Norton 750S tail light color in 1970

L.A.B. said:

September 1970 and January 1971?

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Lorenzo said:

Hi Everyone,
I noticed an old discussion around the color of the tail light for Norton 750s in 1970
I understand that the metal flake bikes had silver tail light, while those in yellow or black had black tail light

anyone can show a factory documentation, or articles showing it at that time?
while I can see many pictures on factory brochures with metal flake bikes and silver tail light, I cannot see any about a yellow or black 750s with a black tail light..

thanks for helping!

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Blewdy Yaink said:

Thank you for this info. In the US, we were told that the only choices available for a '69 "S" were the Ruby Red Fireflake and the Saphire/Pacific Blue Fireflake finishes. (It is possible is that others were available regularly in other markets.) At the same time, there were "plain metalflake" silver Commandos (later called "Fastback" models) or silver with a translucent top coat applied over (or applied first into a mold if for a gelcoated glassfibre tank). The "R" models might have had blue available but the only ones I've seen photographed "modern" or period were red fireflake. My first Commando was a '69 "S" -- engine number approx. 500 after the quoted "S" built -- with Ruby Red paint; I had seen photos of the blue and was told that it was late coming to the market and so only red was available at the time. On later trips to my dealer, I did see blue "S" models in stock.
I am only guessing but it may have been that there were production holdups with the blue and, although both red and blue were shown and quoted to be available for '69, in practice, only red was available for a short time during the early days; perhaps, the "R" was planned for blue but it never happened. Again, only guesses and my dealer may have been trying to sell a red one that he had on his floor and was trying to deflect a buyer's wish for a blue one.
There was a lot of turmoil about the "S" in the spring of 1970. The major US distributor was very distressed about the very high warranty costs on the "S" - mostly exhaust problems - and urged that the model be replaced by something else. OTOH, the "S" was a huge sales success and a major market changer. It appears to me that the "S" was going to carry over to the '70 production year but the axe fell suddenly when the Roadster became available.
Also, at just that time, there were major increases in the finish colours of the Roadster; for '70, there were yellow, red, and black (solid colours), and Royal Blue, Roman Purple, Golden Bronze, Emerald Green metalflakes (and a Tangerine solid for H*-R*d*rs only). I assume that those metal flakes were Fireflake process - all at this time were glassfibre tanks and side covers.
Uncertainty comes when trying to ascertain whether any or many '70 "S" models were produced with the wider range of finish colors. My impression (have been working at several Norton dealers in the early '70s and later at the Wolverhampton factory) is that the Ruby Red was due to die with the "S", the Sapphire/Pacific Blue was to continue for Roadsters as the "Royal Blue" and that *normally* the last of the "S" models were not to get the newer, wider range of colours. However, we know that there were some "S" models delivered in '70 with the newer colours, (as I mentioned before, oddly, it was likely that these were individual motorcycles after the regular "S" production run was due to have ended). It may have been that the distributors allowed favored (??) dealers to place special orders for late "S" motorcycles in the '70 Roadster colours.
It may have also been that the paint components for the Royal Blue were changed to to a more normal (and less expensive) plan metalflake type paint. The "flake" blue was carried over to the steel Roadster tanks at the end of '72/ early '73 as steel tanks and side covers were brought into production, but this was, indeed, non-Fireflake blue metalflake paint specification, not the more expensive Fireflake.
Since the Roadster went to a black taillamp fairing, it might be likely that those late '70 "S" motorcycles in colours more commonly used on Roadster might get the black fairing in '70 but I have no info to verify this.

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N0rt0nelectr@ said:

My 70 750 Roadster had a black tail light fairing. It still had the selling dealers decal on it.

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NPeteN said:

141046 and I ain't kidding ya.
Between September and Jan of 1970. I have the despatch record with exact date. Well after the "last" S.

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brian4.2 said:

Blue original with black.

'70 Norton 750 Commando S - motorcycles/scooters - by owner -...

