My New 1972 Norton Commando

My first bike was a Triumph Thunderbird 650cc from 1960. I owned it from 1979 until about 1982 during which time I seized it a couple of times through ignorance (lack of oil mostly), but learned to wield a spanner and other tools and managed to strip and rebuild it. I clocked up a few miles on it, and even drove it to France once with a friend and luggage on the back.

Sadly I had to sell it as money was short, and have regretted it ever since. I often daydreamed about what it would be like to have simply dismantled it and boxed it up for a future rebuild. I also owned a 1972? BSA Starfire 250 but never drove it. As I was living in Austria and the bike was stored in my brother's garden shed, he eventually sold it with my permission. Another action I have regretted over the years.

I have subscribed to a magazine of classic motorbikes for a few years now and found myself always browsing the ads and dreaming. Well, this year (my 63rd) I had a revelation: just bloody buy one!

My dream had always been a Bonneville as they can be very pretty with nice colour schemes. It had to be old British though as they are so minimalistic (and covered in bling - polished alloy and chrome) compared to all others, and certainly to modern bikes. I am not a biker as such, just someone who wants to own and ride a museum piece.

So I found myself studying Norton Commandos. In theory they are supposed to be a level above the Triumphs & BSAs in engineering. A couple of months ago I decided it was time to just get one. It had to be relatively easy to drive to pick up - I noticed that there are a lot in Italy. I saw one at the price I set myself (< €10k) near Milan and drove down there to pick it up. Funnily enough my wife was not in town that weekend.

It would have been wonderful to have had a guru with me to check things over and maybe get the price down, or even reject it. But I knew I was bringing it home no matter what...

The Administration Problems

Having no original papers for the bike and only a photocopied Italian "Zulassungsschein" with half the data missing, I knew it would pose a problem getting it registered in Austria. I engaged a "Sachverständiger" to write a "Gutachten", mostly containing data that I managed to get for him.

He immediately noticed a hole in one of the silencers and movement in the swing arm which would need repaired. New silencers were easy to procure. The swing arm was a challenge.

To get decent access it was necessary to remove the wheel, mudguard, z-plate etc. Without having a lifting workbench this meant a lot of crawling around the floor. Oh, to have a warm, brightly-lit, well-equipped workshop like my bother...

I also had to put on new tyres and tubes which was an even more serious challenge. Last time I did this was probably 1978 and tyres have stiffened up considerably since then apparently. I ended up taking the rear wheel to the tyre shop to get done for all of €30, after spending curse-filled hours on the ground.

With all that done I just needed to have the noise measured. This involved accelerating in 2nd gear from 50kmh... that almost fried the microphones, so we agreed that 3rd gear was a better option.

Before the test by the Landesfahrzeugprüfstelle which would allow me to register and insure the bike I decided to take it to the ÖAMTC for the Pickerl (MoT equivalent). It failed on 4 accounts:

• Using tubeless tyres with tubes
• Old brake fluid
• Leak from carburettor
• Porous rubber sleeves on carb air-intake

I managed to get a statement from Avon Tyres that tubes in tubeless tyres is perfectly fine. I got the brake fluid replaced and have ordered the sleeves and new fuel pipes. However, at the real test the next day with the Landesfahrzeugprüfstelle the only item noted was the rubber sleeves which was only a minor infraction.

So now I will receive the Einzelgenehmigung and can start getting excited about riding.

As an embarrassing aside: on the test day, the bike only started with difficulty, backfired loudly a lot and kept stalling. I then sprained my calf muscle with the kick starter, so had to use my left leg which is not ideal. Then on the way home I ran out of petrol and had to stagger to my garage for a canister to fill it up. I almost sprained my left leg kicking it, but eventually got it going and got home.

Next step is to dismantle the carbs for cleaning and fitting the new sleeves. Hopefully that will cure the backfiring.