NORTON 125

[floydant]

I passed a bike the other day which was a 2007 reg "Norton Colt 125".
I am looking to buy a 125 at the mo after my CG was pinched, just wondered if anyone had heard anything about these nortons, I've tried googling them and looking on mcn etc but apart from an ebay ad there is virtually no mention of them!
As far as I was aware Norton were no longer making bikes so I suspect these colts are cheap chinese things that some enterprising soul has put a norton sticker on.
Anybody had any experience of them?

[ms51ves3]

I think they are chinese badged as Nortons so probably very un-reliable. Buy another CG as you know it will work.

[floydant]

[AJI]

You could always get a Honda CB or CG and dress it up as a Norton like this one

https://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b195/homeforsummer/bikes/ton-n-a2.jpg
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[Suitor_Stu]

Take it its one from this site you saw?

[bandwagon jump]

Fantastic, another British brand which has been bought by a Chinese manufacturer to slap on their generic motorcycles in the vain hope that the once credible name will make people think they are any better than the competition (same happened to AJS)! I mean seriously, the 'Norton Commander'? Sounds awfully similar to the Norton Commando don't you think, but that's where the resemblance ends! I think there may have been a Norton Commander, but you can bet your arse that this one is in no way related! However, the 'Norton Lambreeny' made me chuckle - Lambreeny girls just wanna have fun!

[/bandwagon jump]

On a more objective note, I ride a bike which was produced in a 3rd (or 2nd at least) world country to a budget, but also to an old design. I understand that I've got to do way more maintenance on my bike than your average jap bike, or most modern bikes for that matter. This has stood me in relatively good stead mechanically so far (had it for just under 1 year now) but the one thing I do notice is the fact it has been built to a budget - and as such some of the chrome-work leaves a lot to be desired and is already starting to pit.

There is an amazing company which can supply me with all new, British made stainless steel/chrome parts for anything I need, so if something goes to pot then I can replace it with a better quality one for not much cost. I'm not sure you can do this with the Chinese bikes, and by all accounts they rust just as much/more than Enfields!

Having said that, I have no idea what the engines would be like, it may be that people are comparing them to modern jap bikes with regard to reliability and to get them reliable you are maybe required to do more maintenance - i.e. more oil changes, more valve adjustments etc. etc. I mean most of them are built to some sort of generic design so I'm sure someone who has owned one can objectively tell you about any problems they have there. Could be that they are just made of cheese though. My 2p would be that the frames etc. are pretty much made out of rust with silver paint on them, so as long as you are willing to accept that you may not have a bike in 2-3yrs time (this also means re-sale is pretty much out the window for anything less than£5 too) than by all means go for it, but if not, by a CG. Or if you're saving look for one of the jap CG clones (YBR 125 etc.) or an older Suzuki 125 (GN, SR or VanVan maybe?). Plenty of them around usually! Hope that's a bit more of an objective view on them!

Stu

[unitybiker]

I have a 1000 mile norton china engine.me mate didi a deal with me when his new china norton was stolen and scrapped .The engine appears to be a copy of the honda ohc XL engine ,visually the cooling fins and barrel castings look bigger. The engine should be good for 14 hp and will last well if you keep the oil clean. this engine has electric start and uses a cheaper version of the cdi sytem.The genny coil does'nt use the full three coil alternator of the earlier honda xl,s . my problem is I need a wiring harness . If you've got one of these bikes then keep it serviced and keep your electric connectors clean and sealed. As a guide to reliability ,2 years ago I bought a slight crash damaged Lifan 125 , It had a pushrod cg engine in it with electric start ,beefier frame and forks and ally wheels .It came with 400kilometres on clock so i dropped the oil and did the tappets ,we found a 'spare' washer inside the rocker box .When it was assembled the monkey must have dropped a main head bolt washer in it. I used a dash of slick 50 then had it doing 14000 miles in 14 months with 3k oil changes,the engine is now running in a freinds customtype 1 cg.
the pic of the 125 chrome cafe racer looks wellard .The honda cb engine clearly shows the reduced finning compared to chinese clones.

[Dr. DaveJPS]

FFs don't know why i mised this first time round , the brand is Norton-Villers not Norton (who owned the company post the AMC days

learn your history

[/rant]

Edit: Stu there was a commander it was rotary engined and looked like this:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Norton-Comander.jpg
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