Nortons In Australia

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komet said:
I lived in Melbourne in the early eighties. The saturday morning ritual was to wash and polish the Trident, then head into Elizabeth street to cruise the bike shops and pick up 'essential' parts. The spares guy at Modak said they were the Norton dealer through the sixties when no one wanted to sell them, and as soon as the Commando took off another dealer came up with an offer the factory couldn't refuse and it was taken off them. Are they still going?
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They most certainly are still going. Still run be David and his mum. I don't think that shop has changed since the 1950's. I suppose it has of course but it sure doesn't look like it.
I was in there in April when I was in Melbourne to pick up some parts for my Zb34. I had a small pile of parts on the counter that should have come to about $300 odd dollars but when David did the sums on a piece of paper he came up $100 short. He hadn't noticed and was on his way back from the till with my change in his hand when I said "you had better check your maths there. I think you might be out".
Sure enough when he went through it he realized his error and almost fainted! I'm sure a small business like his can't afford to lose $100 just like that. I'm also sure that some individuals would have just shut up and walked out happy in the knowledge their parts were $100 cheaper than they were expecting but I couldn't do it. Anyway as I was about to leave he plonked a BSA hat on my and said "one good turn deserves another". I wasn't expecting it but it was a nice gesture. Thanks David.
 
I was in there one Saturday morning in April trying to buy a rear brake cable. I'd rang in a couple of days earlier to make sure he had the cable and then rode in to grab it. Strangely enough it had vanished. How he can find anything in that shop is beyond me. I did manage to buy a replacement #1 bolt for the Commando's head, a second-hand bolt that he charged me $12 for. Seem to recall there was a chappy with his lady buying some BSA bits - wasn't you by any chance was it Mark?
 
No wouldn't have been me Dave. When I go to Modaks she usually goes to Centro or Q.V. markets. :lol:
 
Mate of mine just imported a minter `73 750 [gold on black] Roadster from the States, reminded me of how lovely a good `un is,- anybody remember that old bikie movie where the Commando races the [cafe!] Z1 around Sydney `til the stunt rider chucks it down the road?
 
Current hot rod wheelie zoommie

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-NFkWZ3PCk&feature=related[/video]

Stone Wheelie and Commando throw down, it ya look close
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=6IyLovut45E[/video]
 
Confirms everything NZers beleive about Ozzies. (Very sore point in my familly at moment - Oldest son just became an Aussie citizen Tough thing for a Kiwi father !!)
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John, if its any consolation I have two sons who have taken out Australian citizenship. But they both support the ABs (and the Blues - so far as you can this season). One of them has even worn a black jersey in Manly on test night, which must be pretty a brave or foolhardy thing to do.

I went to his graduation ceremony a few years ago, and the speaker - the Dean of the university I think - made several references to the "first fleet" which I had not heard of. At first I thought it must have been something like the "Mayflower" is to the USA. It kind of is - but with an Aussie difference. It seems that in New South Wales, if you can trace your ancestry back to the passengers of the first fleet of ships that travelled to the Botany Bay penal colony you are some sort of Aussie aristocracy...
 
As a Kiwi in `Straya for professional reasons, I do appreciate both the similarities & differences, bit like the Big brother/little brother deal the Canadians have with the States, anyhow, I talked my [Aussie ] mate into getting a Commando `cause he liked his W 650 Kawasaki so much [& he has mechanical ability/sympathy], its funny how Kawasaki has been fixated on reiterating those Brit-type 4T twins ever since they took over the improved 'Golden Flash' W1 Meguro ~45 years ago. I dunno why they bother[ although they did get the lithe look that the fat Thailand built Hinkley Bonnies should have]. I would like to see them do a 21st century retro of one of these...
http://kawtriple.com/mraxl/articles/den ... ncobb0.htm
 
Chris T said:
the Dean of the university I think - made several references to the "first fleet" which I had not heard of. At first I thought it must have been something like the "Mayflower" is to the USA. It kind of is - but with an Aussie difference.
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Kiaora Cuzzy Bro,

Yeah, slight difference
The Mayflower sailed with seeds and hope to the new land.
The Poms dragged us in chains to the new land, threw us on the beach and said die you bastards.
As it turns out, they sent us to heaven and stayed in hell.

I married a K1W1 so am bi-lingual

I got my MV 750 in New Plymouth and brought it back to Manly Oz. It was too nice to leave it on the island.
 
Hey Hobot - I was wondering if the Aussie movie Stone ever made it to the USA - thanks for the clip. It was filmed on Sydney's north side - I like the part where they bunker down in one of the old gun emplacements on the harbour. I think they were built in case the Russians invaded us some time in the 1800s (before WW1 anyway). Watched it at the drive - in in the 70s. Great days.
Now I'm gonna have to find that video tape I made when it was on TV years ago. I think it's in a box somewhere in the garage......
 
