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Pretty Please - add it to our Events forum(s) and add to the calendar! >> 
Hi all,
I just joined the forum, left the obligatory intro in the New Members forum, so if you'd like to find out a little more about me, well, go on over there and have a look.
I've wanted a Norton since I was in junior high (mid-60s). As a lowly 7th grader, I vividly recall sitting on my Schwinn Stingray in the bike cage (probably a 20' x 40' fenced in area), watching all the lucky kids with motorcycles pull in. Mostly they were riding small Hondas and a smattering of equally small Japanese two-strokes, but there were a couple with bevel-head 250 Duc singles (wouldn't you love to have one of <span style="font-style: italic">those</span> now?), and there was this one 9th grader who owned a Norton Atlas. At 750cc, it was Colossal, and the guy who rode it was surely a member of the Greek pantheon. Apollo, perhaps, or maybe Hermes. And the sound! From that point onward during those impressionable years, nothing else would compare.
And then a few years later Norton introduced the Commando. I was hooked. Totally. Irrevocably. I had access to a friend and his brother's Honda 175 and 350, and rode them often, unbeknownst to my parents, who forbade me from having a motorcycle. But it didn't matter. I wanted a Commando.
Fast forward almost four decades. I own four bikes by that point (my parents should never had said "No!" and I might have gotten it out of my system as a youngster), and almost unexpectedly, find myself to be the owner of a '74 Commando. I had placed a rather low bid on it on eBay, feeling for sure I'd be outbid, but I wasn't. It was an unexpected surprise, and ended up being the best birthday present ever to myself.
After I went through the bike and got it running reliably, I cobbled together a web page HERE.
That was five years ago. Currently I have all the controls off the handlebars. I'm replacing the original master cylinder with a more modern version, which should hopefully give me a less wooden feel than the original. In order to match the new MC up with the existing fittings, I'm going to have a local guy who specializes in the old Brit bikes cobble up a replacement front brake hose for me. Also, almost all the original switchgear is shot, and I'm thinking about replacing the lot with this one. After that, I should have it back on the road.
Best,
Michael
I just joined the forum, left the obligatory intro in the New Members forum, so if you'd like to find out a little more about me, well, go on over there and have a look.
I've wanted a Norton since I was in junior high (mid-60s). As a lowly 7th grader, I vividly recall sitting on my Schwinn Stingray in the bike cage (probably a 20' x 40' fenced in area), watching all the lucky kids with motorcycles pull in. Mostly they were riding small Hondas and a smattering of equally small Japanese two-strokes, but there were a couple with bevel-head 250 Duc singles (wouldn't you love to have one of <span style="font-style: italic">those</span> now?), and there was this one 9th grader who owned a Norton Atlas. At 750cc, it was Colossal, and the guy who rode it was surely a member of the Greek pantheon. Apollo, perhaps, or maybe Hermes. And the sound! From that point onward during those impressionable years, nothing else would compare.
And then a few years later Norton introduced the Commando. I was hooked. Totally. Irrevocably. I had access to a friend and his brother's Honda 175 and 350, and rode them often, unbeknownst to my parents, who forbade me from having a motorcycle. But it didn't matter. I wanted a Commando.
Fast forward almost four decades. I own four bikes by that point (my parents should never had said "No!" and I might have gotten it out of my system as a youngster), and almost unexpectedly, find myself to be the owner of a '74 Commando. I had placed a rather low bid on it on eBay, feeling for sure I'd be outbid, but I wasn't. It was an unexpected surprise, and ended up being the best birthday present ever to myself.
After I went through the bike and got it running reliably, I cobbled together a web page HERE.
That was five years ago. Currently I have all the controls off the handlebars. I'm replacing the original master cylinder with a more modern version, which should hopefully give me a less wooden feel than the original. In order to match the new MC up with the existing fittings, I'm going to have a local guy who specializes in the old Brit bikes cobble up a replacement front brake hose for me. Also, almost all the original switchgear is shot, and I'm thinking about replacing the lot with this one. After that, I should have it back on the road.
Best,
Michael
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