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Frank Collins'
1974 850cc Commando Interstate
Owned by Frank since 1992, modifications include:
Big Bore Brake Master Cylinder, Rear Sets, Belt Drive and
Boyer Bransden Electronic ignition. Frank does
all his own work on the bike and maintains his son Neil's Racing Honda
CR450 Motorcrosser and many of our bikes in his
spare time!
Frank also owns a modern Suzuki TL1000 which makes an
appearance only on rare occasions.
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John Halliday's 1958 600cc
Norton
Dominator 99
John purchased his beautiful Dommie
new from Gus Kuhn's in Stockwell in October 1958 (he still has
the receipt!) and rode it all over Europe before putting it 'in storage' in the mid
1960's. In 2005 John, who's an engineering specialist, and Frank Collins (See above), painstakingly
restored the bike to Concours condition and now
it runs as good as it looks!
John also owns a Honda VTR Firestorm which must be one
of the lowest mileage examples in existence!
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Dick Thurley's 1973 850cc Commando Roadster
So there we were sitting outside this bar with a pint
and this young chap rides up on a pushbike - "Any of you blokes want
to buy a Commando?", he says... "I don't
know what it's worth...?" Thankfully for Dick this unlikely scenario
actually happened in 2006. It needed some work but now runs like a
dream. It wasn't quite that simple of course - buy Dick a pint of London
Pride and he might be persuaded to tell you the whole story..!
Dick owns 7 bikes now having now received his new 961
Commando! Dick's other bikes include a beautiful 1949 Vincent Rapide, an MV Agusta 750s, a
Honda SP1, a new MV Agusta Brutale
S, and a 1930's BSA 250 (B21?) - Lucky man!
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Geoff Cole's 1968 Long Range Commando Fastback
Geoff Cole bought
his Commando in 1973 from a dealer in Redhill for £175 when it was 5 years old.
Originally coloured yellow, the bike had already had some other
modifications including the fitting of a Disk front brake and the 4 Gallon
'Long Range' tank.
36 years later, the
bike has covered only 60,000 miles and runs as sweetly as when Geoff bought
it. In no small way this is due to the two major rebuilds Geoff has
lavished on the bike in 1991 and 2003. The bike is very near standard
specification but has the popular Boyer Bransden
Electronic Ignition fitted to assist starting.
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Harvey Ward's 1931 Model 18
Harvey's beautiful Norton Model 18 was rescued from
someone's loft in 1987 and took around 18 months to restore. The OHV Model
18 was Norton's first venture away from Side Valves and 1931 saw the
popular model fitted with the 'Saddle' style tank for the first time.
Because of the depression, not that many were made in '31 making Harvey's bike very
rare.
The 500cc Bike is
completely original and sports a close ratio 3 speed
Sturmey Archer gearbox with a hand change,
external Valve springs, Dunlop wheels and a wonderfully chromed
exhaust. The quality of the paintwork is stunning and Harvey explains that
the paint originbated from London Transport when
they were selling off their old buses!
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Peter Ashley's Short Stroke ES2
Branch member Peter Ashley has utilised Mike Pemberton's
skills in extracting huge performance from an ES2 engine and he's seen here
jumping Ballaugh
Bridge on the IoM in
2003. Thie bike clocked 107mph on the Mountain
mile!
Peter relates the story of the build in his excellent
website at www.NortonES2.co.uk which is
well worth a visit!
Peter is a Norton collector 'par excellence', and he
counts no less than 2 650SS's, a 99 Dominator and a Model 19s amongst his
menagerie.
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Peter Ashley's
Norton 650SS's and Dominator
No apologies for showing more of Peter Ashley's collection , here are his his Norton 99 Dominator
and two Norton 650SS's.
Peter brought one of his 650's along to Marney's at the weekend and we can vouch for it's superb condition!
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Tony Lennon's
750 Commando
Tony's nice 750 is testamony to the little appreciated fact that Norton
continued to make the 745cc engined Commando well
into 1974 when his bike came off the production line.
Discussion still ensues amongst owners as to which
engine was best. It's generally accepted that the 828cc (Badged 850) Engine was more robust and smoother but the
745cc version developed slightly more power...
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Anthony
Curzon's Norton P11a Ranger 750
Here's just one of
Anthony's wonderful collection of Norton Desert Racers, this is the
P11a 750 Ranger. The original P11 prototype was assembled by ZDS
Motorcycles of Glendale, California using the engine, gearbox and petrol
tank from a Norton N15CS scrambler together with a Matchless G85 frame and
forks and a G50 racer rear hub. Shipped back to the factory at Plumstead for evaluation, this resulted in the first
production Model P11 in March 1967. The G85 frame had to have a few
structural modifications carried out to accept the Atlas engine, and the
forks were strengthened. Anthony's incredibly rare 1968/69 Ranger 750
was one of the last of 'Hybrid' desert Racers made by the factory.
Anthony owns 5
Norton P11's, an export Matchless G15CSR, an AJS 33CSR, a 1966 Norton
N15CS, and a 1965 Norton N15CS, a Norton 600cc Dominator cafe racer, and two
prototype Norton Unit Construction 650cc twins!!! He
also owns a 500cc Norton Nomad and 600cc Norton Nomad, the 1958-1960 export
desert racers. Click this link for more details of Anthony's collection.
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Colin Wood's Mark 3
Commando
Colin bought this 1977/8 Mark 3 Commando from Richardsons in
Ripley. A former surrey police officer, Colin had wandered into the shop
with a list of stolen registrations and engine numbers to check. The
proprietor showed him some of his 'reserved stock' around the back of the
shop and Colin fell in love with this black beauty. It wasn't Colin's first
Commando, that was when he worked for Gus Kuhn in
Stockwell back in the 1970's.
The bike is a very late model, possibly out of one of the final
batches made, Colin decided to keep the american style hi-riser handlebars which suit his tall
stature. The photo was taken outside Marney's
Village Inn - Esher in November 2008.
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Peter White's
1972 750cc Commando Roadster
Peter's Roadster was re-imported from the US in 1998
and bought by him in 2000. Modifications currently include: Single Mikuni
Carburettor, Belt Drive,
Norvil Head Steady and Boyer Bransden
Ignition.
Over the years a lot work has been carried out to keep
the bike running. In 2001 the Engine was completely rebuilt by Norman White
in Thruxton and the Cylinder head overhauled by
the Cylinder Head Shop. The Engine and gearbox were rebuilt again
recently by Frank Collins (see above) following an unpleasant seizure
whilst returning from the Brighton Speed Trials. Work still continues and
Peter has to slink around quietly on his Honda VFR until his Pride and Joy
get's back on the road....
Nick Elliston’s
1973 850cc Commando Interstate
Nick's Interstate was re-imported from the US with a
holed piston. It was put back together and was ridden for a season including
a trip to Italy
before being dismantled for a rebuild in 1989. The state of the engine was
so bad that a full ground up rebuild and modernisation was started. Frame
powder coated. Forks rebuilt. Engine rebuilt with High lift Cam pocketed pistons and articulated rockers –
Springs removed and Phosphor Bronze bushes built to replace. Gearbox full
refill of cogs and bearings. Beautiful 14” floating front disk via Norvil. MkIII isolastics and stainless bolts replace everything practically
possible. Boyer Bransden Electronic ignition and
3 phase electrics should help it start when the head finally goes back on.
There are still less than 10,000 miles on the clock from
new!
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