Nortons

[KungFooBob]

Sell summot else...

I've got a washer/dryer, freezer, microwave and a hob to shift. All taking up valuable space in the garage from when I fitted a kitchen with integrated appliances. Doubt they'll net me the £15k I need for the council spec Commando.

[Dodgy69]

The armchair could go, think mine will be.

[KungFooBob]

The armchair could go, think mine will be.

Nah, I'm riding it to Bordeaux in September!

[Dodgy69]

Ar...Best keep it then. I've thought long and hard about mine, but im just not happy keeping summot to use once of twice a year, so it's going. Gonna drop to 2 bikes.

I do reserve the right to change my mind though.

[KungFooBob]

I rarely get to ride without a pillion, the Bullet for short trips and the GS for the longer ones. That's why the GSXR gets no miles.

[Dodgy69]

I'm all solo..

[roadster]

As one of the old folks mentioned in some of the previous posts I can tell you about the original Commando from personal experience of owning and racing one in the 1970s. I bough it new from Elite Motorcycles in London when they were selling off a batch of 750 machines with the so called "Combat" engine. Good and bad points:-

The rubber mounted engine meant that you didn't feel the vibration but that didn't mean it wasn't vibrating, enough to shed the nut which clamped the gearbox mount/primary chain adjuster. The rubber mounts also contributed to a high speed weave/wobble at 90 mph when travelling in a straight line. This was so bad that I got black flagged during a practice session at Brands Hatch because of weaving on the main straight. It could be cured by replacing the front forks with Norvil parts and taking all of the movement out of the rubber mounts by shimming them up solid.
The disk brake was innovative at the time but had tiny circular pads that overheated after about on racing lap. Again a Norvil AP calliper was available if you could afford it. Another notable failure was the centre stand which was weakened by poor welding technique and snapped one leg off. I repaired that with brazed reinforcement. I also had to fit a new head gasket because it leaked oil even before it was run in.

Good points:
Sounded wonderful on peashooter silencers and made a good road bike if you didn't go above 80 mph.

So no rose tinted spectacles here!

[JackyJoll]

There’s no doubt that as powered transport sold to customers, the old 750/850 Commando was a bad bike.

[rodbargee]

They have their days, occasionally, but take some spanners with you! it souds wonderful Had this for three or four yeaars and its just not ridden enough.

[KungFooBob]

I've got this bizarre urge to buy a new Commando. I've read all the reviews. None of them are bad. Loads saying the Trumpet 1200 is cheaper and faster, but lacking the character.

It's interesting that it doesn't meet current Euro 5 emission standards, so each new bike goes through the IVA (Individual Vehicle Approval) to get registered.

Which makes you wonder why some of the other manufactures don't offer this as a special cost extra. Want a new DRZ400, Suzuki still make them new for the US, but it would be easier if rather than buying and importing from the US, you could buy one from Suzuki UK and pay extra for the IVA?

Anyone want to buy a pink GSXR, I might need a deposit?

[Mr. Dazzle]

I don't think you can get IVA (I think it's called somethign different for bikes) for a vehicle which has had type approval before. So all those bikes which previously had type approval can't now apply for IVA (see above ) instead.

Probably to stop manufacturers doing exactly what you propose.

Plus they probably CBA. If it was worth that kinda malarky it'd be worth just bringing them up to snuff? Probably the bigger reason Manufacturers make basically fuck all on selling bikes anyway, it's not worth it!