The Norton Commando Arrives

welcome back, we've done it, we've spent the last eight weeks almost five days away from this property, so it feels so good to finally be back home that I haven't got that key that looks like it's from my 1989 Voxal Nova. I have seen a key that looks so basic for maybe a decade on a new vehicle that it is the key to what some believe to be the king of retro bikes. I asked a question this morning about 3 hours ago, what's the latest in modern retro? What is the king of the? Retros I was a little disappointed that only three people thought the bike that uses this key was the queen of the r Ros.

Other bikes include the Triumph Bonville T100 t120 BMW r9t motor goody Triumph t120, even the Royal Enfield Interceptor and the classic 350, era the Bonville. t120 that got the most votes, but this bike that I'm about to show you, I know it's on the thumbnail, but I have to improve it. This is a bike that during the 30's, 40's and 50's was very close to Untouchable between 1930 and 1937, this bike won something like 87 out of 92 grands prix in that period, it was almost untouchable, a lot of bad things happened in the middle and I'll talk about that later, but let's go down and show where this is going.

I'm sure I can. In fact, I can smell the fumes immediately. This bike takes me back to the 1950s, but it is a new, legitimate, British-made bike. 961 CC £17,000 and 77 horsepower. Norton Market sells it raw. With the most exquisite materials known to man, forget about any type of driving aid, anything like that will ruin your driving. Purity, this bike is all about the best materials a bike can be made out of, without any of this modern stuff, it's a real throwback to those glory years when it was triumphing when Norton really dominated the roads, it's one of the names most famous in motorcycling and just take a look at the profile art, pure art, not much has changed visually as its glory is that it has a different look and feel than the Triumph Bonville it is very difficult to explain but it looks more roaring feels more roaring the spaces between here nothing is crowded nothing is bulging it feels it feels like a genuinely old bike it feels special there is an aura to this bike which i will try to explain when i watch my review video later but it definitely has that sporty element with oh it feels beautiful with the tank that just comes there so you can.

I mean this is weird so you can put your legs here I want to put my foot here where the brake pedal is this is where I want to put my foot and I keep doing that but it's not here look how far back my foot is here I want Putting it here I have to say it here, it seems very uncomfortable, yes, it is definitely more sporty. I mean, it's a little unnatural for me, being used to more relaxed rides like that, it will definitely take some getting used to. raised bars, it doesn't have those clips that would be complete agony, so it's not bad, but I can say that it won't be the most comfortable bike in the world.

Let's take a quick look at the quality. It's premium, there's no escape. That price is right up there, so if we start from the front, it's carbon fiber, it's a carbon fiber front fender, quality everywhere, right on the side of the engine, here it's beautiful, what is it? polished aluminum or chrome? I don't know, but it looks absolutely stunning and the same thing there with the top of the engine. The tank style here, the Norton writing is all, it's all beautiful, but there's definitely that old '60s British style that adorns every now and then the sort of What You Wouldn't Get from Triumph and Harley-Davidson, where they're produced en masse, everything is perfect.

There are no small quirks on those bikes. This is not a mass produced bike and that means there are quirks. £17,000. Take a look at this one which is the cheapest and most out of place gauge I've seen since I tried to modify my Suzuki Bandit and look at this one here, the mounting point on the left side that a 1 year old bike has. It's already pretty faded, get up close to the cabins and it's beautiful, but if you turn around and look and see what I see, everything looks beautiful, you've got this flip-up fuel cap, beautiful chrome mirrors, the nen logo there and a beautiful chrome surrounding the clock. so you've got the rev counter there, sorry, my quad looks the way it kind of has the rev counter there and the speedometer on this side, so you've got the little slot for the key here, but look at this, it's not quite centered.

I don't know if the camera will catch that, but there is a much larger gap at the top of the key socket than at the bottom of the key socket. Some immediate and obvious little quirks to let you know this is not a mass produced bike and then I have to show this one more time for 17,000 bikes, these gauges are so far from acceptable that I can't even put them in the same sentence as the word acceptable. I mean, I wouldn't even put them like I said in my 22 years. -old Suzuki Bandit they are that bad they are that bad Olan impacts a beautiful exhaust I mean, this is an exhaust on each side of the bike, it doesn't have a folding seat but of course you can have one again, you have some.

The aluminum fades slightly on a one year old bike, but then you get the firmer stance of that with an overall carbon fiber fender look. I really like it, it has something special. I'll try to explain it later. I promise the seats are beautifully stitched and n and yada yada yada right, I'll turn it on, let you listen to what sounds like music and then I'll go up, get ready, go for a ride and then I'll come back and have a coffee and just give you a little update on Norton's story, they're ready. I don't know how this passes noise regulation checks because it's right on the edge, it's impressive.

