Norton Sport Scrambler

NORTON SPORT SCRAMBLER

Coachbuilt Commando

Ouch! Twenty large for a clanky old Norton? Don’t pretty good Commandos go for about $5000? Yeah, but this Vintage Rebuilds SS880, commissioned by yours truly, is several big-booted strides beyond merely good,and there’s nothing even remotely clanky about it.

I blame all of this on a story we did back in ’98 about this Kenny Dreer character, a transplanted Philadelphian turning out drop-dead gorgeous Britbikes in rural Oregon of all places.

Back home, my 1973 Norton Interstate with 45,000 miles showing looked decidedly shabby and secondhand. So, up it goes to Vintage Rebuilds (www. vintagerebuilds. com), returning 18 months later

as this SS880 Sport Scrambler. The Interstate tank remains, its 6 gallons far more useful than the 3.2-gallon vessels Dreer usually fits. Stretching out back is a fiberglass tailsection lifted from the ’69-to-’71 Fastback models, predating the swoopy plastic of modern bikes by a generation. The upswept exhaust was inspired by the Commando S seen on the cover of Cycle magazine in September of 1969. It would be another year before a chap by the name of Phil Schilling-later to become Editor-joined the staff.

Part of the joy of having a bike built for you is in specifying the components, just like T.E. Lawrence did with his beloved Broughs (see “Enigma Machine,” this issue). I decided on the paint and pinstripes, worked with the saddle-maker to shape the seat foam (covered with buffalo hide), picked the (tall) final gearing, the inch-longer (for quicker steering) Progressive 418 Series shocks and the sticky Bridgestone BT17 bias-plys, the rear a meaty (well, by ancient standards) 130-series that had to be shaved to clear the chainguard.

Granted, a $20,000 custom-tailored Norton isn’t everyone’s idea of a dream bike. But just in case you want one, better hurry. Dreer’s waiting list is 25 bikes deep and growing.

David Edwards