Like many customized workshops, FCR Unique has cottoned on to the truth that trendy classics are a lot much less trouble to work on than classic bikes. That’s why they’ve a catalog of build-to-order templates for bikes just like the BMW R nineT, Triumph Bonneville, and Royal Enfield Interceptor, together with a store filled with aftermarket components. However the French outfit likes to step exterior of their consolation zone every so often.
For his or her newest mission, FCR Unique couldn’t resist the attract of the legendary Norton Commando. With a 1975-model Commando Mk3 in hand, they got down to construct the sleekest café racer attainable, with an emphasis on visible lightness and handcrafted components.
An important section of the mission was the whole restoration of the underlying bike. FCR’s group went by means of each inch of the just about half-century-old machine, restoring or changing every half to better-than-factory spec. The rebuild included numerous upgrades too—some utilizing interval appropriate components.
It’s value noting that the crew spent nearly as a lot time researching every half that they did becoming it. It was a rabbit gap of consulting seasoned consultants, perusing specialist catalogs, and tapping into their intensive community within the UK to determine the perfect plan of action for every space of the previous Norton.
“Our plan was to construct a lovely object able to rolling,” says FCR Unique’s founder, Sébastien Guillemot. “The mechanics had been subsequently dismantled and utterly renovated—from the crankshaft to the cylinder head, on which a Y-shaped consumption pipe was put in. With a single carburetor, the dual appears even narrower.”
For the Norton Commando’s working gear, FCR fitted Ceriani forks on the entrance and contemporary shocks on the again. The wheels use 18” Borrani rims, laced to hubs that FCR fabricated particularly for this bike. ABM brake calipers deal with stopping duties.
Though the Commando’s new tank and tail had been made by hand out of aluminum, FCR Unique used trendy strategies to design them. The components had been sketched out the old school means, earlier than being replicated utilizing digital design software program. Working with 3D renders of every half, the group might good each side of the design earlier than chopping, shaping, and welding the whole lot.
As soon as the gasoline tank and seat unit had been constructed, FCR polished them quite than making use of paint. It was an impressed transfer; the bodywork seems like elegant blobs of mercury flowing throughout the highest of the classic Norton body.
The polished bits completely match the Norton’s refreshed engine casings, with black epoxy overlaying the body and swingarm. “I needed an genuine café racer, crafted with steel and a contact of leather-based,” Sébastien provides.
“My aim was to focus on the engine, with its black and polished aluminum finishes. Through the disassembly, I seized the chance to present it a particular look. So, we selected to color the highest of the engine black.”
Sébastien had a really explicit design in thoughts for the Norton’s exhausts too. The thought was to have hand-bent chrome steel headers exit the cylinder heads parallel to one another, swoop down, and terminate on the right-hand facet of the bike in a pair of stacked mufflers. It took some doing, however the crew pulled it off in the long run.
Up within the cockpit, the Norton’s authentic yokes had been floor handled and fitted with a particular plate that blocks off the unique riser holes whereas additionally holding a Motogadget speedo. Adjustable clip-ons put on a brand new throttle, grips, levers, and push button-style switchgear. A small Bates-style headlight sits up entrance; the LED taillight and switch alerts are FCR Unique components.
Customizing an older machine like this Norton Commando Mk3 is undeniably extra work than engaged on a more moderen bike, however FCR Unique has confirmed that the outcomes are value it. We’re eagerly anticipating their subsequent classic makeover.
FCR Unique | Fb | Instagram | Pictures by Bertrand Bremont
