71 Commando Tranny/Harley

I have been told that a Harley tranny will fit in a Norton Commando. Is that true? If so, are there any mods? Any issues? Which one?

britbikemike said:

I have been told that a Harley tranny will fit in a Norton Commando. Is that true? If so, are there any mods? Any issues? Which one?

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Anything will fit with the right shoehorn and greenbacks :mrgreen:

Jean

Hi Mike,
When Kenny Dreer built his new Nortons I believe he was using an after market Harley transmission. It may have been a "Baker" right drive unit check out their website at http://www.bakerdrivetrain.com . It would end up costing you a couple grand and would certainly be an engineering exercise to fit. All you need is a hacksaw and a welder, oh and maybe a plasma cutter, lathe, bridgeport, and years of machining experience. This link will bring you right to the right side drive http://www.bakerdrivetrain.com/rsd/index.htm.

EDIT: You could (would probably have to) use the Harley clutch, and the best part is that a Harley starter would then bolt right in.

GB

Somebody's either pulling your leg, or mistaken. Now as a MKIII owner, I've been told for years by well-meaning people that a "Harley starter will bolt right into a Commando". Without going into all the detail on that, it's another thing that's wrong, but a hell of a lot closer than the gearbox bit. Now, things I have seen that may lead people to believe this stuff: I saw a beautiful featherbed special many years back in one of the various Brit magazines, don't remember which. A gent took a Harley lower-end (believe it was Generator pan-head vintage) grafted on two Matchless G80 barrels and heads, and used a Norton gearbox. ( they called it The Harmless Norton!) I think people see stuff like that and think there is some kind of cross pollenization of this stuff. One popular mod I've seen in person a couple of times, is using a BSA A10 (pre-unit) 'box mated to a Harley 45 in a bobber style set-up. Seen a few of those out there. And of course, there is a local guy selling an A65 choppa on Craigslist for the last six months calling it "a British version of a Harley - loud and fast". So you can see how some of this gets out there. Especially when a friend of a friend is telling it.

Duct tape, JB Weld, and some sheet metal screws (cutting torch helps)...

Kenny did use a Baker gearset, in a custom case he had fabricated, for his 961 prototype. Yes, it was right hand drive.







That was in a custom frame for the 961. I don't know if he ever managed to fit one into a Commando frame.

Ken

Nope, I was assured by Kenny that the new lump would in no way fit into the classic Commando frame.