Should gearbox number match with frame and engine?

Mmm......Mocha soy latte sounds yummy. I might ride up to the local cafe and get me one on my matching numbers Triumph.

I'm with you Scooter, one of the good things about having a non matching numbers bike is you can ride hard and not worry about devaluing your bike if you develop major mechanical problems. With Nortons it's no real issue anyway. As already stated, frames are interchangable, with the number being on a riveted on plate, and new unstamped gearbox shells are available. So it is easy for anyone to turn their boxes of swap meet parts into a matching numbers Commando.

Did someone say mocha soy latte? Yum! That's my morning eye-opener of choice (I have my own espresso machine). I like to have one every day before riding my non-matching numbers Commando to work.

Debby

On the subject of swapping frames, mine has a "VIN" stamped near the red number plate. This number starts with "850", is completely different from the frame number, and is called out on my Arizona title. So if I were to swap frames, the bike could presumably no longer be titled.

Do all Commandos have this VIN in addition to the frame/engine/gearbox number?

This is a frame number used on the MK3's but was stamped on the frame on ealier 850,s but not normally used, my MK2A has it and it was used instead of the red plate number for a UK registration for it which was wrong.

Bloody hell! I didn't know there were so many Mocha soy latte drinkers out there on Nortons.
I personally will only consider adding to my less than museum quality collection if the machine has the original air in the tires and original oil in the cases. As such to maintain value I don't dare ride the damn things.
:lol:

As one of the original owners all I can say is I lost track of what I had swapped after a few years. If you pranged it in a race the quickest stuff you had to hand that worked went into it.
This current bike I have is a pretty good version of an old seventies hot rodded cafe racer. I think nothing matches as far as numbers go so there is no pressure to match stuff up.
The bike does deliver a real old Norton experience though. Yesterday I drove one of my 76 Goldwings on some errands. Virtually no noise and start with a half second touch of a button, no vibration on the pegs, nothing.
After I finished doing some repairs on ornaments for our holiday train I decided to get the Norton warm in order to begin changing a leaking exhaust to head gasket.
Now this is a motorcycle! She was running in a couple of kicks with that distinctive poom poom poom sound and vibration that lets you know you are alive.
In a quick country run to get up to temp she is off like a rocket with the short gearing and you turn up the wick just to hear her. The vibration on the pegs would be a pain on a long run but for fun it is just fine.
The featherbed frame makes her feel much smaller than she is as the bike is so light and responsive in the corners. It is very easy to play pukka racer and the more you lean her the more she seems to like it. She comes out of corners like a rocket and seems happy to drift the rear a bit on power. She now displays the old silk shifting that Nortons were famous for and you shift her just to hear and feel her boil. I'm holding her down to 6,000 RPM but she seems to instantly get there every time you look.
I have no intention of over restoring her and the concours at the Ritz Carlton and Hillsbourough will have to get along without us.

So very well said, Bloody well said!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :lol:

Exscuse my ignorance but what is a mocha soy latte ? sounds painfull

Blaise

It's a trendy coffee drink that is made with soy bean milk, I think that real men don't drink that stuff. Scooter may be able to help out here? I would not worry about the #'s matching so much but if they do some feel is adds to the cool factor, I myself am building a 72 and the trans layshaft bearing was shot and it wore the case a bit so in went a good used shell. I am going to hold on to the matching shell but I am more concerned with the bike being solid than what the cases say. Sorry if this is a bit too easy as some have said to get the shell fixed, I really don't know if that is possible and have it last. Take care guys and ride safe, Chuck.

Sorry mate, haven't actually had one myself. but I suggest a pint of bitter to start the day and believe it or not would probably cost less than a trendy coffee drink at Starbucks
JUST DON'T CHANGE THE AIR IN YOUR TIRES, KEEP IT ORIGINAL!


sorry for the levity here but I've just watched the value of my Dale Earheart collector plates go through the floor and know for sure the Elvis on velvet paintings will be the next to drop. Collecting is a brutal game, no mercy for the weak.

I can't stomach soy lattes - literally.

Here in South Florida we have something called Cafe Cubano - essentially a double espresso with a heavy shot of cane sugar. Coffee for eight is a styrofoam cup and a stack of little one ounce cups. One shot is good for a few hours.


My bike has gone through probably 15 or 20 owners and hadn't been on the road for a good fifteen years. How can anybody say what is correct or original for this machine? The number on the case is the same as the number on the red plate, but the number on the gearbox says it was originally in a 750.

Someone pointed out that the name on my collector plates is misspelled and that they must be fakes! Cor! serves me right for investing through Ebay instead of Lehman Brothers Next thing I know I'll find out my Elvis paintings are really paintings of an Elvis impersonator! I may have to start drinking those trendy coffee drinks when I'm on Ebay instead of Guinness stout.

Ok, I get the distinct impression that most Commando owners don't give a rat's a*s about matching numbers or nancy-boy beverages. That's just fine by me since my numbers don't match and never will, and the only thing I drink when I'm not slugging down beer and Jack Daniels is straight, black coffee. My goal is to produce a clean, sorted out bike I can ride on weekends, not a garage queen that gets trailered to shows (what a waste).