Another Commando back from the Dead

bucksfizz · May 27, 2017

Having had a '74 Mk2A Commando back in the day (my 3rd motorcycle), I badly wanted another.
I spotted a rather sorry '75 on Craigslist, and my buddy Dave Fahringer went along and procured it for the princely sum of $2600.
It wasn't very pretty:

It was shipped over to England in September last year, and I spent the winter restoring it.
Although it was very crusty, the engine turned out to be sound.
The electrics were re-wired from scratch, and converted to negative earth:

Repainted the tank and side panels myself, and looking much better now:

She's running nicely too, and I just need to get her registered for the road.
Looking forward to many miles of riding in 2017.

Fast Eddie · May 27, 2017

Nice wiring job !

Danno · May 27, 2017

Interested in your fuel line routing. I noticed the line to the drive side carb was plugged off.

bucksfizz · May 27, 2017

Danno said:
Interested in your fuel line routing. I noticed the line to the drive side carb was plugged off.

Talk about eagle-eyed, Danno!
That picture was taken yesterday, and just for the camera before I'd plumbed in the carburetters.
I'd plugged the DS carb to prevent fuel leaking when I'd run her up a few months ago.
Here she is up and running:

grandpaul · May 27, 2017

Very nice job, but isn't it a '74? (no e-start or rear disc brake)

bucksfizz · May 27, 2017

grandpaul said:
Very nice job, but isn't it a '74? (no e-start or rear disc brake)

Thanks. Unfortunately, it's a non-matching numbers bike.
The head steady, engine, gearbox, swinging arm, and rear wheel are '74 Mk2A.
The front fork, frame, and isolastics are '75 Mk3, and the frame number is consistent with being a Mk3.
It must have been heavily crashed, and re-framed at some point.
As the title says 2/75, I'll have to register it as a '75.
It suits me down to ground, as I prefer right foot shift, but do like the Mk3 console that fits onto the Mk3 top yoke.

mdt-son · May 27, 2017

Fast Eddie said:
Nice wiring job !

+1. Who supplies those purposeful looking connectors?

You deserve honours for a phantastic restoration job!

Rgds.
Knut Sonsteby

bucksfizz · May 27, 2017

mdt-son said:
Fast Eddie said:

Nice wiring job !

Click to expand...

+1. Who supplies those purposeful looking connectors?

The connectors are Superseal, and come in one- to six-way.
Originally, Norton wired the switch cubes in the head lamp shell, but it tends to make that area too busy, and resembling a rat's nest.
Wiring externally leaves the head lamp shell uncluttered:

GavinJuice · May 27, 2017

Are those not Weatherpack connectors?

Also where did you get the blue/black braided wire loom? Did you make your wiring harness from scratch? If so, where did you purchase the wire from?

bucksfizz · May 27, 2017

GavinJuice said:
Are those not Weatherpack connectors?

Also where did you get the blue/black braided wire loom? Did you make your wiring harness from scratch? If so, where did you purchase the wire from?

Weatherpack is probably a different name for the same product.
Braided sheathing came from eBay - I'm sure they have a US shop.
Wiring harness made from scratch, with thin wall cable purchased from Autosparks.
I laid out all the cables with enough to spare at the ends, to allow for trimming:

I hate the "something's gone wrong" single glass fuse - I use 8 fuses in this setup.
I also use relays for the head lamps and horn:

N0rt0nelectr@ · May 27, 2017

You do very nice work. I see what I think is a check valve on the breather line hooked to the oil tank. Where did you get it?
I love how neat the wiring is.

John in Texas

bucksfizz · May 27, 2017

N0rt0nelectr@ said:
You do very nice work. I see what I think is a check valve on the breather line hooked to the oil tank. Where did you get it?
I love how neat the wiring is.

John in Texas

Thanks, John in TX - I appreciate the sentiment.
The breather from the timing case has an exhaust gas recirculation (reed) valve from a Yamaha XC125 - cost £5/$6.50 from eBay.
It seems to do the job.

Danno · May 27, 2017

bucksfizz said:
Danno said:

Interested in your fuel line routing. I noticed the line to the drive side carb was plugged off.

Click to expand...

