Update!
I've been plugging away at this bike, putting in time when I can. I ended up swapping the Amal MKII for a pre-jetted Mikuni VM34 from Rocky Point Cycles, new throttle cable, new (correct) plugs, gapped (the PO had BP6ES in there, gapped incorrectly), new 5k ohm suppressed plug caps for use with my Boyer Ignition (MKIV so not required, but recommended), adjusted tappets (they were way out!). Fired right up with a touch of dialing in the air screw/throttle screw. Starts in 1 or 2 kicks now. Really pleased with this new carb setup.
BTW, I spoke to a local Norton expert about my kickstart problem and he said it's something to do with the teeth of the gears (maybe on the kickstarter?) not lining up correctly—basically that the teeth aren't interlocking, rather, more or less butting up when it locks up. Which is why I pull my clutch, "free" whatever is happening up, and kick again and it kicks through like it should. Forcing the issue and trying to kick through is only exacerbating the problem, so I was told. I'm afraid I did so a good few times when I thought I needed to "eat more spinach"
Aaaanyway, I got a proper little shakedown run in tonight for the first time and here are my initial thoughts after riding a Commando proper for the first time:
• It's FUN. Man, that feeling of a British twin plugging away beneath you is like nothing else. And the way it smooths out as you climb RPM's is a REALLY cool feeling.
• The foot controls being swapped AND the flopped shifting lead to lots of thinking and fumbling. Can't wait till it's second nature.
• I suck at the indicator light switch. I was having a real hard time keeping a steady throttle and trying to flip that darn switch up or down. Just a matter of getting used to it, I'm sure.
• It's jumpy off the line and can be stutter-y if I'm not really careful with my throttle. Maybe a carb thing, but I'm thinking it's more me sucking at it. This is the biggest bike I've ridden so maybe I'm not used to the power, especially down low. I probably just need to finesse it more
• I could use a lot more response/feel out of the front brake. Not sweating it, I'll learn to use it.
• Felt a bit sway-ey at higher speeds - maybe my isolastics need to be checked.
• My speedo doesn't work :roll:
• I have a broken spoke on my back wheel (how terrible is this? Can I ride a bit or is this a get-fixed-immediately-and-don't-ride-it-till-you-do sorta thing?)
• All in all, I'm definitely not comfortable on the bike yet but I'm gonna take it easy, keep a clear head, and I'm sure everything will be second nature soon enough.
• Stoked!
![Big Grin :D :D](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png)