SUNBURST: NYC NORTON’S DAZZLING 1972 COMMANDO
If you live on the east coast of the USA and you need work doing on your Norton, there’s only one person to call: Kenny Cummings of NYC Norton in Jersey City, just outside Manhattan.
Kenny’s a household name on the global Norton scene. It’s not hard to see why—his builds are an exquisite blend of performance and style. And, as with most old British iron, there’s usually a good story too.
“Sunburst started with a call from an overseas number on the shop phone,” Kenny tells us. “On the other end was a pleasant voice with an unidentifiable accent. It was Joe, calling from a small country in the middle of the Mediterranean.”
Joe had just bought a pristine Norton Commando in the States, and asked Kenny if he could add some performance and reliability mods. “We love that kind of work,” says Kenny. “But Joe’s Commando was just too nice to tear down.”
A new concept was required, and a ratty 1972 Commando appeared on the radar. It had lived a rough life: the crankcases even had a sloppy weld on the drive side half, a telltale sign a rod had broken through.
Kenny decided to use as much of the donor as he could, while fitting some robust and reliable racing parts. He sourced a Maney lightweight crank, alloy cylinders, a Fullauto head, and JE 73mm forged pistons. The crank was balanced to 74%, the same factor used by NYC Norton’s championship-winning Seeley Commandos.
Other goodies include a Webcam racing cam and one of the last Maney exhaust systems ever to be made. “We kept the compression close to 10:1,” says Kenny. “High enough so the bike can be ridden on the street, while still being able to run on hi-octane pump gas.”
Carbs are Keihin FCR35s, with manifolds adapted to the Fullauto Norton cylinder heads. “The heads are the single biggest boost of power you can add off the shelf for your Commando. Proof is in the pudding, and the eating is good.”
Metal-bending artist Roger Titchmarsh supplied a mint Seeley Mk2 replica chassis from the UK, and Kenny started fabbing up custom engine plates. “We spent a lot of time spacing the AMC gearbox over to the left, five millimeters from the motor centerline, to give better chain clearance for the back tire.”
A pair of custom alloy fork yokes went on, set up with a pinch-bolt top for quick geometry changes. Falcon shocks were fitted to the rear.
For the front wheel, Kenny bolted twin Hemmings 11.5-inch disks to a 6-bolt hub using AN aircraft bolts. The fork sliders are Norton Production Racer items and the disks have been drilled—removing 1.3lbs from each rotor. The calipers are AP Racing, pumped by a 16mm Brembo master cylinder.
The rims are 18-inch unflanged alloy, WM3 at the front and WM4 at the back. A neat touch: the rear wheel was built using a two-piece Triumph T140 replica billet hub, along with a Maney cush drive to give the gearbox a little relief from quick shifts and injudicious throttle use. Tires are Bridgestone BT45 Battalaxes.
The primary side of the bike was built using a 30mm belt drive that increases the primary ratio—meaning less torque shock to the gearbox. There’s also a trick high-output alternator, keeping a low profile behind the alloy belt guard cover.
The bodywork is equally divine. “Joe turned us on to FlatRacer in the UK and their Sprint 1/2 fairing,” says Kenny. “It’s heavier than the racing bodywork we often use, but that allowed us to alter the shape of the fairing to get the custom fit we needed.”
The vibrant color scheme is certainly a departure from the more conservative natural alloy or black and gold chosen by most of NYC Norton’s Seeley customers.
“Joe knew he wanted something bold, but he wasn’t sure exactly what. After much back and forth, we seemed to stall a bit.
“Later, while sitting in my home studio, an idea dawned on me as I sat plunking out some parts on my guitar. I realized this was a motif that was very important to me—the cherry sunburst of my favorite vintage Gibson Les Paul.
Joe was 100% on board. “This made it very personal. The last philosophical hurdle had been cleared.”
Kenny’s go-to guy for paint is Brent Budgor from the Vintage Vendor. “As we worked through the shading process of the sunburst motif, I learned that Brent too had a Les Paul that he’d stripped and painted—so he understood the concept from the get-go.”
