My Uncles Barn bike, Value??

As to value of what remains when the rusted out stuff is disposed of, $2,000 is plenty. I just purchased most of the big lumps for a 1975 MK3 850 for $1050, this from an evil EBay bike breaker. $1050 bought matching numbers cases and frame, swing arm, crank and barrel. A good friend has been working on a 71 750 that is about as rusty as your uncle's bike. By the time he disposes of all the rusted stuff and the worn out stuff, what is left won,t be much different than my Ebay 850 pile.
I have been looking at similar 750 Ebay collections, they go a little cheaper. Makes you wonder if it really is worth all of the disassembly. Maybe they make a bit on shipping.

I would disagree that the 74 850 is the most desireable Commando. In terms of prices for bikes in nice condition, from what I have seen, MK3s bring the highest price.
Next would be 73 or 74 850s, then the pre and post Combat 750s.
Similar condition Combats do not generally bring much money, though those that own them do love them.
The 75 MK3 850 had a lot of things strengthened from the earlier bikes, (cases, crank, swing arm and more)that is why I was after the MK3. I wanted the stronger cases and crank for hotrodding purposes.

Glen

worntorn said:

As to value of what remains when the rusted out stuff is disposed of, $2,000 is plenty. I just purchased most of the big lumps for a 1975 MK3 850 for $1050, this from an evil EBay bike breaker. $1050 bought matching numbers cases and frame, swing arm, crank and barrel. A good friend has been working on a 71 750 that is about as rusty as your uncle's bike. By the time he disposes of all the rusted stuff and the worn out stuff, what is left won,t be much different than my Ebay 850 pile.
I have been looking at similar 750 Ebay collections, they go a little cheaper. Makes you wonder if it really is worth all of the disassembly. Maybe they make a bit on shipping.

I would disagree that the 74 850 is the most desireable Commando. In terms of prices for bikes in nice condition, from what I have seen, MK3s bring the highest price.
Next would be 73 or 74 850s, then the pre and post Combat 750s.
Similar condition Combats do not generally bring much money, though those that own them do love them.
The 75 MK3 850 had a lot of things strengthened from the earlier bikes, (cases, crank, swing arm and more)that is why I was after the MK3. I wanted the stronger cases and crank for hotrodding purposes.

Glen

Click to expand...

Looking forward to the hot rod build thread Glen !!

cNwRestomod said:

Well, to say it is connected to your Dad's bike emotionally is true; otherwise, they are not connected at all. Very surprised that your uncle wouldn't just gift you the bike and apologize that he took such poor care of it when he put it into storage. If this bike was a barn find Vincent, your uncle's thinking may be on the right track as far as 'it's worth a small fortune' is concerned'...but a rust bucket Commando...hardly. Most Norton owners, and I say most, agree that the best of the best, is a 1974 Norton 850 Commando. All of the other ones had more problems and are less desirable. And, big deal that it's numbers matching as most of them are and it only relates to the engine and transmission. I'd offer him a bottle of Scotch and the opportunity to stop by once in a while and see the restoration and only if he offers you a wee dram! If not, I'd go and find yourself another bike, a 1974 850 barn find, and let him admire his own rusty machine. Difficult to believe that family would be looking to line their pockets with money on an old bike that's been left to rot.

Click to expand...

Bingo

worntorn said:

As to value of what remains when the rusted out stuff is disposed of, $2,000 is plenty. I just purchased most of the big lumps for a 1975 MK3 850 for $1050, this from an evil EBay bike breaker. $1050 bought matching numbers cases and frame, swing arm, crank and barrel. A good friend has been working on a 71 750 that is about as rusty as your uncle's bike. By the time he disposes of all the rusted stuff and the worn out stuff, what is left won,t be much different than my Ebay 850 pile.
I have been looking at similar 750 Ebay collections, they go a little cheaper. Makes you wonder if it really is worth all of the disassembly. Maybe they make a bit on shipping.

