Rivet counter question about the Candy Apple colour scheme

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might as well throw in my 2-cents -- my 74 Mk2 - candy red with silver pin stripping and tank/side cover lettering and logos. gold logo on the seat. can't swear to it, but I believe everything is original.

BTW, countdown - 4-days 'til nortona

follow up question on the seat - I see some commandos, with a grab strap across the seat, and some without. no expert and a WAG, but thinking it's driven by the model type. roadsters - no, interstates - yes, OR is it driven by year, or 750/850, or something else. my 74 seat appears to be original, and there's no signs of ever having a grab strap.
 
I have read that the strap was a legal requirement in some areas. Possibly the USA???
 
maylar said:
It's a glove strap. My 74 Roadster came with one.
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"glove" strap - sorry, didn't know the correct terminology. my 74 roadster doesn't have one and no signs of ever having one. wonder if it could be a early/late production thing - ??? my 74 is a late production - august 74 - #319523.
 
AN doesn't show it as a separate item, though seat covers can be had with or without. I wonder if it was an optional accessory that could be ordered with the bike. My 74 is also an August bike 319532.
 
It is a passenger grab strap.
The 'Grab' rail was introduced in 73 and the strap eventually went away.
 
maylar said:
AN doesn't show it as a separate item, though seat covers can be had with or without. I wonder if it was an optional accessory that could be ordered with the bike. My 74 is also an August bike 319532.
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interesting - two 74 roadsters, nine sequence numbers apart and two different configurations. fair chance they were built on the same day. maylar - another question - the lettering on the outer crankcase cover - natural or painted black "Norton" logo? sorry if i'm going off topic.
 
joe czech said:
interesting - two 74 roadsters, nine sequence numbers apart and two different configurations. fair chance they were built on the same day. maylar - another question - the lettering on the outer crankcase cover - natural or painted black "Norton" logo? sorry if i'm going off topic.
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No paint on mine. The only (factory) painted ones I've seen were MKIII's.
 
MichaelB said:
It is a passenger grab strap.
The 'Grab' rail was introduced in 73 and the strap eventually went away.
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I can't see how that would be, since the strap would be under the rider's butt. The 73 poster on my wall shows both the strap and grab rail, on both the Roadster and Interstate.
 
maylar said:
No paint on mine. The only (factory) painted ones I've seen were MKIII's.
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mine was painted when I got the bike, however it looked like it was done by a little kid with no artistic ability. I was fairly sure it wasn't factory. cleaned it out and left it natural, and did a light polish on the cases.
 
one thing I just noticed - I have a 74 sales brochure or catalog (assuming it's a 74 brochure), and in all the pics, roadsters do not have the seat strap, but interstates do. hi-riders, no, and of course, JPN's no. roadsters and interstates - they all have grab bars. seems like the model might be the driving factor, however that doesn't agree with maylar's configuration.
 
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Yeah, mine has a light polish too... :D

Rivet counter question about the Candy Apple colour scheme
 
If my memory serves me correctly the first of the 850 Roadster seats came with [to New Zealand] a basket weave top with strap possibly Mk1 then followed by a square pattern top [no strap], I had a candy red Roadster in the mid 70's to which I still have the remains of its left hand side cover[after it left the bike and slid down the road] Candy Red and Silver I will be able to use it as a paint match when I get round to painting my latest Mk3 project.
 
possm said:
If my memory serves me correctly the first of the 850 Roadster seats came with [to New Zealand] a basket weave top with strap possibly Mk1 then followed by a square pattern top [no strap], I had a candy red Roadster in the mid 70's to which I still have the remains of its left hand side cover[after it left the bike and slid down the road] Candy Red and Silver I will be able to use it as a paint match when I get round to painting my latest Mk3 project.
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Yes, the Mk 1 had both, grab rail and strap.
https://andover-norton.co.uk/en/sho...-roadster-bsk-weave-chrome-bead-pillion-strap
Note the 'Pillion' strap.
 
pillion = passenger, thus "pillion" strap. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillion. if you get into AN's catalog pages, the seat [square pattern] w/ strap is listed as 850 INTERSTATE, seat w/o strap, ROADSTER. that agrees with the 74 sales brochure. so, it could be, Mk1 and Mk1A basketweave, both roadsters and interstates, came with the strap, and starting with the Mk2's, and square pattern, roadsters no, interstates yes. still doesn't explain maylar's 74.
 
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