Roadster vs Interstate

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nortriubuell said:
Ok, I have to know. What say the forum users of their "preferred" Norton model ? And which one has higher resale/value? Thanks all.
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Hi Nortri,
The 850 MKIII works for me. My knee is not what it was when I was 30 . I have a 4-brush starter and when the carbs are properly primed, I hit the start button and you can't even hear the starter motor. It simply transitions from being stopped to running in an instant. Also its less embarrassing when I kill the motor at a stoplight.
Sincerely,
Kara
 
I think I lot of Interstates ended up with peashooters because in the late 70s it was sometimes hard to source parts. I know I struggled to find Interstate mufflers in that period. Of course shopping was done via the phone book and the yellow pages had a void under "Norton" and I was young and didn't have much experience with, well truth be told, anything! My '74 Interstate did have Smith clocks though. And it ended up with peashooters and upswept pipes because its what I could get.

These days I hardly worry about whether my bike is proper or not. It's sort of like my face. When I'm using it, I don't look at it much! Which is a handy thing, considering my face.

I think the roadster in question in this thread has some very desirable things, such as color and seat, I'd be looking to lose the handle bars and the rear wheel, and would make any offer appropriate to having to swap those things out. That's just me, but I gotta think that most vintage Brit bike shoppers are thinking cafe bike as opposed to semi-chopper.
 
I think that Interstates look better with proper low pipes. I like Roadsters with those beautiful CNW angled pipes.
 
Scout63 said:
I think that Interstates look better with proper low pipes. I like Roadsters with those beautiful CNW angled pipes.
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I think the main problem with Interstate headers is that you have to remove the right muffler to remove the rear axle,.
 
Fullauto said:
I think the main problem with Interstate headers is that you have to remove the right muffler to remove the rear axle,.
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You may be right. I just got in shiny new rear axle and brake linkage bits from Old Britts so I will find out this week. I’m getting to think that pulling the mufflers off every year is a good thing though. Otherwise they just weld to the headers.
 
Scout63 said:
You may be right. I just got in shiny new rear axle and brake linkage bits from Old Britts so I will find out this week. I’m getting to think that pulling the mufflers off every year is a good thing though. Otherwise they just weld to the headers.
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Use copper slip.

Don‘t use exhaust sealant on these joints, there’s simply no need and it just glues them together unnecessarily.
 
Correct, copper anti seize it is.

No science behind my choice, it’s all I’ve ever used on such stuff.

And anyway, nickel / silver grease sounds way too posh for my shed !
 
Fast Eddie said:
Correct, copper anti seize it is.

No science behind my choice, it’s all I’ve ever used on such stuff.

And anyway, nickel / silver grease sounds way too posh for my shed !
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Works great on the 850 balance tubes, as well! An absolute necessity on a Triumph T-150 exhaust.
 
I changed my Roadster tank and seat over to an Interstate because I had the tank and found a very decent seat to match for short money. Was planning on changing back after I had my Roadster tank redone but after putting rearsets and low bars on I probably wont. Riding position is almost identical to my Suzuki Bandit, just a bit more reach to the bars. I'm in the process of making a set of risers that will move them up an inch and back an inch to take some of the strain off my back.
 
I changed my roadster the same way in ‘84. Kept it this way until sold in ‘87. This is at the annual picnic of the NCNOC in ‘85. Bars are from BMW R90s. Commando is a ‘73 750 high compression.
Roadster vs Interstate
 
All Commandos look smashing.... even the ones which come in baskets in need of much love. Love my Roadster, although would enjoy an Interstate beside it also for the beefy appearance and additional range...
 
Given above Interstate in the distant past, I’ve kept my current combat as a roaster since ‘97 with the exception of one year as a fastback.
 
Getting back to ,the original question. I own roadsters. They both get more than 150 miles per tank of gas and that's more than enough to get between servos in NZ [ may be not after 9:00 pm in the country areas but i don't ride that much long distance at night].

Besides, I was warned that 4-5 gallons sloshing around in an interstate tank is not a good feeling. 2 1/2 gallons is enough and the bike in std roadster form is really light compared to other "tractors" on the road here in NZ. roadster pipes make changing a back wheel so much quicker than anything else around.

My vote goes for the Roadster. It looks the best, and even has infinite adjustment for the riding position depending on the speed you are doing.

Dereck
 
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