'72 Interstate Restoration

Here's a better picture. Bad photographer though.



Matt

looks awesome that does keep it up wonderfull story that its your dads would love to find my uncles old 650ss or seeley commando

Matt at this point in recovery, who ya gonna follow experts poopoo's hassles or hobot's path. Think deeper about what you are dealing with on sprocket nut, its only real loads have splines to carry that and nut is trapped on, once you get hang of the delicate aligning anlge of set screw, so don't need no stinking wrap level 8 torque. Likely the hole you picked is the buggered up one, so back off to test which hole accepts the screw properly then just a normal 1.5" end wrench by hand to snug up hard enough to strain you some and nail 'er down and forgetaboutit. There is a dished shape of sprocket that fits best one one that's obvious.

I use chain wrapped around sprocket then trapped by big vise grip pinch to jam up on swing arm or whatever you put in way to jam if w/o mcuh marring or popping it off. Again don't need to be so serious a trapping as don't really need no 80 ft lb of damaging torque. Only side loads threads resist is the clutch spring, if that.

Quit with the crappy pictures already, hurts my eyes and self esteem enough as is, but do enjoy the clever set ups to hold assemblies. hobot'r

hobot said:

Matt at this point in recovery, who ya gonna follow experts poopoo's hassles or hobot's path. Think deeper about what you are dealing with on sprocket nut, its only real loads have splines to carry that and nut is trapped on, once you get hang of the delicate aligning anlge of set screw, so don't need no stinking wrap level 8 torque. Likely the hole you picked is the buggered up one, so back off to test which hole accepts the screw properly then just a normal 1.5" end wrench by hand to snug up hard enough to strain you some and nail 'er down and forgetaboutit. There is a dished shape of sprocket that fits best one one that's obvious.

I use chain wrapped around sprocket then trapped by big vise grip pinch to jam up on swing arm or whatever you put in way to jam if w/o mcuh marring or popping it off. Again don't need to be so serious a trapping as don't really need no 80 ft lb of damaging torque. Only side loads threads resist is the clutch spring, if that.

Quit with the crappy pictures already, hurts my eyes and self esteem enough as is, but do enjoy the clever set ups to hold assemblies. hobot'r

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Well, i got the thing torqued to 80ft/lbs and the screw hole lines up. Now, if only i could find the screw. I have lost it and will order a new one in my next shipment of parts

Matt

Its been a while since i updated last. Other things have been getting in the way of progress like school :x and this weekend has been designated to build a new fence in our yard. I did get everything in the gearbox nipped up though with a day off from school yesterday. I put the shift lever on and ran through all the gears, I could get every gear, but did have trouble sometimes... mostly between N and 2nd. Im assuming thats because the bike isnt running/moving though?? Now i just got to polish up the case and its all done!

I also found a color that was right for my tank and gave the painter the green light to start painting. Shouldnt be long before thats done!



Matt

Its been a while since Ive updated, but its been a while since I've done anything. My Christmas break from school has helped, so I stripped the powder coat from the frame and cradle etc. There are some pictures below. Also I went to the bike show today and saw the new 961 and also a very nice Black Shadow!

I also stamped the ID plate yesterday and tried to drill out the old rivets that are still stuck in the holes, but they were extremely hard to drill through. I went out and bought a titanium drill bit for drilling through steel, but it doesn't seem to do anything. Do you guys have any other ideas, maybe hitting it with a punch. I've already chiseled off the heads of the rivets.

After waxing the frame I used a Dremel to take off the P.C.





Painted the stripped areas, and will probably re-wax the frame again. The paint matched the PC perfectly, but the thing that kinda annoys me is the ridge that the thicker PC makes against the paint.







And the 961


Black Shadow

Hi. Looks like a nice project bike with good history. The important stuff is all there. Now that you have polished up that good for nothing horn, see how far you can throw it :twisted: A nice set of Fiamms will get some attention :twisted:
Good luck.
Mike

Matt;

Glad to read that you are putting school first!!! Keep up the good work!

