Newcomer looking for buying advice

Bassmasta,

In no way was I trying to dissuade you from buying the bike, only warning you that Nortons, to put in proper condition, will cost many times the purchase price. By all means, go for it. Sounds like you have the requisite skills and experience. If you do enough research on this site you will avoid the pitfalls of buying something that later you'll end up replacing. Good luck. You'll never regret spending a dollar you spend on a Norton. You'll probably never get that dollar back, but you won't regret spending it.

And that power wash in the pic. is there just begging to be used. Might as well blast wash the wallet at the same time... , but that's what I paid for Crazy Combat and she was rustier. So go for it. :wink:

JimC said:

If you do enough research on this site you will avoid the pitfalls of buying something that later you'll end up replacing.

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And you will become totally confused because there are hundreds of options and thousands of opinions. The hardest part is weeding through the information and making a decision on what is actually the best. This has been the biggest problem in my build. Very hard to make an "informed" decision when on information overload. It's a good thing and a bad thing at the same time.

If you've been hanging out here for a few months you should be able to separate the wheat from the chafe. Unfortunately, some of the more knowledgeable contributors have dropped off or rarely make a comment. Probably due to the incessant dribble posted by one certain member seen here daily.

Thanks guys for the advice!
Jim, I see what you're saying. Thanks for letting me know ahead of time about the cost associated with this.
I called the guy again today.
It does not have the mufflers, and the spring is for the center stand that is apparently kind of messed up.
It does not have a side stand, so it probably did already fail and the bike fell over as was pointed out.
Despite this, I am going to get it Sunday.
I will keep you guys posted, thanks for the help so far

JimC said:

If you've been hanging out here for a few months you should be able to separate the wheat from the chafe. Unfortunately, some of the more knowledgeable contributors have dropped off or rarely make a comment. Probably due to the incessant dribble posted by one certain member seen here daily.

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Jim,

I've been on the Forum for a year and a half and have been working on cars and motorcycles for 45 years and still can't always weed through the information. I have owned a number of British bikes and bought a Commando new in 76'. It's great that there are so many choices, like ignition systems for instance. But there are also many different opinions on which one is the best...which makes it impossible to make a choice. Some will say "It really makes no difference" but then you read about a failure or weak point on one of them and that was the one you thought was the one to buy and you start all over. It really isn't as easy as weeding the wheat from the chafe...

Dennis

Bassmasta said:

Thanks guys for the advice!
Jim, I see what you're saying. Thanks for letting me know ahead of time about the cost associated with this.
I called the guy again today.
It does not have the mufflers, and the spring is for the center stand that is apparently kind of messed up.
It does not have a side stand, so it probably did already fail and the bike fell over as was pointed out.
Despite this, I am going to get it Sunday.
I will keep you guys posted, thanks for the help so far

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Your making a good decision. No matter what happens you will come out okay and if you build the bike you will fall in love with it and have a blast learning and building it. It will keep you out of trouble until you get it running

I have 9 motorcycles and just got back into them a couple of years ago after 35 years away. It's been a blast and I've learned a lot and now am putting together a proper shop to finish the 2 builds I have going...and other ones that are waiting.

Dennis

That bike looks so similar in condition that mine was when I bought it.
I about 5k into in, not including the purchase price.
It does run and ride now and is great fun. i am still spending.
Here is a pic of mine when I first got it.

Bassmasta said:

Thanks guys for the advice!
Jim, I see what you're saying. Thanks for letting me know ahead of time about the cost associated with this.
I called the guy again today.
It does not have the mufflers, and the spring is for the center stand that is apparently kind of messed up.
It does not have a side stand, so it probably did already fail and the bike fell over as was pointed out.
Despite this, I am going to get it Sunday.
I will keep you guys posted, thanks for the help so far

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You've done your homework on this, including spending time reviewing some relevant threads on this site.
You have hands on experience and don't sound like a guy in too much of a hurry.
Patience a big plus with a project like this.
OldBritts, Commando Specialties will become close friends as you plow through.
As long as you don't have a wife looking at your credit card bills you will enjoy the experience and the results.
We would enjoy seeing progress reports with pictures.

