The Commando is one of the all-time greats of the motorcycle industry. In Britain, its status is iconic: even people with no interest in motorcycling know of it, or know someone who used to own one.
Seventies-era Nortons can be temperamental though?troublesome to own and expensive to repair. So we?re always pleased to see one that has been rescued from the scrapheap and restored. Or even better, resto-modded with tasteful upgrades.

This gorgeous 850 Mk 3 with a hint of street tracker style comes from the premier French workshop FCR Original, which has a sterling reputation for top-drawer customs and a level of finish way beyond factory spec.
Recently, FCR were approached by a client who wanted a custom using an English motorcycle as the base.
?Our customer is very adept at extreme sports?he?s a specialist downhill bike racer,? reveals FCR?s Sébastien Guillemot. ?He wanted an old motorcycle with a sleek and sporty look, but gave us no other instructions on the project. So we had carte blanche.?
By lucky chance, Sébastien had a completely dismantled Commando Mk 3 850 in his workshop in Chauvigny, a small country town in western France.

It was a 1975 model, making it one of the earliest 850s?and one of the last Commandos to be built before Norton went into receivership. The bike had an electric starter, a left side gear change and a rear disc brake.
FCR started with a full engine rebuild, restoring the 44-year-old air-cooled parallel twin to immaculate condition. T...