Paint Scheme

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B+Bogus said:
"Great to see some original style paint!
Do you think these are originals or re-paints? They look authentic to me - I'd love to see a close-up of the wear on the red tank.
Is the straight red tank candy red over regular silver, or is it over silver flake?"
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Paint Scheme
Paint Scheme

These are original paint, the NOS tank on the right was purchased off eBay about 10 years ago and it's never been used. I believe its red over silver metal flake and the black pin striping on both tanks is pretty crude but consistent on both tanks. The tank on the right has a series of silver spots on the bottom where someone made a mistake. If you want a better close up I can snap some more pictures.
 
black cat said:
Paint Scheme
Paint Scheme

These are original paint, the NOS tank on the right was purchased off eBay about 10 years ago and it's never been used. I believe its red over silver metal flake and the black pin striping on both tanks is pretty crude but consistent on both tanks. The tank on the right has a series of silver spots on the bottom where someone made a mistake. If you want a better close up I can snap some more pictures.
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IMHO these are not original Norton. I've never seen that pattern and the tanks with the round badge were silver or green if I understand correctly. Also, it appears to be clear coated. The stripes appear to be done with tape, not by hand.
 
marshg246 said:
IMHO these are not original Norton. I've never seen that pattern and the tanks with the round badge were silver or green if I understand correctly. Also, it appears to be clear coated. The stripes appear to be done with tape, not by hand.
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I agree about the round tank badge.
There are however references to this colour scheme in Mick Duckworth's Norton Commando book (see photos on pages 45, 50, 59) referencing 1968 and 1969 and a two tone paint scheme for the US market shown on Fastback models.
This pic is from the 'Kim The CD Man' 5th Edition DVD (filename CG_2):
Paint Scheme


Thank you to Greg for tackling this 'knotty' issue.
Andy
 
If some unknown aftermarket company fabricated these tanks some 50+ years ago they did a pretty good job. I've also seen the same tank in blue with the recess for the badges.
Paint Scheme




The underside of the tank is exactly like another fastback tank I own.
Paint Scheme


Tape? Looks hand painted to me.
Paint Scheme

Yes, the tank on the bike was unfortunately sprayed with a clear coat by the previous owner.
 
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L.A.B. said:

Norton Motorcycle Sparts Specialist - Genuine Norton Commando Factory Spare Parts - Genuine Norton Dominator Factory Spare Parts - Norton Motorbikes -

Norton Genuine Spare Parts: The exclusive Source of all Genuine Norton Commando and Norton Dominator Factory Spare Parts.
andover-norton.co.uk
Paint Scheme

"The two-tone finish is correct though few Norton enthusiasts these days know this finish was optional for the year and think it is a "custom paintjob"
"
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OK, but I'm shocked that Norton was that bad at pinstriping - looks like a tape job underneath and the stripe itself. Maybe they only made a few tanks that way and couldn't afford a professional? Most proof that I'm no expert on any of this!
 
marshg246 said:
I've never seen that brochure - can you send a copy or tell me where you found it?
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Greg, I can send you a copy of the brochure as I don't have the original, someone sent me them years ago and I have been looking for originals ever since that time. As far as the pin stripping is concerned, both tanks have the same inferior workmanship which I sort of like.
 
marshg246 said:
OK, but I'm shocked that Norton was that bad at pinstriping - looks like a tape job underneath and the stripe itself. Maybe they only made a few tanks that way and couldn't afford a professional? Most proof that I'm no expert on any of this!
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Norton didn't really "make" much if anything. It was mainly bought from, and paintwork done by outside suppliers.
Paint Scheme



 
marshg246 said:
Please clarify - did they make frames, engine, forks,
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Commando frames were made by Reynolds Tube Co.(as Featherbed frames had been). Later Commando frames were made by Verlicchi in Italy but the last (Mk3) frames were probably made in the UK, possibly by Reynolds. I don't know exactly how much manufacturing was done at AMC in Plumstead but after the move to Andover then there would have been no foundry so all castings would have been bought from outside suppliers, cylinder barrels, some cylinder heads, for instance, were made by Birco.
Tanks both glass fibre and steel as far as I know were bought from outside suppliers (glass fibre from Avon? Or Reg Curley?) probably pre-finished as there was no factory paint shop as far as I'm aware as Andover was little more than an assembly plant although any 'factory' machining would most likely have been done at Wolverhampton.
From Motor Cycle News January 1972:
Paint Scheme
 
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marshg246 said:
I'm interested. If I can get enough paint codes that makes it's worth my effort, I'll add them. Also, if I can get enough quality photos of clean paint, I'll add them as well. Email: marshg@gregmarsh.com

On the fireflake colors, I'm wondering about flake size. A while back I sold a steel Fireflake Blue set that I called disco blue. The flakes were so big that I'm sure they were not sprayed but rather sprinkled on the wet paint and then cleared. I have a fiberglass Fireflake Blue tank right now that looks new but is not painted - the flakes, while still too large to suit me are much smaller. So, were the gelcoat flakes smaller or was the tank I had the oddball?
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Actually, it has been my observation that the opposite is true. The flake in the fiberglass tank gelcoat appears to be larger than the steel tanks which looks more like a 'metallic' rather than 'metalflake'. I have a original blue metalflake tank and side covers on my MkV 750 and purchased a NOS blue metalflake Fastback tail section from the Norton Owners Club many years ago. When compared side by side, the flake was definitely larger on the tail section. I have since painted the tail section, but the MkV can be seen in the photos in my media files.
 
