A Mostly British Obsession

Best Bike I (Almost) Never Owned

1972 Norton Commando

I owned this bike for all of two months. Bought on a whim from a neighbor, I was just too stretched to really afford it. I now wonder: what was I thinking?


As in: check your bank balance before buying something new.

As you can see from the photo, it was a very clean bike, and it was really my first “vintage” riding experience (my BSA was still in progress). It was a hard starter hot (it wouldn’t be a British bike if there wasn’t a set of circumstances that would make starting nearly impossible), but it was otherwise a fine riding machine. The disk brake wasn’t all that effective, and performance-wise it’s pretty tame compared to a modern road rocket. But a bike to fool around on? Perfect.

Dave, the super nice guy I bought this from, was pretty disappointed when I sold it so soon after buying it. It was his baby, and I think he thought I made a huge profit. (I sold it for exactly what I paid for it.)

Any Commando is a beautiful bike, and this one was very handsome indeed. No wonder I sold it.

1 Comment

  1. Allie

    I was sure you owned it for longer than 2 months, somehow. It must have just *seemed* longer. ;)

    Don’t forget to write about the Mini!

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