A question on rear-sets...

Duh dudes not a normal cam plated reversed but the special made revered shift cam plate part that's available from a number of major vendors.

The CNW rearsets just have a shift lever that is reversed, with more of a bump out for clearance. Those other rear sets are nice but I didn't want any linkage, and I wanted to reverse the shift pattern to match my other bikes. As for the price, I put in a kegerator years ago, so I've been saving money for a long time.

W/o the over head linkage to keep shift pattern with factory cam plate then fairly easy to make your own. I found the rear hole of the 3 the foot stalks bolt through is about perfect for the peg location. I found some Harley peg mounts with ~3/4"+ shaft that levers can rotate on. On shift side just attach a folding pilot peg and flip the shift lever and tweak to reach. On brake side a bit more difficult but still just a lever on pivoted on peg stalk then weld tab to pull on straight run of cable or plunger of disc brake. Test fit the resting angles of the brake lever to see where tab goes. Brake light switch is the other do dad to figure out too. Brake side don't need to fold up unless RH mount in later Commandos.

Alex, this photo was posted a long time ago, so I can't give appropriate credit. Cut and re-welded, looks like a better position than stock, but not as drastic as full-on rearsets.



I like the under slung linkage, I think it's a much cleaner approach that going over the top.

HTH,
T.C.

That's cleaver mod with factory parts but sort of cheating on the under slung linkage w/o a kick starter involved. That NYC slicker racer has underslung shift linkage but starts on roller blocks.

The easiest way to set up rear sets and reverse the gear change, is to move the footrests back to about where they are in line with the pivot, and simply put the gear lever on back to front with no linkage, so that the rubber is under the joint of your big toe. I wouldn't use clip-ons on a street bike - ace clubman bars are a better option, and you can buy them with different offsets. You should make sure that your hands are not forward of the steering head bearings when you are riding the bike - dangerous. Keeping the kickstart is always difficult. You need a folding footrest, and a folding kickstart. And the footrest must have a locating detent, so it d oesn't unfold when you are kicking the bike over. If your footrests are only 25mm too far back, the bike will be horrible to ride, you should have some easy way of adjusting their position. Have a look at a modern racing superbike, and make something that looks right for your own classic bike.
The Dunstall rearsets always looked cheap and nasty, and the folding bits of the footrests used to sag after a while and look very daggy, and I never liked the flat rubbers. A knurled set of footrests with no rubbers, as used on an early Ducati 250 or an MV125 always looked much better.

Truly excellent information everyone, thank you and don't stop now.

So far, the CNW version is prettiest but for that much money should com with some cute young thing to, uh, "change gear" for you, but I have deep allergy to losing the standard Z-plates. Not quite sure what I'll do there.

The NortonNouveau look like they might work, and I haven't seen photos of the UK version - Norvil perhaps, the make escapes me at the moment.

I'm trying to retain as much of the stock appearance as possible (to be spoiled slightly by the CNW front brake still in a box in my shop but it should stop a whole lot better!) and still make it a bit more comfortable for a not-so-flexible body.

Alex

sorry guys BUT it looks like the nortonnouveau rearsets are no longer available per this.

http://nortonnouveau.com/contacts.htm

The rear sets I have move pegs back 9 inches. At 50 years old the John Player I owned with as supplied clip ons and rear sets made this the most uncomfortable bike I've ridden. Two weeks after a 120 mile ride the JPN was in a new owners garage. :?

I feel more comfortable with the standard peg arrangement around town. On the highway, I just flip down the rear pegs and move my feet back.

Actually, the Ranger is more comfy around town - more upright position and taller seat.

Alex - this is what I did:



Euro bars, kickstart lever rotated forward to avoid contact with your right shin, and the footrest not as far back as the usual rear set position. I made plates that allowed the centre of the footrest to lie in mid point between the three bolt holes for the stock footrests. The usual position for off the shelf rearsets is at the rearmost bolt hole. My arrangement moved it an inch or so forward so that it's not such a stretch, and it does make a difference. I re-padded the seat to tilt one's weight slightly forward. The original seat foam is too soft and sagged too much and that tilted one's body position slightly rearward, increasing the stretch to the bars. I ended up with a riding position that was comfortable for riding all day, and the bike was easier to manoevre at low speed around town while also allowing comfortable cruising at speed.

The only thing you would have to do is to make new mounting plates to bolt onto the Z plates. If you want more details on how I made them, PM me.

Dave

Nice bike, and you did a good job with the rear sets.

Has anyone modified a set of the Barleycorn Rearsets that they show on their website to fit a commando? They look good and not to pricey but you have to do the linkages yourself.