Talk Me Down....

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It's likely that during the rebuild process John Hudson would have detuned from Combat to standard 750.
I'm not saying don't buy a Combat.
The thread title is " talk me down"
I have a tough time doing that because my own Commando continues to be a really enjoyable ride . I used it on a couple of big tours last year and it was perfect.

Purchasing an old bike for use on modern roads requires a suspension of reality. However you can try to apply just a bit of logic to a mostly illogical pursuit.
13 grand is top of the mark for any Commando in Canada.
Have a good look around and don't limit your choice to any one model or year and I'm sure you'll find a keeper.
In general Norton made improvements or enhancements to the bike every year. The Combat model was a bit of a stumble for them.
John Hudson made a list of the changes thru the years, I'll see if I can find it and post it here. Its all good info to have when shopping.
Its in Texas , but here's one thats worth a look, find a cheap flight. Its a 73 750 so it has the strong stuff. See the picture of the barrel- same as 850. I believe the cases are strengthened from 72 as well, not sure about crank.
$5900us!
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Glen
 
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The rebuild on the Combat I'm considering was done by current owner himself. Says he did not change anything in the tranny, everything appeared/functioned fine. He also provided the serial numbers (all matching) 207742. I guess this indicates a mid prod run bike?
He's to send more detailed photos soon.
And, there is an '73 850 with 10k less miles (12k total) in same region with rebuilt engine in supposedly good nick...similar price. Trying to get more info on this one...
 
worntorn said:
Its in Texas , but here's one thats worth a look, find a cheap flight. Its a 73 750 so it has the strong stuff. See the picture of the barrel- same as 850. I believe the cases are strengthened from 72 as well, not sure about crank.
$5900us!
Broken link removed
Glen
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Ha! I was watching that one on Ebay last week...got 3 bids below reserve/buy now price of $6500 usd...so didn't close.
It's got aftermarket seat and non original paintings colour, cafe bars etc. He also sent me a video of it idling nicely...didn't seem to be pouring smoke!
 
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Regardless of what you buy there is some gamble involved. Go into it with that in mind and don't look back. If you like solving problems and getting your hands on wrenches a Commando is the perfect bike. If you want to ride at high speeds on interstate freeways and take it to the shop for tuning...don't do it.

I have a Combat. I never ride it to its "potential". I'm older, slower and actually prefer the 850 for my style of riding. Long gears, lots of torque, easy handling. Not that the Combat isn't sufficient in this respect, it puts a grin on my face every time I ride it, but I ride it like an 850, not like a Combat. Some day I will tear it down and have to decide whether or not to rebuild it as a Combat. I am undecided as to what I will do.

Russ
 
Well...I'd love to have a Combat and would pretty much set it up as Norton did though with the appropriate "better" parts - bearings, etc..

FWIW, I consider the Commando to be the "modern," affordable equivalent of the V Black shadow - a classic bike that can hold it's own in modern traffic. I'd love to have a Combat but I don't care to have two Nortons and back when I bought my '73 Commando, Combat's weren't readily available. But from memory, I was impressed by my '71 Commando back in the day (when they still made Commandos) more than by my 850. But, as we all agree, MEMORY can be a bit questionable. :)
 
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MexicoMike said:
Well...I'd love to have a Combat and would pretty much set it up as Norton did though with the appropriate "better" parts - bearings, etc..

FWIW, I consider the Commando to be the "modern," affordable equivalent of the V Black shadow - a classic bike that can hold it's own in modern traffic. I'd love to have a Combat but I don't care to have two Nortons and back when I bought my '73 Commando, Combat's weren't readily available. But from memory, I was impressed by my '71 Commando back in the day (when they still made Commandos) more than by my 850. But, as we all agree, MEMORY can be a bit questionable. :)
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I might get talked into trading motors! That would solve my problem as to how to rebuild my Combat!
 
If you are willing to plunk down $13,000. for a commando, there's no talking you down based on price alone. You seem to have the "money won't be the problem" attitude. So,... the only barrier to you buying a commando would be it's fitness for your needs.

In many ways the beauty of a commando is that it's a perfectly usable sport bike in modern traffic although it looks like a bike from a long gone era of bike manufacturing. That's actually one of the coolest things about them. Getting a norton to a place where it's fit for it's intended use is the other half of owning one. Most modern bikes don't have as much of this element to their ownership. Hence, a commando is more of a rider/mechanic bike, which doesn't mean that it breaks down regularly, only that it's technology requires the owner to know quite a bit more than when to refill the fuel tank.

As someone who has owned a commando for 40 years, I can tell you that it's been a long road. I didn't learn it all up front like you have the opportunity to do here. Once I got my bike rebuilt the first time and tuned it to run, it never left me stranded except when I ran it out of gas once.