I would disagree that the 74 850 is the most desireable Commando. In terms of prices for bikes in nice condition, from what I have seen, MK3s bring the highest price.
Next would be 73 or 74 850s, then the pre and post Combat 750s.
Similar condition Combats do not generally bring much money, though those that own them do love them.
The 75 MK3 850 had a lot of things strengthened from the earlier bikes, (cases, crank, swing arm and more)that is why I was after the MK3. I wanted the stronger cases and crank for hotrodding purposes.

Glen

Click to expand...

Glen,

Well, we can agree to disagree. I did some digging in my library for you to support my claim above. From Norton Commando, Ultimate Portfolio, last page under The Knowledge, "1974 Most development work is going into the final version, but this year sees the arrival of the MkIIA 850, for many riders the best of all Commandos." And, from Norton Commando, The Complete Story by Matthew Vale, p. 52. "To many people the 850cc Mk2a Commando represents the pinnacle of the Commando as a fast, sport-oriented and touring bike." There are other sources as well and I have never seen one source that doesn't identify the 1974 as being the best of the best. Granted the 1975 and later models had some improvements (e.g., the vernier isolastics for one) and most on this forum, myself included, have easily incorporated those bits into our bikes. What I haven't incorporated however, is the electric start which was a failure (I have an electric start from cNw) and the modification to a left hand shift to align with US regulations. Hey, we all own and love our Nortons so I am not about to bash a 1975 or even a Combat for that matter. They all have their quirks, don't we all as owners. Bottom line is we love these old vintage Nortons and that's why we are on this site. Cheers, Bryan H.

I can only agree with this sentiment. It's like people saying the CB 750 Honda was the first Superbike. What a load of old cobblers. Never saw a standard Honda beat a Norton in a straight line back in the day. The Norton would win every time and then when it came to handling, the Honda wasn't in the race. The Honda was made for the average would be if he could be who didn't want to get dirty working on his bike but let the nice man at the dealership handle the icky side of things. The Hondas got progressively slower as the models progressed.

Same with the Norton Commando. If you think that an overweight, castrated bike was better than the earlier Nortons with the proper right hand gearchange, then you are deluding yourself. An electric start with a few warning lights on a dash panel does not a motorcycle make. I've ridden a few over the years and they share something in common. A feeling that something is missing. They are just a bit too tame for me. And lardy. I suppose it's the comfort of a left foot gearchange that attracts most people, and the electric foot, but that doesn't make them "the best".

Maybe the most popular, but Hyundais are really popular too.

What did you wind up doing DougyB? Did you buy the bike? If so, what number below $8,000.00 did he settle for?

This is one of those threads that temps me to get involved because I to think of the 74 is being the best of all commandos because it retains the simplicity of the old design. I have a hard time with the Mark III shift linkage at Cetera but really they are all beautiful in their own way. My first motorcycle was a 66 Norton and I have owned a 68, 72 and the 73 850 commando that I have all ridden and two Mark threes that I haven't because they're not ready yet. Asking people whats the "best" Norton commando is like asking someone who the "best" guitar players. It's all relative to what you like.

gtsun said:

This is one of those threads that temps me to get involved because I to think of the 74 is being the best of all commandos because it retains the simplicity of the old design. I have a hard time with the Mark III shift linkage at Cetera but really they are all beautiful in their own way. My first motorcycle was a 66 Norton and I have owned a 68, 72 and the 73 850 commando that I have all ridden and two Mark threes that I haven't because they're not ready yet. Asking people whats the "best" Norton commando is like asking someone who the "best" guitar players. It's all relative to what you like.

Click to expand...

Stevie Ray on a MKIII ?

Deets55 said:

gtsun said:

This is one of those threads that temps me to get involved because I to think of the 74 is being the best of all commandos because it retains the simplicity of the old design. I have a hard time with the Mark III shift linkage at Cetera but really they are all beautiful in their own way. My first motorcycle was a 66 Norton and I have owned a 68, 72 and the 73 850 commando that I have all ridden and two Mark threes that I haven't because they're not ready yet. Asking people whats the "best" Norton commando is like asking someone who the "best" guitar players. It's all relative to what you like.

