- Joined
- Oct 15, 2007
- Messages
- 14
The reason I say "as far as I can tell" is because every piece of information I have found, read or dug up through contacts suggests that this bike doesn't exist. I know it's not rare or a special one of a kind prototype, but none-the-less, as a Commando enthusiast, the fact that it doesn't conform to the rules intrigues me to no end.
The bike, as per the ID/VIN plate, is an Oct 1970 Norton 750 Commando.
It was purchased new in Nov 1970 by my uncle Dan as a Norton 750 Commando Roadster.
Sometime in the mid to late 70's he sold it to my uncle Clive, who bought it as his first bike.
In 1991 I bought it from Clive as a timber crate full of parts with the lid held shut by a frame with forks.
Now that I have the shed space and time up my sleeve I am allowing my self the indulgence of rebuilding it from the ground up. So now that I've started working on it piece by piece, I am every now and then coming across oddities in the bike. The engine is a 20M3 and as such is correct for the time period. The serial number is 140734, which seems to fall into the correct build month. So after talking to both Dan and Clive, I have the reason why it is fitted with an RH2 head. In 1974, Dan forgot to tie the exhaust nuts together with tie-wire, and consequently stripped the thread from the left hand exhaust port. During my chats with Dan I brought up other discrepancies which caught my attention. For example, the cylinder barrels were black, the side cover stickers/decals were not normal, the coils are mounted on separate brackets similar to a Triumph instead of the box type fitting and as such had no orange reflectors under the petrol tank, the tail-lamp bracket is of the small Lucas type, not the typical long Norton one and doesn't have the side reflectors either. All of these things don't show up as standard by any information I've found.
I know, I know. Heaps of people have told me time and time again that all these things are aftermarket add-ons or modifications performed after it was bought. The problem with that, is the original owner confirms that it was all on the bike when he bought it new. Nothing has been added since then excepting the RH2 cylinder head. The barrels were black as of the day he picked it up from the dealer and was one of the things that made him pick that particular bike, as it suited the Canary Yellow paint much better aesthetically than the Silver barrels. The side covers are of the greatest confusion. They have 3 lines of text, but not the normal Commando, 750, Roadster that would be expected. Although the original stickers are since long gone, the faded colour clearly shows the outline of the lettering. They show Commando, 750 'S', Roadster. This tank logo was also only a straight black 'Norton' instead of what the parts book says should be black with gold outline.
After some chasing around and talking with guys who had worked in bike shops around the area during the 60' & 70's I am now of the belief that the bike was originally a Type 'S' Commando which was converted to, and sold as, a Roadster at the dealership due to their greater popularity over the Type 'S' at the time. I have never been able to track down any of the business owners of the time to be able to confirm this with all certainty thought. Being as it was after the Type 'S' was discontinued, this seems like a plausible explanation. I know the likelihood of someone here still being the original owner, or being able to recall such minor details may be stretching things a little, but I have to ask.
Has anyone ever come across these types of discrepancies before with their Norton or heard of people who may have.
Kenny
The bike, as per the ID/VIN plate, is an Oct 1970 Norton 750 Commando.
It was purchased new in Nov 1970 by my uncle Dan as a Norton 750 Commando Roadster.
Sometime in the mid to late 70's he sold it to my uncle Clive, who bought it as his first bike.
In 1991 I bought it from Clive as a timber crate full of parts with the lid held shut by a frame with forks.
Now that I have the shed space and time up my sleeve I am allowing my self the indulgence of rebuilding it from the ground up. So now that I've started working on it piece by piece, I am every now and then coming across oddities in the bike. The engine is a 20M3 and as such is correct for the time period. The serial number is 140734, which seems to fall into the correct build month. So after talking to both Dan and Clive, I have the reason why it is fitted with an RH2 head. In 1974, Dan forgot to tie the exhaust nuts together with tie-wire, and consequently stripped the thread from the left hand exhaust port. During my chats with Dan I brought up other discrepancies which caught my attention. For example, the cylinder barrels were black, the side cover stickers/decals were not normal, the coils are mounted on separate brackets similar to a Triumph instead of the box type fitting and as such had no orange reflectors under the petrol tank, the tail-lamp bracket is of the small Lucas type, not the typical long Norton one and doesn't have the side reflectors either. All of these things don't show up as standard by any information I've found.
I know, I know. Heaps of people have told me time and time again that all these things are aftermarket add-ons or modifications performed after it was bought. The problem with that, is the original owner confirms that it was all on the bike when he bought it new. Nothing has been added since then excepting the RH2 cylinder head. The barrels were black as of the day he picked it up from the dealer and was one of the things that made him pick that particular bike, as it suited the Canary Yellow paint much better aesthetically than the Silver barrels. The side covers are of the greatest confusion. They have 3 lines of text, but not the normal Commando, 750, Roadster that would be expected. Although the original stickers are since long gone, the faded colour clearly shows the outline of the lettering. They show Commando, 750 'S', Roadster. This tank logo was also only a straight black 'Norton' instead of what the parts book says should be black with gold outline.
After some chasing around and talking with guys who had worked in bike shops around the area during the 60' & 70's I am now of the belief that the bike was originally a Type 'S' Commando which was converted to, and sold as, a Roadster at the dealership due to their greater popularity over the Type 'S' at the time. I have never been able to track down any of the business owners of the time to be able to confirm this with all certainty thought. Being as it was after the Type 'S' was discontinued, this seems like a plausible explanation. I know the likelihood of someone here still being the original owner, or being able to recall such minor details may be stretching things a little, but I have to ask.
Has anyone ever come across these types of discrepancies before with their Norton or heard of people who may have.
Kenny
