Way way back l traded my trusty BSA 250 C11in for a bright red 600cc twin carb Norton 99. It was like riding a road drill, the vibration l had to put up with. It made more than my teeth chatter. Was glad to get rid of it and bought a Triumph TR6, which had a much smoother motor, that gave me many years of pleasant motoring.
Don’t get me wrong…I love my 1974 Commando. But I do think it’s a little sad that management saw fit to put “electric start” on the 1975 side covers a decade after the CB450 came out with its electric start without any fanfare. Sometimes it was called a “electric assist”. By 1975 electric starting was a standard feature on all other non British large displacement bikes.
I owned one in 1977, bought it used with 1200 miles on it. Yes it was an "electric assist", that is what the manual said, and it would not turn the engine over unless it was hot.
I’ve had my mk1 850 for 26 years, love it . The other thing I didn’t like on the mk3 was how the factory flipped the forks around so it didn’t have 2 brakes on the same side but having a leading caliper on the left instead of trailing just looks wrong.
Norton used cheap parts in critical areas and the warranty claims bankrupted the company. I had the same Lockheed disc brakes on my Triumph T-160. Totally useless in the rain 🌧️.
Last of Proper Riders Bike 16yrs first saw it Shropshire then S.A. CAPE TOWN lucky me on birthday75'on Union Castle shipping line from Southampton.. K2 CB Honda 750 ..mods initiated from ME.. Norton Same Colours..PRIMA X
It's a nice bike but if it is going to be ridden, I would change those tyres and inner tubes. Riding on tyres that are nearly 50 years old is a really bad idea👍🇬🇧
