Q: Price for Commando resto projects?

Hi,

as this is my first topic here I'd like to introduce myself briefly: I'm into Nortons for roughly two decades by now having bought an Atlas in the early 90ies which I restored and ran for some 6 Megameters (I'm German so although there's no metric threads on the bike I stick with meters rather than yards and miles....;-) before a gearbox mainshaft failure put an end to that a few years ago. Since then the bike underwent more or less a second resto rectifiing all the small issues I did wrong in the first place. The bike is a proper Cafe Racer with several DIY parts such as a GRP oil tank and mudguards etc. This project is now coming to an end (well, sort of, it will never be finished) so I'm looking for the next project.

My taste changed a bit over the last years so while I prefered a Featherbed back then I'm now looking for a Commando. As I'm definetly more into wrenching then into riding I'd thought its time to start looking for a Commando resto project. Mainly for the fun of it but also because I have a very clear picture of how this bike should look like (Roadster!), especially in the details.

So what's a good price for :

a) an unbutchered barn find with little mileage (assuming there's still some left)
b) a basket case with missing small bits
c) a sound frame including title or V5 or whatever (assuming that I might even build an engine from spares)

As I'm located in Germany I'd especially love to hear UK residents opinion but also from anywhere in the world where there might be a significant population of Commandos.


Tim

Hi Tim
I am from the UK and I bought just the type of machine I think you are looking for about 2 years ago. I restored it over the course of about 18 months and am now running about on it, with a bit of 'wrenching' inbetween.
It is a 1974 850cc MK2A Roadster, which when I bought it had 10 000 miles on the clock. (Thats about 16 megametres, I think, Tim :mrgreen: ) I paid £1750 (English pounds) for it. I don't want to say how much it cost to complete as the current frauline might be listening in, but I am guessing I have about £4000 in it now.
I would put it under the catagory of unbutchered barn find. A few small parts missing.
The bike was imported from the USA by a guy that never did anything to it, and then sold it to me 4 years after importing.

I also have a Triton in a Featherbed so our last project has some similarities.

I do know where there is a Fastback in White red and blue for sale.....a runner...but you don't want one of these do you...
Its up for about £2500 ish.

All the low milage ones seem to be from the States....Us Brits are so poor we ride em too much (plus its always in the rain), and we can't afford garages...but you never know your luck.....
If you want to see a picture of the fastback let me know.
Stu

Check Ebay in the US for an idea of prices. I'm not sure it would justify an import just now unless you had a mate returning from overseas and could get a little space in his container.

bigstu said:

... I paid £1750 (English pounds) for it.

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Okay, that sounds like a reasonable price for a barn find.

I don't want to say how much it cost to complete

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That's one thing I like about a longish restoration - although it's pretty expensive in the end I don't care too much as the expense is spread over a long period of time and I only use "surplus funds" even if they are a rarity.

I also have a Triton in a Featherbed so our last project has some similarities.

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Hardly surprising, is it? ;-)

I do know where there is a Fastback in White red and blue for sale.....a runner...but you don't want one of these do you...
Its up for about £2500 ish.

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Don't want to hurt anybodies feelings but I don't exactly admire fastback ... and that's an advanced euphemism. However £2500 for a runner also sounds good. I'd prefer not to buy a fastback though because maybe somebody is into these and I'd turn it into a roadster straightaway.

Thanks for the info, basically my gut feelings about reasonable prices were okayish.


Tim

Cookie said:

Check Ebay in the US for an idea of prices.

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I do that from time to time but barn finds and basket cases are pretty rare IMHO. I'd like to avoid buying a good runner 95% of which I'd rework anyway and by far the most Nortons sold on Ebay and also here on German add boards are either restored or in good condition. Call me crazy but I don't trust used bikes too much. At least I want to know who's responsible for breaking down - me! Worked perfectly on the Atlas, both times I broke down it was entirely my fault.

I'm not sure it would justify an import just now unless you had a mate returning from overseas and could get a little space in his container.

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It's more to get a feeling what the few individuals who make a buisness from this here in Germany pay when they go to the US to fill up a Container to sell the stuff over here.


Tim

Hello Tim,
I agree with you about buying a so called running good condition bike.
By the time you get it home and spend some time with it all the faults appear, and usually it costs the same to fix something that's not quite right as it does to fix something that's really bad.
If I had time over again I would have bought a non going project rather than a good going bike, and saved lots of money on the original purchase price.
It turned out to need a full rebuild anyway.
Good luck, Regards Graeme.

I agree Tim
The bottom line is if you do your own restoration then:-
1) You will know your own bike well, and therefore should have a better chance of fixing it should problems occur.
2) You will know you have done the nesessarry refurbishment and upgrades, not taken somebody else's word for it.
3) If you havn't then there is only one person to blame....yourself.
4) I like to be able to think 'I built it' as I am riding down the road. Not just 'I bought it'.

For these four reasons I always restore my own bikes.

Stu

A modest restoration, with you doing the bulk of the labor, with an acquisition price of $3000 to $4000 will run you a bit over $10,000, assuming that you strip every component, measure/replace (restore to factory specs); this would include a $1200-$1500 paint.

You can send your Norton to CNW along with a check for $27,000+ and 6 months later you will have a jewel.

You can morph a simple restoration into a complete update with upgraded components/paint/polish/chrome and spend over $20,000, don't ask me how I know this!

The Norton is my drug of choice...

You will have something to be proud of and it will have some level of asset value

RS

I agree with RS completely. In fact, the CNW route may be the cheapest in the long run. At least the CNW bike will have a much larger market value than one you restored yourself. Now before someone reminds me of the joys of restoring one's own Norton, let me say that I fully agree. I'm only pointing out the final monetary value.

I think you're right. It's easy to gasp at that big number, but it's one-time only and all-inclusive. The other route is longer and probably, in the long run, at least as expensive. But yes, I recommend it!