New Member to the Forum

SwissCommando

SwissCommando

VIP MEMBER
Joined
Jun 19, 2022
Messages
31
Country flag
Hello, I'm new here but not to the Commando, which I took over from my brother in 2013, who bought it new in early 1972 in Geneva, Switzerland. Nor am I a motor nerd or mechanical geek - I just love driving the extraordinary thing, especially here in the swiss alps. Fluid pleasure. I'm 70 years old. The bike is 'unrestored' other than perishables being replaced and a few bits of hardware that got damaged through the bike sitting in Bro's garage for nearly thirty years. Whilst I have an excellent old-timer Norton (and other bikes) mechanic, something of a rare species here in Switzerland, he is far away and I am now leaning in to doing basic servicing myself, with some trepidation, even though I am a competent enough 'bricoleur' (handyman) as they say here in the french speaking part of this little and beautiful country. The pages, if there were pages in this forum, are already becoming well-worn as I plough through the mind-bogglingly varied wealth of information posted. Thank you, contributors, for your passion, and thank you, Norton Commando, for being such an idiosyncratic and compelling machine.
 
Welcome aboard, your bike sounds to be in good hands and blessed with great riding roads.
 
SwissCommando said:
Hello, I'm new here but not to the Commando, which I took over from my brother in 2013, who bought it new in early 1972 in Geneva, Switzerland. Nor am I a motor nerd or mechanical geek - I just love driving the extraordinary thing, especially here in the swiss alps. Fluid pleasure. I'm 70 years old. The bike is 'unrestored' other than perishables being replaced and a few bits of hardware that got damaged through the bike sitting in Bro's garage for nearly thirty years. Whilst I have an excellent old-timer Norton (and other bikes) mechanic, something of a rare species here in Switzerland, he is far away and I am now leaning in to doing basic servicing myself, with some trepidation, even though I am a competent enough 'bricoleur' (handyman) as they say here in the french speaking part of this little and beautiful country. The pages, if there were pages in this forum, are already becoming well-worn as I plough through the mind-bogglingly varied wealth of information posted. Thank you, contributors, for your passion, and thank you, Norton Commando, for being such an idiosyncratic and compelling machine. and welcome
Click to expand...
Hello and welcome
I wish you well with your Commando
What a wonderful thing this forum is bringing people together from all over the world.
We Norton owner’s are a broad church and the bikes are not only special and an echo from a world largely long past but also a conduit to promote friendship and shared experience from otherwise disparate people.
We are a lucky few who know the pleasure of having a large British bike ’on song’ with a fast sweeping road ahead of us.
Having only driven rather pedestrian hirer cars through your beautiful country, I can only imagine what it would be like to charge a well fettled Commandoover the Great St Bernards Pass.
alan
 
At our age best to ride often as you can as the days ahead when we can prod the old beast to life and then keep it up right are numbered.
 
Prodding is made much easier with an Alton or CNW E-start! To paraphrase Dr Ian Malcom, "Just because we CAN kick it into life doesn't mean we should!" :)
 
Thanks for the welcome to those who responded. @MexicoMike, you mention electric starters. I have been wondering about those. Given that I'm still a pretty good 'kicker', are the electric starters good? I mean, do they work well? Is one better than another? They are quite an investment to install, especially if someone else does it. Perhaps other contributors have experience with this. Thanks for your input!
 
Swiss,
At 73, I still think that an electric start kit is the best money I have spent on my motorcycle.To own a Commando in your part of the world sounds like nirvana to me.Hope you enjoy your new to you bike!
Mike
 
I installed the Alton E-start in late '12, NOT because my Commando was hard to start - it was a one kick starter most of the time. But I liked the ease of starting when I would occasionally stall at a street light/things like that.

When I installed mine, the Alton was the only easily available system. It had some teething issues in the beginning but by early '13, they had developed an improved rotor and that system has been on my bike since then and has had no issues at all. The Alton spins the engine like there are no spark plugs installed and the bike will start within one second of pressing the start button.

The CNW starter became available later and, like any CNW item, is is beautifully engineered and seems to be pretty much bulletproof. However, even if it had been available at the time I would have purchased the Alton because the CNW does not allow use of the OEM Ham Can air filter which, IMO, is one of the definitive "looks" of a Commando. It also converts the primary drive from the OEM chain to a belt drive, which I don't care for BUT many folks feel belt it is superior to the chain. Also, the Alton starter is less obtrusive visually than the CNW.

There are complaints on this site re Alton reliability though, as I have said, since early '13, my Alton has required the same amount of attention as the starter on my wife's two Hondas...none.

In any case an E-start is, IMO, worth every penny. Of course if a big part of the commando ownership is the spectacle of demonstrating your prowess at kick-starting to onlookers...hey you can still do that - just don't press the start button! :)

I removed the kick start lever after two years of problem-free E-start and covered the splines with a black plastic cap.

Also, I figure that by installing the E-start, I was just completing the original Norton Commando plan, which included an electric starter much earlier than 1975.
 
