The red one's a '66 N15CS, not a Commando (not a rubber mounted 'Isolastic' engine/swingarm setup). I rebuilt that one from a $150 pile of parts and it's a nice runner, but wholly different in character to the Commando. The Commando is a '71. I met an older gent and his wife at a show, he asked me about where to get help with some electric stuff that was giving him trouble. I pointed him to a forum and we corresponded a bit, but then it went radio silent. His wife contacted me on his Email, saying he'd passed. She needed $ to pay for his funeral. I told her she'd get no more than $3K or so for the bike as it was and offered to fix it up and help sell it. So that's what I have done. I have gone through it pretty extensively. I'm not charging her.
The N15CS has a low compression (7.5:1) engine which was converted to a single carb - Mikuni VM34. The engine is solid mounted. I wanted it to be a 'loper' not a 'zinger' so I geared it tall. It worked out great, it's a no-hurry bike that doesn't vibrate terribly. I ride it all the time. The Commando is a different beast. It loves revs, and once you hit 2500 the Isolastic mounts take over. It is smooth as glass, despite all the vibrating/racket the engine is making. It has the original twin leading shoe brake, which works fine. But I put a disc brake from a '73 Commando on my N15CS and it's better. The Commando hustles, the N15CS saunters.
The market is weak right now, Norton guys are ageing out. I want to get the widow a good price and would buy it except for my financial situation. I am just doing this to help a person out who has suffered a great loss and would probably be ripped off. I think I can get her a fair price, and it shall happen soon.
Oh, notice how the engine in the N15CS is upright, and the Commandos is canted forward? Easy to do because the engine and transmission are separate (non-unit construction). The inboard countershaft sprocket (with the kickstart shaft going inside the center, to the clutch, then the primary chain to the engine sprocket) is complicated and painful to service and adjust. Seems like the British steel is much longer-lived, thankfully, so the sprocket replacement interval is longer. The rear sprocket is integral to the brake drum, and is >$200 to replace. Wow. All of the steel and alumni(i)um on the British bikes seems to be a grade above Japanese stuff. That is a blessing because the bikes are decades behind, being mid 1930's era designs, in reality.
Here's another angle
