Norton Riders? Young? Old? Or somewhere in between?

Just turned 47 a couple months ago so I fall right in that group, Bought the bike from a guy older than myself and he said he had to sell it because his wife told him it was the bike or her. Man that is going to be tough for me as if my wife tells me that I am surely going to miss her. These bikes are so fun to ride you can't put a price on it and for me the fun is sorting out the bike and giving it your own touch. Ride on gentleman, Chuck.

Turned 63 last week. First Norton was a 69 Commando "S" I purchased in 71. Currently have a 72 Combat. Just about all sorted out. Ya', sure! That will never happen.

I equate owning a Norton to having a fine looking woman. Both a bit troublesome, but oh, the looks you get. I still lust after both.

I got my Norton fix between ages 24 and 26 by actually working for the company as a development and test engineer. Getting paid to ride development miles all over England on the Commando test fleet was a real blast. By current US salary scales it wasn't a lot (maybe $3000 a year back in 1967), but it was an interesting job.

It also included quite a lot of development work on the AJS Stormer, a bike that was very much under-appreciated. Eventually, it reappeared as a product of Bombardier/KTM, who must have bought the design rights.

I've recently become aware of what I think is an Atlas, that hasn't been run for 20 years or so. It's in the local area. If I can persuade my CFO (aka DW) that such a project is acceptable, I might go for it. Not sure if it's a Commando, but the age suggests an Atlas. The owner's son, who I work with, isn't sufficiently knowledgable to tell the difference.

I'll keep you all posted.



We'll see how things shake out.

I'm 52 - I owned my first Commando in 1972 and had it for three years until a car (and women) beckoned. I purchased my current Commando in 1989 it is a 1974 850 Mk 2A. I've just rebuilt it with an upgrade to 920cc - still running-in.

Just with the majority here - 46 and had my Commando for 23 of those years. And i thought it was old when i bought it!! :roll:
Due to ongoing tlc it looks younger than when i bought it, the same cannot be said for me.

Hi there, I am 52 , and own Norton since 1974 (my first new bike, with the first real salary: 4 months on a merchant ship), before I have got BSA( Royal Star and Thunderbolt), after this I bought several Commando at that time when nobody wants them anymore (more than twenty, I can't remenber, and sold them to friends around), I had tried several upgrades
about tuning from 920/4S to 750/5S, but still missing my very first new 850 Cdo, few years ago , I start with an Atlas, she was perfect , but I sold her, miss again, and recently just finishing another Atlas , bought from spares from the US (nothing came from the same bike), with a Cdo engine , belt drive , RH5 head, just put 150 miles on her since last week, so I have another Slimline frame just completing , and fancy to fit a more grunty engine (see my post about Johnson cams..), always looking after my first Commando feelings (something like chasing a dream...), because this road Atlas is too sweet.....like you , it's part of my life, always trying to find somethging we had lost : our youth with the seventies in the background.

First time to post here but i read the board daily. I'm 57 and I found my 1974 Roadster about 5 months ago. I've owned bikes all my life from Honda 750's to Harley Shovelheads and custom built choppers. I currently ride a Yamaha Roadstar 1700 every day to work but try to ride the beast at least once a week to work. I got bit by the Brit bug about 2 years ago and bought and redid a 71' Tiger that I "accidently sold" to pacifiy my better half. I've always loved Nortons but never had the chance to purchase one until recently. My most vivid memory of a Norton was in 1974 on a trip from Atlanta to West Palm Beach, Fla. I'd left early that morning on I75 riding my Honda 750 and had a kid on a blue Norton catch up to me and ride along side at speeds in excess of 85 for quite a while. I pulled off at a rest stop as did he and we introduced ourselves. He was from Pennsylvania and had graduated high school the Friday before and had left Sat morning for Fla. This was Monday morning so he'd already done some serious riding. The thing that got me was the Norton was a beater held together with bailing wire that I would've been afraid to ride around the block. Also, he had one change of clothes held on with a bungee. But, he had a hugh roll of money and was heading to party. We rode all the way to Daytona that day sometimes in excess of 100mph. That dang Norton would fly! I'll never forget that episode. In the back of my mind, I've always wanted one so when the opportunity arose I took it. Sorry for the long story.
Ed

I'm 51 and have 4 750 Commandos, mostly picked up as unwanted scrap. The only one on the road at the moment is a 71 750 cafe racer which I have owned since about 1982. two more are nearing completion and one is under the stairs 'maturing'. I wanted one since I was 17 and enjoy every ride on it and surprise a few of the young turks on Fireblades, Ducatis etc, from time to time.

Age / profile question

I fall smack in the middle of the 46-55 group.

Ride a 75 Commando, along with a 2007 Harley Fat Boy and a 2000 BMW R1100RT.

Each bike has its own personality, and although the Norton is nowhere near as trouble-free or robust as my newer bikes (I do fairly frequent 2,000+ mile road trips - unthinkable on my Commando), it is my favorite for 1 to 2 hour rides on the mountain and canyon roads here is North San Diego County.

Bought my first Norton when I was 19 (in 1975). It was an abused 1968 (67?) 650SS that supposedly had just come from Rhodesia. I had plenty of adventures with that bike, and remember seeing it mentioned as a prize winner at some show a few years ago. (I sold it in 1981).

