commando price!!!!!!

Hi Mc Marvellous, it has red body work with the steel tank being immacculate. One of the side panels does have 2 little scratches on it. I also have a Hemmings racing seat (like new) alongside the standard seat which would probably be included.

It's back again! http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1973-Norton-Comma ... 7C294%3A50

Obviously nobody paid £6,750 GBP for it after all!! http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 3D1&_rdc=1

no surprises there,nobody in his right mind would pay that,unless he,s fallen out with his money

It's gone for £4,600 tonight. That's minus £2,150. Maybe it will sell this time. It makes you wonder where the other bidders that bid it up to £6,750 went to?

There's another interesting Norton Commando on ebay today; Item No. 180358595220

I have followed this thread from the beginning and 'am amazed that a fully restored Norton sells for anything under $10,000!

Purchase price for good runner 3-5K

Paint 500 to 3000

Wheels, tires, brakes 300 to 3500

Frame and fittings 300 to 800

engine: 500 to 4000

Transmission: 300 to 600

Primary: 0 to 300

1900 to 12,200

spltting the difference and doing all your own labor, realistically:

$10, 050 for a restored Norton motorcycle

I don't believe that my numbers are off by much. I did my build in roses, very much like the CNW examples, I'd have to ask someting north of $25K to get out whole, but I only meet that buyer in my dreams. I didn't build to sell I did my build to see what I could do, my heirs will get a great deal...

The point is that I don't believe that you can buy any Norton, that is referrd to as "restored" and expect to have someting relaible for less than $10K one way or the other; the fact that others claim they have done it mysifies me; I could see a seller saying someting like, "I've had enough, if I sell now I might live another 10 years..." Are Nortons the Christines of mototrcycles?

RS

I agree that to do it commercially there is not enough in it to make any significant amount of money, however If you build it yourself and don't charge your labour it can easily be done for under $5000. For example, spoke kits from UK cost about $75, tyres $90 for TT100s, $50 to rechrome a rim. Polish hubs and renew bearings ,chroming of axle washers etc. $50 - spoke and true it yourself, less than $300 every time. I find it costs me between $2000 to $4000 to do a complete bike depending on what I find when I look inside. I am lucky that in HK I can sell one on any day for $10,000, but I wouldn't consider it worth my time to do this as a business.

The advice often given where classic vehicles are concerned is "Buy the best you can find". I think this is good advice if you want to hop on a bike and use it immediately while assessing what you ultimately want to do with it, however my advice to anyone contemplating a restoration is "buy the worst you can find"! Why pay a premium for something that is running and on the road when you are proposing to strip it back down to basics? A bike that has surface rust on spokes and rims needs nearly as much money spent to get nice wheels as one that is standing in a corner on it's hubs knee deep in rust. If you can pick up a project for $1500 to $2000 and spend $3000 on it you may not make a huge profit selling it but you will get your money back, plus of course the great pleasure and sense of achievement of recycling a fine piece of motoring heritage.

What do you do over there Dave?

Rather than buying a running example, I bought a 'complete' bike that had been mostly dismantled, knowing I would rather refurbish everything myself. Even with a complete bike, I spent over $8000 to get what I think is a great daily rider.

I have run into several Commando owners who have had enough of Nortons, like road scholar said. One guy was upset because he spent ANOTHER pile of cash at the local Norton guy to get his 750 running again. After he left, the Norton guy said this owner went for a ride, forgot to turn of the fuel tap, and went for a ride three weeks later with perhaps a gallon of fuel in the crankcase and primary. He ran the bike until it stopped. Apparently, a 50/50 mix of gas/oil doesn't lubricate very well. Is it the fault of the bike that the owner did not turn off the fuel tap? NO. Will the owner realize it was a simple oversight on his part that led to a $1700 repair bill? Probably not. Will he ever be happy with the bike? Probably not.

For me, owning a Norton after almost 30 years away from classic british bikes was a fairly steep learning curve, but taking a few minutes before a ride to check things out is just common sense. I like the fact that I now know enough about the bike to take it on a 500 mile trip without worry. I also like the fact that very few people I know would do the same.

Cookie, I run my own business repairing and servicing classic cars, mainly pre-war British and Italian machinery, although a fair bit of post-war stuff too such as 50s and 60s Bentleys, Aston Martins, Ferraris and Lamborghinis.

Dave,

I guess that explains your mechanical expertise. I've had a number of friends and my wife who have worked there.

In the old days to run British bikes you had to have a bit of sense and some mechanical aptitude I believe. The gentleman who toasted his bike with the fuel tap might be better off on a newer Honda or such. I ran my Goldwing to a meeting in another city today and it is about as difficult as a Honda Civic.

I do agree that you can rebuild a Norton at a lower price depending on the standard you build it to, and how much work you do yourself. Obviously you are not going to have huge cylinder kits and new everything but judicious shopping and careful work can do a lot. I have a friend in Scotland who is rebuilding a Goldwing, another friend of ours did the lovely paintwork, and he has rebuilt the engine out of a few dead ones and new rings and bearings. He is a retired bike mechanic and currently drives a cab for his extra motorcycle money.
When he is done I reckon he will never get back even his autojumble time in money, but he did it for love. I'd be tempted to post photos or a link here but this isn't a Goldwing board.

I guess my point would be that he has done this job over a year with much labor, for the cost other folks I know have spent for a mediocre job at the local bike shop on a tune up and service.