[Moto] Norton Commando

[S e u o n g]

 

The Norton Commando was a British motorcycle made by Norton-Villiers, equipped with an OHV in-line two-cylinder engine, originally produced by the Norton company from 1967 to 1977. Initially it had a displacement of 750 cc (actually 745 cc), although in 1973 it was converted to an 850 cc (actually 828 cc) engine. It had hemispherical combustion chambers, similar to those in all Norton OHV engines since the early 1920s.

During its ten years of production, the Commando was po[CENSORED]r all over the world. In the UK it won the Machine of the Year award from Motor Cycle News magazine for five consecutive years, from 1968 to 1972. Since its engine was an old design without an integrated gearbox, even Norton Chairman Dennis Poore He expressed surprise at the remarkable success of the Commando.

 

Background

The origins of the Norton Commando date back to the late 1940s, when Bert Hopwood designed the Norton Model 7 motorcycle, a 497cc twin. The twin cylinder design evolved to 600cc, then 650cc on the Manxman and Dominator, until it was superseded by the 750cc unit in the Norton Atlas before being launched as the powerhouse of the Commando 750cc in 1967. .

In addition to having a radically new frame, the Commando's engine (which was mounted vertically on previous models) was leaning forward. This modification was relatively simple, since the engine was of the type called in English "pre-unit", that is to say, the gearbox was not integrated with the crankcase. The change produced three clear benefits: (i) the center of mass shifted further; (ii) allowed more space behind the carburetors for the air intake; and (iii) gave the motorcycle an attractive look.

 

Reappearance

In light of its label as "the last of the classic British twins", and due to the fact that many of the brands were the subject of legal disputes and patents expired, a number of new Norton companies began to emerge. At stake was the production of spare parts by various manufacturers and the legal battle over the Norton name between Germany (since Norton had relied for its own design on the Rotax 650 cc engine that powers the smaller BMW motorcycles), Canada and North America. The Commando designation was used for different machines, including parallel twin with this designation at later dates.

However, the most interesting proposition for fans of genuine Commando was the marketing of original remanufactured motorcycles, manufactured primarily by Norvil in the UK19 and by two companies in the US, Colorado Norton Works and Kenny Dreer's Vintage Rebuilds, based in Portland. Beginning in 1995, Vintage Rebuilds began restoring classic British and Italian motorcycles, with Dreer offering a "new" Commando based on the 1999 Norton VR880 Sprint Special, with new machined parts, but using an 880cc twin-cylinder engine with some modern developments. Kenny Dreer went from restoring and upgrading the original Norton Commando to producing complete machines. He modernized the design and, in the early 2000s, began serial production of the Commando 961 SS, combining Norton's traditional Cafe Racer styling with new technology that included carbon fiber reinforced polymer for weight reduction and a chrome-moly steel tubular frame. Dreer was forced to suspend production in April 2006 due to financial problems.