Hey - anybody want to show off their bikes - you can post your bike photos and stories on my website: www.myridz.com. click the Cool Bikes tab

Double nickel here. Bought my Commando in 1986 (or 87 ?) My brother in law bought a nice Royal Enfield back in the early 90s, sold it and bought a Duc 900ss, sold it and bought a Monster and in the mean time bought a RoadKing. He sold the Monster so it's just the RK now. I give him the biz that I can't ride with him any more cause he's turned into a slow weekend warrior. :lol:

As for me I just had the tranny freshened up. Two new bearings and a kick start pawl so she'll be ready for her 22nd season in my stewardship next spring. And many more to come...

Before my June 60th birtday I'll have my 72 Combat Commando on the road.

Last bike I had was a 1948 Indian Warrier my brother and I put together when I was in high school in 1965.

When I got out of college in 72 the bike I lusted after was the Norton Commando, but job, wife, kids, pretty much kept me out of the game.

About four months ago I started looking for a Norton to restore and after quite a bit of sniffing about found the 72 Combat that had been garaged since 1977, with 7K on the clock. Considering time sitting it is in very good shape, but spending winter going through everything short of splitting the case. Hope it has some superblends in it. Planning on going the single Mikuni route and installing a Pazon electronic ignition. I'm getting a little old to be having to kick my guts out on a hard start day.

Norton folks are great people and am enjoying the fraternity of folks who enjoy the character of classic British bikes.

rx
I would HIGHLY recomend spliting the cases. besides the superblends the two piece cam thrust washer was a problem along with the oil pickup and vent system.

windy

rx7171,

I would say you will split the cases, sometime. Whether it's now or after an expensive failure is up to you. Any motor that has not run in thirty years probably needs some attention to the bottom end. Especially a Norton. The crankshaft has a nifty trap for accumulating sludge. After thirty years of inactivity the sludge is probably pretty well solidified.

As for the mods you mentioned, the carb replacement is a pretty good idea. The original carbs would need some serious attention after a thirty year sleep. As for the electronic ignition, it probably won't start any easier than a well sorted Norton with points. Just a lot less hassle. Set it and forget it.

Good luck with everything!

Yep, my advice is take it all the way down and check everything. You'd be amazed at how many of these bikes have never been updated.

Now, going back to topic, I guess I never mentioned my age. I turned 50 in March. I've mostly recovered from the trauma now. :shock:

Looks like that puts me right in the middle of the bell curve here 8)

Debby

OK Jim C and Debby you've made up my mind to split the cases and put in the superblends.
I'm on a budget (my wife will kill me if I go overboard) so I've been trying to rationalize not opening it up. But I guess I've read enough commentary about the famous exploding Combat engines that I really should bite the bullet and do it.
I will do it myself. I've got the Factory manual and have read a couple of articles on how its done.
I'll have Old Britts machine out the pocket in the case to avoid the oil starvation problem, relocate the oil breather, put a reed valve in the breather line, install a 0.040" spacer under the barrel to lower the compression (which will help with the pushrod angle problem and reduce the pressure a bit on the kick over).
While inside I can look the cams and tappets over, inspect rod end bearings, check condition of pistons. With 7,000 original miles I'm hoping to get away with honing the bores and new rings. I never expect to put a lot of miles on the bike so she doesn't have to be like new but I would like reliable.

This will be interesting. :?
Bob

Don't neglect to disassemble the crankshaft. This is where you'll find the sludge build up. Carefully matchmark everything before you disassemble the crankshaft.

The crankcase mods for the oil starvation can be done with a grinder rather than milling. Fred uses a mill because he has one and it will look neater. Drilling out the holes in the timing side crankcase is simple. Relocating the breather is pretty straighforward. If you have the case with the magneto blanking cover, use it to trace out a new cover from some aluminum plate. Use the blanking cover for a template to drill out the (3) 1/4" holes as well. Drill and tap the breather hole for a 3/8"NPT x 1/2" barb nipple. If the plate you use is less than 1/2" thick plate you will need a backing nut on the barb nipple. You can cut down a 3/8" pipe union for a backing nut. Fabricatting a blanking cover for the old breather port is pretty simple as well. I only suggest this as a money saver. Fred's parts and work are excellent.

Since we are covering crankcase breathing, I strongly suggest you put an inline check valve in the breather hose. It will put a stop to a lot of nasty oil leaks. I never had any luck with the Motormite brake booster checkvalve. I used the one from the Yamaha XS 650. It's a reed valve designed for a 650 vertical twin. Can't get much closer, huh? Works great. You do have to drill and tap the output for a barb nipple. 3/8" NPT x 3/8" barb, IIRC. It needs to fit the small hose going to the oil tank. The 1/2" hose from the breather will fit snugly on the slip-on fitting of the XS breather valve.


By jcclausen, shot with C200Z,D510Z at 2007-11-14[/img]

You can buy this valve at: http://www.mikesxs.net/mikesxs-fuel_system.php?category_id=4.7 $15 plus shipping.

Sorry, I clicked on quote rather than edit. It's late and I can't figure out how to delete.

Great topic! I often wondered about the future of Norton value & ownership. Looks like we have enough young interest for a promising future.

For the record, I fit in with the majority of middle age bikers, I have been driving bikes for 45+ years & am the proud owner of several Nortons for the past few years...

I'm approaching 60. Always a fan of oil leaking British stuff. Have my '48 MG tc since I was 18. That was apparently not enough punishment so I acquired a MKIII Commando. Love it!!!

Have been viewing for some time and have gained some valuable info to help me with my project. Wish I had found you all when I first started. 60 in August 2008. Ian