Brent laid out the Norton logo and pins in a gold undercoat, then sprayed the major color over. Once the bodywork was back, the bike was buttoned up in short order. Kenny called his old friend and fellow racing competitor, the photographer Doug MacRae. It was time to shoot.
“This is a serious bike,” says Kenny. “It’s pretty, but its foundation is a top-spec, competitive 750 racer weighing 300 pounds, adapted for the street.
“The bike starts on first kick and is an absolute blast to ride. It has the famous Seeley handling and Commando torque, without any sacrifice. No, it is not Papa’s Norton, and perhaps the cobblestones of NYC streets might rattle its tight suspension a bit.
“But there’s not a back road in the world this bike can’t eat alive.”
The NYC Norton site has a wealth of riveting detail on this build. But don’t head over there unless you’ve got time to spare—and a firm grip on your credit card.
Kenny’s a household name on the global Norton scene. It’s not hard to see why—his builds are an exquisite blend of performance and style. And, as with most old British iron, there’s usually a good story too.
“Sunburst started with a call from an overseas number on the shop phone,” Kenny tells us. “On the other end was a pleasant voice with an unidentifiable accent. It was Joe, calling from a small country in the middle of the Mediterranean.”
Joe had just bought a pristine Norton Commando in the States, and asked Kenny if he could add some performance and reliability mods. “We love that kind of work,” says Kenny. “But Joe’s Commando was just too nice to tear down.”
A new concept was required, and a ratty 1972 Commando appeared on the radar. It had lived a rough life: the crankcases even had a sloppy weld on the drive side half, a telltale sign a rod had broken through.
Kenny decided to use as much of the donor as he could, while fitting some robust and reliable racing parts. He sourced a Maney lightweight crank, alloy cylinders, a Fullauto head, and JE 73mm forged pistons. The crank was balanced to 74%, the same factor used by NYC Norton’s championship-winning Seeley Commandos.
Other goodies include a Webcam racing cam and one of the last Maney exhaust systems ever to be made. “We kept the compression close to 10:1,” says Kenny. “High enough so the bike can be ridden on the street, while still being able to run on hi-octane pump gas.”
Carbs are Keihin FCR35s, with manifolds adapted to the Fullauto Norton cylinder heads. “The heads are the single biggest boost of power you can add off the shelf for your Commando. Proof is in the pudding, and the eating is good.”
Metal-bending artist Roger Titchmarsh supplied a mint Seeley Mk2 replica chassis from the UK, and Kenny started fabbing up custom engine plates. “We spent a lot of time spacing the AMC gearbox over to the left, five millimeters from the motor centerline, to give better chain clearance for the back tire.”
A pair of custom alloy fork yokes went on, set up with a pinch-bolt top for quick geometry changes. Falcon shocks were fitted to the rear.
For the front wheel, Kenny bolted twin Hemmings 11.5-inch disks to a 6-bolt hub using AN aircraft bolts. The fork sliders are Norton Production Racer items and the disks have been drilled—removing 1.3lbs from each rotor. The calipers are AP Racing, pumped by a 16mm Brembo master cylinder.
The rims are 18-inch unflanged alloy, WM3 at the front and WM4 at the back. A neat touch: the rear wheel was built using a two-piece Triumph T140 replica billet hub, along with a Maney cush drive to give the gearbox a little relief from quick shifts and injudicious throttle use. Tires are Bridgestone BT45 Battalaxes.
The primary side of the bike was built using a 30mm belt drive that increases the primary ratio—meaning less torque shock to the gearbox. There’s also a trick high-output alternator, keeping a low profile behind the alloy belt guard cover.
The bodywork is equally divine. “Joe turned us on to FlatRacer in the UK and their Sprint 1/2 fairing,” says Kenny. “It’s heavier than the racing bodywork we often use, but that allowed us to alter the shape of the fairing to get the custom fit we needed.”
The vibrant color scheme is certainly a departure from the more conservative natural alloy or black and gold chosen by most of NYC Norton’s Seeley customers.
