Parts interchangability

Hello all. I am a new member here. In 1984 I bought a 1972 750 Commando and I believe it was a Combat model, but am really unsure how that is verified. The cylinders were black and I had been told that was the indicator of a Combat model, but it seems all of the 750 Commandos I have seen had black cylinders. I owned the bike for 12 years and it was my daily transportation (often my only transportation!) for many of those years. I never had the infamous electrical problems that I always heard about. The only problems I ever had were the slides in the Amal carbs wearing out and the exhaust nuts always coming loose and the pipes rattling because of it. I have always regretted getting rid of that bike and, despite my signature, have secured "permission" from the wife to begin accumulating parts to build a new bike. I want to build the same exact bike I had previously owned.

This leads to my question. I'm watching several Ebay auctions for frames, heads, engine cases and gearboxes. As for the heads, engine cases and gearboxes, I see several that are listed for "Norton Motorcycle Atlas 750cc Cylinder Head + MATCHLESS AJS G15 N15 P11" or "Norton 750 Commando S Model" (cases from 1970 model) and "750cc Atlas P11 N15 650SS ES2 99" (gearbox). What should I be looking for to build the bike I want? I have searched on here and found that many Commando parts can be used for an Atlas, but I don't want to blindly assume that it may work the other way around.

Thank you all in advance for your help and suggestions. I look forward to participating here and sharing my project with you. Mind you, it will be years in the making.

BTW, please excuse the cliche username. On every forum where I am a member, my username is Norton72 -- even Harley forums and non-motorcycle related forums. That name was apparently in use here already so I went with the closest thing I could think of so I could remember it.

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I'd sure avoid the Combat head as ports way too big and bend restricted to do anything but blog a 2S cam Combat down till about hitting red line -valve float- then for sure it wakes up but even so not nearly as much as a smaller port head - even w/o milling to rise CR back to 10-ish. Main power features of Combat is the head milled ~.040" and 2S cam and nearly 10 CR. Combat cases have the low down rear breather but so did standards of the era which which sold with silver barrels a rattle can could disguise. Buying piecemeal is a great way to go to avoid spending on parts that are trash and effort to tear down just to find out what ain't worth saving or very costly to recover. Tell your wife thanks for letting you out to play with us on a Commando.

Hi, welcome. I can't answer your question, but you've come to the right place. Sit tight

Welcome aboard! The original Combat, lol.

Thanks for the replies. Another question occurred to me, maybe should be in another thread. Back when I had my Norton, I lived only a few miles from a small airstrip and could buy avgas for about $3.85 a gallon at the time as I recall. Also, a Union 76 station about 40 miles from my home sold race fuel, I think 100 or 101 octane. I had always heard that Nortons required leaded fuel, and regular gas was only about 87 or 89 octane at the time. I always tried to keep at least a 50/50 mixture of the race/avgas and regular. After I had run out half a tank of "good" gas I would top off with the regular. But sometimes I was stuck with just regular. The bike always seemed to run OK on it but man! Kickstarting was dangerous under those conditions. I learned the hard way to always wear high-top boots after I had to have my right calf muscle sewn up. (That's another story.)

So what do you guys do for fuel? I never see race fuel sold at regular service stations, but there are lots of small airports around here where I could get avgas. I have tried octane booster in the past, but for some reason my carbs leaked when I did. I replaced the bowl gaskets and quit using that stuff and didn't have the problem again. Coincidence?

Hehe, some decades ago during the Iron Curtain Berlin wall days, a Russian solder sole a rig with machine gun and would stop some distance before check points and fire off a few brusts around the guards till they ducked for cover then rode on through at brisk pace and made it to freedom, though Germany made him remove the weapon. Peel will be armed to put out more fire power than a mere hose of bullets, pashaw, cluster bomb bazooka blunderblusts and 4 corner claymore like mines to clear my paths in Combat zones.

Trying to build a Commando (any model) from parts, even very cheap e-bay & forum parts, will cost more than simply buying a complete bike to start with (whether running or non-running).

I would ALMOST sat that the only possible way around this is if you have REALLY deep pockets and plenty of time on your hands to buy several lots of parts, sort what you need, then re-sell the remaining stuff to recoup some of the money; however, I don't even think that would end up any less expensive than simply starting with a fairly complete bike.

As you've quickly learned there are a few people here who you need to "filter" their posts. :mrgreen:

Grandpaul is right, get as complete a bike as you can, even if it's a basket case and work from there.

You'll probably be able to find a Combat basket case, they aren't that rare. But be patient. If you want to start collecting parts now I'd recommend buy the parts that you will be replacing on whatever you get. Rubber parts, hop up parts, tires, chains, bearings... things like that.

First place to check is always the "Access Norton Store" top pull-down menu, then the classifieds "For Sale" section.

Hi,
You said you looked on ebay for parts, have you also looked there for complete bikes?
Presently (as of 12/5/13) there is a non running 73 on ebay starting bid $2750 and its in your home state.

GB

I'm with the majority, buy a whole bike to start with. You'll know all the parts fit that way. There are way too many variables if you're looking at the span in years you are looking at. Don't forget the cost of shipping and the time you put into trying to round up all these separate parts.

geo46er said:

Hi,
You said you looked on ebay for parts, have you also looked there for complete bikes?
Presently (as of 12/5/13) there is a non running 73 on ebay starting bid $2750 and its in your home state.

