What was it like in 1968?

Blowfly

Blowfly

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Jul 23, 2021
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Blowfly here. I bought a '68 Commando recently. Riding it has been revelatory. So much feedback from the machine. Sticks to the road like sh-t to a blanket, and that feeling when everything goes 'hummmm* at 3,000-6,000. Totally addictive.

I was born when all superbikes were Japanese. It got me wondering what it must have been like to ride a bike like this in '68. Don't get me wrong a Beezer or Triumph are fine machines, but a '68 Commando is so different. Sublime.

Oops I just joined the Access Norton, hi everyone! ...

There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven't yet met.
 
I was only 11, so wouldn't know.

My first ride on a Norton was just over 20 years ago, and Commandos could be outperformed by 500cc hyperbikes by then... (these days 250cc will almost do it)
 
You're not wrong, a friend's KTM 250 leaves any old bike off the mark.
I rode a friend's BSA Lightning recently. World's apart. About what I expect of that period. But the Commando is a totally different machine. It must have made a huge impact at the time.
 
My first ride on one was the day after buying mine... Had to get it running you know because I had only tried 'looking the good out of them' up to that point... That grand event happened... like 43 or so years ago. The smooth zone will get you hooked for good.
 
I too was only 11, but by the the time wheels and the internal combustion engine featured big time (mid '70s), of the few I knew who rode, most wouldn't touch Brit stuff, and those that did mainly favoured Triumph, though one guy had a 650 Norton. The 'Combat' saga made quite a few wary back then..
 
I rode my first brit bike in 1969. 650 Triumph. To me at age 17 it was equivalent of the average rider getting aboard a serious modern bike now such was its power. Ride on a Norton came later I guess about 1973. Absolutely amazed at the smoothness at
highway speed, why you could even see things in the mirror! But although I did have a 72 for a spell it never really hit me in terms of power because I had a 850 Trident too.
The rubber mounted engine was what it was all about. But once the japs came out with superior rides in all categories it was
game over. I stuck to the british stuff mostly and I am still aboard the same stuff now.
Some people are just not that smart.
 
Blowfly said:
You're not wrong, a friend's KTM 250 leaves any old bike off the mark.
I rode a friend's BSA Lightning recently. World's apart. About what I expect of that period. But the Commando is a totally different machine. It must have made a huge impact at the time.
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You can equate that impact to two others that would be similar:

Suzuki GSX
Suzuki Hyabusa

Both of these kicked the competition to the curb, and dominated those markets for a decade or more.

Nowdays, any monumental eclipsing of the competition is far less likely to happen. The incremental increases are getting harder and harder to squeeze out.
 
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No doubt electric bikes will be the big game changer.
...as if our current bikes are not powerful enough!

Edit: Did I really say "current"....? ;-O
 
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grandpaul said:
Not until somebody comes up with a "game changing" battery that is PROVEN to be life-cycle cost effective to produce, use with greater life and charge capacity, recharge, and dispose of.
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Whilst I agree that will be the electrical nirvana, even if someone doesn't, legislation will probably railroad the manufacturers into offering something regardless....
 
No question about it. Our Leaders demand we do as the population insists after they convince the population!
Most people see a green revolution as nothing but progress all around.
Sail to steam, steam to diesel, diesel to electric happened on the high sea and now it is our turn....
 
Onder said:
diesel to electric happened on the high sea and now it is our turn....
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Electric ships powered by battery?

REALLY? I sure want to see all those fleets...

In fact, the one PROVEN non-fossil-fuel-based nautical craft would be the nuclear-fueled fleets of the armed forces.
 
ha! in 1968 my ride was Yamaha 80 used to buzz over to BSA/Triumph dealerships and drool and dream Norton in this neck o de woods was rare and as exotic and unobtainable to me as would have been a Jag XKE
 
I like the old English iron and never see myself as trading it off for some damned jakazuki no matter how fast it is. I believe this is a matter of taste and desire for punishment on some level.... I love my Norton more than that long ago day I first mounted it and took off.
 
jbruney said:
I like the old English iron and never see myself as trading it off for some damned jakazuki no matter how fast it is. I believe this is a matter of taste and desire for punishment on some level.... I love my Norton more than that long ago day I first mounted it and took off.
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Took off what?? ;-)
 
Into the void. Unmatched by any scooter before or after.... Really guys I sometimes suspect many of you are not fully committed in your relationship with your Commando..... Hurt their feelings and sit on the roadside... Oh wait.... that's the wife that did that to me.
 
jbruney said:
Into the void. Unmatched by any scooter before or after.... Really guys I sometimes suspect many of you are not fully committed in your relationship with your Commando..... Hurt their feelings and sit on the roadside... Oh wait.... that's the wife that did that to me.
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I have loved many of my vehicles over the years, but only ever once consummated the relationship... I let my first Gilbern boil over.. That f*cked it !
 
Electric bikes are huge in some places already, e.g. Vietnam. For 90% of people it makes sense - short distances, reliability. For pedestrians it takes some getting used to - we don't realise how much we navigate with with our ears. For petrolheads like me it's a living nightmare.

Back to my Norton, the thought that crossed my mind when I first rode it was why did they keep making new motorcycles after this? Ha ha! The engineers and buying public must have been so impressed - like one fellow @jbruney above said, the smooth zone hooks you. And the handling is amazing. It's probably sacrilege on this forum but a good front disc brake might be the only mod I see as worthwhile. It's different with a Beezer or a Bonnie, you can see how the Japs saw their chance to do a better job, CB450/750, the Kawasaki triples, etc. "43hp from 444cc"
 
To look at in 1968 , they were amazing .. I did not ride one for another 4 years .
 
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