L.A.B. said:
Commando frames were made by Reynolds Tube Co.(as Featherbed frames had been). Later Commando frames were made by Verlicchi in Italy but the last (Mk3) frames were probably made in the UK, possibly by Reynolds. I don't know exactly how much manufacturing was done at AMC in Plumstead but after the move to Andover then there would have been no foundry so all castings would have been bought from outside suppliers, cylinder barrels, some cylinder heads, for instance, were made by Birco.
Tanks both glass fibre and steel as far as I know were bought from outside suppliers (glass fibre from Avon? Or Reg Curley?) probably pre-finished as there was no factory paint shop as far as I'm aware as Andover was little more than an assembly plant although any 'factory' machining would most likely have been done at Wolverhampton.
From Motor Cycle News January 1972:
Paint Scheme
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The frame part was me being dumb - I even have that on my web site.

Surprised to hear about the engines. Wondered about the gearboxes. Dumb I know about I tend to look at all British motorcycle manufacturers through Triumph glasses and to a lesser degree through BSA. It's easy to forget how much smaller Norton was. Other than Lucas, Girling, Amal, Smiths, and fasteners, I can't think of much Triumph didn't make.
 
DevonNorton said:
I agree about the round tank badge.
There are however references to this colour scheme in Mick Duckworth's Norton Commando book (see photos on pages 45, 50, 59) referencing 1968 and 1969 and a two tone paint scheme for the US market shown on Fastback models.
This pic is from the 'Kim The CD Man' 5th Edition DVD (filename CG_2):
View attachment 84783

Thank you to Greg for tackling this 'knotty' issue.
Andy
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Nice bike.
However, my analysis is based on demonstrably original paintwork, contemporaneous road test reports, photos & sales brochures. While the bike above is a very nice example it has so many departures from original it can't be considered a good example of what Norton were building in 1968
 
Ron L said:
Actually, it has been my observation that the opposite is true. The flake in the fiberglass tank gelcoat appears to be larger than the steel tanks which looks more like a 'metallic' rather than 'metalflake'. I have a original blue metalflake tank and side covers on my MkV 750 and purchased a NOS blue metalflake Fastback tail section from the Norton Owners Club many years ago. When compared side by side, the flake was definitely larger on the tail section. I have since painted the tail section, but the MkV can be seen in the photos in my media files.
black cat said:
If some unknown aftermarket company fabricated these tanks some 50+ years ago they did a pretty good job. I've also seen the same tank in blue with the recess for the badges.
Paint Scheme




The underside of the tank is exactly like another fastback tank I own.
Paint Scheme


Tape? Looks hand painted to me.
Paint Scheme

Yes, the tank on the bike was unfortunately sprayed with a clear coat by the previous owner.
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Thanks for posting - the underside of the tank is the same colour as the silver gelcoat Roadster tank I had.
I'd be interested to see a close-up of the straight red tank where the seat has rubbed through the layers:
I've seen photos of a '68 round badge Candy Apple metallic Green tank which was clearly spray painted, and the underside was as good as the top surface, which makes me wonder if a different shop did this - I doubt if the OEM supplier would have gone to the trouble...

I find it interesting that there's so much doubt about these early finishes, even with a good - and expanding - body of evidence to support.

Here's my take on the 2-tone paint (the tank was originally FF Royal Blue, but had silvered badly with wear). I think I'll pass on the 'original' style pinstriping!



And here's an original round badge in Sapphire blue (originally posted by another Forum member). I have a '68 which was shipped out in the same batch as this, so the tank above wouldn't be correct.

 
kernel65 said:
I have a fiberglass high rider tank in orange if you still need a picture.

Recently found a really good paint match for the gel coat fireflake blue if interested.

Scott
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I am currently rebuilding a Fastback. Scott, can you post details of your Fireflake blue paint match. Steve
 
OK, I'm completely lost. As I understand t the round badge was original in 67 - when did it end? When was the two-tone paint available and in what colors? If all tanks in 67-68 were fiberglass, how did they pull off two-tone - did they paint the gelcoat? Most importantly, how do I correct the first two rows here: https://www.gregmarsh.com/MC/Norton/CommandoColors.aspx and please provide something authoritative. I'm OK with "I bought one from xyz dealer" as authoritative as long as you don't mind saying it publicly.

I'm not interested in dealer changes or special deals - just what Norton offered. For instance, when I lived in Germany, I bought a BMW from the factory. I wanted the silver interior which wasn't offered with the exterior color, and I wanted the 325 wheels, but I was buying a 328. A 500 mark "computer override" and, I had what I wanted. So, yes it came that way from factory, but I probably had the only one in the world.
 
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