Pictures of your Norton Commandos
- Thread starter TravNorton
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motoalchemist
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SAME BIKES 5 YEARS LATER
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Café au Lait
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An excellent illustration of the difference a saddle makes!
lazyeye6
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AND…the differences in the front fender struts between a Mk 2 and a Mk 3
Oh! Wait! WTF?
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Very pretty motorcycle!Good for you
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Perfect. Great classic saddle.
850cmndo
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Very nice. Kudos.
motoalchemist
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I started out as a ambitious project to run 17" sport suspension and wheels so modern rubber could be used (25 years ago). in the end, a stock Norton commando handles brilliantly, the red bike still is fun to ride though. and was a lot of bother with goals not met....but I still think I can make it work one day. the rear shock still isnt right, and if I can dial in ride height and proper spring rate , it will be amazing.
motoalchemist
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the grass puppies with horns seem impressed
YD March 2002 Daytona , everyone lived , YD severely concussed, the kid on the ground had a ruptured spleen was on a 750 Ducati . The Team Obsolete BSA Rocket 3 , did not fair too well . This is 3 months before he Surprised racers with an appearance on my Commando at the original Laconia track in NH. Lots of all time racers and fans relived great moments and seeing their heroes and my friends in action.
YD, 3 months later, On my CHR Commando recently equipped with a close ratio 4 speed and prepped for YD. This is his first race launch. Total clutch control, perfect weight transfer, and total race mastery. He showed what a good Commando can do. The fans and old friends were happy to see him back. And he beat 2 fast Featherbed Norton that came from Canada expecting to win. YD left them in the dust, This sadly was his last race win. But what a win! I gave him the full set of prints of the Daytona crash I brought for him and the set from his ride on my bike, It was great memories for all. A part of racing history! YD in action!
YD, 3 months later, On my CHR Commando recently equipped with a close ratio 4 speed and prepped for YD. This is his first race launch. Total clutch control, perfect weight transfer, and total race mastery. He showed what a good Commando can do. The fans and old friends were happy to see him back. And he beat 2 fast Featherbed Norton that came from Canada expecting to win. YD left them in the dust, This sadly was his last race win. But what a win! I gave him the full set of prints of the Daytona crash I brought for him and the set from his ride on my bike, It was great memories for all. A part of racing history! YD in action!
NORTSTER1974
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Carl, I can see he was wearing "Depends" undergarments under the Kawaski leathers. That bike must have scared the Sh@t out of him?
No, YD was known for his fearlessness, I have a photo of him in the back window of the ambulance as they drove him to the Daytona hospital giving me smiles and waving to me, I had dinner with the Family that night. He wanted to race the next day, but doctors and his family told him he shouldn't., When I gave him the pictures a whole series of the crash , in stop action frames , he and his wife loved them , and were not bothered when they showed them to other racers. Only YD could fly so high on a Rocket 3. IT scared other racers more than YD and his wife Sophie just looking at the photo strip.
The Original Laconia track, un kept for years had no side of the track protection other than a few hale bales. IT took real Balls to go fast there or even slow. If you went off the track, it wasn't gonna be pretty. Luckily my Commando was so fast he could back it down, But the first lap was crazy dangerous the 2 featerbeds tried to out brake YD in the hairpin at the end of the long down hill straight and almost take him out. But that only got him going faster. Still, he got to ease up after a few laps, he was so far ahead. Which is something YD would not normally do.
The Original Laconia track, un kept for years had no side of the track protection other than a few hale bales. IT took real Balls to go fast there or even slow. If you went off the track, it wasn't gonna be pretty. Luckily my Commando was so fast he could back it down, But the first lap was crazy dangerous the 2 featerbeds tried to out brake YD in the hairpin at the end of the long down hill straight and almost take him out. But that only got him going faster. Still, he got to ease up after a few laps, he was so far ahead. Which is something YD would not normally do.
Super Seven
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We can buy non ethanol premium where I live, but many places you cannot. How do you deal with the modern gas in the fiberglass tank? It in beautiful. Is that an 18" rear wheel? I have non polished alloy wheels on my MK III. I wanted to put the focus on the motor more. Looks like you have both kinds of wheels there. Great bike either way.OK - here's mine. Originally a 73 850 roadster I bought in '06. I completely went through to make it a nice looking (and working) VERY stock black Roadster which I just recently converted to a BRG fastback. For the fastback I replaced the Roadster's oem switchgear/mastercylinder with CNW's switchgear and Brembo master cyl. And hey, who but Norton Geeks know that there never was a factory 850 fastback?Still need the side reflectors for the tailpiece.
View attachment 28545
View attachment 28546
Here it was when I finished the work as a Roadster:
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Hmmm - don't know why 1/2 the front wheel is chopped off here - it's not on photobucket where this links.
Super Seven
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You don't see many Hi Riders. My brother had a Commando with Hi Rider tank, but Roadster seat.
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Never had an issue with E10 gas and I make no effort to find non-ethanol gas. The FG tank was purchased new from Burton Bike Bits in the UK. They said it was constructed with ethanol-resistant resin. I coated it with Caswells before its first encounter with fuel and it's been totally bulletproof since 2008. The wheels on the "fastback" are OEM 19" with OEM width tires. When I purchased it the Roadster had two different size wheels/tires and handled rather poorly.
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