- Joined
- Mar 24, 2014
- Messages
- 1,169
At the tender age of 16yrs in 1971, I bought an ex Police English 1961 Dominator 99. It belonged to the older brother of a mate of my cousin's who had brought it back to Australia from England where he bought it. He travelled all over Europe on it but was ready to let it go now for $200. It was the start of a very long Norton love affair which to this day still inhabits me.
One day riding home from school on the Dominator, I passed the local gas station and saw a green fastback parked at the pumps. It was rare to see Commandos at all and my favourite was always the BRG fastback. In a flash I was back there and asked the attendant who owned it? My mouth was drooling and I pawed all over it. The owner had come back from England and the bike had followed him via ship.
He had just ridden it all the way back from the docks. It was running like shit and he had left it to see if they could fix it. The attendant allowed me to start it. It was running like shit alright and blowing thick clouds of black smoke. I looked down and saw the choke was fully closed. Next minute I had it running beautifully but didn't tell the attendant how. He was so impressed he said I could ride it around the pumps. I was trembling with excitement. Around and around the pumps I rode savouring the unbelievable smoothness. Finally the attendant asked me to get off. Please can I take it down the road, please? No, now get off you are making me giddy. I went home like toad of toad hall in a dream like state. The Dominator had just seen the beginning of its end.
I will never ever forget that first ride I had on a Commando. The love affair has matured but is still as strong as ever. The Dominator was axed two years later and replaced with a Combat. Never had I ridden such a bike, but reliability was a disaster.
It has just occurred to me that my current Mk III is very similar to the Dominator in what it achieves. But faster and of course so much smoother. The Combat was the sort of bike that wanted to be thrashed at every opportunity. I was fascinated how the rev counter went from 0 to 7000rpm nearly faster than you could think. And it really kicked in at somewhere around 3000, if I remember correctly. The Mk III with extra torque seems to love cruising, though it will accelerate quite well if you let it. And it certainly feels more relaxed engine wise. After a long ride on the Combat, I used to get off and always check that the head was still there (well that's what I said to people, I was actually checking an oil leak that would mysteriously appear on top??? of the crankcase split rear of the barrels. Of course, a lot of what I'm talking about is due to higher 850 gearing, my Combat had a 19 tooth countershaft sprocket. I'm guessing my Mk III is a 20 toother. It certainly isn't a 19, and probably not a 21.
So that is my impression of the 850 Mk III, a big Dominator with heaps of torque and smoothness we never could have imagined possible. Not to mention far improved creature comforts like auto start (Jenny's description. And any bike that doesn't get ridden for any reason, rego expired, anything, she refers to as one that "doesn't go"). She cracks me up. But she certainly loves riding on the back of the BIG Dominator!
One day riding home from school on the Dominator, I passed the local gas station and saw a green fastback parked at the pumps. It was rare to see Commandos at all and my favourite was always the BRG fastback. In a flash I was back there and asked the attendant who owned it? My mouth was drooling and I pawed all over it. The owner had come back from England and the bike had followed him via ship.
He had just ridden it all the way back from the docks. It was running like shit and he had left it to see if they could fix it. The attendant allowed me to start it. It was running like shit alright and blowing thick clouds of black smoke. I looked down and saw the choke was fully closed. Next minute I had it running beautifully but didn't tell the attendant how. He was so impressed he said I could ride it around the pumps. I was trembling with excitement. Around and around the pumps I rode savouring the unbelievable smoothness. Finally the attendant asked me to get off. Please can I take it down the road, please? No, now get off you are making me giddy. I went home like toad of toad hall in a dream like state. The Dominator had just seen the beginning of its end.
I will never ever forget that first ride I had on a Commando. The love affair has matured but is still as strong as ever. The Dominator was axed two years later and replaced with a Combat. Never had I ridden such a bike, but reliability was a disaster.
It has just occurred to me that my current Mk III is very similar to the Dominator in what it achieves. But faster and of course so much smoother. The Combat was the sort of bike that wanted to be thrashed at every opportunity. I was fascinated how the rev counter went from 0 to 7000rpm nearly faster than you could think. And it really kicked in at somewhere around 3000, if I remember correctly. The Mk III with extra torque seems to love cruising, though it will accelerate quite well if you let it. And it certainly feels more relaxed engine wise. After a long ride on the Combat, I used to get off and always check that the head was still there (well that's what I said to people, I was actually checking an oil leak that would mysteriously appear on top??? of the crankcase split rear of the barrels. Of course, a lot of what I'm talking about is due to higher 850 gearing, my Combat had a 19 tooth countershaft sprocket. I'm guessing my Mk III is a 20 toother. It certainly isn't a 19, and probably not a 21.
So that is my impression of the 850 Mk III, a big Dominator with heaps of torque and smoothness we never could have imagined possible. Not to mention far improved creature comforts like auto start (Jenny's description. And any bike that doesn't get ridden for any reason, rego expired, anything, she refers to as one that "doesn't go"). She cracks me up. But she certainly loves riding on the back of the BIG Dominator!
