Growing up I saw a lot of chopped-out Triumph twins along with the occasional BSA or Royal Enfield, but I can’t remember ever seeing somebody chop out a Norton. That doesn’t mean it never happened, I just don’t ever remember seeing one. Yeah, there was Norton’s somewhat unsuccessful factory attempt at being an easy rider with their Commando Hi-Rider model back in the ‘70s that no self-respecting Norton freak I know will ever admit went into production. But, it just never seemed to be a model that got chopped up and maybe it was the frame.

   When the popular 750cc Norton Commando came out, it came from a long line of vibrators. No, not that kind. Unlike the Norton Atlas from which it was derived, the 1968 Commando had what Norton called an Isolastic mounting system. The engine/gearbox/swingarm were all isolated from the frame in a bunch of adjustable rubber mounts that kept a rider’s eyeballs from rattling insanely in their sockets among other things. Compared to a Triumph or BSA, it was now a smoothie once you were in the throttle a bit (just like a current H-D rubber mount bike), but without the rubber mounts it vibrated like you somehow were riding two out of tune Triumphs. If somebody did build a Norton chopper without the mounts, it probably didn’t go much further than the end of their block. The human body can only withstand so much torture.

   What somebody’s done here is to obviously make a cool-looking Norton show bike that’s probably great for a run around the whole block. The rigid frame has the seat mounted about as low as you can go without having a cellar built in to the bike. The Norton’s separate, but very compact transmission unlike a Harley’s big box allows the seat to be dropped until you drop. I mean, your butt would be sitting at the rear axle’s centerline which is pretty damn low in anybody’s book. Up front, there’s a bit of springer fork action going on, but I’m pretty sure rider comfort did not play a big role in this build.

  Making sure a rider doesn’t get all gooey and comfy is having a single sprocket brake setup as your only brake. That oughta keep a rider’s sphincter pretty tight just thinking about that. Obviously nobody’s going to ride this across country, not even Peter Fonda, so I guess it doesn’t matter in a show bike. Probably kinda too bad as this bike can’t weigh much of anything and a kick-only 750 Commando engine still sporting its twin carbs, a tough-guy magneto, and a header-rapped exhaust has plenty of beans.

  I do like the tank as it reminds me a bit of Norton tanks of old. They always had their own look about them much like everything else on a Norton now that I think about it. Actually there’s a lot I like about this build even though it’s not a rider’s rider. It’s super clean and the color choice is outstanding. All in all, it’s just nice to see someone has the balls to build something totally different and damn what anybody else thinks. My only regret is that I don’t have a name to go with this bike as I’d also like to know what else they’re building. If it’s anything like this Commando, I’m good to go.