Box Stock VS Modified

I have been trying to sell my Norton. It's nothing personal but my life has taken quite a different and unexpected turn. I have had two individuals come and have a look. I was under the impression that they were both not well antiquated with Norton's but both were keen to have one. The bike starts first kick. Both prospects were able to start it without issue. Both were excited but kept asking cosmetic questions like "is that the proper air filter" (mine has a single Mikuni.) or "are those switches original?" Both passed on the bike because, as one said "It would just be too big a job to put it back to original." One didn't like my 2" rise super bike bars.

Everything on my bike makes it a dream to ride. From the Wassell ignition, the updated clutch plates, single Mikuni, rewired electrical, modern regulator/rectifier charging system, braided steel over-head oil line, roller transmission layshaft bearing upgrade and more, everything has been done to make it a safe, reliable and friendly Norton to ride anywhere. I have been around Norton's and other classic British bikes for a long time. I guess I do not understand wanting a bike that looks a certain way rather than one the performs and rides well as possible.

Perhaps a function of the time.

Older riders like myself have made changes over the 40 plus years of ownership which made the bike more reliable safe and user friendly.

But the few younger people that are looking for a Commando are more interested in originality.

I have pretty much kept all the original parts so someone could put mine back to original. Just so long as their happy with 1970s brakes.

It’s always been so. Modifications don’t sell a bike.

Having owned British bikes since the 1970’s, I would take all the sensible upgrades I could get, were I in the market for another one. The handlebars are about the easiest thing to bring back to stock. Damn kids.

1973x75 said:

Having owned British bikes since the 1970’s, I would take all the sensible upgrades I could get, were I in the market for another one. The handlebars are about the easiest thing to bring back to stock. Damn kids.

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This guy was no kid but he did entertan me with the story of all the Stage Kits and farkles his Road Glide had. He should have been happy. The front disk on my Norton brake upgrade is from a Harley!

1973x75 said:

Having owned British bikes since the 1970’s, I would take all the sensible upgrades I could get, were I in the market for another one. The handlebars are about the easiest thing to bring back to stock. Damn kids.

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That's what I told him but I got the impression that a handlebar change might be in the realm of complex mechanical surgery.

Well, they sure would not like mine, too many CNW parts! Last year I took it to a vintage bike show in San Luis Obispo, Ca. The judges passed over it for too many modifications, but said I had the most beautiful bike there, but gave themselves the trophies instead. Ignore those people, you just haven’t found the right buyer yet.

Different strokes for different folks!

Most of us here are over 65 I bet. A 45-year-old may well want an old Norton/Triumph/BSA, but they are unlikely to want to work on them and are likely looking for stock (mismatch of desires)!

Big_Jim59 said:

"...well antiquated with Nortons..."

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That made me read it twice, and it took me a moment; I'm sure you meant "acquainted," and, in reality, we're the ones that have been "antiquated" with Nortons, i.e., "unsuitable for modern society."

Maybe they are just "collector types" and just want the original G.I. Joe in the original unopened packaging. That is the most valuable version of anything collectable.

You bought your Commando as a bike to ride and modified it to make it more rideable.... There are lots of people who want it all original. If you look at my bike, it's got modifications everywhere but if I was someone who just wanted to buy a norton commando, even I wouldn't buy MY bike. I might still do modifications to it after I bought it over my time of ownership, but I wouldn't want to buy a collector bike like a norton if it was as heavily modified as my own bike is,... just because I'd want to do it my way from stock,... not adopt someone else's bastard...

hhh said:

That made me read it twice, and it took me a moment; I'm sure you meant "acquainted," and, in reality, we're the ones that have been "antiquated" with Nortons, i.e., "unsuitable for modern society."

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I'll be the first to admit to being Norton antiquated!

Well, your story doesn’t bode well for me getting top dollar for my bastard bitsa!

I think it deserves a new strategy… try and ensure it’s absolutely f*cked by the time I’m finished with it !!

At the end of the day I've never looked at any of my old Brit bikes as investments
I've owned two stock commandos over the years and I know I prefer my modified one
But the standard original bike will always sell for more money and it always will
Mine is not for sale anytime soon and it won't be worth a lot by the time I'm done!

