Motorcycles·Riders·1973 Norton Commando 850

1973 Norton Commando 850

A running, riding 850 Commando in black and gold, fresh out of our shop. New battery, new petcocks and fuel lines, converted to a single Mikuni, new tire and pads up front, new tire and shoes out back.

$8,500

Available

01 / 08

A 1973 Norton Commando 850 in the black-and-gold livery, which we’re selling on behalf of a long-time customer. It came into the shop for a full going-over before it went up for sale, so everything in the work list below is work we did ourselves — not work we’re taking someone’s word for. It starts, it runs, and it rides, with 14,482 miles on the clock.

The honest bit

What we love about it

The Commando is the one that made a big British twin liveable. Norton rubber-mounted the engine, gearbox, and swingarm as a single unit — the Isolastic system — so the 828cc twin could pull hard without shaking the bike apart underneath you. You get torque everywhere in the rev range instead of having to chase it. This one has the 850 side covers, chrome fenders, peashooter mufflers, and a center stand, and it reads exactly the way a Commando should from ten feet away. The single Mikuni is the change we’d make to any Commando we intended to ride. A pair of Amals will do the job when they’re freshly balanced, and then they drift. One Mikuni starts easier, idles steadier, and holds its tune far longer.

What you should know

Norton launched the Commando in 1967 and it won Motor Cycle News’ Machine of the Year five years running, 1968 through 1972. The 850 arrived for 1973, taking the pushrod twin out to 828cc — roughly the same peak horsepower as the 750 but considerably more torque down low, which is the part you actually use on the road. Mk1 850s like this one kept the right-side shift and the drum rear brake behind a disc front. It’s the last real evolution of a design that traces back to the 1949 Dominator, and for a lot of riders it’s the high-water mark of the British parallel twin.

What it still needs

Cosmetics. It could use a good clean-up, and paint if you want it perfect. None of that stops you riding it — the mechanical side is where our work went and that part is done — but we’d rather tell you now than have you find it in your driveway.

Who it’s for

Someone who wants to ride a Commando rather than park one. The jobs that usually put people off a fifty-year-old British twin — fuel system, carburetion, brakes, tires, battery — are already done and done by us. If what you’re after is a numbers-matching concours 850, this isn’t that bike; the single-carb conversion trades originality for a motorcycle you can use.

What we did