Why bother with a Commando?

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bwolfie said:
I'm still trying to figure out how to tell the wife about my new combat, let alone the 850 that I am going to pick up in a few months.
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With all the parts laying around my wife said that I could probably make another bike. I don't see why that couldn't work for you with a little tweaking.
"HONEY, look what I've done with all my old parts. Aren't you proud of me?" or something along those lines. Smooooooooth!
 
we all defo spend a huge amount of time on the bike (fixing I mean, not riding -at least this is true with regards to myself...), but how much time do you guys spend on this forum? My wife, more than having an issue with me spending time with the bike, is starting to wonder why I spend my evenings till late at night watching a black page with a few white words with a grin on my face.
 
Orsonoce said:
we all defo spend a huge amount of time on the bike (fixing I mean, not riding -at least this is true with regards to myself...), but how much time do you guys spend on this forum? My wife, more than having an issue with me spending time with the bike, is starting to wonder why I spend my evenings till late at night watching a black page with a few white words with a grin on my face.
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You think that's bad? Besides this forum, I'm on:

BritBike.Com
TriumphRat.Net (section moderator)
VintageBikeRacing.Com
Vintage Bikes Forum (wgcarbs.com)
CycleWorld Forum
ZRXOA Forum
Triumphtalk.Com (section moderator)
Brit Iron Rebels Forum
WorldWideTriplesOnline.Com

...and I own and/or moderate these forums on Delphi:
Vintage Bikes Forum
New Triumph Bonneville Forum
The Triumph Forum
New Norton 961
Norton Rider's Collective
Classic KZs
Classic Hondas
Choppers, Bobbers & Customs
Classic Triumph Twins & Triples

i do pop in on the other odd forums from time to time as well...
 
Not in order:

- Classic lines. It looks as beautiful now as it did in `71
- It's designed to be fixed with (mostly) ordinary tools in an ordinary garage (which is a good thing) :roll:
- It's total handling reminds me of why I also fly sailplanes preferentially to power these days -- its pure stick & rudder
- You think it, it will do it. `Seems to read my thoughts before concious control inputs.
- You definitely stand out in a crowd at the stoplight as someone who communes at a deeper level than the CafeRacer dudes to your left & right.
- Girls notice it (and then engage you in converstaion until their boyfriends show up. (Then they notice it and engage you in conversation.)
And ...
- It looks calmly fast ...just parked.
 
crusadersports said:
Or is it actually that good that it doesn't matter what one feels about Englishness?
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This is such a great thread. I hope you're all going to be at the Empire Rally, 'cause I am and I want to get you all on camera saying this kind of stuff.

But I think the problem is that your original premise is flawed. There seems to be an assumption there that we dislike Englishness, and England in general. In a country where a 40-year-old building might be considered sufficiently dated to be completely torn down, I don't see many people holding a grudge for 235 years. Just because you guys still can't get along with the French... :D

It seems to be quite the opposite. I think America loves British culture. The bikes, sure, but also music. British Invasion in the Sixties, English punk bands in the Seventies, the New Wave in the Eighties. I know when I was young I couldn't get enough, listening to The Jam and The Clash, watching the Pythons and Tom Baker's Doctor, and movies from Pinewood and Shepperton Studios and horror films from Hammer.

Maybe the question should be, why aren't more Americans into British motorbikes?
 
Maybe the question should be, why aren't more Americans into British motorbikes?

Good question, after all, the UK is crawling in Harleys.
 
In responce to why Bother, Bother being the crux to this post, I peronal think we like tinkering with stuff we are not affraid of, old simple engineering. I wouldnt fancy taking the head off a New super bike..just to lap my valves in on a sun day morning, Getting just the fairing off is a job!

Plus the joy of putting a bit more pep into the old twin gives a nice warm feelig when zipping down the high way. who cares if a 160mph zzr makes us look silly...at the next bike gathering all eyes are on the Commando...ZZR ..Er wheres that...O its over there with the other 30 or so....and its nice to be a crowd puller, Old guys love the old stuff and will spend age's over a cuppa talkin Norton, what do the ZZr lads talk about. " look at my carbon cans? well that took about 3 nano seconds! You only need a oil leak on the Norton and 12 men have been down on their knee's..discusing a fix!!
 
mototom said:
crusadersports said:
Or is it actually that good that it doesn't matter what one feels about Englishness?
Click to expand...

This is such a great thread. I hope you're all going to be at the Empire Rally, 'cause I am and I want to get you all on camera saying this kind of stuff.

