New 850 Commandos-Still In Their Crates!

Podevijn lived in Aalst , about 5 miles from my place but I went to England to get my parts ...guess why

The reason for the sale seems indeed to be that Mijnheer Laurent (as he wanted to be adressed ) was married 3 times .The last few years he seemed to be married to 2 fillipinas at the same time 0. All of them ran off after a while with a lot off cash . This he told to a friend ,in my presence .

B UT BUT BUT the space frame is the one Peter Williams crashed at Oulton Park . This was verified by PW himself after he came over to investigate the bike when in a lawsuit against the factory , cunningky our laurent (no capitals here ) was smart enough to make PW (capitals..)write a letter that this is the actual frame he crashed.However they apparently lost that letter or do not know of its existance (not likely as he was very proud of that letter) but there is no mention of it in the sale litterature (Or the letter was a fake , by laurent) There was als a pic of PW with the man in his office , the man DID love races . I saw that letter myself.

a small proof of how laurent worked;
one day I needed a layshaft bearing for the outfit and had nono in stock so I had to pay our friend a visit .As I walked into the yard I saw he was talking to a custumer in his office . As soon as he saw me his usual ;Ja Meneer (yes sir ) came and i said what i wanted .As i spoke the custumer turned around and he was a friend (hallo Eddie)He told me he was there to buy a new Commander(rotary)Oh I said i have ridden one the other weekend . THAT is impossible ,said laurent , as i have the only one in Belgium .Oh yes , i replied , but i rode it in Plymouth ,the bike was Monty s ,Terry Hobbs mechanic (at the hoe ).I then went on to praise the bikes handling , lack off vibation and the more i praised it , the more laurent seemed to shine . No doubt knowing a sale was being done .Shame i said in the end about that yamaha gearbox and instruments Eddies face went all wrong and he said he was no longer interresd in the bike .Needless to say i never paid that much for a bearing...but this time with pleasure

I remember seeing a statement somewhere that 'He who dies with the most toys, wins'

I think we have a winner!

please do not die yet Andy but you sure seem to get your share of toys (2 square cases?????? sure thats too much )I on the other hand have a big garage And I am still young.

But if you actually bought one of these, what would you do with it? The instant you unpack it, it's worth a LOT less money than it is in the crate and the instant you ride it, it's worth a fraction of that.

Frankly, although it's really cool to see such a thing, and I think it would be great if someone bought them and left them as they are, it makes no sense to me to own one unless the intent is to keep it in the crate as a collector item.

Or would someone here disagree with that and (if possible) actually buy one of these and have it become a regular rider?

Please explain COLLECTORS ITEM

lynxnsu said:

Please explain COLLECTORS ITEM

Click to expand...

With some Nortons, it's the bits that fall off and have to be collected by the person following. No names, no pack-drill. You were lucky to get that number plate back though !

The collection can be looked at on April 24th and 25th. Wouldn't it be an opportunity to meet overthere ?

same date as Stafford I know wich venue to chose...
And what about that numberplate ? If i want to get rid of certain bits than that is my choice .These things only cost us money ,first to buy then for the tickets

I agree that they should be put on the road but it's hard for me to imagine that folks who would buy them would actually do so. Heck, once it's on the road, it's just another old Norton Commando in excellent shape. But you could buy any basket-case commando and put it back in like-new condition for a lot less money. So to me, the only reason to buy one of these is to be able to say, "I have a new, in the box, Norton Commando." But it has to stay in the box to be able to say that.

And, if you really were going to ride it, I guess you'd have to take this new, in the box Commando and start correcting all the factory "problems" - further reducing the "value."

Certainly a conundrum!

(Collectors Item) "I would think it's like a valuable coin, Sure you could spend it but it would only bring the face value. It only has value as a collectors item, Not a coin." I think this bike is the same as it would only maintain it's value in the box. Most of us would not buy something like this unless we had money we could just spend without feeling any pain. What do you guys think these bikes are going to go for? They probably should be in a museum somewhere, I really wonder who will end up with them. They really are special to just look at and wonder why they never made it to the road, I kinda feel sorry for them they never got to stretch their legs. LOL LOL. :lol:

B+Bogus said:

I remember seeing a statement somewhere that 'He who dies with the most toys, wins'

I think we have a winner!

Click to expand...

Only if you die not having paid for any of it

Paul said:

The collection can be looked at on April 24th and 25th. Wouldn't it be an opportunity to meet overthere ?[/quote

Sorry can't make it, ANZAC weekend, were the colonies get together and remember over 100 years of incompatent British management :!:

Click to expand...

79x100 said:

Poidevijn did indeed die and he had dementia for the last few years.

Click to expand...

While owning a Norton can be the sure sign of dementia, it is not nice to say so :mrgreen:

Jean

lynxnsu said:

... was married 3 times .The last few years he seemed to be married to 2 fillipinas at the same time ...

Click to expand...

This shows he was getting less crazy :mrgreen:

Jean

Jeandr said:

lynxnsu said:

... was married 3 times .The last few years he seemed to be married to 2 fillipinas at the same time ...

Click to expand...

This shows he was getting less crazy :mrgreen:

Jean

Click to expand...

Don't you mean more crazy? I'd question anyone with one Filipino wife, but two?!?

Anglophile said:

Torture! -Looking at those pics. I'd sell my right arm for one of those "boxed commandos"!

Click to expand...

Please please stop talking about them Its too tempting ..........................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

plj850 said:

Anglophile said:

Torture! -Looking at those pics. I'd sell my right arm for one of those "boxed commandos"!

Click to expand...

Please please stop talking about them Its too tempting ..........................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Click to expand...

Actuallly I know its rude answering your own post but after years of getting my Commando up to a decent standard would I really want an oil leaking, underbraked etc etc well its making me feel better thinking that way

Most owner-fettled Commandos are nicer and more reliable than any stocker, regardless of mileage. The fact that there are a small few still in the crate makes each worth a bit less in my book. And anything's worth as much as some fool will pay for it.

Danno said:

Most owner-fettled Commandos are nicer and more reliable than any stocker, regardless of mileage. The fact that there are a small few still in the crate makes each worth a bit less in my book. And anything's worth as much as some fool will pay for it.

Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing when I saw the pics. Lot of mods need doing on those new stockers. I think they'd be much better suited for a museum than the road. I'd take a "new" CNW Norton over one of those in the crate if I were intending to ride it.

Buy two! That way you'd always have "one in the box" and the other you could ride around any say "I bought this new in the factory crate".

As a good friend here in Mexico (he owns two Commandos) said to me re this subject as we sat over a couple of beers ..."Commandos? Shoot, if those had been in the box MANX's, you'd really have something!"