Nova Motorcycles-1971 Norton Commando

This week Sayre talks about one of his favorite British bikes, the 1971 Norton Commando and the ingenious engineering of their isolastic rubber engine mounts.

[mikecartlidge]

In 1972 I bought a 1971 one year old 750 Commando Roadster MK1, it had been production raced and was fitted with a 3S cam, loved the bike that much that now at the age of 69 I still have the Commando and am in the stages of giving it a well deserved rebuild.

[brucebear]

You're perfectly set up to rebuild this motorcycle as a "street scrambler". The '71 year saw a limited run of a model that Norton called the "SS", it had upswept exhausts (one pipe on each side), a 5 3/5" headlamp, a high front fender, and a small "desert-racing type" fuel tank. In fact, the fuel tank was a version of the P-11 tank with a revised bottom panel to suit the larger Commando backbone frame.
All the parts are available and it would be a model-year-appropriate restoration. Plus, they're a really classy looking design.

[frankmarkovcijr]

It started as a 500 that Bert Hopwood . He designed the bike to be able to be made on the machinery they had. It was supposed to be replaced with a better motor but Norton went broke in 1950 and was aquarired by AMC.

[peterrestaino]

You werent kidding when you told me I would like this next video. My shed find 1969 Norton Commando is probably a roadster. has Halo headlight, fiberglass tank blue metalic paint in usable condition . Early triple trees. Got the frame stripped and starting sanding and inspection. Found slight damage at side stand mount area. Pressing on. keep up the good work.

[utharaptortrex]

As some have commented, 2 levers seems a bit cumbersome. If it works for the client that's fine, but I would consider using a twist clutch and left side front brake lever combo, it allows you to twist the clutch and hold the brake at the same time and shifting feels intuitive with rolling of the throttle as you roll on the clutch.

[DANTHETUBEMAN]

you have to link front and back with a proportioning valve.
you can't have two lever's that's unrideable, you have to clutch and brake to stop and hold on hills.