Click to expand...

Stevie Ray on a MKIII ?

Click to expand...

Reminds me of the woman who went before the judge for murdering her husband by beating him to death with some of his vintage guitar collection. "First offender?", he asked the prosecutor.

"No', he replied. "First a Gibson, then a Fender"!

Deets55 said:

gtsun said:

This is one of those threads that temps me to get involved because I to think of the 74 is being the best of all commandos because it retains the simplicity of the old design. I have a hard time with the Mark III shift linkage at Cetera but really they are all beautiful in their own way. My first motorcycle was a 66 Norton and I have owned a 68, 72 and the 73 850 commando that I have all ridden and two Mark threes that I haven't because they're not ready yet. Asking people whats the "best" Norton commando is like asking someone who the "best" guitar players. It's all relative to what you like.

Click to expand...

Stevie Ray on a MKIII ?

Click to expand...

Jeff Beck on a '73 Roadster

Fullauto said:

Same with the Norton Commando. If you think that an overweight, castrated bike was better than the earlier Nortons with the proper right hand gearchange, then you are deluding yourself. An electric start with a few warning lights on a dash panel does not a motorcycle make. I've ridden a few over the years and they share something in common. A feeling that something is missing. They are just a bit too tame for me. And lardy. I suppose it's the comfort of a left foot gearchange that attracts most people, and the electric foot, but that doesn't make them "the best".

Maybe the most popular, but Hyundais are really popular too.

Click to expand...

Wow! Don't really know if your post is tongue in cheek or a genuine rant but it sure comes off as pompous. The one thing you've got right is the electric start, it can be a bit sketchy I guess. Left side gear change is no big deal either way though, it's still smooth as silk and to suggest "most" MK3 fans are drawn to it because somehow they are just too inept to handle a right side reverse pattern 4 speed is kind of snotty. A MK2, ((the alleged best) weighs what, 15-20 lb less than a 3? Hardly a lard ass. At 155, I'm guessing I weigh less than most, so...A wash.

The FACTORY vernier adjustable isosalastis, a plus.
Hydraulic, auto adjusted primary chain, a plus.
This means with no monkeying around with the primary chain the gearbox is fixed so no follow-up drive chain adjustment is needed, a plus.
This also allows the chaincase to have a proper seal instead of a piece of cloth for a seal, a plus.
Oh, and consider the gasket and capscrew method of securing the primary instead of a great big 'o' ring, a plus.

So, I know you're a popular guy in the circle, but I don't really know you. Are you fooling around here or...?

+1. The Fullauto comment does come across as rather snotty and ignorant of MK3 features. Gotta be a joke!
They are all good bikes but Norton did come up with some improvements as they went along.

My thoughts on desirability were based on selling prices of the various models. Pretty sure that is the definition of desirability.
Everyone has their favourite model , but the marketplace determines the overall favourite and places a cash value on it. Mk3 s do seem to bring more $ as near as
I can tell.

Glen

worntorn said:

+1. The Fullauto comment does come across as rather snotty and ignorant of MK3 features. Gotta be a joke!
They are all good bikes but Norton did come up with some improvements as they went along.

Glen

Click to expand...

Ya, I think so too.

+1
Or at the very least I hope he likes Stevie

The best year is your year - wait I mean mine. I tend to make the same mistake with my children even though I should know that other kid is better looking and smarter. Can't help it. Oh well.

Trying to label the best is surely impossible and it has been well and truly proved with the above comments that the best is subjective. Many bikes now have the mods of the later models, certainly some of them.
The most desirable does seem to be the mk3. Prices seem consistently higher. I would hedge a bet that the Electric start is the main reason. Again they can be made to work reliably.
I have a mk2a and am looking at the possibility of converting to electric start but:
CnW, seemingly the best £3000 or thereabouts.
Alton £2000.
And then there is the battery to change.
That represents somewhere around a quarter to a third the value of the bike.
I could sell its and get a mk3 in the same condition for much less than that outlay.