I mean, I have genuine gas water that just came out the back and I don't know if you could have caught it, those exhausts are so close to the edge of probably the noise regulation limits. I think Norton must have had to pay someone, it's got a real rawness to it that sounds like stuff you never get on mass produced bikes oh it's got its flats but it's very special ok the first ride I did it, but I want to show you three things on the bike before we do it, Monica, it's you. You're not on the microphone, can you just tell me what you said when you first saw the bike?

Wow, no, you didn't just say: Wow, Monica, you said it's the most beautiful bike I've ever seen. I had to do it quickly, I don't think I even know if one of you said he was dumbfounded. I had to go up to the apartment and Monica stayed downstairs for 30 minutes straight photographing, in amazement, then she showed her mom who I promise you there will be no interest in bicycles and her mom said what the hell is that and that people who don't use bicycles to be impressed by the beauty of a bicycle like that is very, very rare and I have to agree, I think I am referring to Monica. and she was looking at it just parked in the underground parking lot and now looking here I think I agree with you two.

I think it's the most beautiful bike I've ever seen, I won't say. I'm going to say devilishly pretty because it's too masculine a bike to call beautiful Monica. I have to show you three things and I need you for this so follow me so this was after a 10 minute drive. The first thing I did was that the seat is like sitting. a rock there is no padding along with the fact that when you sit like this it accentuates the pain of the seat the next point is this if you come to the side here and just look at this, the notch in the tank, this is It's so beautifully sculpted and it's so you can put your knees behind you.

It is a very sporty look. I'm not that tall. Look at my leg here. My leg doesn't fit behind the tank, so you have this whole beautiful curve there. Put your leg in, but my leg doesn't fit behind it, so my leg ends up squeezed and pushed towards this point of the tank, completely eliminating the point of having this notch in the tank because I would have to sit like this to get my leg behind it , but I can't be sitting like this on every trip I take, the reality is that this is my seating position and it doesn't work.

The third point and keep in mind, Sony, on my first ride is that the turning circle is and I really want to say this is the worst I have ever experienced on any bike, if I were to try to do a three point turn on this bike, for For example, I mean, I'm not even going to try, there were people watching, it's actually embarrassing, but that's how it is. It's terrible, I almost dropped the bike when I was going for a spin because it stops so quickly, apart from that, the positive aspects, oh, it's the feeling, it's the noise of the exhaust, the sound of the engine, every thud, up and below, the marches you make.

Also, that exquisitely simple Dash just with the words Norton on there, the beautiful lines on the tank, seeing this polished aluminum here on the engine and then looking at those beautiful exhausts feeling wise, it's incredible. I'll be interested in how I feel after 2 weeks with this because it's not as polished as what you get from mass produced products, but it feels special as far as certainly very good, although quirky, I'll definitely tell you a little bit about it. the Norton story because, like almost all British car companies, they don't. It doesn't matter if it's cars or bikes, they've all had the exact same problems.

Norton is no exception, in fact his problems have been as bad as anyone else's. It started in 1898. The first bicycle came out in 1902. They dominated the roads from a performance standpoint. see circa 1930s to 195 pieces, this Commando came out in 1967 and lasted until '77, around 55,000 were built, however when it went out of production that was really the end of Norton as we know it as a world bike. there were many acquisitions, Norton Villas etc that were bought and sold trying desperately to survive and this all continued through the 80's until about 2008, they even had a 15 year period before 2008 where an American company owned it by Norton and Norton. were made in the US.

In 2008, along comes Stuart Garner, the Stuart Garner, famous here in the UK for the pension scam where he bought the company in 2008 and then ended up scamming all the employees, taking all of their money. money from their pensions. and invest it in places where he wanted to invest it. I think he has since gone to jail, but this is where the story turns positive. 2021 The televisions from the Indian company arrived, they bought Norton, not only did they buy it, but in 2020 in 2021 they finished building. a new state-of-the-art factory where all Norton motorcycles would be made, so this is the first time, probably in 50 years of Norton history, where there is a real feeling, a real feeling that possibly this brand was once world leader. could return on a large scale now it has the foundations that it had not had in a long time it could end up being a genuine player on the world stage I think Norton's future is now more positive than ever It has been because they have the support of televisions.

I mean, this is a gigantic company and I think the future of Norton looks very bright. Well, we'll finish it there. I have some, well, I don't have any trips planned, but I'm definitely going to take some trips. I don't know if I should go and buy a small pillow to put in my backpack and carry around in case I need it for those longer trips, but I'm speechless with excitement. I mean, just look at it, we ended up there. Thank you all so much for watching, please like the video, subscribe to the channel and I'll see you all in the next one.