Death Valley on a Dunstall Norton Commando
Scrapheap challenge
January/February, 2006
By Phillip Tooth
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Phillip Tooth
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Years produced: 1970-1974
Total production: N/A
Claimed power: 68bhp @ 7,000 rpm
Top speed: 125-135 mph
Engine type: Four-stroke, overhead-valve parallel twin
Weight (dry): 172.4kg (380lb)
Price then: $1,500 (1970, est.)
Price now: $3,000-$7,000
MPG: 55-65
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Simmering heat. Blistering sun. And a bike that’s stood in a scrapyard for the last three years. Welcome to Death Valley.
Death Valley is one of the hottest places on earth. Air temperatures over 120 degrees Fahrenheit are common and ground temperatures are usually 50 percent higher. Five hundred and fifty square miles of Death Valley is below sea level, and rain rarely gets past the barren mountains that soar two miles above the valley floor into clear blue skies. The heat may be merciless but the scenery is stunning.
If you want to ride through this desert landscape you need a bike that’s properly prepared and with a gas tank big enough to take you at least 150 miles between fill-ups. You should prepare yourself mentally and physically and carry enough water so that if you do break down you can survive until help arrives.
So much for theory. Here’s the reality. The Dunstall Norton I was going to ride only had 5,269 miles on the Smiths clock, but it had stood in Jerry Turner’s San Francisco auto recycling yard for at least three years. Jerry is a kind-hearted Californian who’s competed in desert races since he was a kid. He has a can-do attitude that is infectious. And I was about to be infected.
He brushed off the desert dust, kicked the tires, fitted a secondhand battery and topped up the gas. The Dunstall started after a couple of swings and a peek in the oil tank showed the straight 50 lube was being pumped around. “You’ll get through Death Valley okay,” said Jerry as he slapped me on the back and waved me away.
I never doubted his word. Not for a second.
I’m riding a 1970 Export model, hand-built at Paul Dunstall’s workshop in South London, England. Dunstall — King of the Customizers — claimed 68bhp at 7,000rpm for his 750cc twin, up from the stock 60bhp thanks to re-shaped combustion chambers, bigger inlet valves, altered valve angles, gas-flowed head and high-compression pistons. With a couple of big Amal carbs and Dunstall’s patented Decibel Silencers the Export was good for an honest 130mph.
Other Dunstall go-faster goodies on my ride include the built-like-a-plank GT seat with integral toolbox and license plate, 3.5gal alloy tank, alloy wheel rims and rear-mounted foot controls. The neat twin discs are Dunstall’s own — claimed to slash stopping distances from 70mph by half compared to the standard Commando drum.
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