Commando Choppers please

I have only ever restored one chopper, and one bobber.

I have never built one of either genre, but I have refurbished a couple of choppers and sold them on.

I have "rescued" at least a half-dozen choppers, 2 of them Nortons; one to a very nice basic Commando, the other to a cafe racer.

So, I'm not a "fan" of choppers.

That said, fullauto stated / asked "However, let's look at the chopper thing. When modifying a motorcycle, being a Commando or not, one would normally seek to improve performance, be it in handling, comfort, braking or engine performance. When you turn a Norton into a chopper, what improvement are you making in these characteristics?"

In so asking / stating, and further attempting to explain or understand, you failed entirely to realize that the chopper is a STYLING exercise, an artistic expression, every bit as much as a cafe racer, tourer, standard, or bobber. Some people simply have the desire to have a bike LOOK a certain way. It may have NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with comfort, performance or handling. Then again, SOME custom bikes actually have quite good engine and/or braking performance, more than the handling of them will allow in twisty sections; the owners of those bikes simply slow down in turns!

I'm not a chopper guy, but I "get it".

clip on's and rear sets........ I've never ridden a more uncomfortable and awkward street bike.
Why did the owner do it to his Norton ? He thought it Looked cool.

grandpaul said:

I have only ever restored one chopper, and one bobber.

I have never built one of either genre, but I have refurbished a couple of choppers and sold them on.

I have "rescued" at least a half-dozen choppers, 2 of them Nortons; one to a very nice basic Commando, the other to a cafe racer.

So, I'm not a "fan" of choppers.

That said, fullauto stated / asked "However, let's look at the chopper thing. When modifying a motorcycle, being a Commando or not, one would normally seek to improve performance, be it in handling, comfort, braking or engine performance. When you turn a Norton into a chopper, what improvement are you making in these characteristics?"

In so asking / stating, and further attempting to explain or understand, you failed entirely to realize that the chopper is a STYLING exercise, an artistic expression, every bit as much as a cafe racer, tourer, standard, or bobber. Some people simply have the desire to have a bike LOOK a certain way. It may have NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with comfort, performance or handling. Then again, SOME custom bikes actually have quite good engine and/or braking performance, more than the handling of them will allow in twisty sections; the owners of those bikes simply slow down in turns!

I'm not a chopper guy, but I "get it".

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Bullshit.I did not fail to realize anything. Of course it's all about self perceived style. Or style that you think someone else might appreciate. Either way, from whatever angle you look at it, it still relates to masturbation.

Mark said:

clip on's and rear sets........ I've never ridden a more uncomfortable and awkward street bike.
Why did the owner do it to his Norton ? He thought it Looked cool.

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Agree totally. Having (select famous racer of your choice) fantasies about racing on the road, unfortunately........is still masturbation.

The problem with your argument is that you are making the case that masturbation is a bad thing.

Mark said:

clip on's and rear sets........ I've never ridden a more uncomfortable and awkward street bike.

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Which bike has clip-ons and rearsets?

coydog said:

The problem with your argument is that you are making the case that masturbation is a bad thing.

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Brilliant !!

Recently I posted a photo of a chopper that I bought and I asked the question, Should I ride it, or Kill it?
See this beauty here: new-ride-t26297.html
Eight people thought I should ride it . Only one person thought I should kill it.
Conclusion? The members of Access Norton like choppers, and this thread should continue!
BTW, I have since dismantled the bike, and if anybody (Fullauto, Ashley?) wants to buy a cool frame, hardley rear wheel, forward controls, rad ape hangers, etc, they are going cheap.

Stephen Hill

coydog said:

The problem with your argument is that you are making the case that masturbation is a bad thing.

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Good point. Masturbation, per se, is not a bad thing. Indeed, it can be quite pleasurable. But, we are talking about PUBLIC masturbation here, which is quite unacceptable. Manipulating your bits in a public place gives me a mental picture that is quite disturbing.

So, if we accept your proposition, then chopper owners can never bring them out in public because of the offensive nature of the act they have performed on their previously attractive Norton, leaving them to indulge their carnal desires in the privacy of their workshops? The only problem I have here is that their exhibitionistic tendencies would preclude them from this.

Stephen Hill said:

Recently I posted a photo of a chopper that I bought and I asked the question, Should I ride it, or Kill it?
See this beauty here: new-ride-t26297.html
Eight people thought I should ride it . Only one person thought I should kill it.
Conclusion? The members of Access Norton like choppers, and this thread should continue!
BTW, I have since dismantled the bike, and if anybody (Fullauto, Ashley?) wants to buy a cool frame, hardley rear wheel, forward controls, rad ape hangers, etc, they are going cheap.

Stephen Hill

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I'm afraid you're barking up the wrong tree here. The reason you had so many people who thought the bike was...err...good, was because of the aforementioned exhibitionist tendencies. The real Norton believers were stunned by the vile ugliness of your contraption and their good manners precluded them from posting. The eight were obviously public masturbation theorists who couldn't wait for the wife to go shopping so they could give their screens a good spray, imagining themselves riding down main street on your particularly horrendous version of what a sixteen year old thinks a desirable motorcycle should be.

