1975 Norton Commando
1975 Norton Commando Background & History
While the 1975 Norton Commando was enjoying reasonable success in the marketplace, other problems, both inside and outside the company wreaked havoc with Norton’s finances. By 1975, the Meriden-Triumph fiasco was dying down finally, but the worker-takeover of the plant had curtailed Triumph twin production for 18 months, hurting the bottom line, since Norton now owned Triumph and BSA. What’s worse, the solution to the strike was for Norton-Villiers-Triumph (NVT) to cut Triumph loose, allowing its workers to form their own Meriden Co-operative. Of course BSA hadn’t built a bike since 1972. What must have seemed like a coup when Manganese Bronze Holdings (who owned Norton and what was left of AMC) scooped up Triumph and BSA, suddenly turned into one big money-losing dud. On top of all this, the British economy at the time was experiencing massive inflation and an energy crisis that drove Norton’s costs up to the point where profits were very slim at best.
The result was a drastically cut-back product line. Gone were the John Player Norton and the hideous Hi-Rider. This allowed Norton to concentrate all of their dwindling resources on the 2 models that made up the core of their business: the 1975 Norton Commando Roadster and the 1975 Norton Commando Interstate, now both designated Mk III. The police-only 1975 Norton Commando Interpol was also produced and received the same upgrades as the other two models.
The two basic models, the Roadster and Interstate, were mechanically identical and differed only in seat, side covers, fuel tank and gearing. By this time, Norton was streamlining and cutting costs wherever possible. They were now only painting the tanks and side covers, leaving the fenders polished. This also made color changes much easier to accomplish. The Interpol had its own unique tank, seat, valanced fenders (mudguards) and handlebars.
This 1975 Norton Commando Roadster was painted in the one-year-only "Union Jack" paint scheme. Check out the thin seat.
1975 Norton Commando Down goes to Left-Foot Shifting
After over 70 years of shifting on the right, Norton was forced to face a critical decision: Either switch the 1975 Norton Commando over to a left-foot-shift, or cease selling motorcycles in the U.S., by far it’s richest market. The Brits had literally invented foot shifting. The basic British layout (ie: timing side and gearbox on the right, primary drive and clutch on the left) had been ordained by God at the creation of the Universe. And it wasn’t arbitrary. Shifting with the right foot came in very handy in racing, which was mostly left-turns. So, this was a major change, both psychologically and mechanically. Triumph, the only other British motorcycle company still standing by 1975, was going through the same thing on both the Triumph Bonneville and the Triumph Trident T160. Triumph managed to pull it off on the Bonneville with some clever modifications that avoided a complete redesign of the engine, primary and gearbox. They weren’t so lucky with the Trident, which took a complete redesign and retooling of the entire engine/transmission package to make it happen. Norton loved their ancient parallel twin and didn’t want to ditch it for a new design, but they have the resources and the good luck to pull off a quick ‘bootleg-engineering’ job like Triumph did on the Bonneville. As the new U.S. law requiring left-foot shifting didn’t took effect on January 1, 1975 Norton was ready with their new line of 1975 left-foot-shifted Commandos.
The changes needed to accomplish this were quite extensive. Of course, the shifter had to be moved from the right outer gearbox cover to the center of the primary cover. This was accomplished by solidly mounting the gearbox to the crankcase for the first time (using conventional tensioners to adjust the primary chain) and extending a shaft from the gearbox through the inner and outer primary chaincases with the shift pedal on the end of it.
This meant the brake pedal had to be moved to the right side so rather than re-engineer the rear drum brake setup, they upgraded it to a hydraulic rear disk brake (on the right). These changes required numerous modifications to the engine, frame and running gear. These included moving the front disk brake from the right side to the left in the interest of balancing the braking forces right-to-left with the rear brake.
In addition, a new vernier adjustment system replaced the shims as a means to adjust out the play in the Isolastic Suspension bushings. This system was part of the original design, but ruled out early on in the interest of cost-cutting. It was now re-introduced. What’s more, it could be retrofitted to any earlier Norton Commando.
