Thinking about commando prices , what’s your opinion ?

Not counting NYC Norton or CNW... Any money to be made on a Norton is probably in maintaining and repairing bikes for those that can't tell or just don't care which end of a screwdriver is the smart end.

I owned one Commando and broke even on it when I sold it. Paid $750 for it and sold it after 2 or 3 months for what I paid for it. It was all there and stock. I put Commandos out of my mind after owning the one. Bad fit for me. It happens.

If I'd restored the Norton I've had for way too long the 3rd time I took it apart 30 years ago instead of hot rodding it, I could make a few bucks selling it today. Now no way in heck could I make anything on it after the modifications, which is why I'm still playing around with it.

Buying a Commando and expecting to make money on a restoration is overly optimistic in my twisted mind. Restoring one for a wealthy client has more potential for making money. I don't do it, but that seems like the only thing that would really pencil out.

Nice '74 on bring a trailer now

...oh, by the way, "market" price takes in a LOT of different aspects-

-Regional markets in small towns are nowhere near spot markets in major ubrban cities
-Winter market "up north" is different from spring market "down south"
-Most markets can be affected by exaggerated economic conditions

etc, etc, etc...

Mostly for entertainment, I rebuild Nortons and Triumphs. I won't sell them at a loss but to make that possible I pay myself between $1 and $3/hour. I generally sell for $13,000 to the general public or for $12,500 to forum members. The bikes I rebuild are NOT restores in that I don't worry about the correct nuts and bolts, I always hand wire them, I use Amal Premier carbs, and I use Tri-Spark Ignition and voltage regulators. Every bike I rebuild comes 100% part, the small black parts get powder coated in-house, the frame either gets powder coated by a company or painted in-house, and the cradle gets painted in-house. The cases are made to look new in-house and all polishing is done in-house as well.

So, I consider a beautiful, perfectly running, rust and oil leak free, but not concours Norton rebuild to be worth about $13,000. When I've tried to sell for more than that, no interest was seen.

Craig said:

I think the value of any bike is whatever you can sell for , we can fill page after page of evidence of value but in the end whatever you decide to pay or sell for is what it worth …. auction sites, for sale sites are great for establishing a ball park number … after that it all down to who selling and the buyer ….

Click to expand...

The true value of any bike is determined at the moment you turn the light on in the garage ... I've had my fair share of bikes and more than one at times but nothing makes me smile like the sight of my Norton when that light goes on .. It's that feeling that determines how much is too much .

The market on Norton has always been fickle up to and including the 961. Matt(CNW) isn't building bikes like he was before, he's still building some but is now parts-focused which is good for us. Many of the other Norton parts vendors are leaving the business most recently(Old Brits and Fair Spares, etc). That should tell you something. Bikes that have 30k in them selling for 15K or a decent 75 selling for 19k. The most recent 75 on BAT went for 12k Prices are all over the place. Look at the current bids on some bikes listed on Bring a Trailer https://bringatrailer.com/search/?s=norton+commando

Current full restorations costs are well north of 30k and that's with a decent donor motorcycle. Add some bells and whistles and they get higher than that. Engine rebuilds are 5k for a decent well-sorted job.

There are plenty of well-sorted machines including CNW bikes up for sale so while we continue to do some restorations many times we can and will steer a customer into buying something already on the market. The only issue with some of the latest listings is the lack of titles and non-matching numbers.

marshg246 said:

Mostly for entertainment, I rebuild Nortons and Triumphs. I won't sell them at a loss but to make that possible I pay myself between $1 and $3/hour. I generally sell for $13,000 to the general public or for $12,500 to forum members. The bikes I rebuild are NOT restores in that I don't worry about the correct nuts and bolts, I always hand wire them, I use Amal Premier carbs, and I use Tri-Spark Ignition and voltage regulators. Every bike I rebuild comes 100% part, the small black parts get powder coated in-house, the frame either gets powder coated by a company or painted in-house, and the cradle gets painted in-house. The cases are made to look new in-house and all polishing is done in-house as well.

So, I consider a beautiful, perfectly running, rust and oil leak free, but not concours Norton rebuild to be worth about $13,000. When I've tried to sell for more than that, no interest was seen.

Click to expand...

This is why we only do rebuild for customers under contract. Even with a basic refresh, you can have 10-13k in costs depending on hours spent. Granted costs in California are a little more than in other states.

I recall Jerry Doe had a spreadsheet he did on his rebuild and I think parts costs alone were north of 15K

City Garage said:

This is why we only do rebuild for customers under contract. Even with a basic refresh, you can have 10-13k in costs depending on hours spent. Granted costs in California are a little more than in other states.

I recall Jerry Doe had a spreadsheet he did on his rebuild and I think parts costs alone were north of 15K

Click to expand...

I keep track of every penny spent and every hour worked. The only reason I get them done for less is that I have dealer accounts and I'm not paying help. To have dealer accounts, I must buy lots of parts. That was no issue before I quit eBay as I sold a lot there. These days I sell very little in parts so I'm re-evaluating keeping my dealer accounts. Without them, every rebuild will be a major loss and with them, I have over $78k of parts sitting around.

The market price of something is not always an indication of it's true value. The reason some of us old guys have nice classic bike, is we bought them when we were young and kept them.n When I built my Seeley 850 out of parts in about 1978. It probably cost less then $3000. Today a Minnovation Seeley 750 probably costs $40,000. In a minute, somebody might start making old Commaandos out of parts and sell them. Would that make the originals less valuable ?
There are guys in histroric car racing who believe replicas devalue the originals. You can buy very nice TYpe 35 C Bugattis from Brazil. Does that mean you can buy the real ones cheap ?

marshg246 said:

I keep track of every penny spent and every hour worked. The only reason I get them done for less is that I have dealer accounts and I'm not paying help. To have dealer, I must buy lots of parts. That was no issue before I quit eBay as I sold a lot there. These days I sell very little in parts so I'm re-evaluating keeping my dealer accounts. Without them, every rebuild will be a major loss with them, I have over $78k of parts sitting around.