We're all different kinds of people. I like mechanical projects. I would never buy a new bike or new car, because that's not my style. Maybe the best thing for someone else is to buy someone else's "gem" of a bike and just be the rider. I don't think that way.... I love my "frankenstein's monster" of a commando and I wouldn't sell it to you for $13,000. even though it's no where near the polished gem quality of bikes that are out there for sale. The real value of my norton is in my being able to ride this dynasaur of a bike after completely rebuilding the whole thing myself. It's certainly not the fastest, most comforatble, best handling, or best touring motorcycle out there, nor even close to being any of those things.... But it is a time capsule that keeps alive an era where a biker knew something about bikes or else he wasn't a biker very long...
 
The '72 Combat is no longer my top choice...the fact is was not rebuilt by a pro is a little concerning with the weaknesses that spec.

I think I'm gonna go for a '74 850, 20k miles, last summer had head rebuild/0.04 overbore/new valves/pistons, new isolastics, alu rims (orig steel included as spare), new Amal carbs, cables, very clean/rust free, very attractive price ($7500 CDN). It is right-side of continent...getting a shipping quote to figure out an overall cost.
I was provided the local mech contact and had a good chat with them. No red flags...will even provide all the records to me at owners request. Bike is non-matching numbers...that doesn't bother me...should it?
 
Matching numbers matter to people who care about whether or not it is "original". Frankly, I think the non-matching numbers frees you up to modify the bike without concern over whether or not you are destroying a "survivor". It can cause some confusion however. The bike title will reflect the year the frame was manufactured. Not the motor or gearbox. So the only other concern is whether or not the person assembling this bike from parts knew what they were doing. But then you have that worry on any 40 year old bike. If you can get the numbers off the motor and gearbox it will tell you more about when they were made.

Will you have a chance to see this bike in person? Do you know anybody who can look at it for you? If I couldn't see the bike myself, I'd be tempted to put earnest money down, if the seller would agree to it and find a forum member in the area to have a look. With modern cell phones you could participate via facetime and look at the bike the same time as your proxy. The seller may be willing to use facetime or similar to show you the bike. They could also email you photos of details on the bike. One of my favorite things to check is to see whether the fasteners look like they have been butchered by someone who didn't have correct tools. A good mechanic doesn't round off bolt heads and strip screw slots and then reuse them on the bike. But you gotta get down and look closely at stuff to see this.

With all that said...just buy it! Oh wait! Are we still supposed to be talking you down?

Russ
 
Tornado said:
I plan to be in Ottawa 12/18-12/28. Maybe I can arrange a jaunt over to TO to check it out. Be great if you'd lend your opinions in person....

P.S. What the heck is "Mayfair Plating"? Sounds dirty ;-)
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Mayfair Plating annual Mods and Rockers X-mas Paarty. 96 Carlaw Toronto. Chuck (owner). Was great fun. Live band too.
 
Tornado said:
The '72 Combat is no longer my top choice...the fact is was not rebuilt by a pro is a little concerning with the weaknesses that spec.

I think I'm gonna go for a '74 850, 20k miles, last summer had head rebuild/0.04 overbore/new valves/pistons, new isolastics, alu rims (orig steel included as spare), new Amal carbs, cables, very clean/rust free, very attractive price ($7500 CDN). It is right-side of continent...getting a shipping quote to figure out an overall cost.
I was provided the local mech contact and had a good chat with them. No red flags...will even provide all the records to me at owners request. Bike is non-matching numbers...that doesn't bother me...should it?
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That's almost my favourite year.
The head should be stamped RH10 . The RH10 head is considered to be the best 850 head.
By 74 the bikes had a lot of improvements made. I suspect you'll like the torque of the 850. With twin carbs it should pull hard from three thousand but still Rev easily thru the redline in the intermediate gears.

Glen
 
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I agree with worntorn; the list of improvements made by the time of the 850 is long, and expensive to retrofit to earlier models.
My 74 has an RH4 head, suposedly not as nice as the RH10, but I've had no problems.
And the price sounds very fair!

Good Luck, and keep us posted...
Meantime, start thinking about shifting with the right foot, and kickstarting a refreshed engine...
 
Glen, looking at the grey bike on Craigs list the barrels look like 750 barrels to me. The final few 750s did have the through bolted barrels like the 850 but not that one.
 
rvich said:
That bike in Austin is a good looking bike at a nice price regardless of any fumble on the specs!
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FYI...during the Ebay listing that ended without a sale....seller sent me a video of the bike idling:



He also told me he has no original parts 'cept maybe the handle bars. No turn lights/switch gear on clubman bars. States it's got dry sump conversion (does that mean a belt drive for primary?). Thinks it might have been rebuilt by a previous owner, but no details.

So, it's a bit of a sketchy bike, needing a fare bit of stock parts back on to return to glory days....but as a retro cafe' racer, hipster-esque, should be a real looker, Eh?
 
All Norton twins are dry sump, maybe he means a dry chain case hence a belt drive, cheers
 
Might be referring to the AMR anti-wet-sump timing case modification...
 
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