What do you think about purchase

I'd give it a miss. Not worth the money IMhO. The one posted by time warp looks a reasonable proposition. Or wait till the off season! Go in hard though....at the moment everything is in the buyer's favour at the moment believe me.

Well that's an anti climax...can we just pretend you haven't seen it yet and continue on with the thread?

Addik said:

G'day Folks

Well things lined up so I could see it today.

Pictures look better then in real life.....kind of a shame given the effort put into upgrades that the final presentation didn't look better close up. The big down points where no real documentation on the engine other then to say the previous owner did work and mentioned no more then gaskets was done because everything was good! It started about 4th kick and sounded ok and didn't smoke but with my small amount of Norton experience its hard to say. Lots of pitting on the bright work and some chips on the fuel tank. Maybe its just me but if I was selling a bike it would be polished to the max, but I kind of got the feeling it was loved more by the previous owner then the latest. Little details like the bone dry front forks in need of a good clean/polish/oil just gave me a bad feeling, guess I'm looking for that Norton owned by an enthusiast. Doesn't have to be perfect as some character is ok, just needs to have been loved

May still be an ok bike, just on price point its not looking good.


Keep the leads coming

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This experience has value... everyone's interpretation of "pristine" is different. This will help you home in on what YOU are wanting. For me, it was a bike as close to stone stock as possible. Just my preference. A few tasteful reliability upgrades are fine, and things like modern tires (totally reversible, except in photographs) allow me to ride the bike a lot. I know what it takes to "unmodify" a bike... lot's of time and money. (Doesn't always stop me though, I'm going through it right now with an RZ350 )
Other people wouldn't DREAM of owning a Commando without the obligatory Corbin solo seat and low bars. Or a bigger front rotor. Or rearsets. Or a 3-phase alt. Or a Mikuni carb. Or high compression pistons. Or low compression pistons. Or a hot cam. Or a belt drive primary. Or flanged Akront rims. Or stainless steel spokes. Personal preference.
Bottom line is, you'll end up spending thousands of dollars improving/restoring/maintaining/changing your bike. The closer it is to your vision, the less that amount will be.
I had mentioned to a few friends that I was looking. I had looked at some bikes locally. When a friend from the Mid-West e-mailed and said "there's one for sale right near you, reasonable price, looks good" I flashed into horse-trader action. Forgetting for a moment that this former long-haul trucker friend's "right near you" meant "East Coast", :wink: I prepared for a 800 mile retrieval. 3:00AM departure, 9:00PM return.
If I had a nickel for every seller that claimed "engine just rebuilt", " engine just gone through" that turned out to be a repair of a failed, neglected part (like a head gasket replacement) or a simple re-gasket, I'd be a rich man. Your story made me grin. :mrgreen:

There will be others to look at, so go with what you want, I was offered a 73 850 Commando about 12 months ago for $6,000 was a import from the US, it looked all stock but the shop that offered it to me for that price couldn't tell me nothing about the bike, they haven't even tryed to start it, I was temped just for another project bike, but gave it a miss, then 2 months later I brought a brand new Triumph Thruxton.

You can easly get chaught out, just looking at a bike you can become very excited about it and jump at it just by looks, spend a bucket of money to buy it then once you get it home you find out its not what its all made out to be then you have to spend another bucket of money to get it right, so take your time look at others that are on the market and one will come along that you will truely love.

Just enjoy the experance of looking for the right one that suites you and what you want to spend.

Ashley

Keep your eye on eBay for a seller who goes by the name "commando garden".
Jim cousins is his real name and he prepares commandos for sale very well. I haven't seen one of his bikes go for under $15k - ever.
I bought a 73 mkI w/under 10000miles for $12k bout five years ago. I've spent another 10k since, at least
I have not done any cosmetic work so it looks like a maintained original. I like that look myself. It's once you start to look inside and at the various upgrades that you see where the $ are.
There is no way I'd get $22k for it though but with a fresh coat, maybe $17-18k

Dkt26,

Was actually watching a Jim Cossins one recently that didn't meet reserve on ebay.

Addik, I think Jim's put it back on ebay and giving it another go
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Norton-Comma ... 4179c54dc7

Dkt26 said:

Keep your eye on eBay for a seller who goes by the name "commando garden".
Jim cousins is his real name and he prepares commandos for sale very well. I haven't seen one of his bikes go for under $15k - ever.

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I brought a fully sorted, gone through commando of Jim in 2006. not long after it had a gearbox rebuild then after riding 300 km it had no compression so a complete engine rebuild was in order. before that I had to replace the carbies because it had 1x 928 carby and 1x 932 carby. We also had to straighten the frame, rewire and forgot to mention that in the photos supplied it had a braided brake line but when I received it lo and behold it had the old rubber one back on. Fully sorted my bum. Owes me 22k.
Tim

Addik said:

At $16000 AU its a healthy price so would really like input on how good the mods are, how hard to revert back to original not too mention the cost of original parts to at least collect and keep on the shelf?

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Hi Ben,

$16k is a heap of money. If you want a nice stock Commando, $6000 in the US will get you a good runner. That is about $8,500 landed in OZ. add about a grand for full rego and certificates and that leaves you about $6500 to play with.

If you really feel you need that bike, then grab it. In 5 years time it will be worth at least what you paid, maybe more.

Cheers
Mark

This is a good thread for newbies such as myself who are exploring the purchase of a Commando. It is becoming increasingly apparent to me that the important part about assessing the price of a prospective purchase is about getting a clear picture of the condition and maintenance/upgrade history of the bits that can't be seen.

Ben,
do yourself a favour and pop in to see Murray at Cycle Craft Engineering in Carlisle. Not only will he provide you with all the info you need on buying a Commando he may have one ready for sale soon. He is doing up a couple of of imported US models at the moment for sale I believe.
Dave

Addik. I believe your right by going by "gut feeling". I looked again at Gumtree today and thought why this hasnt been sold.. been there months and to me with the "mods" and the looks (photo's) it seems to be around the market price (providing its condition was comparable).... but when that uncomfortable gut feeling comes into the transaction, its time to back off....
I dont know what your looking for and how much work your prepared to do/pay for but i saw 2 Nortons today (Sat 30thNov), fresh from the container from USA. 1@ roller not running 80% complete (obviously needs $2+ in parts) plus the whatevers??..... 1@ 750 "bitsa" (with fake home stamped Numbers ) running and presentable not much to do to licence (sounds real nice) ... Both are located same place SOPerth. Both have legit paperwork and ready 4 sale...

PM me if you want , i will give ph #

I am making the assumption that your located in Perth WA 6000

I have a mk3 I would sell I am in newcastle Australia

You might want to check the Access Norton For Sale site.

http://www.accessnorton.com/1972-commando-combat-t17890.html#p223630

Hello addik I am new to the site & computers so I don't know how to post photos on site but I can send 1 photo at a time through email if you give me your email. Thanks john