- Joined
- Feb 22, 2005
- Messages
- 349
![United-States Country flag](https://www.accessnorton.com/images/flags/shiny/32/United-States.png)
Since calling anything a "Dunstall" is always an argument waiting to happen, I'll just tell you about my new arrival. I have known about this bike for many, many years. It belonged to a friend in Central Nebraska, who has built many Nortons, does very good work, and has owned many other Euro-bikes through the years. He bought this in 1983 from Baxter Cycle as a "1972 Dunstall Norton Commando". It was an unfinished very long term project of his. He painted the frame, assembled the wheels, engine and gearbox later, but progress stalled when he got into other bikes and projects. I'm not very good at stuff like this, but one day this spring, I just called him out of the blue, and asked if he was ready to sell. After a few cups of coffee, and looking over his other Nortons and BMWs, and some great pictures of his Laverda SFC, we finally shook on it. I hauled it home in April. What was going to be a winter project for me, turned into a mad dash to get it ready for a local antique bike gathering that happens the second week of August. I simply couldn't wait to ride it! The Dunstall parts: 810 cylinder, dual disc set up with Borrani rims, exhaust with centerstand , headlamp ears and rear-sets. He gave me the choice of this tank or a fiberglass Dunstall unit, and I took this one. It was minus a seat, (he didn't like the Dunstall seat and got rid of it after it cracked) headlight, wiring harness, master cylinder and lots of little stuff. My son ('72 Combat owner) is a very talented machinist, really took charge of the disc brake situation. The calipers were stuck, and we didn't want to mess up the bores, so we decided to tap and pull the old pistons and make new ones. He also made a nifty tool to unscrew the caliper caps, and helped source the correct EPDM o-rings. Added one of those Shindy - Nissin 14mm master cylinders. After hearing how bad these systems are from some of the naysayers, I'm impressed with it. Stops harder than any stock Commando single disc I've ridden. Of course, not too many of us run the stock MC on those anyway. I made the fiberglass seat base by making a mold from another seat I had, and had a local upholstery buddy do it up for me. Carbs are new - or were many years ago! I made a simple wiring harness for it, adding a Podtronics I had. Also threw on a pretty decent Boyer MKIII I had on the shelf. Bought the replica Dunstall mufflers, since it had none, and I didn't want to pay big $$$ for beat up originals. Fired it up for the first time in many, many years, and after the usual fiddling around, it's a joy to ride. Not as peaky as I thought it might be, but super strong in lower rpms. I'm not sure the previous owner even remembers what cam he put in it, but it's got a Combat head, and the serial number would be in the Combat range. Knowing this guy, I'm sure he made all kinds of little improvements on it. What I have spotted in box-section head steady, 850 swing arm, set screws on the swingarm spindle mount, etc. Even though it's been assembled many years ago, I have 100& faith in this guys work. I had to remove the Tomaselli clip-ons he had on it, and added these Tarozzis. Much better! Turned out to be the right time and the right deal for both of us.