The 11 Week Miracle - How the Norton Commando Was Born

vid gets into where the 'commando' model name came from, or 1st i've heard



in the late 1960s, the British motorcycle industry was staring into the abyss. While BSA and Triumph were experimenting with triples and tricycles, Norton was betting everything on a bizarre 800cc twin with a cam chain longer than Danny DeVito!When that project spectacularly failed just eleven weeks before the 1967 Earl’s Court show, the team had to pull off the ultimate 'kick, bollock, scramble'.

Join us at 3Phils as we look back at the frantic birth of the Norton Commando - a bike that was meant to be a stop-gap but went on to win 'Motorcycle of the Year' five times in a row.We’ll explore the Isolastic breakthrough and how old-fashioned ingenuity saved Norton from the history books (for a while, at least).

3Phils

3Phils

Here at 3Phils we make videos about most aspects of motorcycling, from classic to retro bikes, from little-known, quirky 1970s marques to the history of major manufacturers and concept machines. All served up with a generous dollop of British humour and scepticism. Wobbly Phil has been riding...

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I suggest the Commando 850 engine is a very under-rated design. I never believed in it, until I started developing it through racing. My Seeley 850 on public roads would be a nonsense, but on a race track, it is excellent. I was very surprised when it became fast enough - I did not ever expect that it could be. My use of methanol fuel enables me to get jetting close to optimum. But the motor should still be fast enough using an engine management system and petrol as fuel. People can argue about 4 valves per cylinder, but I suspect the Norton Commando cylinder head gives very close to the same efficiency. It is a strange engine to race with. Usually to get more acceleration, lower gearing is used - with the Commando engine the revs seem to rise at the same rate regardless of the gearing.