GB

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Yeah I saw that one too. It would be very tempting if I was in a position to even go into debt to get it. I am seriously considering selling off all of my music gear though.

Well, there is something to be said for undertaking a "piece at a time" project in order to pay-as-you-go without the 4-figure purchases...

I've got a set of trees that you can have. Not sure about the offset/rake for a 750 though? They just need a little elbow grease and some paint.

Ditto what Grandpaul and others have said re buying one piece at a time. A basket case is much cheaper than buying individual parts and a bike in good running condition is much cheaper than the basket case, all things considered. Aside from price, the complexity of the task and potential for problems is much greater with the piece at a time method as well. If the object is to get riding ASAP, then that is another big negative for piecing it together, and to a lesser extent, the basketcase.

But sometimes it is fun just to have a project on the go, and if the budget is not there for a complete bike, then let the fun begin!

If you do go this route, here is a song that fits, even if the parts don't


http://m.youtube.com/index?&desktop_uri ... 8cW_yHo3PY

Snorton74 said:

I've got a set of trees that you can have. Not sure about the offset/rake for a 750 though? They just need a little elbow grease and some paint.

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Well that's very generous. I don't want to look greedy, but I will be happy to accept this undeserved kindness. If you can calculate the shipping charges to 77835 I'll be happy to forward you the funds via Paypal or other method of your choosing. I have elbow grease to spare. I figured I'd better stock up for this project.

worntorn said:

Ditto what Grandpaul and others have said re buying one piece at a time. A basket case is much cheaper than buying individual parts and a bike in good running condition is much cheaper than the basket case, all things considered. Aside from price, the complexity of the task and potential for problems is much greater with the piece at a time method as well. If the object is to get riding ASAP, then that is another big negative for piecing it together, and to a lesser extent, the basketcase.

Click to expand...

Riding ASAP is not part of the plan at all. I have a 1971 Ford pickup and a 1998 FXSTC for my daily drivers, so I get my fair share of fun and maintenance on a regular basis. True, I look forward to the day when I again get to hear those peashooters, (there's nothing like it, is there?) This is to be absolutely a labor of love. I'll be like a Dr. Frankenstein resurrecting an old girlfriend. Meh, maybe I'm a little over the top there. I'm all for doing as was suggested earlier -- buying spares in lots, sorting through them then selling off what I don't want to keep. I've never been very good about "making a profit" on deals like that. I generally lose money and count myself lucky if I break even, but I make myself feel better by calling it "depreciation." When I was younger, I had a knack for just scouring the countryside and finding sources for what I needed, finding good deals and what I needed, etc. When I lived in Alabama and had my Norton, I found a guy in Attalla that had a barn full of British spares, and lots of Norton parts. There used to be a place in Huntsville called Motorcycle Classics owned by a guy named Gordon Barbee. He restored old Harleys, going all the way back to the old J-Models as far as I know. He had literally a mound of British parts about 10-12 feet in diameter and 5-6 feet high that he called the "Limey pile". He would let me dig through there whenever I wanted. I honestly couldn't tell you whether or not he charged me for those parts. But I remember the help, advice and patience that he showed a young man with a new passion and very little resources. Last I heard Gordon was very sick with cancer, and that was years and years ago. There was also a guy in the Huntsville area named Reynolds that apparently built Nortons for the dragstrip and he pointed me to good sources. I found a guy just a few miles from my house that was rumored to have an old Norton in a barn. I tracked him down and he had an 850 rotting away in a barn. I bought the seat from him for $5 and he "loaned" me the front caliper until I could rebuild mine. (His idea, not mine.) I was younger and prettier then. But things are different now. With so much information available from the innerwebs yeah, stuff is easier to find, but people also see what some high price are being commanded, and are more aware of the demand for their old junker bikes that belonged to their uncles or grandfathers. My first bike was a Kawi H1. I spied it under a cover leaning against a house. I knocked on the door and asked the guy if he wanted to sell it. $500 and I rode it home. Now if I knock on some stranger's door, broke down old 52 year old that I am, I'm liable to get shot. Things have changed alright.

But I realize that you all are right. Bottom line it's much cheaper to buy a roller and fix it up. I just don't have that kind of change for a second bike. It's hard enough for the OL to understand why in the world anyone would have more than one bike anyway. So, this way keeps the peace, and I am assured of taking my time and doing it right. More money in the long run, but looks better monetarily to our ADHD eyes. I do worry about compatibility and fitment issues. Maybe by taking on the Combat model, I will narrow my choices and thus my chances for mistakes in buying parts. Sadly, I just saw an old muddy C head go for $385 on Ebay today. That may be a good price, but I wouldn't know.

worntorn said:

But sometimes it is fun just to have a project on the go, and if the budget is not there for a complete bike, then let the fun begin!

If you do go this route, here is a song that fits, even if the parts don't


http://m.youtube.com/index?&desktop_uri ... 8cW_yHo3PY

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... and that is where I'm coming from. Great song too.

P.S. Sorry I went off on a tangent waxing nostalgic.

Well, myself and a few others here have stacks of spare parts.

I'll make a list.

I have a list in the for sale section.