Norton Commando

[Voltaire]

Picking up a 72 Norton Commando tomorrow in Blenheim
Stopping in Welly the night. Hoping for nice weather and a run up the Norf Island.
If you see an old black bike wave, if you see it on the side of road I'm not admiring the view....

[JimO]

if you see it on the side of road I'm not admiring the view....

tempting fate there

[Motu]

Norton Commando? - is that like anti virus for no underwear?

[Voltaire]

The whole thing is tempting fate....makes for better stories...

[AllanB]

Very Cool.


There appears to be a fair number of old Brit bikes up the top end of the South Island.

[JimO]

Very Cool.


There appears to be a fair number of old Brit bikes up the top end of the South Island.

thats probably as far as they got

[Voltaire]

Following an early morning flight into the top of the South Island the Commando was whisked away from Blenheim and onto a North bound ferry with the sort of precision you can only get from Googling stuff.

Within hours the Commando was prowling the streets of Wellington.....
The next day it was escorted as far a Bulls via the Manawatu George by a pair of Wellingtonians egar to see another Jaffa gone....

Then suddenly at Martinborough disaster struck....
....had to happen you say...its Bwiddish....

Yep the voltage had gone from the battery....after much searching with a device known as a " mulitmeter" the voltage could not be found.....
Trailer Job shouted the Welly lads....munching on a thermo nuclear BP pie...

Not just yet I said....returning from the BP station with a Moro bar for extra kick starting strength and.....two BIG JIM lantern batteries.....
Using my knowledge gleaned from 20 years of being an electrician I series up the batteries and disconnected everything but the ignition....
Viola.....it started....much to the amusement of the Welly boys with their blistered gobs...
After Bulls I soldiered on alone as you do being a Commando....and got to Ohakune for the night.
This morning ...and two sets of batteries later I was at the top of Ruapehu then breakie at Mangakino. The road from there to Te Awamutu is the sort of roads old British bikes like....feeling fast at 60 MPH ( none of that metric rubbish)
Was having such a good time it was back roads all the way to Huntly and then Hetherington Road and up SH 22 to Papakura....then Motorway...
Fun with no indicators and brake lights.
Safely home 500 miles later and running well.

[blackdog]

nicely done

[98tls]

Nice work fella,great pics,enjoy.Fwiw a pic from way back you might like of a couple of the old mans Nortons.

[Voltaire]

I met a guy on a new Multistrada today, his first big bike was a new 1972 Combat...$1200.00, not your dad was it?

[98tls]

I met a guy on a new Multistrada today, his first big bike was a new 1972 Combat...$1200.00, not your dad was it?

Na mate,hes riding a 1250 Bandit these days as far as i know,was a Duc fan back in the day had an 860 and a couple of 900SSs.Fwiw i think the 850 in the pic cost him $3000 from memory,the 650 was a pile of junk that he restored in the lounge,came out nice.

[ntst8]

Well done that man.
Don't see too many of those header pipes still fitted.