I wonder what the average age of the buyers of the mk3 is. (suspect they might be my age group, (approaching 60 with a dodgy knee!)

So whats the best!!

Sorry seem to have gone off the original thread!

Biscuit said:

Fullauto said:

Same with the Norton Commando. If you think that an overweight, castrated bike was better than the earlier Nortons with the proper right hand gearchange, then you are deluding yourself. An electric start with a few warning lights on a dash panel does not a motorcycle make. I've ridden a few over the years and they share something in common. A feeling that something is missing. They are just a bit too tame for me. And lardy. I suppose it's the comfort of a left foot gearchange that attracts most people, and the electric foot, but that doesn't make them "the best".

Maybe the most popular, but Hyundais are really popular too.

Click to expand...

Wow! Don't really know if your post is tongue in cheek or a genuine rant but it sure comes off as pompous. The one thing you've got right is the electric start, it can be a bit sketchy I guess. Left side gear change is no big deal either way though, it's still smooth as silk and to suggest "most" MK3 fans are drawn to it because somehow they are just too inept to handle a right side reverse pattern 4 speed is kind of snotty. A MK2, ((the alleged best) weighs what, 15-20 lb less than a 3? Hardly a lard ass. At 155, I'm guessing I weigh less than most, so...A wash.

The FACTORY vernier adjustable isosalastis, a plus.
Hydraulic, auto adjusted primary chain, a plus.
This means with no monkeying around with the primary chain the gearbox is fixed so no follow-up drive chain adjustment is needed, a plus.
This also allows the chaincase to have a proper seal instead of a piece of cloth for a seal, a plus.
Oh, and consider the gasket and capscrew method of securing the primary instead of a great big 'o' ring, a plus.

So, I know you're a popular guy in the circle, but I don't really know you. Are you fooling around here or...?

Click to expand...

I would hardly label myself as "pompous" and it is hardly a rant. This was the way I've felt since the mid 70s when the MKIII came out. I owned a MKII 850 and, like now, it was an everyday bike. Certainly my circle of friends saw the MKIII as a cop out. A sell out to American legislation which demanded it. I can look down my nose at MKIIIs all I want. I'm not going to change because of public opinion. My opinion of MKIIIs is well known on this forum because I have spoken of it before, incurring the private wrath of certain people in higher authority on this forum which I was unaware of until a former member on here mentioned it to me after meeting these certain people on a visit to a large continent in the Northern Hemisphere. Ahem. Hi J.... I certainly don't take offence and neither should others, unless I direct something at somebody personally, and then you can take all the offence you like.

The MKIII was lardy, I'll stick with that description, strangled, and touted as a tourer rather than anything else because the Norton powerplant had run out of competitiveness in a market dominated by Japanese motorcycles coming thick and fast onto the market. Like a lot of things, the Norton had to re-invent itself to secure a (temporary) future. Those are just the facts. The fact that my mates and I had this aversion to the MKIII mattered little to the people who bought them, and loved them, and rode them. Just not my scene. If I ever had to buy another Norton, it could never be a MKIII. Simple as that. No desire whatsoever. But that's OK. Buy all you want. As long as you ride. By the way, where are all those "popular" Jap bikes now? Not on the road, that's for sure.

I love all of the right hand change Commandos and would own any of them, well, except the Hirider, only because I don't have a shed I can hide it in while I change the handlebars and bodywork. But, like I said, the MKIIIs just seem too refined for me, like a vanilla interpretation of what Nortons once were. You don't have to agree with me, as long as you come up with a plausible evaluation of your bike based on actual experience, rather than a ten minute ride on one just before you stripped it for restoration ten years ago. Or saying "Mine's been as reliable as a rock"! when you've covered 500 miles in ten years and you're still on the original TT100s you bought it with.

