SELLER SAYS: Reluctantly offering for sale, my Mk2a Commando. Fast and beautiful handling. Total nut and bolt rebuild in 2020 with many enhancements including CNW electric start. Since rebuilding, has completed 6000 fast, trouble-free miles. Wherever possible, stainless steel fasteners have been used. Basic motor specs as follows: Rebored 0.5mm oversize. Wiseco forged pistons. Extra long Carillo rods with DLC gudgeon pins (https://jsmotorsport.com/pistons-and-rods/). BSA-style, radiuses cam followers. Lightened and polished rockers. Beehive valve springs with titanium caps. Lightened push rods. Stage 1 cam (https://jsmotorsport.com/camshafts/). Black Diamond coated valves. Inlet/exhaust tracts modified to C.R. Axtell profiles. Compression ratio 9:1 (measured). The gearbox has been rebuilt with new bearings, including layshaft roller bearing conversion. Front forks rebuilt with new seals, turcite bushes and modified to improve damping. (For information on engine and fork parts/mods refer: https://jsmotorsport.com/). Vernier adjustable Isolastics. Dave Taylor adjustable head steady. SS exhaust header pipes. SS Armours pea shooter mufflers. New Amal Premier Concentric carbs fitted and rejetted to suit rebuilt motor and exhaust. Front brake caliper polished and rebuilt with SS pistons. Braided brake line fitted to front. Front master cylinder sleeved to 13mm. Flanged, alloy rims and SS spokes. Contact 0429 xxx xxx SOLD (Ballarat, Victoria)
EDITOR TERLICK SAYS: When it comes to collectible motorcycles, I’ve always believed the “ones to buy” are the first and last generation of a significant model or technology — the first because they often set a new style or standard or introduced an important technology, and the last because they often represented the pinnacle of that standard or technology before the world moved onto to something else. To me, the Norton 850 Commando was the pinnacle of the long-lived and much-loved British parallel twins, as well as being the end of the iconic Commando name (ignoring the modern ones, of course). And that’s ignoring the fact that they were wonderful bikes! As Glenn says, the 850 was a fast, sweet-handling motorcycle. It was also a beautiful machine that turned heads as much in the 1970s as they do now, with styling that will never be mistaken for anything else. This looks like a marvellous example, with a bunch of appropriate upgrades and enough miles on a rebuilt engine to inspire confidence of a job well done. Lovely.
