Looking at a 1974 Norton 850- opinions please - I got it!

New to the forum and hoping to have a reason to spend more time here. I have a friend with a Norton in the shed. It has been sitting there for 20 years. The engine cranks. It has been down once and had a ding in the tank which has been repaired. Mileage is in the mid 20k range. I figure the rubber pieces and front brake system will need to be rebuilt. What else am I looking at to get it roadworthy? The tank was drained and coated with some type of oil when stored. No rust to speak of in there. Seat is in great shape. Chrome looks excellent.

Also, based on what I have stated above, what kind of price would be fair for something like this?
My plan would be to keep it as close to stock as possible.

Here is a pic.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/706/nortons.jpg/

Re: Looking at a 1974 Norton 850- opinions please

That *looks* beautiful! Looks at least as nice as mine before I tore it all down and I dumped $4,000 on the initial purchase. Mine "ran". Basically, everything but the motor needed cleaning, refitting, and refurbishing. That bike looks very worthy of restoration to me. What's your buddy want for it?

Re: Looking at a 1974 Norton 850- opinions please

drones76 said:

New to the forum and hoping to have a reason to spend more time here. I have a friend with a Norton in the shed. It has been sitting there for 20 years. The engine cranks. It has been down once and had a ding in the tank which has been repaired. Mileage is in the mid 20k range. I figure the rubber pieces and front brake system will need to be rebuilt. What else am I looking at to get it roadworthy? The tank was drained and coated with some type of oil when stored. No rust to speak of in there. Seat is in great shape. Chrome looks excellent.

Also, based on what I have stated above, what kind of price would be fair for something like this?
My plan would be to keep it as close to stock as possible.

Here is a pic.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/706/nortons.jpg/

Click to expand...

Depends on where in the world you are. But that one is pretty clean.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

PS. ImageShack sucks.

Re: Looking at a 1974 Norton 850- opinions please

That bike looks nice. I picked up a running 1972 combat from the original owner, sitting since 83. Marzocci frontend, flanged aluminum wheel, most of the original parts that were removed. Dirty, but complete. I got it for $1000. Put another $1000 into it to get it back to original, and new tires. So $2000 for an all original bike would be a good starting point. Also look into photobucket.com. Excelent for pictures, and free.

Re: Looking at a 1974 Norton 850- opinions please

Sorry I have not filled out my profile yet. I am in North Carolina. I can get it for sure for 2k. Maybe 1,500. When he opened the shed from 20 feet away, it looked like it rolled off the showroom floor. And it was not much worse up close.

Thanks for adjusting the link.

Re: Looking at a 1974 Norton 850- opinions please

For what it's worth, if the guy would sell it to me for 2k, even if it did not run, I would buy it. 1.5k and I would throw in my smart mouth kid. But, the value of a 40 year old bike is very subjective.

Re: Looking at a 1974 Norton 850- opinions please

Bwolfie got a screamin' deal, so don't assume those numbers will work in the rest of the world!

Since the bike belongs to a friend are you able to do a compression check? How much messing with the bike are you willing to do before hand? The good news is you will have a better idea of condition. The bad news is, so will your friend. You decide, either low ball it and hope for the best or dig in, get it running and come up with a fair price that both you and your friend can deal with. How good of a "friend" is this?

It is worth a fair bit more if all the chrome is in good shape or at least usable. It costs a lot to replace or rechrome those parts. Plating on bits that are not chromed is also worth looking at. If all that is good, it makes it a lot easier to just get the bike running and go ride.

I recently put a 750 back on the road after a 20 year slumber. I rebuilt the brakes, did the layshaft bearing, wheel bearings, every seal and gasket, isolastics, carbs, tires and electronic ignition for a little under a thousand bucks. I ended up adding new shocks, swingarm clamps and fork seals to the list for about another 400 bucks (The shocks I bought were the major part of that). During the process I went through and cleaned up the wiring and renewed connectors, which is not expensive but worth it.

The bike looks great, but it is hard to tell from a photo. Where is the bike located? You can ask here to see if there is a member in the area that would go look with you.

Russ

PS-just saw your new post...If you can buy it for 1500 bucks do it NOW. Or call me and I will.

Re: Looking at a 1974 Norton 850- opinions please

drones76 said:

New to the forum and hoping to have a reason to spend more time here. I have a friend with a Norton in the shed. It has been sitting there for 20 years. The engine cranks. It has been down once and had a ding in the tank which has been repaired. Mileage is in the mid 20k range. I figure the rubber pieces and front brake system will need to be rebuilt. What else am I looking at to get it roadworthy? The tank was drained and coated with some type of oil when stored. No rust to speak of in there. Seat is in great shape. Chrome looks excellent.