Fortunately the polls have not yet closed, so I will put Fullauto down on the side of "kill it".
The count is now eight for ride it, and two for kill it, pending official confirmation by Price Waterhouse Cooper.

Stephen Hill

Fullauto said:

Stephen Hill said:

Recently I posted a photo of a chopper that I bought and I asked the question, Should I ride it, or Kill it?
See this beauty here: new-ride-t26297.html
Eight people thought I should ride it . Only one person thought I should kill it.
Conclusion? The members of Access Norton like choppers, and this thread should continue!
BTW, I have since dismantled the bike, and if anybody (Fullauto, Ashley?) wants to buy a cool frame, hardley rear wheel, forward controls, rad ape hangers, etc, they are going cheap.

Stephen Hill

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I have no problems at all with choppers whether Norton, Triumph, Harlies etc etc, they have been built for along time, some are a work of art, others have just been built with what ever was laying around, every one has different taste myself perferr the caferacer look, but people who do build choppers put a lot of time doing something they like, building a motorcycle when you have nothing else to do, some get the parts cheap with everything there to build something different to the norm, other might be on drugs and think what they are doing is cool, some sit in the shed drinking piss and wake up the next day thinking what the fu.. did I do last might, every one is diferent and have diferent ideas.

My good mate rode a Triumph bobber with a 650 police spcieal motor for over 16 years that he built from bits and pieces, he also had a normal Triumph but the bobber was the most reliable, it went well and he could ride it like it was stolen, then he was given a Norton chopper cheap but he ended up selling it a few years later because he didn't have the money to do anything with it, I nearly brought it as the motor and gear box was all good and I had a Slimline Featherbed that it would have gone into, but money is tight now I am not working no longer.

I build bikes that can be ridden all day without any problems, but if I was given another chance to build a bobber then who knows, its something that would be fun building, whether I ride it would be another thing, but if I did I would do a better job than some of the choppers in this thread.

How many people here watch old biker movies in the late 60s 70s and what started the craze movies like Easy Rider etc, some people do just build them to look at and never ride them, how many people build normal bikes that never get ridden, how many people put them in shows and trailer them to the shows, everyone has their reason, not everyone will agree with them, but who cares, its all about motorcycles and the love of building something different from others.

If someone want to give me boxes of parts to build something then bring it on, I have plenty of time to amuse myself, a fridge full of beer, what I like is making custom parts with my own hands, working out what to build for it, my brain is always working overtime thinking of things to do and I started out when building my hot 850 Featherbed over 35 years ago.

So keep this thread going its not hurting anybody and there are some good ones but there also some shockers but hey its all about having fun doing something different to others.

Ashley

MARVELOUS .



DITTO .

Trying to find a picture of one that looks like t wouldnt try to kill you , if you got entusiastic if it went o.k.
Maybe none of them do , if theyre mechanical ability is as bad as their asthetics and ground clearance .
At least if it looked like it'd be o.k. at the drag strip , it might be good for something .



Hard to tell , but it looks like its a bit not quite there in the steering head frame tubes ,
whereby itd weave , at best , if you did put the brakes on , IF youd left the throttle on .

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Where This s a bit more Substantial , thereabouts . :wink:





Or Do We Prefer ->

Picture of T.C. recovering from concussion after dropping Hogslayer . :lol: :lol:





Youll note its got a semi triangulated dual downtube headstock .

Stephen Hill said:

Recently I posted a photo of a chopper that I bought and I asked the question, Should I ride it, or Kill it?
See this beauty here: new-ride-t26297.html
Eight people thought I should ride it . Only one person thought I should kill it.
Conclusion? The members of Access Norton like choppers, and this thread should continue!
BTW, I have since dismantled the bike, and if anybody (Fullauto, Ashley?) wants to buy a cool frame, hardley rear wheel, forward controls, rad ape hangers, etc, they are going cheap.

Stephen Hill

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Whatever blows your hair back ?

Matt Spencer said:

Picture of T.C. recovering from concussion after dropping Hogslayer . :lol: :lol:

Youll note its got a semi triangulated dual downtube headstock .

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That one doesn't look to bad really, not over done, but when you have a shop full of Norton parts anything can be built and T C is loyal to Nortons, I like the pipes on it.

Ashley

All this talk of choppers made me weaken when I saw these on eBay. Meet the new additions to my collection:

You found those bikes in England? Cool! :!:

Captain America and company in England. Really great pair of bikes. Nigel, did you check the fuel tanks for cash?

Fast Eddie said:

All this talk of choppers made me weaken when I saw these on eBay. Meet the new additions to my collection:

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I think those need to go back to flea-bay, you need to see your counselor, and then fire up the lawn mower... Oh, hell; I like the red and yellow one.