Alistair's 1970 Commando resto/mod project

grandpaul · Mar 22, 2016

Nice box of parts arrived mid-day yesterday: headlight shell & rim, headlight ears, wiring harness, decals, throttle cables, front brake cable, and set of isolastic gaiters.

Alistair's 1970 Commando resto/mod project

Yesterday evening, the seat arrived. Seat will get painted along with sidecovers and front fender.

JPN is moved out of the way 'till the fairing is done, so now there's a space to begin re-assembly which starts today.

Front wheel is off to Buchanan's for re-lacing to a new alloy rim to match the rear); new tire & tube standing by...

grandpaul · Mar 22, 2016

Got the forks done up with nicely lubed tapered roller bearings, and new headlight ears. Lots of irons in the fire, so that was it for today.

grandpaul · Apr 1, 2016

Had to remove some paowdercoat due to improper masking, but it was no biggie. Shot some Rust-O-Leum gloss black on it and let it dry while I moved on to other things.

Stripped a decent pair of original Commando shocks with good damping, masked and painted the bodies.

Rebuilt shocks ready to go on the bike.

grandpaul · Apr 1, 2016

Used a 4" bolt and some heavy washers to draw the swingarm bushings back in; pice of cake. Cleaned up the rear isolastic and installed the cradle & swingarm, then the shocks.

Both ends done.

Flushed out the tranny.

grandpaul · Apr 1, 2016

You have to install the tranny BEFORE installing the engine power unit. Also, you can't install the tranny adjuster assembly till the tranny is in position in the cradle, or else the nut that holds the adjuster doesn't allow the tranny to rotate into position.

Rear wheel cleaned up and installed.

grandpaul · Apr 2, 2016

Power unit in place with new isolastic gaiters front & rear. Ooh my aching back!

For some reason, I removed the bottom case bolt when the lump was sitting on the floor. Had to pull the front iso bolt, lift the engine with a tie-down strap wrapped over the frame and hooked in the exhaust ports, replace the bolt, then re-install the front is bolt. 20 minutes of extra work.

Primary in place, all properly shimmed out. Also added an extra friction plate to optimize stack height. Sure enough, clutch pull is MUCH lighter.

grandpaul · Apr 2, 2016

Head steady in place.

Oil tank steam cleaned internally, new oil filter, re-connected all the oil lines. Carbs were already overhauled when I did the make-run; new throttle cable assembly.

New headlight shell sure looks spiffy. Now to find that ammeter, it's around here somewhere...

grandpaul · Apr 2, 2016

Cleaned up & re-installed the Dyna coil.

Z-plates, footpegs & exhaust installed. It's really starting to look like a bike again. Hard to see here, but I trimmed and cleaned up the electronics mounting plate. Now to modify the new wiring harness to function properly.

grandpaul · Apr 4, 2016

Rear fender & tail light installed, seat set in place not yet installed

Sidecover set in place for photo, needs some bracket work, then seat, sidecovers & front fender go to paint w/ new decals (Black)

Rear brake cable, chain & chain guard installed & adjusted. Rear wheel done.

Danno · Apr 4, 2016

Ever figure out what you'd have to get for that truncated seat you removed?

grandpaul · Apr 5, 2016

Danno, seat will ship to you tomorrow. Thanx.

grandpaul · Apr 5, 2016

"Let there be light"

These two photos are the result of 3-1/2 hours of frustration trying to figure out the internal schematic of a modern all-in-one switch that is absolutely baffling, even after opening it up and at least narrowing down the horn button and turn signal switch. The circuitry that drives a built-in high beam LED indicator is causing the strangest readings. Add to that digging through my entire shop including two large tubs of salvaged wiring harnesses to produce a pair of black/yellow and black/white wires of sufficient length to run from the Boyer box down to the ignition stator, and I didn't get to scratch off too many items on the final punchlist...

I did install the ammeter and idiot lights, and connected all the electrical components except the headlight. All tidy and working (nice fat spark).

grandpaul · Apr 14, 2016

Rearsets done, just need to adjust pedal levels after the seat returns from the painter.

Brake light switch has been installed since this photo was taken, that was a BUGGER due to the elecrical contacts being very close to the muffler...

grandpaul · Apr 14, 2016

Front wheel arrived from Buchanan's; perfect, as usual. New Avon AM26 & tube will get mounted tomorrow and it'll be a roller again.

Forget the other all-in-one, couldn't get the screwy thing to work correctly. This one is just what was needed. Turn signals have not been spec'd, but the bike is ready for them.

Fast Eddie · Apr 15, 2016

GP, one problem with the switch you have sir; it is very easy, especially with gloved heads, to turn your lights OFF when intending to DIP them!

grandpaul · Apr 15, 2016

Front wheel installed with new rim, tire & tube, also new front brake cable. Kickstand installed. It's sitting on it's own. Just waiting for the painted parts and it'll be done.

Danno · Apr 17, 2016

Very nice work Paul, as usual. I had an issue with the bright/dim blade switch. Swapped the wires and it wasn't the bulb or connections. The cure turned out to be bending the copper contact inside the switch to make a more positive contact.

grandpaul · Apr 29, 2016

4/22 - Prep & priming done on the bodywork.

4/29 - Just picked up the parts from the painter. Looking good. Just need to put the rear wheel back on, replace the upholstery, and install the bodywork. I already started it up a couple of weeks ago, so it'll be done by tomorrow.

grandpaul · May 2, 2016

Just need to find the gas tank hold-down hardware and nip it up, then take it out for a test ride. looks pretty nice.

Primary side beauty shot

I always liked this perspective shot...

Quarter tail shot.

That's it. Bike wil be delivered to the BMOA RALLYE at Lake Sommerville in a little less than 2 weeks' time...

Danno · Jun 29, 2016

I would wager Alastair will be very pleased with the end product.