"I also stamped the ID plate yesterday and tried to drill out the old rivets that are still stuck in the holes, but they were extremely hard to drill through. I went out and bought a titanium drill bit for drilling through steel, but it doesn't seem to do anything. Do you guys have any other ideas, maybe hitting it with a punch. I've already chiseled off the heads of the rivets."

Those rivits have spiral flutes on the body .

I used a vice grip to screw mine out.(right hand thread, turn CCW) Since you have already chiseled the heads off, you might try to get a hold of them from the inside with a needle nosed vice grip. Unfortunately, there isn't much sticking through to get a hold of. If possible, (be carefull,you don't want to ruin a paint job !) some heat on the tube would be helpful to relax the fit. MAYBE a punch will drive them through, but they will need to rotate at the same time. Another LAST RESORT solution might be to slightly reposition the tag and drill new holes? Good Luck !

Mike Wolf

Im still battling the rivets, theyre still being extremely tough to get out. Other than that, there has been no progress lately, studying for final exams has been wasting my time lately, but physics will be my last one, tomorrow afternoon. Then Im off school for a week. Im thinking of going out to the transmission shop to pick up some steering head bearings tomorrow, it might help spark some progress. Are the correct ones: "6205-2RS" just regular sealed ones?

Matt

Try punching them through with a Pin Punch . There designed to be tamper proof .Smaller Dia. than inner size though .

Thought I'd give yall an update. Some bad news though as well.

The final (hopefully) order has been placed into Walridge and payed for so we are just waiting for them to gather all the parts (some on back order). Then we just have to assemble everything (as if its that easy). I also plan on sending out a small batch of chroming pretty soon. The left footrest and brake pedal, gas cap, and shifter lever are what I'm planning - Ive been quoted $200, is that reasonable? I have no experience with chroming. I also painted up the fork yokes and fender stays with some high heat enamel, then baked them in the oven when my mom wasnt home They look great, Ill get some pictures for ya soon. Also bought some steering head bearings from a transmission shop - now just waiting on a new bearing spacer.

On a worse note though, the project has been forced out of our garage because of a mother/wife who has grown tired of a motorcycle rebuild in her house (no comment :x ) So to please her we gathered everything up into three full cars and headed for my dads shop on the other side of town. We got everything up into a loft in his shop where there is some good lighting and a fairly decent sized work space to hopefully do the rest of the work. The only thing we need to do is get some sort of table up there or workbench which is next on the list. If I go there tomorrow maybe ill take some pictures and show ya around.

Moving out of the garage also meant transferring all the tools to my dads shop. Luckily my dad has his own set of tools, and I just bought my own a week ago on Ebay. A 300pc Craftsman set with everything I need, except pliers (I am trying to find a deal on a plier set) I found the tools for $220 and retail is $800 so it was too good of a deal to pass up. Anyways, I took my set to the new space and my dads set will remain at home for anything we need them for.

Hopefully the move wont hinder the completion of the bike, its about a 20 minute drive to the new shop, so I wont be working as often on the bike, but I will probably dedicate entire days to work on it when I do. Anyways, thought I'd let you all know, if anyone likes to follow my build.

Matt

because of a mother/wife who has grown tired of a motorcycle rebuild in her house

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REALLY?

I think you should have moved the mother/wife into HER garage, ferchristsake!

Skyguyz said:

because of a mother/wife who has grown tired of a motorcycle rebuild in her house

Click to expand...

REALLY?

I think you should have moved the mother/wife into HER garage, ferchristsake!

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Hahahah, thats what I thought! Just keep her in the garage and move the Norton into her bedroom! I figured that might put my dad in the doghouse for a while though.

Why do you let your mom in the garage? :?

Hey Matt,
First, I took some of my pieces to a chrome shop in the Seattle, Washington area. Both foot rests, brake pedal, kick start, shift lever and headlight bucket. They wanted a thousand dollars to do them! Ouch. The shop I went to does top end stuff but still. I stopped at another and they wouldn't even quote me...so I think you are doing OK at 200 bucks.

How close are you to needing those photos of the side panels? LOL, I forgot to get some pics to you. Still need them?

