Norton Commando with SIDECAR

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Its not real nor are the other hand full I've seen photoshopped over 4 decades as Norton and its famous experts of the day and current ones will assure you its impossible for a C'do to handle such wiggle wobbly contraption so must be fraudulent offering to avoid at all costs. My wife and 94 yr old aunt said they'd never ride as pillion with the likes of me but might get in a side car, so d/t their ignorance I'll get opportunity to kill em off along with me on first corner over 50 mph. Absolutely don't consider rod links nor swash plates as might not make in out the shed to go pick up the victims for last ride. It didn't make the papers but there is a whole family last seen at a big rally before the husband had em pile in for their last ride into
oblivion...

See if ya can pick out the fakes in this random collection
https://www.google.com/search?q=norton+ ... 80&bih=691
 
There was a disabled guy used to get over to the Isle of Man in the early seventies on a Commando outfit, Not sure how he started it as it was pre electric start models. He used to park at the side of the circuit and watch the race from the saddle. Never saw him get off it but it did exist.
 
a friend of mine used to have a child/adult watsonian on a m2a interstate the bike was completely standard ,forks ISO,s shocks even had standard gearing it went very well but i did once see the back wheel skip from side to side when i was behind one time ,i always wondered what happened to that bike whether the frame got twisted by the sidecar!! .........baz
 
Very pleased to see the upgraded front brake !!!!!

It looks like all the connections come back to the frame - none to the motor and swinging arm. I would be a bit worried that the frame would be strong enough.

Im sure I remember information from the 1970s saying the factory did not approve the Commando for sidecars. But I have no record of this.
 
I suppose an talented mechanic could stick a Norton motor and tank and various other norton parts into a triumph frame and screw on a sidecar. it would probably fool most of the unwashed masses.
 
I've seen several Commandos with sidecars attached over the years, even one with lots of miles on it hauling the family around. Still, anecdotal info on it working for some situations doesn't necessarily mean it's a good idea. I'd like to give it a try sometime, if I live long enough (too many projects for one lifetime already), but I too would have concerns over the strength of the frame attachment points and the additional stress on the isos. With a bit of gusseting and reinforcing, and maybe a little help for the isos and swingarm, I think it would be a fun experiment. Unfortunately, I've already got one dead sidecar outfit (Yamaha XV920) sitting out under a tarp waiting for me to get to it, and no extra Commandos to sacrifice to the effort. Maybe later.

My experience with other outfits tells me that replacing the telescopic forks with leading link forks, as in the one in the original link, would be essential for really good handling.

Ken
 
It was a mjor PR disaster when the UK sidecar freaks found out that the official position of Norton was that the Commando was "totally unsuitable" for use with a sidecar. The frame design wouldn't take the loads involved. Of course as time went by, N-V discovered that the frame couldn't handle the loads of solo riding either, once better front brakes appeared!
 
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