Is this an amazing find? NORTON!

Crusader

Crusader

I have no clue what I'm doing. :D
I'm thinking about picking this up tomorrow. Its a Norton Commander 850 (and its British, rare much?). Went and checked it out today and it has good compression, shifts through gears fine and seems like it should only need a little carb cleanup, new plugs, etc, to get it running. Comes with an additional tank, multiple side cover sets as well as multiple seats (cafe seat too), and 3 cardboard boxes just full of parts/manuals. Has everything it needs to get running. Just needs some TLC.

He's asking $4400 but he can work on the price. Looks like the perfect opportunity for an amazing cafe build. Am I crazy or is the price right? Should I go for it?


IMG_0620 by Crusader561, on Flickr


IMG_0619 by Crusader561, on Flickr


IMG_0618 by Crusader561, on Flickr
 
My $.02:

If I paid $4400 for a bike, it had better be complete / running / reliable, and I wouldn't make a "build" out of it.
 
It looks like it is in really good shape. Seeing that the only one I have ever seen for sale was in VERY bad shape and at the same price, looks like a legit deal to me!


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If he's willing to work on the price you probably have a nice deal going on there. Norton's always seem to hold a good value and from the pics, that one looks to be in nice shape even if it's not ready to ride. What other parts are in the extra boxes?


Commando is great vintage bike. Last year made was 73 or 74 I believe. Make sure he has a clean title and double check the year.
 
True, I would definitely NOT be building a custom bike out of that gorgeous bike... A bike is worth how much you are willing to pay for it. As far as market value, I have seen them sell as high as 16-20k USD... Personally it would be hard to let go but you can do minor stock cleaning and tune up things to it you could just turn around and sell it and make a good amount of money on that.. IMO I would jump on that... Hell depending on what the "extra" parts are you could make half or more of your money back on those alone.
 
True, I would definitely NOT be building a custom bike out of that gorgeous bike... A bike is worth how much you are willing to pay for it. As far as market value, I have seen them sell as high as 16-20k USD... Personally it would be hard to let go but you can do minor stock cleaning and tune up things to it you could just turn around and sell it and make a good amount of money on that.. IMO I would jump on that... Hell depending on what the "extra" parts are you could make half or more of your money back on those alone.
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+1
 
id say work on the price a bit. Fully restored Norton 750 and 850s go for about 8-12k in my area. the bike is in very nice shape and looks like a good start to a resto. I would say you walked away with it for anything 4G or less your doing good and can be profitable. BUT PLEASE don't cut up a Norton, if you want keep that as a nice daily rider and cut up a more common(probably Japanese) bike for a Cafe or Brat or whatever your into!
 
I would not modify the Norton. I would buy it, argue price but buy it, they sell for good prices and are sought after especially the 850. You can do "hidden mods" like a better ignition and my brother installed Mikuni carburetor (and Boyer ignition) but keep the originals. I would do fork emulators and quality rear shocks for a nice handling bike. Nortons are way cool, 19" wheels front and rear. I love the sound the Commando makes, pure music.
Cheers, 50gary
 
Thanks for the advice guys. You have instilled a little more confidence in me to pull the trigger. I was planning on shooting for around 4k. I hope theres some people here that know how to work on Nortons!

And for everyone that thinks Im going to cut it up, rest assured the only thing I would do is make a seat pan that mounts up to the current mount points (so I can reattach the original seats) and put a more cafe seat on it. Maybe some clubman bars..and presto, sexy bike. Being able to go back to the original look will be a snap (and equally as sexy).

Edit: *noob question* what are fork emulators.
 
Looks pretty good, but why is the right pipe off? What is that about?

850 Commando Roadster is a reasonable bike. Not as fast as it might be but fun to ride with classic big twin sound.

I'd buy it, clean it up to make it immaculate and sell it to buy a Triumph T140E and drop that into a Rob North frame, but that's just me.

As soon as you start down the road of changing parts, it leads you down the proverbial rabbit hole. Make it into a Dunstall or Production racer or John Player Special or.... see what I mean.
 
Buy it, slap some clubmans and dcc rearsets on it.
Dont forget to wrap the pipes too.
 
50gary said:
I would not modify the Norton. I would buy it, argue price but buy it, they sell for good prices and are sought after especially the 850. You can do "hidden mods" like a better ignition and my brother installed Mikuni carburetor (and Boyer ignition) but keep the originals. I would do fork emulators and quality rear shocks for a nice handling bike. Nortons are way cool, 19" wheels front and rear. I love the sound the Commando makes, pure music.
Cheers, 50gary
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This is my non-facetious answer. I'm holding out hope that my brother and I can put one together for my dad someday.


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teazer said:
Looks pretty good, but why is the right pipe off? What is that about?
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Its in a box next to it...threads are good on the nut thing (don't know the name of it) on the head. Might just be missing the mounting bracket, no big deal.

I'm liking this seat. It comes with a rep pan that mounts up using the same knurl nob mounts as the standard seat...so no mod needed. I wouldn't mind throwing a Dunstall tank on it.

http://www.motorcycleseatsdirect.com/norton-commando-750-850-interstate-cafe-racer-motorcycle-seat-unit/

A few simple mods and I could be rolling on something similar to this:


1962 Triton by Jon Barbour, on Flickr
 
Awesome!
My friend owns a '75 commando here in Israel and another friend has one back in the UK. This bike sounds great and if I could find one here in Israel with the same price and the same condition, I wouldn't even think twice. Here it would definitely be a bargain. Are british bikes rare in the states?
 
The brit made Nortons are more rare in the states from what I hear. Not sure if its true but it would make sense.

Its a great deal from my research and what everyone is saying, but to be honest I'm a little scared to jump into this one being that its not running. I've been doing research and finding that they are way more finicky (especially the carbs) and parts are super pricey and hard to come by. Being my first resto/resto-mod I am a little intimidated by those elements. I can tear down a Honda and find every piece of the engine on fleabay for next to nothing. Not to mention the drop in mods, jet kits, carbs, pods, etc.

Is there a knowledgable Norton crew on here if I were to pull the trigger on this bike? Theres no shortage of CB guys....I see a lot of dumb questions left unanswered in my future hahaha! I would really hate to hit a brick wall and have "that bike" sitting in my garage for years. Especially having to make payments on it.
 
If you can AFFORD to throw $4k at a non running bike with the worst case scenario that the engine is shot.....then go ahead.


Doesn't sound like it though.....Caveat Emptor.....
 
hillsy said:
If you can AFFORD to throw $4k at a non running bike with the worst case scenario that the engine is shot.....then go ahead.


Doesn't sound like it though.....Caveat Emptor.....
Click to expand...

Noted..lol. That made my decision way easier. Just watched an Amal carb rebuild on youtube. I'm hoping I can just clean them up, replace the spark plugs, jump it, and be good to go (with the exception of tuning). One of the petcocks on the tank needs to be put in but luckily one of the boxes of parts has a couple of brand new ones in there. I did notice some light rusting inside the tank. I've seen worse. At the risk of sounding stupid, what should I do? Obviously that should be cleaned first (right?).
 
Are you able to do all this before you commit to buy? If so, then you will find out if the motor is shot or not. Use an auxillary tank if that's the case.


If not......you're still buying something with borrowed money that may be fucked.
 
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