Russ

rvich said:

Hey Matt,
First, I took some of my pieces to a chrome shop in the Seattle, Washington area. Both foot rests, brake pedal, kick start, shift lever and headlight bucket. They wanted a thousand dollars to do them! Ouch. The shop I went to does top end stuff but still. I stopped at another and they wouldn't even quote me...so I think you are doing OK at 200 bucks.

How close are you to needing those photos of the side panels? LOL, I forgot to get some pics to you. Still need them?

Russ

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Russ,
Ouch! I had the muffler plates in there as well and that added another $100 so i decided to take them out of the deal.
No worries about the pics hahah, the tank is still being painted...the guys dont have the best customer service in the world and there was confusion b/w them, my dad, and the pin stripe lady...
If it was a steel tank I would pay for a nice experience, and nice work from Brent the Vintage Vendor, but I dont want to take a chance with the f/g tank.
It was so long ago i want to make sure, you were sending pics for the decal placement right?? Anyways, I will let you know when I need the pics if I end up needing them. If you ever magically feel the urge to take pictures of your panels though, feel free to post 'em here - we'd all love to see them. Thanks again for offering!

swooshdave said:

Why do you let your mom in the garage? :?

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I wish I could find an answer for you...but she started doing it so long ago, she cant break the habit :wink:

Matt

The quote I got on chroming was so high I figured I could buy new stuff from Andover for about the same price. It increased my enthusiasm for finding original parts with good chrome. I was able to buy some stuff through the wanted ads on the forum (Thanks Jean) and others I have been working on picking up as I find them. The headlight bucket got painted and will be sporting a new chrome ring.

I had heard that I should go to BC to look for a chrome shop as supposedly the prices would be better. I decided not to go that route at this point as I could spend the equivalent amount of money on gas and hotels trying to figure out where to go. Not that I don't like travelling in BC, but learning about the industrial areas of Vancouver isn't on my list just yet. So I would like to see the chrome job you get. Ask if it is triple chroming. I figure that there must be enough of us with bits that need chroming that we should find a shop that will do Commando stuff in bulk.

As for the side panels. Since they are black, I should really get them out now while we have snow on the ground as it is probably my best shot at getting a decent photo of them for decal placement.

Keep up the good work.

Russ

rvich said:

I had heard that I should go to BC to look for a chrome shop as supposedly the prices would be better. I decided not to go that route at this point as I could spend the equivalent amount of money on gas and hotels trying to figure out where to go. Not that I don't like travelling in BC, but learning about the industrial areas of Vancouver isn't on my list just yet. So I would like to see the chrome job you get. Ask if it is triple chroming. I figure that there must be enough of us with bits that need chroming that we should find a shop that will do Commando stuff in bulk.

Russ

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Im not even sure how much better BC would treat ya. They are no doubt the most notorious province for protecting the environment in Canada.

I also was told today that by my dad that the big parts order has came in from Walridge!!!! and my mom is away for 4 days so we dont have to hide them from her...yet. Im going to go to his shop tomorrow and if not tomorrow some time this weekend to have a look and get working on some stuff! Ill keep everyone posted.

Matt

I went to the shop today, took some pics and got some stuff set up. As well as opened all the new parts that came in. Now I think we have everything we need to assemble the bike. A few pictures of the workspace to start off:

This is the general area, we want to move some of those skids out of the way and get a bench in there and a tool box. Thats our job for tomorrow.




Looking out our "window" we've got a 25' drop down to the "bindery department" area. That big machine in the background is a paper folder - folds paper at hundreds of sheets per minute.


Back upstairs, we have all of our new parts still in boxes and two new Avon's


Matt

Lots of good work last weekend! I got the oil tank cleaned and ready for paint along with lots of other small parts and laced up the front and rear wheels. The front was laced a few months ago but with the arrival of a new rear rim from walridge the chrome did not match very well so we bought a new front rim as well. Got em laced up and all shiny with bearings installed etc. They are off for trueing tomorrow - I tried to do it myself but just couldn't do it/didn't have the patience. I'm happy with being able to lace them though. Stem bearings are also installed, I'm painting the trees very soon and they will be installed shortly after. Everything is finally starting to come together!! Here are some shots of the wheels. I might try and shine up the rear hub a bit more too.





Matt