Alan Cathcart | March 30, 2018
Happy Birthday!
We ride Norton’s new Limited Edition 961 Commando California
This year commemorates the original Norton Commando’s decade of production being kick-started 50 years ago in April 1968, after this iconic twin-cylinder model’s debut in 750cc guise at London’s Earls Court Show the previous year—although it’s also the 40th anniversary of the end of production, in 1978. To mark the earlier, more festive occasion, today’s reborn Norton Motorcycles Co. has introduced a trio of limited edition 50-off birthday bikes based on the existing Commando 961 Sport and Café Racer, as well as adding a third new variant named the California, which represents an alternative take on bringing yesterday once more but in a modern context, to Norton dealer showrooms around the world.
The new Norton Commando California comes fitted with high-rise handlebar and a choice of So-Cool Seventies color schemes as a tribute to the Commando’s 50th anniversary of starting production.
For this, the new interpretation of the Commando 961 is available in a choice of 10—yes, 10—different cleverly chosen ‘70s-style color schemes ranging from a truly retro metal flake red to a gaudy white-and-blue combo that entirely lives up to the California tag in evoking echoes of cruising the Pacific Coast Highway from Malibu to the Sunset Strip in the So-Cool Seventies. For the new Norton is further distinguished from its sister models by carrying a high-rise handlebar with pulled-back grips taken straight from the famed Norton Girl ads that made Britain’s sportiest motorcycle brand such a firm favorite with American customers in the 1970s.
By Alan Cathcart
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEL EDGE
Otherwise identical in every way to the existing Commando 961 platform, the new model’s official name is a bit of a mouthful—so take a deep breath here, folks. It’s the Norton Commando 961 Mk.II Limited 50th Edition California, aka, the Cali to you and me, as it’s also known inside the company’s classy Donington Hall factory a stone’s throw from the legendary GP circuit. But what this tells you is that not only does it have the copious upgrades to its air/oil-cooled 88 x 79mm 961cc parallel-twin motor that were introduced almost two years ago in its Mk.II update, but it also benefits from an all-inclusive component upgrade at no extra cost.
“We’re building 50 numbered editions of each Commando model to mark its 50th anniversary,” says Norton owner Stuart Garner. “The Café Racer, Sport and California will each be pimped-out with a full range of our polished billet aluminum and carbon fiber special parts, then we’re discounting them back to the price of the standard model without all that, as a bit of a thank you to our customers for all the support the Commando has had over the years that’s enabled it to enjoy a 50th anniversary at all. So we’re selling the bikes for the old 2017 flat price, which means you get about $4000 worth of options included for free. Spread out over 150 bikes, that’s more than a million bonus U.S. dollars of extras, so we’re calling it the ‘million dollar thank you.’ They’re available now on a first-come first served basis, and each limited edition bike will also have its unique build number from 1-50 etched onto the instrument dash.”
The new California is still unmistakenly Norton.
So in the case of the California that means its GBP 16,495 ($23,000) price in the UK (including 20% local tax) includes a carbon fiber front mudguard, plus ditto rear hugger and number-plate hanger, while the fully adjustable 43mm Öhlins fork, twin piggyback Öhlins gas shocks, lightweight sprocket and assorted chassis parts, are all polished brightly, some to a mirror finish.
Also included is a brushed aluminum oil cooler and a chrome chain guard and headlamp bowl/bezel, while the engine has been finished in the classic combo of a silver cylinder head and polished rocker covers sitting on a black cylinder barrel, as first featured on the hotted-up Combat version of the original 745cc Commando back in 1972. A bike cover and paddock stand are also included in the price.
“You can also have a black anodized finish if you prefer,” adds Garner. “We’re acknowledging that the Commando model has had fabulous support to keep it alive for half a century, with a little hiccup in the middle for a few years until we got it going again from 2010 onwards. We see this as an opportunity to say thank you to our customers, while forfeiting a bit of profit to do so.” But once the 50 limited edition bikes are sold, the California will continue in production for the same price, but without all the options included as standard, which must then be paid-for as extras.
The Californian’s Euro 4-compliant engine delivers 72 bhp at 7500 rpm and peak torque of 67Nm at 6500 of fun.
But it’s the Cali’s high-rise handlebar that really makes it stand out—it’s what used to be termed a Western Bar back in the ’70s, and is heaps more rational than the even taller Ape-hanger ‘bar featured on Choppers. “We wanted to mark the Commando’s 50th anniversary year with something appropriate,” says Garner, 49. “Many riders like yours truly are getting a little older these days, and suddenly all our joints are a little stiffer than before! So delivering a more upright riding position is something we’ve been asked for that seemed a sensible move, and the 50th birthday gave us a trigger point to introduce a more easy riding Commando with nearly everything else the same as the Sport. So it’s a handlebar option only, giving quite a different riding position as opposed to any extra levels in performance. But we’ve made sure that the footpegs aren’t any further forward, and there’s no plug-in iPod or suchlike—it’s still a sport bike!”
