swooshdave

Between the Norton forum and this one I will hopefully avoid motels. Plus family in Nebraska...

So here's the thing: I went and looked at a Norton Commando Combat basket case on Sunday. It's missing a bit of stuff and I don't want another project at this time. I want to buy something that ride now. While I could get the Norton at $1750 (a little high but it's a friend that needs a little help) it would be at least a year, probably more until it was on the road. I called my brother back in NC and he's like, that's way too much for the basket case, why don't you just ship your old bike back and get it out of my garage? Um, because I never thought about that! We won't go into the technicalities of who owns that bike now, I "sold" it to my dad back in the 90s when I was young and needed money. I left it out there in NC with him. I think he rode it once or twice before getting tired of shifting on the wrong side and went back to his BMWs. Now my brother has it. So it's been out there and I would ride it when I visited. As for my brother he has a problem getting around his garage, built a shed and still doesn't have room. And yes, it's stuffed with bikes. So I can see why he would like some more room. And he has plenty of bikes for me to ride when I come out there. So... for your amusement here is a picture from the early 90s when I got the bike. Please stifle your laughter. And here's the bike now, well from a couple years ago when we rode from NC to Barber. The engine has been rebuilt with some tasty bits and it's a lively one. It scoots. The rest is mostly original, although upgraded for the important things. I just need to figure out how to get it to Oregon. I'm trying a couple shipping places but I'm open to suggestions. If I can ship for $500-1000 I'll be stoked. I have thought about riding it back, with the 6+ gallon tank it'll go a long further than I can. Sorry it's not a Guzzi, Ducati or Aprilia, please forgive me. But I'm looking forward to having the old girl back.

The good news is that it looks like I may have found the next bike.

304 SS is the current plan. i assume the pattern is the same.

The question is will .0750” be thick enough? That’s 1.9mm. @pete roper Early estimates are coming in so favorable that people will stock up on these.

Oh, it's sagged. Everything sags after a while. There are three specs; what the engineer designed, what the factory made and what you actually got. I'm not saying you don't try to go off the first one but just don't get into fisticuffs over it. I've seen people try to argue paint colors from a marketing brochure. That marketing brochure was probably made 6 mos before production. Nowadays they have to put something in the fine print about "subject to change". 50 years ago they didn't worry about the legalese.

That’s cheap for a Lemans here too. I rarely use to see them for less than US$5000.

It’s only 45 mins away...

You could easily justify getting that Lemans on CL.

Do not assume parts manuals or workshop manuals to ever be flawless. Nor have the actual updates from production. Those books are assembled well ahead of production and production specs can change. The only way to verify a spec is to test it.

While true for me that bike is more than just how it goes, I appreciate the history, the collectibility and the nuances (flaws).

Someone posted an Aprilia earlier. While fantastic bikes they just don’t do anything for me.

Oh, dang. I thought I got a great deal on my Greenie at $3600. Looks like they haven’t bottomed out on price yet. Killing me. That would be an easy buy and ride. I have friends there to stay with. And that’s definitely on my list. But... with one V11 Sport in the garage I don’t think I can have another one right now. As much as I want a Lemans.

Currently over my modest budget. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/282288279130014/ man this is clean.

Why is there a chain and padlock on that poor bike? Was it naughty?

Scura? It’s just a Cafe Sport.

30? So a young one?

That’s to you guys and others I’m keeping a wish list going. Another bike popped up. Norton Commando that was taken apart to get the frame painted. It’s nickel now (not holding up good) and the owner passed away. Friend of mine has it but I know she’ll never get to it. Of course I’m just now getting my Commando together after an engine rebuild. I’m leaning towards a rideable bike as I always have project bikes.

There’s another bike out there for almost nothing, a yellow Allazzura. Not running. $1500. I had one before and never could get it running.

Silver bike sold.

I didn’t think the earlier bikes were susceptible to the spring issue. What was the factory recall for? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well, what could it be?

If another yellow ST2 comes up I may get it. i talked to a friend of mine who’s had both said the maintenance on the Grand Canyon was a nightmare. He had over 100k on it so he’d know. You have to almost disassemble the bike to get at anything. I’m still working on another friend to pry a bike from him he’ll never ride.

Putting Ti fasteners on a Guzzi to save weight is like having a Diet Coke and Rum.

https://boise.craigslist.org/mcy/d/boise-2000-moto-guzzi/6922424240.html $2000 Shift fork broken? Does that mean it did get the recall?