INTERNATIONAL SALE – Canada
SELLER SAYS: This is a rare Steve Maney-engined road racer. All-new build, perfect for vintage road racing, it’s currently housed in a stock Commando frame but easily dismantled for shipping the components to house in a purpose-built race frame. I purchased the bike from a widow who’s husband was building it into a no-expense-spared race bike before he passed away, with it being about 75% completed and not to the point of running. I have done just enough to get it to run. The list of invoices I have for parts total $CDN31,547 without any labour costs. I’m hoping to recoup $CDN20k (about $AUD23k or $US15k). The bike has as follows: The stock Norton frame. Steve Maney cases. 89mm stroke balanced light crank. Aluminum cylinders, oil block and I think the exhaust. Gapless rings. Carillo rods, pistons, valves and JS2 cam (all from JS Motorsports). Polished lightened rockers. Beehive springs. New CR carbs. S/S oil lines. Fullauto cylinder head. TTi 5-speed magnesium gearbox. Y38A replica Ceriani forks with magnesium yokes and Woodcraft clip-ons. T260 Maxton shocks. Ducati front hub. Husky magnesium rear hub. Contact Kevin by email on taybrig@shaw.ca (Chilliwack British Columbia, Canada)
EDITOR TERLICK SAYS: If you’ve ever yearned for a high-end vintage British race bike, here’s an opportunity to fast-track your dream and save yourself a bunch of time and money. Norton’s 850 Commando effectively marked the final and high-water mark of the British parallel twin. And while history might remember the last Commando (apart from the new ones of course) with a tear in its eye, the bike is also rightly remembered as a wonderful machine with excellent handling and a glorious engine. Today, that big 850 twin motor looks downright prehistoric and, perhaps as a result of that, just marvellous. This bike of Kevin’s is something else again, of course. A Steve Marney-built motor fitted with top-shelf kit and with an eye on the race track, it’s sure to perform like no old Commando you or I have ever laid eyes on. For the uninitiated, Steve Maney is the go-to guy for making Commandos go fast. He operates out of a workshop in Yorkshire, UK, and his motors win vintage road races all over the planet. We found an excellent article about Steve Marney, you can read it here.