Click to expand...

Yikes, that's some inventory. We went Raber's auction and were amazed to see how much inventory they had for sale. We stock very little even for our service business since most vendors can get us what we need in a day or two and order as needed for the restorations we do. Other vendors like Coventry have cornered the market on Amal so there are some decent prices still to be had but other vendors are raising prices as container shipping has overwhelmed many others.

I doubt it will get any better, too many other easy options out there that also offer more value.


Plus upcoming folks aren't big fans of boomers or being around them.

I've been in the classic car business most of my life, and it is my conviction that the vast majority of
'collectible' cars and motorcycles will end up as scrap metal. There are simply too many of them.
It's an old man's hobby. Enjoy it while you still can.
Anyone who believes that a Norton Commando is a sound long-term investment is dreaming..

ludwig said:

I've been in the classic car business most of my life, and it is my conviction that the vast majority of
'collectible' cars and motorcycles will end up as scrap metal. There are simply too many of them.
It's an old man's hobby. Enjoy it while you still can.
Anyone who believes that a Norton Commando is a sound long-term investment is dreaming..

Click to expand...

Plus they will become increasingly 'marginalised' through legislation etc.....

EstuaryBoy said:

Plus they will become increasingly 'marginalised' through legislation etc.....

Click to expand...

Exactly.

I argued for years that people tend to forget that ‘old men’ actually do NOT die off… they are a constant… meaning that they’re continually replaced!

Older, wealthier men put money into older cars and bikes for many reasons and it is NOT only for the bikes they lusted after in their youth. If that that were the case, the market for pre WW2 machines would be dead, but it’s far from it.

But… legislation, social pressure, lack of easily available fuel in an EV dominated world, etc… these are the real threats / potential game changers IMHO.

But #2… I do wonder if the current EV frenzy will peak soon? That EV MGB I posted a link to emphasises the point. If you want to use one of those for a sunny Sunday afternoon drive out, assuming a safe realistic range of a little over 100 miles means you could only drive 50 miles from home.

Actually, that’s probably fine for many classic Sunday drivers.

But where’s the green / EV argument in that ?!? A leisure vehicle being used for a few hundred, perhaps 1-2000 miles per year. That will probably NEVER payback the carbon footprint investment of the Li battery pack etc.… never mind the £90k financial investment !! So whats the logic of anyone buying one of these? Green ‘virtue signalling’? Mass hysteria / frenzy? I don’t know, but whatever it is, I think it applies to a lot of current EV buyers.

grandpaul said:

As long as the market sustains CNW's prices of $30K, I believe very-well-prepared Commandos can fetch $20K and upwards in certain markets, including the big auction houses. They do have to have provenance in the engine build that more or less guarantees the buyer that they aren't going to explode. Leo Goff engines add a good deal of that provenance.

Click to expand...

Recently, we both commented on a used one (fs section on this site), that looked fab & went for 18k.

Fast Eddie said:

Exactly.

I argued for years that people tend to forget that ‘old men’ actually do NOT die off… they are a constant… meaning that they’re continually replaced!

Click to expand...

That's a bit deep for snowflakes.

The fuel issue is a concern, but I've yet to see a piece of legislation being introduced to the detriment of the Classic movement in the UK - quite the opposite IMHO:
Free tax and no MoT requirement have been a godsend to me, saving me a LOT of money, and making older bikes more attractive to buyers
While new legislation impacts new vehicles, I've yet to see any applied retrospectively - otherwise granny's Morris Minor would have been condemned years ago for lack of seatbelts.
There's still a 'cool' element to classic bikes, but it's certainly the case that when I rock up at a bike meeting I feel young, and I'm way the wrong side of 50!

I sold an 850 Roadster to a guy a few years ago who gave me good money. He'd previously been to 3 dealers who were selling significantly more expensive examples which were all apparently utter cr*p in comparison (his words).
His mate told me the bike would be very unlikely to leave his front room...

The Ducati Bevel market is huge, but very few bikes seem to make it on to the road these days - they're mostly in private collections. A great clip from an Aussie show regarding a '74 greenframe... 'this bike is too valuable to actually start up, so here's a 750GT for a sound comparison'

Commandos will always fetch good money because (I believe) they're the best all-round Brit out there. Whether they're better than money in the bank is debatable - I guess if you Pay £12k for a dealer restored example then it isn't going to make a fortune in 5 years.
That said, I do believe depreciation isn't a thing with our bikes; just the running costs, like TTI gearboxes and Fullauto heads

I agree that in the UK: 'We've never had it so good'.....
But the cynic in me can't help but think it won't/can't last...

EstuaryBoy said:

I agree that in the UK: 'We've never had it so good'.....
But the cynic in me can't help but think it won't/can't last...

Click to expand...

The cost of fuel could be the death of our bikes
New legislation could be around the corner
And on public opinion on Dino burning vehicles is changing
An electric scooter riding neighbour of mine doesn't like the fact I drive a diesel car
I deren't tell him I sometimes ride a motorcycle just for fun
It won't be long before lefties turn on motor sports of all kinds and liesure activities connected with burning fossil fuels will eventually be outlawed
So make the most of it now or sell your commandos now while the going is good

Anyone wanna buy the following...