The new Commando California is a satisfying blend of old and new and a mixture of period chilled-out attitude combined with modern civility.
So it sounds like this is the nearest that Norton may ever get to building a cruiser? “You’re right, it’s about as close as we can get to a factory Custom Norton,” says Garner. “When it was first launched at the Milan Show in November we originally got some stick for the riding position on social media, but then when those same people come to try it out, they go, ‘Oh, actually, it’s really comfortable!” Okay, so it’s a good bit away from what you’d think of as a normal Norton riding position would be today, but actually it makes lots of sense when you ride the bike. Riders have become less hell-bent on speed in recent years, and more lifestyle focused, and this meets that desire head-on, as well as looking suitably retro.”
High bars give the Norton Commando a distinctive look.
Guess what? He’s right. Invited to be the first rider outside the factory to go chilling out—literally, in my case, in mid-December in the Midlands of Britain! —aboard the first-ever Cali bearing 1/50 on the dash, I discovered immediately that the grips just literally fall to hand. It’s a much more relaxed stance than the regular Commando 961 Sport delivers with its much lower, flatter ‘bar, and it’s way more comfortable than the Café Racer with its clip-ons. The high ‘bar does slow the steering down slightly, and changes not only the look but also the feel of the bike beneath you—the gentlemanly neo-classic street fighter becomes a relaxed high-speed sport cruiser. You can still chuck it around in turns, and get the best from the Dunlop Sportmax Qualifier tires, which the retro-looking wire wheels carry, but it’s just a bit slower in transitioning from side to side than the Sport, thanks to reduced leverage from the taller ‘bar.
In case you forgot.
The 2018 Commando family, of which the Cali is one, all incorporate the improvements to the air-cooled OHV 961cc Norton motor delivering 72 bhp at 7500 rpm, with peak torque of 67Nm a thousand revs lower, to be found on the Mark II version of the Commando introduced in 2016, as Norton design boss Simon Skinner explains: “It was a pretty significant evolution of the original 961 engine, because the motor was retooled almost in its entirety. We have new crankcases, new cylinders, a new cylinder head, new pistons, new crankshaft, and a new gearbox, all in order to reduce NVH [noise vibration and harshness], and to improve overall quality as a means of refining the product. We’ve been able to go to suppliers that we couldn’t go to before because our volumes didn’t support it, but now they do, and so we’ve got a different manufacturing process for those parts. They’re all die-cast components now instead of sand-cast, although the sad thing is that we now have to go overseas for a few parts that are simply not available in the UK. But not only has the price for these parts come down for Norton, which increases sustainability of the business, the quality of them has shot through the roof as well. So not only have we refined the bike enormously, it’s also benefitted the business too, so we’ve ended up with a much superior product.” One that’s also now Euro 4 compliant, with Bosch ABS linked to the Brembo brake package, which sees fully-floating 320mm steel discs gripped by four-piston radial calipers, with a 240mm rear disc and two-piston caliper.
The Norton is fitted with Brembo brakes, including a fully floating 320mm front discs with four-piston calipers.
The Cali retains the stock Commando’s chrome-moly tubular steel duplex cradle frame, still with a fabricated backbone doubling as the oil tank for the dry-sump OHV pushrod motor. This is made in-house at Norton by the skilled craftsmen who previously plied their trade at local chassis specialists Spondon, before Stuart Garner completed his purchase of the firm, and moved it to Norton’s HQ at Donington Hall. This retains the same steering geometry as the Sport, with the highly polished Öhlins 43mm fork set at a 24.5° rake with 3.9 inches of trail, but the wheelbase is a little shorter than before, at 55.1 inches.
The engine is finished in the classic combo of a silver cylinder head sitting on a black cylinder block, as featured on the hotted-up Combat version of the original 745cc Commando.
Crank the powerful starter motor, and the undeniably butch-looking motor rumbles immediately into life, settling to a throbbing 1300 rpm idle via the 2-1-2 exhaust system. This Euro 4 version of the motor seemed to have the same great torque as the 961 engine’s always had, but with the revised mapping for cleaner emissions also delivering a more linear power delivery up to the 8000 rpm limiter, so that the Norton just keeps on pulling almost to the redline. Despite the gear-driven counterbalancer fitted there’s a little vibration, especially above 5000 rpm, but not enough to be annoying, and there’s still the same great punch in the gears. Low down fuelling is good, like when you’re just crawling along in a line of traffic, but then spot a gap and gas it up hard, and the Cali catapults you forward in a totally addictive way, thanks to its meaty torque, which means it’ll take almost any gear you throw at it. It pulls hard from barely off idle, then strongly from 2000 rpm upwards. This is a very friendly and usable motor, with 4000 revs the gateway to more serious urge and from there to where you can feel the engine peak out at 6500 rpm, is the happy zone. There’s no point in revving it anywhere near the revlimiter, just surf that power curve, and ride the waves of torque. The five-speed transmission doesn’t need a sixth ratio, because the engine has such a wide spread of torque and power you can change gear when you feel like it, not because you must.