But I think the problem is that your original premise is flawed. There seems to be an assumption there that we dislike Englishness, and England in general. In a country where a 40-year-old building might be considered sufficiently dated to be completely torn down, I don't see many people holding a grudge for 235 years. Just because you guys still can't get along with the French... :D

It seems to be quite the opposite. I think America loves British culture. The bikes, sure, but also music. British Invasion in the Sixties, English punk bands in the Seventies, the New Wave in the Eighties. I know when I was young I couldn't get enough, listening to The Jam and The Clash, watching the Pythons and Tom Baker's Doctor, and movies from Pinewood and Shepperton Studios and horror films from Hammer.

Maybe the question should be, why aren't more Americans into British motorbikes?
Click to expand...

Let's not forget Monty Python! As for holding a grudge? I don't even remember now why I was pissed off. If Canada, NZ and Oz are British off-spring then the U.S. is just the bastard child.

More Americans would be into British bikes if they would have remained commercially competitive during the last few decades of the 20th century. People have no problem with buying bikes made in Germany, Italy and Japan, and we have been at war with these countries a lot more recently than 1776. We now have about two generations of motorcycle enthusiasts who don't realize that the British have a motorcycle history.

I have a good friend who rides a Ducati. When I told him I bought a Norton, he said something like "better carry a blow torch and a can of ether so you can get it started". He spends more money every year getting his bike serviced than I spent buying my bike. Yeah, its a neat bike, and it turns heads but his hands are never dirty from working on it.

I have other friends who are Harley fanatics. A couple of the newly converted like to act superior and rag on me about riding a kid's bike (crotch rocket), but the guys who have been into Harleys for a long time (and have dirty hands to show for it) like for me to come by the club so they can actually see a British bike. Some of these guys have been riding for 40-years and never had a chance to see one in the flesh.

Then we have the modern sport bikes here in town. I don't try to keep up with them, nor do I hang out with any of them. But my bike gets double-takes when I meet up with any of them around town. Usually it ends with an appreciative nod before they blast off at hyper speed.

What makes me sad is that the few guys around town who have new Triumphs seem to carry a chip on their shoulder and are kind of defensive when you ask them about their bikes. I am sure it comes from having to defend the choice to many of the above mentioned.

So now, why a Commando? It was dubbed as the first super bike as far as I know. But actually it was the last of the old school bikes. I think that the average Commando owner likes working on their bike, despite the constant bitching about it. Would these same guys like to own Ariel Fours? Sure, assuming you could find one, find parts for one, find upgrades and support for one. Oh, and assuming you could find a group of people to share your enthusiasm.

One of the things that is most interesting about being on the back side if the industrial revolution curve is that we can pick a point in time on that curve that suits our personalities. Obviously the Commando fills a specific place on that curve.

Russ
 
In their day Commandos were mostly sold because they kicked all others asses on acceleration at least up to the ton and out handled their competitors to boot. All the rest was just extra icing on their cake. The factory set up could be hot rodded for further advantage, back then. I found my factory Combat is not secure enough let alone powerful enough to play with real sports bikers, but my Ms Peel sure was and with better power plant I plan to kick accelerating ass like the old days till who knows how fast at this point.

One big appeal to me is the classic tube frame with big IS tank on it is like a ladder frame you can pile on or attach on a bunch of stuff so extra practical as cargo mule much as that may afront the cafe boys with back pack purses...

Only two breeds i've seen as much variation and extreme variety created, Harley Davisons and Norton Commandos.
 
I bet swooshdave wonders why he bothers , one minute things are dropping off...next minute, conking out,,,well come to the real world of Norton Ownership!...whats next dave..crank failure, rod thrown ,gearbox bearings, sticking valves , cam wear?...plenty to go at yet
 
Flo said:
Maybe the question should be, why aren't more Americans into British motorbikes?

Good question, after all, the UK is crawling in Harleys.
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This T Shirt is from 1975:
Why bother with a Commando?


We let a few Harley guys in to haul the beer for us...
 
OK, I've read em all. Here is my take on the situation. I am a Brit, but this has no bearing on my love of Norton Commando's.

