Thruxton Motorcycles Commando .(2017)

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Matt Spencer

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Thruxton Motorcycles Commando .(2017)


Thruxton Motorcycle Services was run by three former Norton test and rectification staff men – John Brenchley, Ron Maddocks and Tony Holland – made redundant when the company closed its Andover assembly plant. Based at Thruxton circuit, only yards from Norton’s official racing HQ, they ran a team of immaculately-prepared Commandos.

“Ron put a good engine together, but their bikes were pretty standard, with a bit of porting and Boyer ignition,” says Tony, who credits his Silverstone success to his bike’s excellent handling and his technique at Abbey Curve, a sweeping left-hander on the 2.927-mile circuit used in 1975.

purloined from http://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/2015 ... ppery-sam/

I fink youll find it ran an 18 in. rear for bigger rubber .

Thruxton Motorcycles Commando .(2017)


Not the pea shooters .

Thruxton Motorcycles Commando .(2017)


theres a few other pictures of this machine scattered about here somewhere .
 
Matt
Thanks for posting this. Happy memories for me.
I was lucky enough to be marshalling at Stowe that day. I still have the programme and provided a copy to this site which now has a good collection:
http://daveriley.weebly.com/silverstone-1974-1975.html Production entrants and results are shown on pages 35 & 40 (programme page numbers).
Tony 'Smudger' Smith was a very fast stylish rider and the Thruxton Nortons were always right up with the pace.
An excellent race with Percy Tait on an incarnation of 'Slippery Sam' second, Pete 'PK' Davies Laverda 1000 in third and Commandos also 4th and 5th.
Andy
 
acotrel said:
Would a fatter tyre on the back make the bike handle better ?
Click to expand...

It'd keep throttle merchants happier !

One would get it w.f.o. etc earlier sooner etc . :D

The slightly wider would get it a bit more clearance leant too . The last pic seems a later incarnation where he wants it leant more , so's done the pipes under & in ,
Stop the rear slewing as much to , decelerating. While the wheels on the ground , so youd get on the gas earlier . :wink:
 
Tony Smith lives near me and I am privileged to enjoy chewing the cud and picking his brains now and then.

He still rides a Commando on the road. He still exhibits the same obsessive attention to detail with his bikes build and preparation as he did back then. He has a MK3 which must surely be one of the best, anywhere!

BTW, he occasionally mentions he might sell it, PM me if you're interested and I'll ask him.
 
Matt Spencer said:
acotrel said:
Would a fatter tyre on the back make the bike handle better ?
Click to expand...

It'd keep throttle merchants happier !

One would get it w.f.o. etc earlier sooner etc . :D

The slightly wider would get it a bit more clearance leant too . The last pic seems a later incarnation where he wants it leant more , so's done the pipes under & in ,
Stop the rear slewing as much to , decelerating. While the wheels on the ground , so youd get on the gas earlier . :wink:
Click to expand...

The last time I asked on this forum about whether anyone had ever hi-sided a commando. The very few instances of it happened when a mechanical failure locked the back wheel. Even if you were using separate exhausts with megaphones and a very wild cam, with the long-stroke Commando engine, a hi-side would still be difficult to achieve. In my experience, fitting a wide back tyre to these early bikes, is a step backwards. My own tyre is 100mm and it doesn't natter much how ham-fisted I get, it never moves.
 
Thanks Matt, a nice thread about my old man. That picture of him and the kwak is hanging on my kitchen wall.
Cheers Ian
 
A Z900 Kawasaki would not be difficult to beat with a Commando on a tight circuit. On a large circuit, they can out-run you down the longer straights. The problem is that if you out-handle them around the corners, you can have a coming-together part of the way down the next straight. I used to race my 500cc Triton in Allpowers C grade in the early 70s when H2s and Z900s were common. I could finish in front of most of the H2s which did not have expansion chambers, but I only ever led a race with had Z900s in it on one occasion.
 
I rode a Z900 in the 70s. To me it felt like a 350cc British bike. My 500cc Triton always felt too big. My Seeley feels very small - like an old 250 Ducati with a supercharger. The thing with racing a Z900 is, the steering seems very slow and that bike in the picture is on the wrong side of the Commando. I think Z900s were ridden like Ducatis, the high and wide line in corners seemed to suit them better. In any case it has to be a pretty tight circuit for a Commando to compensate for the Z900's blast down the straights. It is the reason that these days I only ride at Winton Raceway. The circuit is a great equaliser, especially if it rains during a race.
 