1970 Norton "S". Blue, very original, mileage 7696, numbers match, recent service after 10 years storage. New Avon Road Riders, correct Amals and air box, new Pazon electric ignition installed and...

medford.craigslist.org

Red with black

1970 Norton Commando S 750 | F219 | Las Vegas 2023 | Mecum Auctions

1970 Norton Commando S 750 presented as Lot F219 at Las Vegas, NV

www.mecum.com

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Blewdy Yaink said:

Pete, I don't mean to argue with your motorcycle's history, but I think that it's important to reflect on some "unusual" doings as the Commando "took off" in regards to sales and acceptance in the US. The distributors (esp. Berliner) absolutely HATED the model, although they thoroughly agreed that it kicked the Commando off of a strange "Buck Rogers" styling exercise that had relegated to a US oddball-quaintee British niche product into a real surger in the marketplace. Everyone agreed that it was a dazzler, and it was one of the big influences in kick-starting the Norton Villiers company in California (at first a distributor for 7 western states with Berliner holding distribution rights in the other 43). But for a number of reasons (quality that was let down by the sudden closure of the Plumstead Rd., Woolwich AMC production factory, the consequent move of assembly to Andover and machining to Wolverhampton, and the stresses of dealing with ramping up production after so many years of seeing it falling. The *worst* was the exhaust. Berliner quoted an average cost of warranty for an "S" sold in their territory of over $1000 in the first year (Brian Slark who was the Service Manager at Norton Villiers Corp. in California does not dispute this although he feels that their experience was not so severe).
Many dealers had said that they wanted nothing to do with the "S" after the first year, others were salivating at the thought that they might be able to get a few more to sell at the premium prices that they were bringing.
As became common with the H*-R*d*r a few years later, there were many dealers who were swapping exhausts. They'd take a Roadster, strip the exhaust and put it on an "S" for a customer and charge it to warranty and reassemble the Roadster with the warranty-supplied repair parts. Others would strip "S" exhausts before sale and put on Roadster exhausts -- and others, in a typical about-face would strip Roadster exhausts and rebuild vehicles before sales with "S" exhausts. It all depended upon where the market happened to fall.
The serial number range 132000* -- 134000 fell during the transfer out of the Plumsted AMC factory to the other manufacturing and assembly facilities owned by Norton Villiers. Even when I worked at the Wolverhampton factory (months after the "S" went away), there were lines of vehicles that could not be made to pass final dispatch approval. They'd be put on the side and would go through rebuild -- from the simplest repairs to complete engine strips or other major rectification -- before they'd be put into dispatch and recorded. The longest that I remember were about 6 weeks out of sequence (and this included the big backlog of "Combat"-engined Commandos that were held for "detuning" in the autumn of '72) but it would not surprise me to find out that a troublesome Commando that had to be removed from Plumstead Rd. in pieces would not finish rectification until months out of sequence.
The production dispatch records show very few "S" models being sent from the factory in late April - early May '70. This was after the "official" end of "S" production. But in late May/early June of '70, there were a number of "S" Commandos listed as being shipped. Some are to large dealers in the UK (the larger, the more "pull" they had with marketing to have special production motorcycles built up out of regular sequence -- one of the unusual tasks that fell to us in the Service Department was to select occasionally a basket full of non-standard parts for a special build, we'd hand-swap the parts from the box onto the assembly line and put the displaced standard parts into the basket for restocking onto production or into spares.
With the UK/Euro "S" models out of sequence at this time were a batch -- probably a dozen or a dozen and a half -- that were shipped overseas. Most of these were dispatched to "Berliner Motors, New Jersey, USA". The last one that I've seen as a Signal Red (i.e. a "non-standard" colour "S") addressed to "Michael Berliner, USA"; note, the factory records are hard to gain access to, I make no claim that there are no more after this one but it's the last one that I've seen. Was this a special one addressed on special order to one of the Berliner brothers personally? It was just at the end of a batch of Emerald Green, Golden Bronze, Roman Purple "S" Commandos. Also, I have never seen a record -- and that doesn't mean much but it just *is* -- of a yellow or black "S" leaving the factory.
All this goes to say that "S" production and numbers were completely out of the standard production schedule and counter to the stated *marketing* announcement that stated that "S" production was end and replaced by the introduction of the Roadster on production of about March, 1970.
* Note -- VERY loosely associated with serial numbers, plus records are very sketchy.

It also provides NO indication as to the original question "Did the last 'S' models built have black taillamp fairings or did some of the first Roadsters have silver ones?" But I hope that it might be of value or interest.

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