass and metal for Interstates in the US?

L.A.B. I believe this legislation was also responsible for the demise of the ubiquitous Triumph tank top parcel grid. It makes your eyes water just thinking about the potential results of a crash on one of these, but for some reason Oscar Mayer comes to mind!

JimC said:

Speaking of steel tanks, is the fill neck backwards on the aftermarket steel tanks? The pics of the aftermarket ones all show the hinge to the rear.

Click to expand...

Yes, my aftermarket steel tank is backwards from the glass tank I got with the bike.

I think this is also due to some sort of regulation. Every modern bike I've seen has the hinge at the rear.