“Joe knew he wanted something bold, but he wasn’t sure exactly what. After much back and forth, we seemed to stall a bit.
“Later, while sitting in my home studio, an idea dawned on me as I sat plunking out some parts on my guitar. I realized this was a motif that was very important to me—the cherry sunburst of my favorite vintage Gibson Les Paul.
Joe was 100% on board. “This made it very personal. The last philosophical hurdle had been cleared.”
Kenny’s go-to guy for paint is Brent Budgor from the Vintage Vendor. “As we worked through the shading process of the sunburst motif, I learned that Brent too had a Les Paul that he’d stripped and painted—so he understood the concept from the get-go.”
Brent laid out the Norton logo and pins in a gold undercoat, then sprayed the major color over. Once the bodywork was back, the bike was buttoned up in short order. Kenny called his old friend and fellow racing competitor, the photographer Doug MacRae. It was time to shoot.
“This is a serious bike,” says Kenny. “It’s pretty, but its foundation is a top-spec, competitive 750 racer weighing 300 pounds, adapted for the street.
“The bike starts on first kick and is an absolute blast to ride. It has the famous Seeley handling and Commando torque, without any sacrifice. No, it is not Papa’s Norton, and perhaps the cobblestones of NYC streets might rattle its tight suspension a bit.
“But there’s not a back road in the world this bike can’t eat alive.”
The NYC Norton site has a wealth of riveting detail on this build. But don’t head over there unless you’ve got time to spare—and a firm grip on your credit card.
HEAVENLY HARDTAIL: FACTORY METAL WORKS BSA A65
Classic hardtails aren’t our regular fare, but we can’t resist the subtle beauty of a Factory Metal Works build.
Three years, shop boss Lucas Joyner blew our socks off with an amazing Triumph built for Mooneyes. And now he’s back with a beautiful BSA A65, its lovely engine cradled in a hand-fabricated dual-downtube frame.
Joyner is a metalworker extraordinaire, but his path to the motorcycle business has been somewhat unusual. He’s been a heavy metal promoter in LA, a recording studio owner and a NASCAR chassis builder.
Thankfully he’s now found his true love, and it’s of the two-wheeled kind.
The frame is the showpiece of this perky, chunky-tired build. It’s not stretched, but it’s got a 25-degree rake and a 1.5-inch drop, plus slightly shortened sliders to level out the stance.
The engine is from a 1971 BSA, so it’s the twin carb model. Joyner has completely rebuilt the 654cc twin and it looks even better than ‘factory.’ The exhaust headers are stock, but topped off with slightly upswept ‘cocktail shaker’ endpipes—a perfect match.
The fuel and oil tanks are Triumph items (unit and pre-unit respectively). The classy black leather seat is a Factory Metal Works piece, and there’s an equally stylish ribbed fender from The Baron’s Speed Shop over the rear 18-inch rear wheel, anchored with custom-fabricated struts.
HEAVENLY HARDTAIL: FACTORY METAL WORKS BSA A65
Classic hardtails aren’t our regular fare, but we can’t resist the subtle beauty of a Factory Metal Works build.
Three years, shop boss Lucas Joyner blew our socks off with an amazing Triumph built for Mooneyes. And now he’s back with a beautiful BSA A65, its lovely engine cradled in a hand-fabricated dual-downtube frame.
Joyner is a metalworker extraordinaire, but his path to the motorcycle business has been somewhat unusual. He’s been a heavy metal promoter in LA, a recording studio owner and a NASCAR chassis builder.
Thankfully he’s now found his true love, and it’s of the two-wheeled kind.
The frame is the showpiece of this perky, chunky-tired build. It’s not stretched, but it’s got a 25-degree rake and a 1.5-inch drop, plus slightly shortened sliders to level out the stance.
The engine is from a 1971 BSA, so it’s the twin carb model. Joyner has completely rebuilt the 654cc twin and it looks even better than ‘factory.’ The exhaust headers are stock, but topped off with slightly upswept ‘cocktail shaker’ endpipes—a perfect match.