I am within a week of a year since my bike was returned to me and almost at the 12,000 mile mark. I absolutely love my bike, the most perfect bike I have ever owned. I wouldn't swap it for any other bike on the planet. Sounds like a broad, unbelievable statement, but, as I get older and realise that due to age and related stuff, like having a medical each year to retain my driver's licence, and going slowly but inexorably blind, I realise that this is the bike I wish to take to eternity because I may not have the time or resources to build another in the time I have left. I'm not an originality fetishist but I like period features and upgrades that make it easier to live with so not so much time being spent on maintenance. Like my Proddy racer front end and the fabulous Lansdowne conversion, and Tri-Spark ignitions. Fabulous stuff. I have posted my recipe for handling on here which was largely ignored because of people's fascination with originality and flanged undersize rims and 18 inch back wheels for "a better choice of tyres". I've offered my bike to anybody who wants to ride it and a lot of people are reluctant these days. If you live here or visit here, you are welcome to see for yourself.

That's my view and it won't change. Call me pompous if you wish, just don't call me late for dinner.

Fullauto said:

They are just a bit too tame for me. And lardy. I suppose it's the comfort of a left foot gearchange that attracts most people, and the electric foot, but that doesn't make them "the best".

Maybe the most popular, but Hyundais are really popular too.

Click to expand...

You've taken this much more personal than I intended. I never called YOU "pompous", only the content of your post. I'm not a young sprout either so please don't think of me as a smart-ass kid. Really makes no difference to anyone which bike you or anyone else for that matter thinks is the best Norton. At the end of the day it's the one you own and ride if you think it so. But you, (and going on the above quote from you) do seem to think a right side gearchange is a major deal. Perhaps you could enlighten me as to why this is so. Surly you don't think the average bike riding human would have trouble with the right side concept? "Foot gear shift change and a handle bar clutch is for sissies", said the old Indian Chief rider. A mate of mine has a '74 Commando and besides my '75 I also ride a '68 BSA T Bolt and a '74 Trident. Four different bikes, three different shift patterns. We often swap around on rides and never seem to be too baffled by the gearboxes.

Again, please, I hope this is just conversation we're having. Like in the pup over pints. - Pete

Tomato, tomAto. At least it's not a Hardly Fast.

We should start anew thread here. We are off track but its all still interesting.
MY 2d worth.

I have 2 commando's.
The 71, 750 T L S front brake is my favourite. It looks the best with the brake and its single orange colour. It is higher compression and lets you know when it wants to get up go. It still has the 19 teeth from sprocket so is a rocket off the mark compared to the other bike. I have nearly fully restored it. Just needs new wheel rims etc and new exhausts.

The 74, 850 is my rider. I go everywhere on it when i need to ride distances, It is smooth and it is quieter because of the lower compression. It isn't a garage queen, and although it still looks quite reasonable, it has some rust on the rims and it has a slightly damaged front guard, where it fell over on me when I stalled it getting into my daughters driveway. It does not leak oil, and does not get cleaned that often [ thank goodness ]. I do polish the alloy on occasions and polish the side covers and tank when I go away. It is fitted with a nighthawk LED front headlamp, which is as bright as any modern car headlamp, and 2 auxiliary lamps which I can turn on when on high beam to light up the edges of the road at night on those fast sharp corners. I am not going to say its reliable, but the only thing that went wrong on my last 3145 mile ride was the ignition switch, which I have now cleaned out and is back on the bike. On the last big ride in which I covered 1250 miles, I lost the end out of one of my mufflers. This bike is my preferred ride because I dont have to worry about scratching it. I once read an article in a bike mag by one of the dealerships in NZ and the comment was, if you dont shit yourself Every now aND AGAIN, YOU ARE NOT RIDING PROPERLY. { yes, I have used my front wheel as a plow Hobot ]

Dereck