New Cammando owner with questions and pictures

Well i guess ill start at the beginning... I work at a BMW Triumph Vespa dealer in the in the bay area and last week i was doing a customers paperwork for a new Bonneville and we struck up a conversation like i try to do with all our customers. I normally ask everybody if they owned a motorcycle and if so what was it as I'm printing off endless California DMV forms and this particular customer told me about his old Norton that he has had for a very long time and parked a few years back when he ran into health problems, now that he is back in good health he doesn't want to wast time working on a old bike he just wants to ride. Long story short he told me if i was interested in it he would think about selling it..... A few days later on my 1st day off i was at his house at 10am cash in hand! I've always wanted a Norton and now I have one, I would like to learn some more about it as i dive into getting her back on the road. My main question would be about the year. On the California pink slip it is listed as a 1972 but the previous owner told me he thought it was built in 1970 because of the headlight ring but i have no idea. He bought the bike in 1973 from the original owner and i have all the paperwork going back the owners manuel and a valve guide replacement with a whopping $40 in Labor in 1977 at Cycle Imports. The original color was orange but he had it painted some time in the mid 70's. Thank you for taking look.

He also gave me some tools that he said go with the bike.... the regular wrenches are made by Vanadium from Spain and the open end wrenches are made by Spearpoint in England. He saved everything that had to do with this bike including old parts.

There is a stamped plate attached to the frame on the headstock right behind the headlight which has the date of manufacture on it. You can see it in one of the pics

And if that S Type Owners Handbook came with it from new, then an S Type it could well be.



A number of threads on these in this forum, and the finer points thereof.
The basic cycleparts underneath are all the same for most models,
so the tank, exhausts, seat, etc can all basically be interchanged with other models
(more or less).

Some stainless steel wool could well take off most of the rust on the handlebars and fork legs,
if you work at it (ordinary steel wool would do the same job, but it leaves little bits that can go rusty).
*Always test a patch first, in case you have really abrasive wool, and it leaves scratches.

Nice looking cycle, should polish up well.
We look forward to seeing/hearing more of it.

Did you get some carburettors ?

triumph2 said:

There is a stamped plate attached to the frame on the headstock right behind the headlight which has the date of manufacture on it. You can see it in one of the pics

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Unfortunately that plate is pretty warn down from the cables rubbing on them. I was going to get the bike running first then disassemble it for a deep clean and hopefully i can get a better look at it.

The numbers are stamped into it, so they should have survived.
It also shows the month/year of manufacture, which will help muchly about which model(s) it could have been.

Mason said:

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Congratulations to your find!

Maybe the VIN is written on this document left top? 141486? Looks like a later year. But the bike appears to be a 1970 Commando with central oil tank
an the "halo" ring around the headlight. The right side engine cover comes from a later year becaus o the big points cover.
Is this an ignition key in the headlight shell? Normally the ignition switch is in the left sidecover.
You´re lucky beacuse all the pricey bits like the original instruments an swithces are present!
I would be interested in a pdf scan of the rider´s handbook because I own a 1970 Roadster which I plan to convert into an "S" type.

Uli

Welcome to the forum mason. Nice looking bike, my brother had one of those back in the late '70's in Houston. Cj

That looks mostly like a '70 Commando.
Levers, Gauges, Headlight & ring, oil tank, frame.
Reminds me of the first one I owned.

Too bad the PO didn't leave it in original orange color.

You may want to consider just getting her running/riding.
Once you tear down, they can become very long term projects.

What is the condition of the fuel tank?

My '70 Roadster has serial number 138xxx and has the ignition key located in the left side panel, so I dont think this is a 1970 bike, looks like a 71?

"141486" would probably have been manufactured around Dec. '70/Jan.'71, and the bike is basically built to "1970 Roadster" specification. 141486 would seem too late for it to have been an 'S' type, as the last official 'S' was 135088, built in June '70.

rivera said:

Mason said:

The right side engine cover comes from a later year becaus o the big points cover.

