My son Andrew grew up around motorcycles. He actually participated in trials competitions when he was 8 or 9. I was competing also and we had a lot of fun riding together. He rode a Yamaha TY80 and I rode my Penton "Mudlark" in vintage trials events.

   

As he got older other activities became more important, and the bikes kinda fell by the wayside. Lately he became interested in bikes again and has started collecting various types. English bikes have caught his eye the last couple of years and he now owns 10 or 15.

   

Yellow is his favorite color so when a "Yellow Peril" Commando appeared on Ebay it became a must have item. The fact that it came in half a dozen cardboard boxes plus a frame was of no consequence 'cause his good ol' Dad will put it all back together again. He has asked me to do about 6-8 projects this last few years.

   

When we had Andover run the serial number we found out that it was a SS model. The fact that it happened to be shipped in the yellow color choice made it even better. During the late 60's and early 70's the desert racing scene in southern California was at its peak. Think Steve McQueen, Malcolm Smith, "On any Sunday". The English manufacturers wanted a piece of that action. Norton only made the SS for one year (1971), they did not sell very well and Norton only sent 861 to the U.S.A. Many of them were converted to Roadsters by the dealers simply to get rid of 'em. After all who needs a 600 lb. dirt bike with crappy suspension?

   

After 4 months and many thousands of dollars this project is now complete. The restoration came out pretty good and we will probably take it to a show or two and see if everyone else agrees. I'll ride it to the Saturday morning coffee meet-ups so the club members can see it and go around the block if you want. I've been messin' around with bikes for 60 years and had never seen a SS model.

 

So enjoy everyone!

(probably never see another)