SwissCommando said:
Thank you, contributors, for your passion, and thank you, Norton Commando, for being such an idiosyncratic and compelling machine.
Click to expand...
Welcome SwissCommando,
Well put. I'm very envious of Your geographical location. What a blast it'll be slinging it
in the twisters. And the inimitable growl of the vertical twin echoing that for me is nearly
intoxicating. Super great bunch of enthusiasts here with limitless knowledge and advice,
all contributing to keeping one the great marquee brands passionately still on the road.

Ride
 
Thanks @MexicoMike for the electric starter info. I'll look into it. And thanks, @1977years for the welcome. You might be interested to know that some of the mountain communes (equivalent to 'counties' in the States) are talking about banning motorcycles on their mountain roads because of the noise - it will not happen in the near future though, for several reasons: the noise is very seasonal; and many local farmers use quads to get around and those beasts are even noisier. Nonetheless, there may come a day when it happens, and then the question will be are ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLES evolved enough and affordable as substitutes? But that is a whole other topic. Right now, I enjoy the classic internal combustion engine, the gear changing up and down, and the sweet noise coming out of those pipes!
 
Wow. Strange times we are living in...
It's good to know we have another one of us keeping our "extraordinary things" (I love that
description !) alive.
The family connection makes it even better. I bought mine with my now gone Father
in 1977. It's ridden almost daily. I bettin' he's proud, I know I am.
Enjoy it, I will be following Your updates, and maybe some pic's of those Swiss Alps ? !
Ride
 
SwissCommando said:
Thanks @MexicoMike for the electric starter info. I'll look into it. And thanks, @1977years for the welcome. You might be interested to know that some of the mountain communes (equivalent to 'counties' in the States) are talking about banning motorcycles on their mountain roads because of the noise - it will not happen in the near future though, for several reasons: the noise is very seasonal; and many local farmers use quads to get around and those beasts are even noisier. Nonetheless, there may come a day when it happens, and then the question will be are ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLES evolved enough and affordable as substitutes? But that is a whole other topic. Right now, I enjoy the classic internal combustion engine, the gear changing up and down, and the sweet noise coming out of those pipes!
Click to expand...
The sweet noise the Commando makes clears the animals off the road . The last 2 weeks I have seen 5 moose and 2 deer and each scattered. Loud machines are safe machines.
 
Do you have any pictures of the bike? One of my favorite kinds of bikes are the unrestored runners.
 
Big_Jim59 said:
Do you have any pictures of the bike? One of my favorite kinds of bikes are the unrestored runners.
Click to expand...
Hello @Big_Jim59 Here is a recent snapshot with the Grand St. Bernard Pass in the background. I had just driven up only to find that the final few kilometres was closed to traffic - they hadn't opened it yet following the winter. My brother has not made it clear to me whether he got the bike with an Interstate tank or whether he had it installed afterwards. Either way, it's a Roadster or an Interstate. I personally like the looks and the milage with the big tank.
New Member to the Forum
 
SwissCommando said:
Hello @Big_Jim59 Here is a recent snapshot with the Grand St. Bernard Pass in the background. I had just driven up only to find that the final few kilometres was closed to traffic - they hadn't opened it yet following the winter. My brother has not made it clear to me whether he got the bike with an Interstate tank or whether he had it installed afterwards. Either way, it's a Roadster or an Interstate. I personally like the looks and the milage with the big tank.View attachment 96267
Click to expand...
Don't get me wrong, by 'unrestored I mean not dismantled into constituent components, frame or engine, cleaned, repainted, and then rebuilt. Over the ten years that I've had the bike, I have spent the equivalent of about USD 10K replacing the bits that didn't like sitting around in garages for about 35 years: all the rubber components, including the tyres; The Amal carbs, which had corroded; the tank is original but needed relining; the 1971 clutch plates; the seat cushioning material, which had withered away to nothing, reconditioned by a saddle maker; and the pistons, to cure a smoker's illness. It ends up sounding like a checklist for a human 'Old-timer'. The bike and its driver. I love it though.
 
Nice pic of your Commando Interstate, lovely scenery too, I wish I could ride in your mountain area, where I live it is as flat as a pancake, no twisty mountain roads.
BTW, welcome to the forum, there is an awfull lot of knowledge on this forum to keep your commando going.
 
Peter R said:
Nice pic of your Commando Interstate, lovely scenery too, I wish I could ride in your mountain area, where I live it is as flat as a pancake, no twisty mountain roads.
BTW, welcome to the forum, there is an awfull lot of knowledge on this forum to keep your commando going.
Click to expand...
Thanks @Peter R, through this forum, I have already gleaned some very useful information from contributors...
 
SwissCommando said:
My brother has not made it clear to me whether he got the bike with an Interstate tank or whether he had it installed afterwards. Either way, it's a Roadster or an Interstate.
Click to expand...

Probably a Roadster as it has the drum front brake*, silver barrels*, 30mm carb intake manifolds* (carbs not the originals as you say), and peashooter exhaust system although any of those things could have been changed.

*Therefore could be 15xxxx series if it has the timed (camshaft) breather?
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top