New guy

I am new to this forum so be patient. I have pieces of 3 Commandos and hope to be able to make 2 bikes from the pile. I would like to find someone in the eastern Nebraska area who knows these bikes and does a lot of his own work. I also need a lot of small parts. I will be asking a lot of questions. I have never ridden a Norton or heard one run. In the 70's I had a 650 Bonneville which I really liked. Now I am riding a Sportster. I am interested in anything with wheels but two are better than four.

hi new guy!!

welcome to forum.....just joined myself recently and all these people are great! they have answered my every question and very quickly too.

took parts to cleveland today to have chromed.....as per suggestion on here will let you know how they turn out...

i do know that he is very reasonable. always a plus!


have an amazing evening all

Welcome , you need to get with Rich Stone he restores bikes for Randy Baxter and his work is excellent. Email him at richlstone at msn.com just knock out the spaces and add the real @. Tell him Greg sent ya.

Clyde,

Be prepared for a lot of frustration and some BIG expenses. The going rate for properly restoring a Commando with modern upgrades is in the neighborhood of $7000-$10,000. That's doing a lot of the work yourself. If you are missing parts you may end up north of $10,000. I would suggest you start with a complete bike before attempting a restoration from a pile of parts. Sending the pile to a competent Norton restorer would be another option. I realize this is probably not what you want to hear, but I'm giving it to you straight. There are some who will give you a much different picture. Go that way and get back to me in a couple of years and see if you don't agree that they are F.O.S.

God luck. I will be more than glad to help you anyway I can.

Jim C.

norbsa48503 said:

Welcome , you need to get with Rich Stone he restores bikes for Randy Baxter and he work is excellent. Email him at richlstone at msn.com just knock out the spaces and add the real @. Tell him Greg sent ya.

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Thank you The people at Baxter Cycle are the best.

Colorado Norton Works is "sort of" in your neighborhood, matt sometimes has leads on stock bikes and/or parts that he pulls for client bike upgrades.

If you want to talk about one of the highest quality Norton builders, Matt is ranked right up there.

P.S. I agree with Jim on his budgeting scenario, just started a client total restoration project where the initial estimate before disassembly started under 9 grand, it's over 11K with some upgrades and after the engine internals were checked. the client still has options where he can back off in some areas and beef up in others, and a few bucks left to play with, but some situations can burn up hundred dollar bills faster than you can remove the old parts from the engine.

Thank you The people at Baxter Cycle are the best.

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There are many fine Norton parts suppliers. Bob Raber, Raber's Parts Mart; Fred Eaton, Old Britts; Phil Radner, Fair Spares; Frank Cornwell, Clubman Racing; are some I've dealt with and can only say fine things about them. Not having dealt with Baxter Cycle, I'll take your word.

P.S. If you are anywhere to the left of Attila the Hun, don't talk politics with Cornwell.

clydeclutch said:

I am new to this forum so be patient. I have pieces of 3 Commandos and hope to be able to make 2 bikes from the pile. I would like to find someone in the eastern Nebraska area who knows these bikes and does a lot of his own work. I also need a lot of small parts. I will be asking a lot of questions. I have never ridden a Norton or heard one run. In the 70's I had a 650 Bonneville which I really liked. Now I am riding a Sportster. I am interested in anything with wheels but two are better than four.

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Be sure and check out Stan at www.rockypointcycle.com His bits are very competitively priced and he's a no-nonsense sort of guy. Frank at www.clubmanracing is also another reputable source (and good prices), as are the others already listed here. Old Britts is a great site and they are just a pleasure to deal with. Be sure and check out their tech files. I've also ordered from Matt at Colorado Norton Works and can say without hesitation that he's fair and first rate and knows his stuff.

Regarding prices for putting the bike together, it's mostly a matter of what you are willing to learn and do yourself. Chances are, if you don't want to do most of the work yourself, you'd be better off buying a total restoration for $8000 - $12,000, and just enjoy and ride it. If you are buying parts and having a specialist do it all for you, I suspect the total cost will be even higher (especially when you consider your own time in coordinating it all).