Good luck

Go for it ! I bought my mark 3 in large lumps and boxes - mostly there. Almost done. Luckily I received a spare steel gas tank and side panels no dents. So I have black and gold set and a white with blue stripe set. I am in it 6K but well worth it. This is my 4th Commando. 8)

Hopefully the bike will be in good enough shape to go forward easily. You will need to make some decisions as you go along, but that's the process. Good luck with it and have fun and keep us posted how it's going. Hopefully we can give you hints as how you may want to proceed with some of the work, but it's mostly going to be up to you and how far you want to go and how reliable you want it.

I haven't found too much 'noise' on this forum, mostly they seem to drop out after a while when no one pays any attention. I think there's more wheat than chaff and it's easy to read through it. Thick skin and not getting pulled into crap helps.

Well I have a '69 total basket case, a '75 rolling basket case, & another MkIII which is my runner, so Bassmasta, I think that my High School Motto works here----Go For It !! ---- Class of 1980 baby, oh yeah

Bassmasta said:

... but what else should I check before making the purchase? Thanks a lot in advance.

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You need to get the bike out in the open so you can see it properly.

Check the lower left frame tubes for damage or repair in the side stand area including on the inside portion.
Check the those same lower tubes both sides for contact from the exhaust.
Watch out for the lower steering head bearing moving in the cup (oval cup in the frame) it is a ball bearing unit.
Check the swing arm for excessive side play that could be wear in the rear cradle bore for the the pivot pin.
Frame / engine / transmission case numbers that match is good.
Heads or cylinders with broken fins is personal, it goes along with obvious rough treated fasteners (bush mechanic)
Check the spark plug threads and the header pipe threads in the head are good
Check the engine cases "all" over for cracks or weld repairs (it is a 750)
It has a cush drive rear wheel so doesn't hurt to check for play in the sprocket hub.
Check the operation of the Lucas handle bar switches, clean up is free, replacement not.
The fuel tank is pretty much a paper weight straight off the bat, that or a gamble.
Even used speedometer/tachometer gauges run $100 + each used.

Go over it closely is the key along with someone else who has no interest in it.

Ta.

needing said:

Best wishes for the Commando purchase.
I have owned one for 33 years and advise that the two things that could kill you should be sorted first.
1. Rear brake pedal safety spring to stop it falling when the cable eventually breaks.
2. Improve the front brake system by replacement or sleeving.
Good luck!

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The front brake is a drum. Replace, yes. Sleeve?

Ta.

If I were to replace a drum with a disc I would use one of the properly sized master cylinder/caiiper combinations available.

needing said:

Best wishes for the Commando purchase.
... Rear brake pedal safety spring to stop it falling when the cable eventually breaks.

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just yesterday my back brake cable broke and the brake pedal hit the ground! - fortunately i wasn't riding, but doing up the bolt on the main sprocket after recommissioning the gearbox, but it did occur to me that that could be really dangerous if it happened on the road.

I like to keep everything as original as possible...did you manage to mount a safety spring discretely? Do you have a Photo?

timsha said:

needing said:

Best wishes for the Commando purchase.
... Rear brake pedal safety spring to stop it falling when the cable eventually breaks.

Click to expand...

just yesterday my back brake cable broke and the brake pedal hit the ground! - fortunately i wasn't riding, but doing up the bolt on the main sprocket after recommissioning the gearbox, but it did occur to me that that could be really dangerous if it happened on the road.

I like to keep everything as original as possible...did you manage to mount a safety spring discretely? Do you have a Photo?

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Cable tie, looks shit but effective.

The safety spring offered by Norton vendors is barely noticeable when installed.