F
ifty years ago, the crowd at London’s annual Earls Court
show, then the most prestigious motorcycle show in the
world, lined up at the Norton stand, gawking at a silver bike
with an orange seat. A separate stand displayed the bike’s new
and innovative frame, and a third display explained the trade-
marked rubber engine mounts —“Isolastics” — that kept engine
vibration from annoying the rider.
That silver bike, dubbed the Commando, was the prototype
of what became one of the most popular British motorcycles of
the Sixties and Seventies. Fast, smooth and sexy, the Commando
was somehow considerably more than the sum of its parts, and
a surprising number of the possibly 90,000 built over a 10-year
stretch are still on the road.
This year’s Quail Motorcycle Gathering featured a recreation
of the Earls Court Commando that started it all, plus examples
of every model produced during the Commando’s 10-year run.
Accompanying the bikes were displays of period Norton ads,
models dressed up like the Norton Girls and even one of the
original Norton Girls!
“It seems like everyone has a Norton story,” says event orga-
nizer Gordon McCall. “When I was in high school, one of the
maintenance guys had a 750 Commando. I was mesmerized bythat bike. When he started it up, it looked like it was pirouetting
on its center stand.”
Phil Radford has been running Fair Spares America, a parts
supply for Commandos, for many years. “I’m now talking to the
sons and grandsons of the original owners. They want to keep
Dad’s bike on the road. Parts availability is better than when the
bikes were being made. For a bike that hasn’t been built for 40
years, that’s pretty amazing,” Radford says.
Although the weather was unexpectedly cold and windy, that
didn’t seem to deter the crowds. The pre-show Cycle World ride
sold out, and ticket sales ($75 in advance) to the main event
were better than ever, as more than 3,000 spectators gathered
to take in the more than 350 motorcycles, scooters and bicycles
on display.
The custom crowd included builders Revival Cycles and Bryan
Fuller, whose café’d custom Motus won the event’s Industry
Award, and the Yamaha Yard Built program. Kenny Roberts and
Wayne Rainey were both on hand for interviews, and there was a
charity auction, a tent housing the local Indian motorcycle shop,
and kiosks for vendors of all manner of motorcycle gear.
Jeff McCoy’s 1968 Fastback received the special Norton
Commando award, and Best of Show went to John Goldman for
his ex-Tarquinio Provini 1957 Mondial double overhead cam 250
Grand Prix racer. If you missed the event, make plans to attend
next year on May 5, 2018. MC12 MOTORCYCLE CLASSICS September/October 2017
50 years of Norton Commandos
Story by Margie Siegal
Photos by Corey Levenson