The best all round 850 Roadster MKII or MKIII ?

Hey All ,, I am a new member, in-fact just joined today ,, I presently own two A75R's ( Rocket III ) , a A65H Hornet and an early sprung hub Triumph T100 ,, Your forum came highly recommended to me by a fellow triples online member who also owns a Norton Commando, he has been sharing his knowledge and experiances on these rather beautiful machines ,,

For quite some time now I have been thinking of adding an 850 Norton Commando to my small group , from all I have read about these beautiful bikes they are a very usable classic and that's what I would like to do, use it ! ,, we have pretty hard Winters over here but it is always nice to be able to look forward to our summer months of riding ,, I would like to find a Commando and have it sorted by then ,,
I am no spring chicken so the Isolastic ride sounds very apealing to me ,, I have found a couple of Commando's , one is a pretty cherry MKII 1974 with 2 owner and 16,000 miles ,, the other a 1975 MKIII but it has 50,000 miles but in saying that it runs nice and seems to be in really good condition ,, Anyway those 2 bikes a-side I would like to hear the wisdom of Norton forum members who have owned these 850's, I would really value your opinions on what you personally consider to be the best all round bike for the present world we now find ourselves riding in ,,
( MKII or MK III ) ?????????

I truely hope I have not put the cat amongst the pidgeons with this request ,, :shock:

Cheers from NZ
Paul

Welcome, Paul, from your echo (Paul).

I love my '75 Mark III e-start Interstate, and I really like what I've created with my '74 850, although the only thing stock on it is the engine (not including cam) and main frame section.

That said, it's really all down to what YOU like.

Plenty of people criticise the (75) e-start, I love mine, it works perfectly.

nznorton said:

I truely hope I have not put the cat amongst the pidgeons with this request ,, :shock:

Cheers from NZ
Paul

Click to expand...

We all know that MkIIIs are only for folks too old to kick their bikes... :mrgreen:

If you really wanted to set this group off you would have mentioned your favorite oil. :shock:

really, first thing to check is, "does the engine kill button work?"

hee hee

(it's an inside joke)

I think (biased of course) the Mk2 850 is the pick of the Commandos. It embodies all of the improvements over the prededing models with few vices, and epitomises the last of the classic big British twins. The Mk3 on the other hand was an attempt to modernise and compete with the Japanese and contemporary Europeans, thus left foot shift, electric start, quiet exhaust, modernised switch gear etc'. All of these features were new to Norton and they got much of it wrong. The bike was heavier, not as quick, complicated after thought of a dodgy electric starter, bulky less attractive air filer assembly to go with the heavy quiet mufflers, chunky instrument binnacle all adds up to a cosmetic compromise, its not ugly but is not elegant compared to a Mk2. Having said that, many of these novelties to the Mk3 are now cured or improved.....but that means its not a authentic Mk3..i.e. adding the earlier airbox and peashooter mufflers is going back to what worked well and looked good. Best feature overall was the vernier Isolastics (which was originally designed in 1967 but the bean counters insisted on the cheaper shim set up!)

As far as reliability and peformance is concerned, there is not much to hinder the Mk2. Don't worry about kick starting, its a doddle. I think they have the looks and the credibility as the last and the best of the traditional big twins.

Mick

The 75 left hand shift electric start seems like it's transitioning from the nostalgic Norton design of old with its modern instrument pod and switch gear. I like my 74 Norton with all the upgrades, but I do have to kick start it! Only takes one kick!

Up until 1974 everybody copied the english roadster look right down to Harley w/ their sportster series.
Hey if it sells what the hell right.
Then the japanese invasion took over and the english tried to replicate the XS650 look.
Unfortunately a little too late to avoid receivership.
Mine is a 1972 and is proud to boost the worst most troublesome of all the commandos.
I wouldn't have it anyother way. There's only one combat ever A Commando!!!!
Oh you did say 850?
750 is faster
Thee real commando
Marshal

I've got a 73. I'm in agreement with others that it's the best of them. No wrong side shifters for me thanks...
The MkIII is def an attempt at keeping current with the Japanese. Didn't work very well.
Nice enough bike but it doesn''t do it for me.

I disagree with the opinion that the 75 was an attempt to keep up with the Japanese.