MFB

They ran the 'Stone' Movie a whiel back on Pay/ Austar classic channel ( I think) ~

Every time I travel the express way north of Sydney I recall the scene of the Funeral procession on that highway ~ Magic filming..

I also believe the video can be had ~ the best in Oz is Ezy DVD in Adelaide.. They are a brilliant source of rare movies ~ ( In fact I watched a movie and SBS and they (SBS) said it was not available in Australia ~ Opps ~ Ezy DVD had it and at a nice price !! 8) )

I hate to think what sort of gearing and revs that poor Commando was pulling in the drag race scene on the North Shore ~
 
Thanks Stuart. I think my mate Gary, who used to own my bike, was trying to do a "Stone" when he stripped his 1st gear. Back then we kids didn't know that the Commando bottom end and gearbox were designed to handle about 30 bhp.
When I rebuilt the box recently, the gear he fitted was still good. Pity about most of the others though.
Regards
Martin
 
MFB

That's intriguing as I had several conservations with Les Emery and he was unimpressed that the AMC gearbox was the achilles heel of the Commando as his Norvil shop ~ race bike was delivering <90 BHP> and they essentially used a standard gearbox ~

But then endeavouring to do monos on a Commando may well a tad different to racing a bike !!
 
So, what are the TT Industries [NZ] 6-speed AMC repros good for, power handling-wise? Also cost/benefit-wise compared to Pommy stuff or 'fettling' the old original box? Some of those Pommy shops are asking 1000+quid for a cylinder head!
~90hp in race trim, how much HP for a reasonably tractable but sporty roadbike? & has anyone weighed the mill/box/isospastic en-unit? I`d maybe like to fit one in a 250 G.P. bike chassis, for a bit of fun.
As a comparison with a `70s 750 contemporary, that weighed about the same as a Commando[in standard road-bike trim], an H2 mill weighs ~135lb, these guys claim ~125hp from a road-bike H2, http://www.ebos.se/triples.asp
I do like Nortons, just want some feasibilty info, thanks.
 
Nobody ever done the mill/box/iso dimensions then? or can point me to where they are in the notes/stats page ?
Approx cost of a healthy street Commando mill rebuild? At say ~80hp, would that be within the bounds of feasibilty?
I am running a 88rwhp/350lb `70s 750 kick-start bike now, but I`d like a Norton, I passed my practical on a 500 slimline Dominator, so I can live with its nuts & bolts Pommy character.
 
Yo'all Kiwi's and Ozzies always stuffing bigger power plants in familiar craft than any place else, after the other places had given up on em and moved on.

Best I can glean on the power plant and AMC gear box was that American drag racers started to routinely spill AMC guts when power got to nearly 100 hp. Road racing loads usually don't match a WOT clutch drop standing starts. But then again drag bikes are generally lighter than road racers. 80 hp would take world class level of cost and parts and very few if any 750's ever did.

I've a Maney 920 built with the best stuff and configured like a sprinter engine but only a Combat head with 6mm stem valves. Quessitmates by builder and online calculators imply about 80 rwhp possibility at 7000.

Costs and takes about as much as engine to pare mass down everywhere you can till its significant.
 
Thanks for the data, so approx cost of a reliable rebuilt mill using new after-market parts where advisable would be?
 
Cycle Australia mag Mar/April 1973 has a couple of interesting Commando articles, on P38, a captioned photo-series [28 shot] engine strip, & on P 50, a story by the editor of riding to Perth across South Australia by Commando.
& on P33 this gem, "We called the Mach IV the quickest production bike in the world, because, even with the advent of the Kawasaki 900, we believe it is."
 
From Cycle Australia May`74, P40; Re Chesterfield Superbike Championship Races, Amaroo Park.
"Atlee had been unable to match Warren Willing in last year`s final round & had decided that if you can`t beat `em, you may as well join them. So he dropped his Norton [figuratively speaking] in favour of a 750 Kwacker, Willing`s choice last year & this. Garry Thomas had also chosen a worked H2 for the fray."
..."the 1st round of the Chesterfield Superbike Series was a great success, providing close, fast racing on bikes derived from street machines. Thomas broke the Superbike lap record twice, establishing a new time of 59.1 sec. in the last heat. Also of significance was that Willing, on his stocker, peeled off a 59.5 second lap."

Caption of Garry Thomas pic reads "Garry Thomas...0.5 second out-side the outright lap record - on a modified street bike!"
 
To be fair, Len Atlee had won the `73 Chesterfield Superbike Championship on his Commando, from a Bonnie in 2nd, & a Z1 in 3rd. Anyone have info on the Atlee/Commmando Superbike?
 
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