The thing about Z900s, is they began the 'big is better' trend which now prevails in Australia historic racing. Even with our tightest circuits a very fast blast down the straights is hard to beat. So a bigger bike makes for safer racing. You don't have to exert yourself so much in the corners. The trick is to build a bike which is just fast enough to hold onto the lead group down the straights during races, but which really out-handles them in tight corners and stay away from big circuits. The big motor alternative is more expensive.
 
I can vividly remember Tony Smith and Pete Davies (Jota mounted) having regular tussles during the Avon production series in about '75. They were both very stylish riders, and I've often wondered what happened to them. I read in MCN or The Motor Cycle Tony that got offered a works ride along side Dave Croxford then John Player pulled the plug. That was a real shame.


Cheers,

cliffa.
 
cliffa said:
I can vividly remember Tony Smith and Pete Davies (Jota mounted) having regular tussles during the Avon production series in about '75. They were both very stylish riders, and I've often wondered what happened to them. I read in MCN or The Motor Cycle Tony that got offered a works ride along side Dave Croxford then John Player pulled the plug. That was a real shame.


Cheers,

cliffa.
Click to expand...

I didn't see this thread back in '17, but picked it up on the current picture of racing Commandos thread.....Actually in '76 Tony Smith rode the Challenge at Snetterton. It might have been the Race of Aces meeting, anyway it was the same weekend that Dave Croxford rode Percy Tait's works RG500 Suzuki, and then retired from racing.
 
Matt Spencer said:
Thruxton Motorcycles Commando .(2017)


Thruxton Motorcycle Services was run by three former Norton test and rectification staff men – John Brenchley, Ron Maddocks and Tony Holland – made redundant when the company closed its Andover assembly plant. Based at Thruxton circuit, only yards from Norton’s official racing HQ, they ran a team of immaculately-prepared Commandos.

“Ron put a good engine together, but their bikes were pretty standard, with a bit of porting and Boyer ignition,” says Tony, who credits his Silverstone success to his bike’s excellent handling and his technique at Abbey Curve, a sweeping left-hander on the 2.927-mile circuit used in 1975.

purloined from. Removed broken link

I fink youll find it ran an 18 in. rear for bigger rubber .

Thruxton Motorcycles Commando .(2017)


Not the pea shooters .

Thruxton Motorcycles Commando .(2017)


theres a few other pictures of this machine scattered about here somewhere .
Click to expand...

Around about this time quitea few Commando racers went for the 18" rear rim fitted with a Dunlop (KR93 I think) Endurance racing tyre. The rolling diameter was the same as the 3.50/4.50 19" KR83 I used. In the last photo, thought fuzzy, it does look like the Endurance tyre tread pattern!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
SteveA said:
I didn't see this thread back in '17, but picked it up on the current picture of racing Commandos thread.....Actually in '76 Tony Smith rode the Challenge at Snetterton. It might have been the Race of Aces meeting, anyway it was the same weekend that Dave Croxford rode Percy Tait's works RG500 Suzuki, and then retired from racing.
Click to expand...
Steve, I was there too!! I always tried to get to that meeting.

I'll be honest I don't remember Tony on the Challenge, but I do remember seeing Crasher on the RG500 and feeling deflated. I suppose I knew it was the end for any British bike at that level.

I think Tony was due to join the works team & then it all folded.

Do you have any pics ?
 
cliffa said:
Steve, I was there too!! I always tried to get to that meeting.

I'll be honest I don't remember Tony on the Challenge, but I do remember seeing Crasher on the RG500 and feeling deflated. I suppose I knew it was the end for any British bike at that level.

I think Tony was due to join the works team & then it all folded.

Do you have any pics ?
Click to expand...

I have been meaning to find out the pic of Croxford getting fitted for the clip ons.....huge smile as usual....

I don't recall what else I have from then......

I am not sure Tony was in the programme even, or just on a 'Norton'.....I think it was a bit of a 'sneek preview', I saw the bike going out on track and coming back, but I didn't see it in the paddock and I am not sure if it made the grid. Since I was a Norton racer at the time and had seen the Challenge at the Brands Powerbike the previous October you might think I had been taking as much interest as anybody! So I think it was low profile.

I knew Tony from North Gloucester club meetings, and the fact that his farm was in the next village to where my wife comes from at Brize Norton.

Visited his workshop and bought ex works parts from him!
 
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