For me, part of the pleasure of the Commando, and necessity, is being budget minded as well as hand's on. You may or may not even be interested, but it sounds like you could have a very enlightening project on your hands if you took the time to educate yourself on how to put the bikes together. (Do you have pictures to share, possibly, of what you have?). Frustrating? No question. Expensive? Yes, but not as much as paying a pro (others will debate me on that one). Better yet, join a local Brit/vintage bike club and hook up with folks who are not in it for money. They'll come by your garage (or you, theirs), and magic can happen.

If you do not want to work on the bike/s yourself, keep in mind the advice given by others here: not cheap. You might want to consider selling your items on FleaBay and buying the Norton you want right now. If you are willing to have a shot at doing it yourself -- ask yourself if you have the time. You'll save money but it will take a considerable amount of time (both reading manuals and undoing mistakes --ask me how I know).

But, also, putting a bike together yourself under a budget is just a good discipline and great opportunity to test yourself, be creative, and share ideas. True, failure and frustration will be constant companions, but the victories will be beyond what you can buy. Throwing a lot of money to have somebody else do it for you may be the norm these days, but....

Your situation is concomitantly utilitarian as well as philosophical. There was - and is - something ephemeral about these old bikes. Lots of guys and gals bought them and worked on them and modified them to suit their own needs. They were relatively quite cheap back in the day, and bad-ass at the same time. You could have a job at the line at the factory and blow out the parking lot and feel alive and know you were Even Steven with any rich blowhard and his (soon to be) broken down Jaguar. Now that prices are going up, they cost more to both buy and maintain, with emphasis on the former. However, there is still something noble and lovely about seeing the working stiff's Commando, maybe not factory correct, maybe not Kenny Dreer or Norton Colorado Works modified, but able and strong and lovely and mesmerizing (and the sound!).

That said, an equally strong argument can be made for just buying a fully restored Commando (or a completely new one from Norvil), and just having at it. ;-o

wrench

PS I've already written too much, but one of the big disadvantages of buying a bike in parts is that you don't learn how it's put together by the process of disassembling it. If you have a bike that rough and tumble, rusted, falling apart, but is all there, you still have the advantage of seeing how it was put together.

There are many ways to go about ownership. I suppose none are wrong, but some are more expensive and troublesome than others. I took the easy way out and purchased the best looking stock original good runner type bike I could find. I did the same with one of the Vincents I purchased(from Australia), the other was a total resto(550 miles from complete rebuild) done by one of the top Vincent rebuilders at great expense, over $16,000 invested in parts alone. I purchased all three bikes three years ago. Prior to that I only rode off-road for many years until I decided to get back into road bikes.

Interestingly, the completely restored bike has given me more difficulty than the other two combined, and I have only ridden it about one thousand miles. Mostly just small stuff, the owner never really "fettled" the bike. This is something to consider as well, even a very well done resto will still need some sorting out during the first thousand miles or so.

With both the Norton and the Oz Vincent it was just a case of get on and ride, which has been wonderful.
I have done about about 7,000 miles with the Commando and about 25,000 on the OZ Vincent(mostly long trips two up with full luggage) with zero problems from the Vincent and just a few minor ones on the Commando.
So it really is something to consider, that is, do you want to ride in the near future, or are you willing to tackle the task of building the bike yourself and put off riding for some time? As other have pointed out the cost difference is really not that great between finding a good bike ready to ride and making a bakset case into a rider. If much professional help is enlisted with the basket, it will almost certainly cost more. You will know exactly what you have though.

Here is a case in point, I think the same sort of math applies to Commandos except the costs are overall lower.
A good friend of mine bought a basket case Vincent for $10,000 about ten years ago. His dream was to build the bike in his spare time using a minimal amount of professional help.