Uli

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Uli, I have no idea what your comment really means, but based on what I think I can see in all of the photos...

The timing cover is pretty standard, there is an oversized points cover, yes, but in the other pictures of parts that came with the bike there is the standard points cover and the points plate and advance retard unit. Most likely if the OP takes of the oversized points cover he is going to find an electronic ignition unit in there...

SteveA said:

rivera said:

Mason said:

The right side engine cover comes from a later year becaus o the big points cover.

Uli

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Click to expand...

Uli, I have no idea what your comment really means, but based on what I think I can see in all of the photos...

The timing cover is pretty standard, there is an oversized points cover, yes, but in the other pictures of parts that came with the bike there is the standard points cover and the points plate and advance retard unit. Most likely if the OP takes of the oversized points cover he is going to find an electronic ignition unit in there...

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Yes, the oversize "points cover" is part of the Lucas Rita electronic ignition kit (Edit: the Rita box can be seen in the 6th photo, rather crudely attached to the RH frame down tube) and the black bracket in the picture next to the points assembly is also part of the Rita kit.

L.A.B. said:

Yes, the oversize "points cover" is part of the Lucas Rita electronic ignition kit (Edit: the Rita box can be seen in the 6th photo, rather crudely attached to the RH frame down tube) and the black bracket in the picture next to the points assembly is also part of the Rita kit.

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I had one of those old Rita amplifier boxes once....a bit more neatly fitted maybe......but mated with a cutaway timing cover and BIG inductive pick up that made its way out of Thruxton via Tony Smith.....

Repaired it a few times with BU205 TV line output transistors too..... (oh! and the advance circuit was linked out too) :wink:

SteveA said:

L.A.B. said:

Yes, the oversize "points cover" is part of the Lucas Rita electronic ignition kit (Edit: the Rita box can be seen in the 6th photo, rather crudely attached to the RH frame down tube) and the black bracket in the picture next to the points assembly is also part of the Rita kit.

Click to expand...

I had one of those old Rita amplifier boxes once....a bit more neatly fitted maybe......but mated with a cutaway timing cover and BIG inductive pick up that made its way out of Thruxton via Tony Smith.....

Repaired it a few times with BU205 TV line output transistors too..... (oh! and the advance circuit was linked out too) :wink:

Click to expand...

My first EI that I brought for my Norton in the late 70s was a Lucas Rita the amplifer was mounted on a braket that had two big rubber mounting bolts for vibrations and was mounted under the seat near the battery, but it failed after 2 years use, the kit also came with the big points cover which I still have after 35 years, I ended up replacing the Rita with a Boya.
Anyway that is a good buy and knowing the history is great, if you get it running and is all good I would just clean it up to look respectable and ride it and replace things when needed, but go throught the whole bike and replace all fluids and replace the tyres and if the orginal carbies are worn out replace them with a new set of Amal Premiers and enjoy what you have.

Another one saved, enjoy.

Ashley

This is how they are supposed to be mounted, between the coils



Instructions for mounting the RITA correctly are here - http://www.eurospares.com/lr100a.jpg

Instructions for wiring and timing it are here - http://www.eurospares.com/lr100b.jpg

Thanks for all the good info guys!!! So far I have given some of the chrome a Coca Cola and steel wool bath and it looks great. I'm going to put the carbs on this weekend and see if i can get it to make some noise Ill post more pics and keep you updated.

Wow, nice complete bike with lots of extras and,,,, A Corvair pick-up! Is that a Stepside? and is it yours? :shock:

Biscuit said:

Wow, nice complete bike with lots of extras and,,,, A Corvair pick-up! Is that a Stepside? and is it yours? :shock:

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Looks like an El Camino to me

dennisgb said:

Biscuit said:

Wow, nice complete bike with lots of extras and,,,, A Corvair pick-up! Is that a Stepside? and is it yours? :shock:

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Looks like an El Camino to me

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No, no, not the one with the Norton in it, the one in the background in photo #2.