Cafe Commando

Cycle World's inaugural installment spotlighting the best of modified, made-in-USA motorcycles

CAFE COMMANDO

American FLYERS

A Seeley special

NORTONS IS NORTONS, RIGHT? NOT WHEN THE BIKE in question starts out with a nickel-plated Seeley Mk. 4 frame, a choice bit of 1970s British hardware as rare as it is alluring.

English roadracer Colin Seeley was an early pied piper for perimeter-style frames, now a sportbike staple. Note the side tubes running arrow-straight from steering head to swingarm pivot, bowed to clear the Twin's jugs. No front downtube, a pretty radical departure for the time. While the Norton's frame design may have originated in Old Blighty, the rest of the bike is pure Cafe Americano, with a dash of dirt-track thrown in for flavor. Racing overtones are evident in the bum-stop seat cowl and the q.d. gas tank-dis connect the fuel lines, unhook a rubber strap and the sleek black tortoise shell of hand-hammered aluminum almost jumps into your hands. Period Morris mags replace the more common Akront alloys. The 750cc Commando engine, wisely reined-in from Combat hand-grenade tune, mounts quite solidly to our man Cohn's lovely, straw-hued handiwork. Vibration? "The Seeley-Norton is a World Champion Shaker," said Cycle magazine in a 1974 report on this very bike. "The whole experience of riding the motorcycle is framed by that vibration. It is everywhere, total and obtrusive. Imagine yourself as an Isolastic bushing." Current owner of the Shaker Seeley-Norton is Bill Burdett, who acquired it at an estate sale in 1979. At the time an execu tive with McDonnell Douglas, Burdett was looking for a little mid-life bump-start. An old desert racer who once bounded across the Mojave on a blaring BSA 650, Burdett decided that roadracing might be fun. So the Seeley got sticky tires, safety wire and numberplates.

Both rider and bike have since retired. In deference to its age and object d'art status, Burdett doesn't ride the Norton much these days, although it's taken apart, much like a two-wheeled M-l carbine, for regular spit-and-polish sessions. "Like my very own jigsaw puzzle," he jokes. Could be yours, too. After 20 years of stewardship, Burdett is ready to move the spotless Seeley to a new caretaker. Purchase price is negotiable, but something on the order of $20,000 foldable would be an appropriate starting point.

David Edwards