If you are not upside down financially in your Norton you are not doing it right. Maybe that only applies to bastard bike builders though.

I can't understand anyone wanting a completely original Commando, unless they are building a museum.

Lets be honest, original bikes have some serious limitations, why would anyone want brakes that don't brake very well, ignition systems that need loads of maintenance but are unreliable even with all that maintenance, stuff that rusts if it rains. Pretty much everything on our bikes can be replaced with parts that are better designed, and/or better built; wanting originality has to be based on ignorance of what original actually gives you.

The problem I have with the argument that all improvements are good is that the whole bike can be replaced with an MT07 or the like which is objectively a better bike. I am not criticizing modifications but it is the original nature of the bike that draws us to it.

If I need to get somewhere I take a modern bike. If I want to enjoy a day ride I take a vintage bike and while I modify mine, I prefer them to look and generally ride like they were intended to. Yesterday I rode a modern bike 200mi round trip to an appointment. Today I rode my 72 combat for enjoyment. It has a sleeved master cylinder, euro bars and road riders on it but generally looks and rides like stock. That being said, my personal esthetics do not prevent me from having vernier isos, amal premiers and parts that basically look stock but I am less likely to modify my commando than most and more likely than some. That is one this that makes this "hobby" so interesting.

I don't want a rigid girder bike to ride like a new bike, that is why I ride it in the first place, getting a vintage experience.

Best to all.

ilikevelos said:

The problem I have with the argument that all improvements are good is that the whole bike can be replaced with an MT07 or the like which is objectively a better bike. I am not criticizing modifications but it is the original nature of the bike that draws us to it.

If I need to get somewhere I take a modern bike. If I want to enjoy a day ride I take a vintage bike and while I modify mine, I prefer them to look and generally ride like they were intended to. Yesterday I rode a modern bike 200mi round trip to an appointment. Today I rode my 72 combat for enjoyment. It has a sleeved master cylinder, euro bars and road riders on it but generally looks and rides like stock. That being said, my personal esthetics do not prevent me from having vernier isos, amal premiers and parts that basically look stock but I am less likely to modify my commando than most and more likely than some. That is one this that makes this "hobby" so interesting.

I don't want a rigid girder bike to ride like a new bike, that is why I ride it in the first place, getting a vintage experience.

Best to all.

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Exactly!

I'm happy to build you a Commando for $14-$18k. cNw was happy to build them for up to $50k. In many ways, silly! In the US you can stop in at your local Triumph shop and buy a classic looking bike, pay full price, and be out the door with most of the "Modern Classics" for less money. All the 900cc/1200cc bikes will outperform a stock Commando and even the Speed 400 will at least keep up with a stock Commando and is out the door for under $6k. BTW, the Speed 400 has a service interval of 10k miles - what's a Commando service interval in reality?

Don't get me wrong, the newest bike I've ever owned in a MKIII Commando - when I'm finished rebuilding it, it will be gone - shifts on the wrong side

marshg246 said:

what's a Commando service interval in reality?

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Kind of continuous.

The maths teacher might say it “tends to zero.”

Tire kickers.
Horse trading is a lost art.
I tell them directly: " bring a truck or trailer, and cash" the FIRST time. And, ask your Mommywife permission first, before you arrange to come.

marshg246 said:

Exactly!

I'm happy to build you a Commando for $14-$18k. cNw was happy to build them for up to $50k. In many ways, silly! In the US you can stop in at your local Triumph shop and buy a classic looking bike, pay full price, and be out the door with most of the "Modern Classics" for less money. All the 900cc/1200cc bikes will outperform a stock Commando and even the Speed 400 will at least keep up with a stock Commando and is out the door for under $6k. BTW, the Speed 400 has a service interval of 10k miles - what's a Commando service interval in reality?

Don't get me wrong, the newest bike I've ever owned in a MKIII Commando - when I'm finished rebuilding it, it will be gone - shifts on the wrong side

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All my bikes now are right shift - because "that's the way u-huh, u-huh I like it u-huh, u-huh!"

Edited because I got it wrong last night - oops!!
(I must've meant the other left - you know, the right one! )