At the five year mark he realized he was in over his head with the engine/gearbox so he handed it over to a pro, Dan Smith (the guy who recreated the 1936 DOHC V4 AJS in his workshop) Dan did his usual thorough job from the crankpin out. The completed engine trans sat for another four years until my friend realized he would never finish the bike on his own. He took the redone engine and all the boxes of parts to John
McDougall, another very good Vincent rebuilder. He now has a very nice, running bike. The total cost of the basket, the engine trans rebuild five years ago, the new cycle parts bought recently and John's labour was $46,000
The bike is probably worth about $40,000.
Had he bought a fully restored bike ten years ago he would have paid about $18,000 and he would have had ten years of usage and fun rather
than ten years of guilt looking at the untouched project.
But then some people get a lot of satisfaction from doing the restoration work.

I know one thing, if I ever do a project bike it will be a Commando, though logic says forget it.

I agree with wrench, nothing sounds as nice as a Commando accelerating hard, especially if you have straight thru exhausts.

Clydeclutch, I would recommend that you post some pictures of the bits that you have and then you will get some specific and valuable feedback on how to proceed. Not all Commando models are the same and although you believe that you have parts from 3 bikes, these may not strictly speaking all be compatible. Furthermore such things as matching numbers on the engine, frame and gearbox will have an effect on the resale value of the machine, as will whether you keep it in it's original livery - If you look at the photos on this site you will see that Commandos come in many different styles with options for tanks, seats, exhausts, footpegs, handlebars etc. as well as numerous other detail-parts. Why not see which model or models you particulaly like and see how feasible this is within the parameters of your existing parts cache. If you are at all keen on doing the job yourself and have a reasonably good mechanical aptitude, then you can get all the help and guidance you will need on this forum. I am certainly happy to talk you through various aspects of a restoration as they arise, as well as to suggest the farming out of those jobs that are best left to specialists. I would also add my voice to those who say that it is cheaper and quicker to buy a good Commando than to get one restored by a specialist, however in my experience doing it yourself need not be prohibitively expensive and is incredibly satisfying. If you trawl through some previous threads you will find that many knowledgeable members of the forum have posted photographs and detailed descriptions of their own ongoing and completed restorations.

You folks are great! Thanks for everything. I am going to do this the hard way. I will post pictures if I can figure out how. I have a real mess on my hands and I know it but I am two bullheaded to admit defeat.

Good for you stick it out. Contact Rich Stone tell him about the pile. If I were you I would ask him to come help with an inventory. Pay him for his time and travel. Get some legal pads for notes some freezer bags that you can write on. He owns and rides and builds Commando's. In three hours he could tell you what you have and what your missing right down to the nuts and bolts. He knows what Randy has in his stock of parts and the prices.
Having him help with your build plan will save you a ton of work and time. If you get the copied parts books for the most complete bikes you own they make it easy to just underline the missing or damaged part #'s . Having the #'s and a plan let's you shop and trade out at much cheaper prices. I buy parts all over the world, just saved 200.00 on the last order just reading and shopping it out. Get help with the learning curve avoid major mistakes they cost the most you won't hear people bragging about those mistakes but they are made every day.

I have dealt with almost every Norton shop the people here have recommended and can say you have had some good suggestions thus far. There is also Walridge Motors up here in Canada. www.walridge.com

So now you'll have two running Nortons soon, you going to hardtail that Sportster? 8)

If you can try and do it yourself it gives it more soul! You may have some good people over in the USA but in blighty there are one or two 'specialists ' who have a very high opinion of themselves and even higher prices and speak to you as if you fell out of a dogs backside. Its amazing over here how disparate prices for parts are between various suppliers. I always use RGM and I am just embarking on rebuilding a third Commando in 14 months! Do I need counselling? :wink:

