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Good news / Bad news

bob_m

Active member
My father is an acquaintance with a very elderly woman who outlived her son. She sold him her son's 1976 Norton Commando for a song ( 1/2 a song actually). For $500 it is mine. Apparently it is a yellow 850 and it has been under tarps for 20 yrs. It may be more than a month before I take delivery. Photos and reports to follow.

When I finished the black R100RS I vowed to never polish aluminum again..........
 
Bob_M said:
My father is an acquaintance with a very elderly woman who outlived her son. She sold him her son's 1976 Norton Commando for a song ( 1/2 a song actually). For $500 it is mine. Apparently it is a yellow 850 and it has been under tarps for 20 yrs. It may be more than a month before I take delivery. Photos and reports to follow.

When I finished the black R100RS I vowed to never polish aluminum again..........
some people have all the luck..... :nyah
 
marK11LT said:
whats the bad news?

Everything on it made out of rubber needs to be replaced? :violin

It was ridden in the ocean just prior to being covered up for 20-years? :cry

Bob has a hang nail on his buffing hand? :stick



Gee Bob I hope I'm wrong on all accounts! :D
 
marK11LT said:
whats the bad news?

I believe his mention of bad news is in reference to the fact that his new acquisition is the result from the death of the womanÔÇÖs son.
 
good news / bad news

Bob:

At least you're located near Kenny Dreer, the Norton guru. This sounds like an interesting project. Looking forward to seeing the pictures. Is it a Roadster?

Rinty
 
Good news, bad news

It is unfortunate that the acquaintance outlived her son, it is not the natural order of things, but the woman's son has been gone for a couple of decades.

The bad news side was a bit tongue-in-cheek and not far from Russ's (SFDoc's) jab about my buffing hand. (for the record my buffing hand is practiced and powerful :brow ) I only last year finished the restoration of my 1982 RS. It took longer than anticipated, it was more expensive than anticipated and it was much more a topic of discussion with SWMBO than I anticipated. I can expect all of these conditions to repeat themselves, but Hopefully I can make the Norton a runner without tearing it down to the bare frame. (but what about the isolastics......)

BMW is still in business and parts are available. I expect that parts are available for Nortons from independent suppliers.

But those norton girls, and that graceful, elemental beautiful english motorcycle! :bikes
 

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Love the pee shooters!

Love the pee shooter mufflers on the bike! The woman looks good as well ;-)
 
Bob_M said:
BMW is still in business and parts are available. I expect that parts are available for Nortons from independent suppliers.

Britech is one you'll become familiar with. As Jay once told when we were discussing the shouldered alloy rims for my Duc that there are 100 times MORE parts available for old brits NOW than there were when these bikes were current.

DomiRacer and OldBrits are a couple more sources. Pick up a copy of Walneck's and you'll have multiple sources for anything and everything you'll need.
 
Nothing wrong with Nortons

When they worked they are sweet. That company had not made BMW's deal-with-the-devil to sacrifice performance for reliability. As a result Nortons were notoriously unreliable. That was just part of the package. This Norton may never grace my garage. It had for years been stored under a car port in Marina Del Rey Calif. Pics are being forwarded, but word is that what isn't rusted is grainy aluminum. I'm dissapointed. :uhoh
 
Actually

nhlkats said:
what kind of song?

My dad threatened to sing to her, ("Water" by son's of the pioneers) She begged him off and told him that for $500 he could just take it. Everything is rusted. The wheels are chrome steel with deep pits, the pipes, the iron cylinders... Clean runners are going for $5000. After paint, stripping, chroming, polishing, and electrical, and mechanical it will be a trick to have it all done for that.
 
Bob_M said:
My dad threatened to sing to her, ("Water" by son's of the pioneers) She begged him off and told him that for $500 he could just take it. Everything is rusted. The wheels are chrome steel with deep pits, the pipes, the iron cylinders... Clean runners are going for $5000. After paint, stripping, chroming, polishing, and electrical, and mechanical it will be a trick to have it all done for that.

do it yourself and save a bundle and make some money.
 
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