The main reason for most of the "upgrades" were, in fact, UNITED STATES D.O.T. mandates regarding lighting and left-foot shift; nothing to do with the Japanese. The e-start was simply a response to the overwhelming outcry that it was sadly lacking on a bike "of the day".

Other than that, the bikes look very nearly identical from about 1970 to 1975.

Grandpaul, what was the effective year of the DOT regulations regarding lighting and left side shift?

Did the headlight always on law also include requiring turn signals?

Thread hijack.

Federal law does not require motorcycles to have DRLs, but some states require motorcyclists to ride with their headlights on at all hours. Thus, since 1979 most manufacturers have equipped their cycles with automatic-on headlamps.

I believe that my 75 850 does not have the lights on all the time.

Chuck

I'd stay pre mk111, keeps gear and brake on the same side as the rest of you flatmates

splatt said:

I'd stay pre mk111, keeps gear and brake on the same side as the rest of you flatmates

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Finally someone with some sense. :mrgreen:

I've currently got 26 right-foot shift bikes, 24 left-foot shift.

48 of them over 27 years old, just 2 others newer (2000 & 2003).

grandpaul said:

I've currently got 26 right-foot shift bikes, 24 left-foot shift.

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Right-shift wins! As it should be! :mrgreen:

Debby

nznorton said:

I have found a couple of Commando's , one is a pretty cherry MKII 1974 with 2 owner and 16,000 miles ,, the other a 1975 MKIII but it has 50,000 miles but in saying that it runs nice and seems to be in really good condition ,, Anyway those 2 bikes a-side I would like to hear the wisdom of Norton forum members who have owned these 850's, I would really value your opinions on what you personally consider to be the best all round bike for the present world we now find ourselves riding in

Click to expand...

Can't you arrange to test ride them both- if you haven't done so?

Regardless of which model others recommend (and any recommendation is likely to be slightly baised by ownership of the recommended model-except in grandpaul's case maybe?) it's got to be right for you, so apart from the general overall condition and the purchase price, whether you prefer left or right foot shift/gearchange, and whether you really want/need an electric starter, are likely be two main deciding factors, although there are other minor differences between MkII and MkIII models, they are somewhat less significant than the two I've mentioned.

swooshdave said:

splatt wrote:
I'd stay pre mk111, keeps gear and brake on the same side as the rest of you flatmates

Finally someone with some sense.

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Yes, but it will have a shift pattern opposite to what you are used to.

If I had to have a stocker (yikes! that'll never happen) it would have to be the '74 because of the right shift and the relative lighter weight. I think it has all the mechanical upgrades of a '75 and none of the Rube Goldberg monkey-motion shift crossover garbage. I can take or leave the E-start as a good running Commando should start on one easy kick anyway.

Danno wrote;

I can take or leave the E-start as a good running Commando should start on one easy kick anyway.

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That of course is very true, but when your Norton stalls at a junction or at traffic lights and there's a queue of traffic behind you, it's nice to just tickle the button and "vroom" up she fires and you're away I'm not saying that that is the be all and end all, but it saves you breaking into a sweat

I've previously owned a 750 Combat and my present bike which is a MK3.

Apart from liking the styling of the MK3 which has the rear disc and associated ironmongery on the right hand Z plate (love it or hate it?),and ignition console with a key in an easily accessible position, it has a primary chaincase which IS oil tight, it has an electric start which can be made to work and a kickstart which is so shaped that it doesn't come into conflict with the silencers on those occasions when it is kick started.The other appeal for me is that as I run a T160 and H***a, the rear brake and gear shift are all on the same side. Although some people can adapt to having pedals swapping sides on a regular basis, in an emergency situation with no thinking time, mistakes can occur, and the wrong pedal hit, or maybe my feet have a bad memory :roll:

I would quite happily run a pre MK3 Commando again if circumstances led me to that situation and they do look very lithe, but these are some of the reasons that I ended up with a MK3 this time around.

Dave ,do all commando owner 's kick start their bikes! unless they have a french foot.

swooshdave said:

nznorton said:

I truely hope I have not put the cat amongst the pidgeons with this request ,, :shock:

Cheers from NZ
Paul

Click to expand...

We all know that MkIIIs are only for folks too old to kick their bikes... :mrgreen:

If you really wanted to set this group off you would have mentioned your favorite oil. :shock:

Click to expand...

My three NORTONS 72 73 75 are like my three CHILDREN Thay are all different but I LOVE them all the same
Phil