Chuck Horton and his 1972 Norton Combat
Make: Norton
Model: Commando 750
Country of Origin: England
Engine: 750cc Twin
Transmission: 4 speed
Year: 1972
Owner: Chuck Horton, Long Beach
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Chuck usually rides his black Norton Commando, but it's stock and although it's a nice bike, rarely gets noticed in our group. Today Chuck's bike got noticed.
Chuck recently completed this very cool Combat Model. He has owned it for a year and a half. It was bought as a basket case and completely brought back. He still has some finishing touches to add such as the Norton emblems.
Powder Coat
The tank was painted traditionally, but the satin green sheet metal was powder coated with a satin clearcoat. Chuck has kept the flat look throughout with very few shiney bits on this bike. The primary drive was changed from a chain drive to a custom belt drive and the Werkes exhaust system is also custom.
As I mentioned earlier Chuck also has another Norton Commando and a Buell at home.
According to Wikipedia, "The ‘Combat’ engine was introduced in January 1972 saw the appearance of the ‘Mk4 Fastback’, updated ‘Roadster’ and the ‘750 Interstate’. The ‘Combat’ delivered 65 brake horsepower (48 kW) at 6500 rpm with a 10:1 compression ratio, but the stressed 750 cc twin proved extremely unreliable, with main bearing failures and broken pistons common." After that the compression ratio was reduced to make the engine more reliable.
Check out all the pictures in the July Gallery. Thanks Chuck for bringing this very cool bike for all of us to see.
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