Paying Tribute To My Humble Beginnings

[BellaCorse]

My first -real- road bike was a 1971 Norton Commando 750 that I purchased used in 1973. The bike was owned & sold by a young lawyer with a very unique last name who just passed the bar. He has stripped the bike and chrome plated the entire chassis before reassembling the bike with all the cool Paul Dunstall cafe racer bits. But I guess to make it more marketable, he returned it to stock. That's how I bought it. I was offered the box with all the Dunstall parts for another $50. But back in 73', $50 bought you an ounce of weed, so I prioritized and passed on the caff parts. I spent hundreds more customizing the bike before selling it. The metalflake blue tank was very iconic and really set my bike apart.

I always regretted selling that bike, so the next best thing (other than finding a vintage Norton) was to build-up a tribute bike on a NTB platform. I still ride this bike to this day.

/M

 

[BellaCorse]

Oh, almost forgot the back story: A few years ago I'm sitting in a bar in Waynesville, NC with my riding buddy, Dale Devo. We're chatting about past bikes with the bar tender and I tell the story of buying a Norton from a lawyer in Gross Pointe, MI, named ********. My buddy Dale's ears perk up and he asks me. "Joe ********?" and I say "yeah, I think so." Dale pulls out his cell phone, taps in a number and I overhear: "Hey Bucky, it's Devo. Yeah-yeah-yeah, its been a long time. Hey, did you sell your Norton Commando in 73 to a guy from Oak Park?"

Turns out my best friend was school mates with the Norton owner some 45 years ago. Talk about a small world.

/M

 

[DaveM]

Well you sure did a nice job on it and how we look back at bikes passed and wish we still had them, it always seems like a great idea at the time to sell them on but regrets sure seems to hit you later on.

 

[BellaCorse]

I can't tell you how many times I've heard "I used to have one (Triumph) back in the day..." If everyone who ever told me that -actually- had a Triumph, they (Triumph) would be bigger than Harley & Honda combined.

/M

 

[Rocky]

Great job with the NTB look-a-like and a great back story too
I'm a big fan of vintage bikes - especially British.

 

[Mad On Triumphs]

I just missed out on bike in the 60's, a friend of mine who was a Rocker of sorts said that the bikes cafe's and the women were a great part of that era. He's always wanted a Triton, but unlike you doesn't have the mechanical ability to maintain it, so he bought a 2013 Thruxton and loves it. I guess the point I'm making is about your tribute bike to your Norton, hes I guess, is a tribute to the Triton he never had.