Also, based on what I have stated above, what kind of price would be fair for something like this?
My plan would be to keep it as close to stock as possible.

Here is a pic.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/706/nortons.jpg/

Click to expand...

"20 year "standing...it will require tyres, brake hose's for starters

Re: Looking at a 1974 Norton 850- opinions please

$1500-2000 for that is ridiculous. I wish I could stumble onto deals like that. You had better go buy it ASAP before someone else does.

-Jordan

Re: Looking at a 1974 Norton 850- opinions please

The cost of a refurbishment will depend mostly on how handy and how much of the work you will be able to accomplish yourself. The value of any given commodity is determined by what he is willing to take. If you can buy it for under $2,000 then that is what that one is worth at that time. Needless to say, buy low, sell high. The less you spend on the initial investment, the more you will have to put it back together.

Oh yea, if you do set a budget..... Plan on going over it by at least 25% or more!

Re: Looking at a 1974 Norton 850- opinions please

You had better not be still reading the forum and get your ass over there and get that thing.

If you don't want it, PM me!

Re: Looking at a 1974 Norton 850- opinions please

Just to let you know the difference here in the UK.
There is a few motorcycle sales firm here importing Nortons from USA. That bike would imported here then put up for sale at £6000 or so.
I went to look at an import a few weeks ago for £5750. It had been UK registered & a couple of new parts bolted on. It was awfull. It needed completly rebuilding.
The one you are looking at, looks a great deal better.

Re: Looking at a 1974 Norton 850- opinions please

swooshdave said:

You had better not be still reading the forum and get your ass over there and get that thing.

If you don't want it, PM me!

Click to expand...

Go eff yourself, Dave. I get first dibs.

In all seriousness, go lay down some cash NOW. You're going to cry if you let a $2000 deal like that get away. Worst case scenario, you decide to completely rebuild it and end up dumping 3000-6000 more into a rebuilt bike. Dooooooo itttttttt. Or I will. Lol

Re: Looking at a 1974 Norton 850- opinions please

It's a piece of junk.

What was that address again?

hee hee

BUY IT NOW!!!!!!

Re: Looking at a 1974 Norton 850- opinions please

OK, I get the consensus. Kinda what I figured. I looked at it over the winter. It is actually a friend of a friend and it is just sitting there.


I would do most of the work myself. An engine teardown may require some assistance. And now that I read up on sludge and such, that may be required.

When I said rubber parts to be replaced, yes tires would be on the list. The Gold wing I just got going had 12 year old tires on it and when I pulled one of the stems to the side, it snapped off. Not messing with tires that old.

Now I have to sell the CB360 for some of the funding. Anyone interested? :lol:

Thank you all for helping me decide what I already knew.

Now I have to get my wife to take a look at this thread to convince her I am not nuts.

Re: Looking at a 1974 Norton 850- opinions please

Beautiful starting point. I paid $1k for mine but it looked like shit compared to that one!

Re: Looking at a 1974 Norton 850- opinions please

Buy it and work out the details later! You are getting a great deal!! At most right now compression test to be safe!!

Re: Looking at a 1974 Norton 850- opinions please

drones76 said:

OK, I get the consensus. Kinda what I figured. I looked at it over the winter. It is actually a friend of a friend and it is just sitting there.


I would do most of the work myself. An engine teardown may require some assistance. And now that I read up on sludge and such, that may be required.

When I said rubber parts to be replaced, yes tires would be on the list. The Gold wing I just got going had 12 year old tires on it and when I pulled one of the stems to the side, it snapped off. Not messing with tires that old.

Now I have to sell the CB360 for some of the funding. Anyone interested? :lol:

Thank you all for helping me decide what I already knew.

Now I have to get my wife to take a look at this thread to convince her I am not nuts.

Click to expand...

Dear wife, the CB will never be as valuable as the Norton, not in a thousand years. This is as good as a motorcycle investment gets. :mrgreen:

(how'd I do?)

Re: Looking at a 1974 Norton 850- opinions please

The photo looks really good.
Even if it has a broken piston it would still be a steal at $2,000.
However you may want to ask why did it sit for 20 years. What broke?
Mine sat for almost 30 years and I had to discover what broke. I was going into the crankcase anyway so no big deal to fix once I found out.

Bob

Re: Looking at a 1974 Norton 850- opinions please

For $2000 there's no question, as others have said. I paid a lot more for a low mileage '74 that didn't look nearly as nice. The good thing about mine is that it ended up being mechanically pristine if a bit rough looking. But at $2K for that bike there's really no way to go wrong, as far as I can tell... There's always a risk with these old bikes, but not at that price.