The left-, or primary-side of this 1975 Norton 850 Commando shows the new shifter sticking out of the primary chain cover and behind it, almost dead center above it, the new electric starter. Long awaited, but alas it appears in the Commando's last full year in production.
1975 Norton Commando gets Electric Starter, Finally!
A full decade after Honda started building big twins (Honda 450 DOHC) with electric starters, Norton Motorcycles finally introduced an electric starter for the 1975 Norton Commando. It was bolted to the inner primary case. Both inner & outer cases were new & were now fastened with several screws (like most bikes) rather than the time-honored single nut in the middle. It drove the left end of the crankshaft via a gear train & roller clutch.
The new starter was never a great success, working only intermittently, often too weak to turn the engine over fast enough to start it. Owners were glad that the kickstarter had been retained.
This 1975 Norton 850 Commando engine shows the new brake pedal on the right side where the shifter used to be.
1975 Norton Commando Interstate
The Interstate was yet another version of the evergreen Commando, again with no significant mechanical differences from any other 1975 Norton Commando other than having a smaller rear sprocket than the Roadster. It was yet another appearance package with some functionality built in. The Interstate had a larger capacity fuel tank (5 US gallons over 3 gallons for non-Interstates), and a longer, wider, thicker seat, both to accommodate long-range touring. Since this was prior to factory touring bikes with factory fairings and saddlebags, owners would buy the Interstate then buy aftermarket pieces and hang them on the bike. Some looked better than others. Vetter always had nice stuff, but then again, it came down to the installation. Either way, the Commando was a fine touring bike, fast, smooth and torquey. And like all Nortons, gorgeous!
This 1975 Norton 850 Commando Interstate shows its electric starter hiding behind the primary case, and sprouting from the face of it is the new left-foot shifter.
The End Draws Near
The Norton Commando had evolved just about as far as it could, given its 30-year-old engine design. As good as it was, it wasn’t nearly good enough to counter the incredible motorcycles being built by Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki, on the racetrack or in the showroom. Antiquated manufacturing methods and a crippling British economy strapped Norton with high costs that never allowed it to clear a profit. How long could it go on like this?
As it turned out, about 2 more years. Limited production of the 1976 Norton Commando Roadster and Interstate continued in 1976 and was pretty much all carryover from 1975. A final production run of 1,500 machines was built in 1977. By this time, Norton was in receivership. In 1978, a final batch of 30 Norton Commandos was built out of the parts that remained in the factory, now under the control of the courts. For all intents and purposes, 1977 was the last true model year for the Norton Commando and for the Norton brand as we know it, at least insofar as OHV twin production goes…for the time being, anyway…
In fact, Norton had rotary-engine bikes in its future and a whole new life as a modern company building modern bikes. But that's another story.
1975 Norton Commando Specifications
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Engine type Displacement Bore & Stroke Compression Carburetors Ignition Engine output Oil system Oil capacity Primary drive Clutch Gearbox Ratios, overall: 1st, bottom 2nd 3rd 4th, top Final drive Frame type Suspension, front Suspension, rear Brake, front Brake, rear Wheelbase Seat height Weight |
Air-cooled OHV parallel twin 828cc 77mm X 89mm / 3.03″ X 3.503″ 9.0:1 2- Amal Concentric, 32mm Battery & coil, Lucas 60 bhp @ 6200 rpm Dry sump 6 pts Triplex chain Multi-plate diaphragm, wet 4-speed constant-mesh, right-foot shift
12.40:1 8.25:1 5.90:1 4.84:1 Chain Double cradle, Isolastic Suspension Telescopic fork, hydraulic damping Swing Arm, 2 dampers, Isolastic mounts 10″ disk, 2-piston hydraulic caliper 7″ SLS drum, full width 57.1″ 31.3″ 419 lbs |
1975 Norton Commando Books
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