She is a pleasure to just look at.
She is light weight and powerful.
Handles very well in the twisties.
Powered by an engine that pulls like a freight train.
Makes wonderful sounds to the ear.
Is utterly reliable. (don't laugh, I have not had serious trouble ever)
Probably the best all round bike of the era.
Gets respect and admiration on the road and off.
Puts a big grin on your face when you twist the wahoo thingy.
 
hobot said:
In their day Commandos were mostly sold because they kicked all others asses on acceleration at least up to the ton and out handled their competitors to boot. All the rest was just extra icing on their cake. The factory set up could be hot rodded for further advantage, back then. I found my factory Combat is not secure enough let alone powerful enough to play with real sports bikers, but my Ms Peel sure was and with better power plant I plan to kick accelerating ass like the old days till who knows how fast at this point.

One big appeal to me is the classic tube frame with big IS tank on it is like a ladder frame you can pile on or attach on a bunch of stuff so extra practical as cargo mule much as that may afront the cafe boys with back pack purses...

Only two breeds i've seen as much variation and extreme variety created, Harley Davisons and Norton Commandos.
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Not entirely sure a Commando would have been able to out perform H1, H2, or Z1's back in the day? The fact that they couldnt was one of the major reasons an awful lot of riders changed to more modern machinery, which is what ultimately led to the demise of the Brit motorcycle industry.

Riding old Brits today is a lot less hassle than back in the day, but its a little silly suggesting that bikes which were based around a 40 year old engine design when they were new, were magically able to handle and perform better than Japanese machines, which most buyers obviously felt were far superior.
 
I'm pretty sure that back in the day nothing was faster than the H1 or H2 and that included the 900 Kawasaki. But straight line acceleration for the Norton was comparable to the Kawasaki (the Norton needed a small rider and proper gearing to get comparable 1/4 mile times). Norton handling was way superior (one of the main reasons we love them). Still you can't deny that there was something about all 3 of those bikes. The 2 strokers were lean and really fast and the Z, when compared to the CB750 was beautiful. Also, there is something about waking up to the smell of 2 cycle oil at 6:00 AM on a beautiful NH day.

I got quite an education in 78 at Loudon watching a Z go through some turns. It was like my old TR4A, the back of the bike looked like it wanted to go first. A great deal of flex in the frame. Of course if I were riding it no one would have noticed the flex as I putted through the turns.
 
"Back then" I rode a number of Japanese bikes from the mid to late 70s and rode with a lot of guys who owned them. My Commando was so much easier for the average guy to work through twists than any of the Japanese bikes that there is no comparison. The high torque, low RPM approach of the Commando allowed guys like me to relax and concentrate on finding good lines thru the turn. Ulitimately it was not only faster on roads with few straight stretches but more fun too. It wouldn't surprise me if I shifted once for ever three times my companions did on many of those rides. We would end a day of riding and I would be relaxed and grinning and my buddies would be worn out and bitchy. That might not translate to the track, but it makes a big difference on the street.

Its funny that many of my friends who eventually went to Harleys did it because the roadster style bikes wore them out on the highways. So basically, they gave up on roads with twists in them at all.
 
JimR said:
I'm pretty sure that back in the day nothing was faster than the H1 or H2 and that included the 900 Kawasaki. But straight line acceleration for the Norton was comparable to the Kawasaki (the Norton needed a small rider and proper gearing to get comparable 1/4 mile times). Norton handling was way superior (one of the main reasons we love them). Still you can't deny that there was something about all 3 of those bikes. The 2 strokers were lean and really fast and the Z, when compared to the CB750 was beautiful. Also, there is something about waking up to the smell of 2 cycle oil at 6:00 AM on a beautiful NH day.

I got quite an education in 78 at Loudon watching a Z go through some turns. It was like my old TR4A, the back of the bike looked like it wanted to go first. A great deal of flex in the frame. Of course if I were riding it no one would have noticed the flex as I putted through the turns.
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H1 and H2 were the fastest accelerating bikes around in the 70s no contest, and while factory prepared Commandos with carefully built motors using special parts may well have had quite impressive performance figures,the fact that production bikes were not able to match these figures, was something that never seemed to figure much in the thinking of a factory that was pretty desperate to sell bikes.
 
Carbonfibre said:
H1 and H2 were the fastest accelerating bikes around in the 70s no contest, and while factory prepared Commandos with carefully built motors using special parts may well have had quite impressive performance figures,the fact that production bikes were not able to match these figures, was something that never seemed to figure much in the thinking of a factory that was pretty desperate to sell bikes.
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So...CF...why are you posting on a Commando forum rather than a Kwacker 2-stroke forum ? You don't actually seem to like Nortons or indeed any of the components fitted to them. :?:
 
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