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“The Story of a Restoration”

By

Dennis W. Lid

It all ends here – in the junk yard and then the recycle bin. The motorcycle graveyard is

the final destination for most bikes. It’s a sad affair, the death of a motorcycle, but a few of the

Motorcycle graveyard

steel steeds manage to escape this fate and are resurrected through a total restoration. Instead of

being dismantled, crushed and melted down to create new commercial products, their restorers

give them a second life and honorary titles as motorcycle classics. This transformation is usually

a time-consuming, expensive and tedious process for the restorer. Yet each has his or her own

reasons for undertaking such a rigorous and demanding task. The project is a labor of love for

some restorers, for others it is an artistic impulse to create or salvage something, and for still

others it is motivated by commercial considerations or to satisfy the need for a challenging and
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constructive project. Truly, for most owner/restorers, it is a combination of these motivations

that drives them. What follows is a rendition of one such resurrection. It is the story of one

man’s motorcycle restoration from beginning to end.

He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) from Phoenix, Arizona by the name of Ken

Dusseau; his bike is a 1975 Norton 850cc Commando Mark III Roadster. It is now a fully

restored prize-winning classic motorcycle. Ken made it so by his meticulous rebuild and

restoration of the Norton Commando 850cc Roadster.

1975 Norton Commando 850 Mark III

Ken has been an avid car and motorcycle enthusiast all

his life and was looking for a worthwhile project to work on

during his days off. Time was especially heavy on his hands

after his divorce. He mentioned this desire for a new task to a

Ken Dusseau client who knew of Ken’s expertise in restoring old

automobiles. The client offered Ken a challenging project in the form of an old, classic

motorcycle in pieces for $1000. The bike’s pieces were literally contained in several boxes.

The parts had all the earmarks of a classic, but the bike had to be completely rebuilt. Some

pieces were missing or broken, others were bent, rusted and corroded. The disassembled and
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neglected iron horse was in bad shape. Ken had never rebuilt a motorcycle but accepted the

challenge, bought the bike parts and became the Norton Commando’s new owner and future

restorer – an old-timer, a CPA and now a “bike nut” of a restorer.

A bike in pieces contained in boxes with

some parts bent or broken and others rusted.

Now it was time to put the puzzle together.

First Ken had to figure out which pieces were

missing, and then he had to replace them.

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Fortunately, Ken had the help of the client, his brother and some motorcycle parts distributors

that still carried miscellaneous Norton parts. They all contributed to the effort of finding and

replacing the missing and broken parts. Thereafter, the bent pieces had to be straightened, the

rusted and corroded parts cleaned, polished or refinished. Ken made steady, though tediously

slow, progress on the bike at his work bench in the garage and on the bike platform. Each piece

of the Norton Commando was carefully rehabilitated and put in place. Ken’s work bench and

evolving bike

The bike frame and parts began to take discernable and recognizable shape as a motorcycle.

It was while accomplishing these

rebuilding tasks that Ken discovered one of

the most expensive drawbacks of the

restoration process – that of the

astronomical cost of having parts re-

chromed and of having certain specialized

Pieces to be re-chromed and modules rebuilt… pieces and modules refurbished or rebuilt.

The gas tank and electric starter are cases in point, as are the handlebars, control levers,

suspension system, instrument pods, exhaust pipes, rims and spokes. Although Ken paid only

$1000.00 for the whole motorcycle in pieces, the cost for painting and refinishing the gas tank

alone was $500.00. Rebuilding the starter motor cost another $500.00 while the instrument pods

were less expensive to rehabilitate at

$300.00. One can easily see how the

price tag for reconstructing a classic

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motorcycle and restoring it to mint condition can, indeed, be a very costly proposition. Even

considering the free

technical advice and discount prices on Refinishing and rebuilding critical parts…

some of the missing or broken parts from experts and suppliers like “Old Brits,” Ella couldn’t

greatly alleviate the high cost of total restoration. Add to this the tediousness of tasks like lacing

the wheels and rims with spokes and the bike rehabilitation is not only sufficient to practically

bankrupt the restorer, but to drive him insane as well.

The result of all the blood, sweat, tears and cost emerged as a classic motorcycle fully

restored. The final product of the motorcycle reconstruction effort and its proud but exhausted

restorer were exhibited at the March 16, 2008, 24th Annual Antique and Classic Motorcycle

Show and Swap Meet at the Al Zaribah Shrine Auditorium grounds in Phoenix, Arizona. The
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show was sponsored by the Antique and Classic and Motorcycle Enthusiasts Association.

The final product of the motorcycle reconstruction effort and its proud but exhausted
restorer - Ken Dusseau and his 1975 Norton Commando 850cc Mark III.

Ken Dusseau’s three year restoration project of the Norton Commando resulted in a fully

restored 1975 Norton Commando 850cc Mark III Roadster originally produced in England. This
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year and model bike was the last in a long line of Norton Commando motorcycles, with the

exception of a limited number of models made in ’76 for the European market. It was the only

Commando produced with front and rear disc brakes and with an electric starter. The bike has a

top end of about 120 mph and was one of the top racing bikes of its time with its 60 horse-

power, 8.5 to 1 compression ratio and weight of 465 pounds. Some of the other innovations on

the 1975 Commando were the left-hand shift lever, rear disc brake, crush rubber on the rear hub,

oil seal rather than O ring on the gear box, longer rear swing arm, inspection cover for timing

chain and a hinged seat. These were in addition to its other firsts.

The work is done; the project is completed. Ken won the 24th Annual Antique and

Classic Motorcycle Show first place trophy for Modern Classics, 1966 – 1980. What now?

What new project lies ahead for Ken Dusseau? Would he do this same project over again

knowing what he now knows? His answer is a resounding “No!” But, he hesitantly added that

he might take a crack at rebuilding a Kawasaki RE-2 Motorcycle with rotary Wankel engine.

Ken’s just a glutton for punishment . . . but what a restorer he is. Like “The Old Man and the

Sea,” Ken Dusseau isn’t finished yet. Although he has plenty of years behind him, his zest for

life and young at heart attitude will surely lead to his next “Story of a Restoration.”

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