I agree getting a restored bike is the most economical way to get a bike you want to keep and ride, but I also agree doing it yourself gets you "invested" in the bike and results in a more satisfying experience. I have restored several Italian bikes, mostly Ducatis and Laverdas, and did most of the work myself (do not trust myself with painting, certainly not plating, etc). With my Fastback, I probably went the most expensive route, I bought a bike in average condition and then had it restored. Did not do any of this work. It was a stripped to the frame/engine rebuilt restoration. I likely have $16,000+ in this bike and there is no way I could sell it for anywhere near that amount. It is a fantastic looking, reliable runner, and a great pleasure to ride, but not quite the same as when I ride any of the Italian bikes I myself restored. I think the guy who makes out the best on an economic basis on a recently restored bike is the guy who buys it from the guy who restored it. The downside is, it is not as much "his" bike as it was the restorers'.

clydeclutch said:

You folks are great! Thanks for everything. I am going to do this the hard way. I will post pictures if I can figure out how. I have a real mess on my hands and I know it but I am two bullheaded to admit defeat.

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Damn. I was hoping I could convince you to sell your boxes of parts to me for cheap so that I could play! :lol:

My first Commando was also one that mainly came in boxes as well, so I can certainly sympathize. As was mentioned before, it's amazing how much easier it makes things if you're able to disassemble a whole one first. In the absence of that, half of my time was spent looking up pictures and illustrations to figure out how everything's supposed to go together and look in the end. The 3 part Clymer manual that goes over Norton/Triumph/BSA bikes seems to have the most detailed pictures, but get as many manuals as you can get your hands on since they'll each probably show a slightly different angle of everything. This site was probably the most helpful: http://www.nortonmotors.de/ANIL/Norton% ... del=n850_1
I saved each picture, printed each as a full page document and started labeling everything with part numbers and descriptions. The hardest to keep track of are the bolts/nuts/studs/washers/etc... Do yourself a favor and get standard and Whitworth thread gauges and use this site to cross-reference those part numbers with actual hardware dimensions: http://stainlessbits.com/link12a.html
If you're like me you'll probably just end up ordering 90% of the fasteners and washers new from somewhere anyway just to be sure you're using the right ones. It's a good time to replace most of them in stainless anyway. 8)
Also, search "Norton Commando" religiously on ebay. Even if you don't need the parts and aren't buying a whole bike, look at all the pictures and save as many as you can. Especially save the pictures of all the whole bikes for sale. A lot of people get closeups and angles of every aspect and subassembly of the bike you just can't find anywhere else. These pictures will be a godsend once you start dealing with the uncertainty of whether you assembled everything right, used the right bolts, correctly routed cables, etc.
And obviously whenever you get a chance, get out to a bike meet or rally or shop or anywhere with bikes similar to yours and bring a camera. You could have 100 pictures off ebay of every angle from the left side of 20 different bikes and get to a point where you STILL can't see something you're looking for, and the only way to see it is to see it in person and stick your head in there. A picture's worth 1000 words but actually being able to feel around a real one is worth 1000 pictures.
Once you get the thing together go on YouTube and start listening to what properly-running Commandos sound like. I'd only heard 2 or 3 ever run in person so I needed something to show me what kind of sounds are normal coming from these things. The sound quality usually isn't great, but like the pictures, if you take in a couple different versions you get a feel for what it should be like in person.
Anyway, that was my experience. Mostly an internet-based restoration i guess, but Norton presence in San Antonio is pretty sparse. It'll probably be a whole lot easier with people around who know Commandos that you can actually go visit.

Excellent advice there Scheffy.G!

clydeclutch said:

I am going to do this the hard way. I will post pictures if I can figure out how. I have a real mess on my hands and I know it but I am two bullheaded to admit defeat.

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The bestest, mostest excellent approach of all, in my not so humble opinion. Also by far the hardest and most frustrating. But do find a way to take pics and post them en masse. These guys and gals will take of you here, ask away, don't take anything personal, and ask some more. Bring those machines back to life. In a world of quick fixes, dodgy financing, and reality t.v. (yawn), it really is comforting to know you can own and ride a rare hand-built motorcycle that has both aesthetic appeal and genuine utilitarian riding abilities.

Just my .02 in USD (now worth less than 1/2 of that)--

wrench