Öhlins suspension and Brembo radial brakes compliment the California’s fine-handling chassis, which is fitted with Dunlop tires mounted on wire-wheeled alloy rims.
The handling has always been a strong point of the Commando 961, so the Cali steers faultlessly, tipping easily and controllably into a turn on the brakes, without falling into the apex when you let them off. It feels light and agile, yet stable and forgiving, a confidence inspiring motorcycle that you can trust completely over a variety of surfaces. Hitting a bump cranked hard over in a 60 mph downhill fourth-gear sweeper didn’t unsettle it at all. Indeed, the Öhlins suspension just shrugs off bumps, and the Norton holds its line well over them, due mostly to the low center of gravity achieved by the dry sump engine being placed low in the frame without impacting on ground clearance. And the Brembo twin-disc brake package provides controllable, effective stopping power with just the right degree of sensitivity from the radially mounted calipers, though you can use a surprising amount of the considerable engine braking on offer without getting the rear wheel hopping, even with that normal 1300 rpm idle speed.
Instruments are pure retro.
Retro is cool, right now but only when done right. Fortunately, the Norton Commando 961 California is a two-wheeled equivalent of today’s acclaimed Mini or the Fiat 500, as a properly re-engineered, successful re-interpretation of a classic-era design icon, that’s both functionally pleasing and fashionably stylish, while also being completely authentic, especially in the case of the white-and-blue California! It’s indeed a satisfying blend of old and new, a mixture of period chilled-out attitude combined with modern civility, like brakes that work brilliantly, tires that warm up fast and grip well on a cool winter day, and suspension that, while tautly set up as you’d expect a genuine sport bike like this to be, also irons out bumps while laying that hefty torque to the ground with a degree of compliance that makes this a very confidence inspiring bike to ride hard.
Solid handling is still one of the Commando’s best traits.
It’s getting on for a decade now since Stuart Garner acquired the rights to the historic British marque in October 2008 from its previous American owner, Boston financier Olly Curme, obtaining with it the prototype Commando 961 street bike, which Curme had commissioned from the USA’s number-one twin-cylinder Norton guru, Oregon-based Kenny Dreer. Since then, heaps of hard graft entailing long hours, a good bit of risk taking, and several major changes in strategy have put the born-again Norton Motorcycles firm back on the map. CN
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SPECIFICATIONS
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2018 Norton Commando 961 Limited 50th Edition California
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ENGINE:
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Air/oil-cooled, 4-stroke, 4-valve, SOHC, parallel twin
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DISPLACEMENT:
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961cc
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BORE X STROKE:
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88mm x 79mm
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COMPRESSION RATIO:
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10.1:1
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HORSEPOWER (claimed):
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71.9PS @ 7500 rpm
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TORQUE (claimed):
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67Nm @ 6500 rpm
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IGNITION:
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EFI
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EXHAUST:
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2-1-2 3-way catalytic converter, Euro 4 compliant
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TRANSMISSION:
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5-speed, constant mesh
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FINAL DRIVE:
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525 O-ring chain
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CLUTCH:
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Wet, multiplate
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FRONT SUSPENSION:
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43mm Öhlins, USD, fully adjustable
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REAR SUSPENSION:
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Öhlins twin shocks with remote reservoir, fully adjustable
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FRONT WHEEL TRAVEL:
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4.5 in.
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REAR WHEEL TRAVEL:
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4.9 in.
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FRONT WHEEL:
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3.5 x 17 in., 36 spokes
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REAR WHEEL:
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5.5 x 17 in., 40 spokes
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FRONT TIRE:
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120/70 x 17 in.
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REAR TIRE:
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180/55 x 17 in.
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FRONT BRAKE:
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Brembo, twin floating 320mm discs, 4-piston calipers, ABS
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REAR BRAKE:
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Brembo, single 240mm disc, 2-piston caliper, ABS
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RAKE / TRAIL:
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24.5°
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TRAIL:
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3.9 in.
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WHEELBASE:
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55.1 in.
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SEAT HEIGHT:
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32 in.
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COLORS:
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Galactic Black, Royal Red, Manx Silver, Titanium Grey, Steel Green, English White, Galaxy Black, Canary Yellow, Candy Red, and Red/White/Blue
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