The fuel and oil tanks are Triumph items (unit and pre-unit respectively). The classy black leather seat is a Factory Metal Works piece, and there’s an equally stylish ribbed fender from The Baron’s Speed Shop over the rear 18-inch rear wheel, anchored with custom-fabricated struts.
The rear hub is a pre-1970 Triumph spool hub, laced to a chrome rim. Up front is a Triumph twin leading shoe wheel laced to a 19-inch rim.
Everything is clean and simple: nothing flashy, nothing out of place. The bars are uncluttered and the pinstriping is low-key, setting off the dark metalflake paint.
If you’ve got a soft spot for understated retro customs based on classic British iron, head over to Joyner’s website. It’s hardtail heaven.
The Factory Metal Works | Instagram | Facebook | Images by Clint Quiz
Everything is clean and simple: nothing flashy, nothing out of place. The bars are uncluttered and the pinstriping is low-key, setting off the dark metalflake paint.
If you’ve got a soft spot for understated retro customs based on classic British iron, head over to Joyner’s website. It’s hardtail heaven.
THE BLACK DOUGLAS: A TWO-WHEELED MORGAN
Fabio Cardoni is a man after our own hearts. “Steel is more beautiful than plastic, and simplicity is more appealing than complexity,” he says.
Sig. Cardoni runs The Black Douglas Motorcycle Company, which makes the vintage-styled machine you see here. Called the Sterling, it’s the two-wheeled equivalent of a Morgan car: a coachbuilt vehicle with the charisma and craftsmanship of a bygone age.
Regular readers may recall that we covered Black Douglas a couple of years ago. We’re revisiting the company because the Sterling has been developed into a significantly better bike, and there’s now a dealership network on the way.
There are already showrooms in the UK and Italy, with Germany and Austria set to open soon. Australia is next in the queue, and there’s a kit version of the Sterling available for the USA.
To develop the Black Douglas, Cardoni brought on board a prototyping company owned by an engineer well known to both Ducati Corse and Yamaha Motorsport. Together, they’ve ‘industrialized’ the Sterling for production, creating the Mark 5 version.
“It was difficult and expensive,” says Cardoni, “but also fun. Especially when you’re trying to convince a racebike specialist that you need a girder fork.” The forks are no longer bought in from an outside supplier: they’re hand-made from 7075-aluminum alloy, and individually machined on lathes.
They’re also a little shorter, with one degree less rake to sharpen the steering response. And there’s now a discreet adjustable shock absorber that improves the movement of the forks.
The tank is built using ‘Peraluman’ alloy, bent and welded into shape. You get a choice of two engines: a 125 and a 230, with a 400 on the way. The engine components are produced in Taiwan but assembled in the Italian factory.
The other upgrades are mostly in the detail—improving build quality and the riding experience. The tires are slightly chunkier, the seats are handmade in-house, and the electrical wiring is wrapped in cotton, vintage-style.
The exhaust is now catalyzed, and the Black Douglas has passed homologation tests in Europe. “We can now stamp our own frame numbers, and offer a two-year warranty,” says Cardoni.
Right now, he’s working on homologation for Australia and Japan. Next will be EPA compliance, so that built-up bikes can be sold in the USA.
“We’re also working on a wicker wood sidecar and other extras such as different handlebars, headlights, seats, fuel caps and more,” says Cardoni. Also on the slate is an Italian designed and built 350cc engine, which will equip a premium model to be called the Sterling Imperial.
We’d happily take the current Mk 5 Sterling, though. Tipping the scales at just over 100 kilos, it’s considerably lighter than its predecessor, it brakes better, and the riding experience is smoother.
built-up machine.
That’s the kind of money some folks pay out to modify a stock bike. The Black Douglas order book is full for the next couple of months, and we’re not surprised.
Now, where did we put those plus-fours?
built-up machine.
That’s the kind of money some folks pay out to modify a stock bike. The Black Douglas order book is full for the next couple of months, and we’re not surprised.
Now, where did we put those plus-fours?
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