Month and Year from Vin Plate? 1973 Interstate

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for your replies and opinions.

And apologies, the bike is a 750.

I am not yet the owner of the bike, but I have made travel plans to see it on Saturday morning with a van ready to buy IF the bike is what it is.

Last evening, I sent two records application to the NOC, Dave checked and he could only comment same as what you guys have said... Lack of records and from what little info available , my bike could be a November 1972, which still makes it a 1973, as it was registered in May 1973.

I'm a little concerned as to IF I should go ahead and buy this bike, as the seller has only the Dutch papers for it, which the German TÃV person has already said it won't be enough.

The other worry is that I'll be buying unit a Combat engine, which the seller says it isnt.

Is there a quick way of spotting a Combat engine? I've read something about numbers top of the cam?

Thanks again.

Hi Richard

What did you mean exactly when you said "the plate looks to be the 850 type but the frame number stamping (which is not a factory impression) suggests a 1972 750"?

You think the headstock vin was restamped?

Previously richard_payne wrote:

It's not uncommon to see 1972 or '73 Commandos with no dates. The crisis caused by the Combat problems caused quite a build up of machines at the factory and they were not despatched in sequence. I had an early (January ?) '72 with undated plate that was not sold in the UK until the September of that year.

Is the bike a 750 or an 850 ? The plate looks to be the 850 type but the frame number stamping (which is not a factory impression) suggests a 1972 750.

I think that it would be a good idea to contact the Club dating officer to find out exactly what the bike should be and when it was despatched. Year of registration could of course be later but then the plate is probably a replacement (of course if there was no date on the original, they couldn't copy it over).

Understood. and thanks for the explanation.Could you guys also take a look at the engine and (i'm guessing) transmission number? Both are matching, but the transmission number looks very odd to me, like it was done by a drunk worker on a sunny day, and also, on the vertical surface, there seems to be another number?Previously richard_payne wrote:

As far as I'm aware (and if you 'Google' "750 Commando frame number" you'll see quite a lot of forum threads), no 750 Commandos had frame numbers stamped directly on the headstock. My '72 certainly didn't and I have never seen any which were.

It may well be that this was a requirement in some markets and that the importers carried it out. To be honest (and I stamp quite a lot of components at work), the stamp does not look to be the work of someone with much experience. The numbers begin to go slant and go uphill. Added to this, I'm not comfortable that the curved top '3' comes from a 1970s UK punch set. It is more likely continental. I've only seen flat-topped '3's on Nortons.

Personally, I have nothing against owners replacing tatty VIN plates and it is not impossible that someone could have wanted the extra security of a stamped number. It was probably not for nothing that for a few years in the early 1970s, the Commando was the most stolen motorcycle in the UK. They were a ringer's dream.

another number:

Thanks for the tip, I'll email him right now.

Previously john_holmes wrote:

I doubt there would be a problem with the bike in the UK even though I agree with Richards opinion that the plate is new & not original and the stamping on the frame is not factory stamping but from later and to me looks very recent. However none of us UK members will know what issues you will get in Germany, would a dating cert from the UK club be enough, would the TUV object to a new looking plate and the frame and not the plate being stamped. Maybe you should ask Joe Seifert of Norton Gmbh before taking a gamble.

I hope i'm not shooting in the dark here.. Joe's website looks like it hasn't been run for some time?http://www.nortonmotors.de/

I sent him an email, fingers crossed something comes back by tomorrow evening... when I'll be on the road for 6 hours driving from the east to west to see what I Hope to be a good and legit bike.

How about this number on the vin plate?

Even tho I'm reading from above that this plate could be new...

TÃV is the second thing that's stopping me, the bike being legit will be the first...

I'm taking a friend to see it with me, his father has restored a wonderful 850mk3 and my mate knows a bit about them.

I'll still take a drive to see it, but if it's not all correct, I will be stepping back from it.

Got a reply from Joe. Which was a nice surprise, as I didn't expect an email so quickly. Nice of him to give me his opinion from my side of the pond. Like everyone said, numbers are a bit iffy at best. The bike looks beautiful, maybe too beautiful for what seller says to be a "not restored bike".

Based on my discussions with my mate, information from all you nice people , and the detail email from Joe...

I'm going to leave it this time. It's too many bad feelings in the gut not to be 100% sure on the originality of the bike, especially for that kind of money.

Thanks everyone. I might have missed out on a great original deal, a nice restore, or a stollen bike... We'll never know, but I feel better I decided to sign up here and find answers from people who knows more than I do. Cheers. Hopefully you'll hear from me again and I'll have a Norton sitting in my garage.

Rich.