Talk about eagle-eyed, Danno!
That picture was taken yesterday, and just for the camera before I'd plumbed in the carburetters.
I'd plugged the DS carb to prevent fuel leaking when I'd run her up a few months ago.
Here she is up and running:

Very sharp!

KEV-C · May 27, 2017

Great looking bike. I noticed a pipe clip on the rocker oil feed, you do know that the oil feed to the rockers is full pressure from the pump so needs a pressure resisting pipe?

Kev

bucksfizz · May 27, 2017

KEV-C said:
Great looking bike. I noticed a pipe clip on the rocker oil feed, you do know that the oil feed to the rockers is full pressure from the pump so needs a pressure resisting pipe? Kev

Thanks! The original nylon pipe looked weak and old, so I replaced it with this: AN -4 (JIC-4 3/16" I.D) Stainless Braided BLACK PVC Coated Teflon PTFE Hose.
I'm still learning about these bikes, but that hose sounds fairly tough.
Let me know if it's not up to scratch.

chaztuna · May 27, 2017

bucksfizz said:
grandpaul said:

Very nice job, but isn't it a '74? (no e-start or rear disc brake)

Click to expand...

Thanks. Unfortunately, it's a non-matching numbers bike.
The head steady, engine, gearbox, swinging arm, and rear wheel are '74 Mk2A.
The front fork, frame, and isolastics are '75 Mk3, and the frame number is consistent with being a Mk3.
It must have been heavily crashed, and re-framed at some point.
As the title says 2/75, I'll have to register it as a '75.
It suits me down to ground, as I prefer right foot shift, but do like the Mk3 console that fits onto the Mk3 top yoke.

While it has the Mk III console, it has a 1974 front fork assembly. The Mk III has the brake rotor on the left, not the right. More likely, it's a 1974 Mk IIA that was crashed. Probably repaced the damaged frame with a 1975 Mk III unit. If so, it has a seat with a hinge on the left side. Does your seat mount with a hinge on the left? Is there provision for a seat hinge on the left? If not, that's not a Mk III frame. Many earlier bikes have been upgraded with Mk III parts, like the head steady & adjustable isolastics.

Those electrical connectors are definitely GM "weather pack" connectors. They are an improvement over the original Lucas stuff. Nice job on the wiring. Did you use PVC insulated wire, or did you upgrade to aircraft quality Tefzel wire? For those unfamiliar with Tefzel wire, you have it on the oxygen sensors of your 1996 or newer cars. Notice how much more abrasion resistant the insulation on the oxygen sensor wires is.
For those who want the ultimate in wire technology, Tefzel [Mil Spec 2275916] is the bomb! see

http://jaguarind.com/mil-w-2275916-tefz ... ated-wire/

L.A.B. · May 27, 2017

chaztuna said:
While it has the Mk III console, it has a 1974 front fork assembly. The Mk III has the brake rotor on the left, not the right.

However, the Mk3 fork leg assemblies are identical to pre-Mk3 parts (just swapped over right to left) so "forks" could be Mk3 (also the disc and caliper) but not the complete front end, as the hub, mudguard/fender and brake line components are pre-Mk3 but could have come from yet another bike.

chaztuna said:
More likely, it's a 1974 Mk IIA that was crashed. Probably repaced the damaged frame with a 1975 Mk III unit. If so, it has a seat with a hinge on the left side. Does your seat mount with a hinge on the left? Is there provision for a seat hinge on the left? If not, that's not a Mk III frame.

From what bucksfizz said, I don't think there's any dispute about it being a Mk2/2A built up using a Mk3 frame (it is a Mk3 frame).

acotrel · May 28, 2017

If the difference between Mk2 and Mk 3 is the handedness of the front forks, are there two different handed sliders ? Might be a way to create a dual disc front end that looks standard ?

L.A.B. · May 28, 2017

acotrel said:
If the difference between Mk2 and Mk 3 is the handedness of the front forks, are there two different handed sliders?

The Mk3 fork leg assemblies were identical to all pre-Mk3 disc forks (from '72), just swapped over from one side to the other which then placed the Mk3 caliper ahead of the fork leg on the LH side so only one disc brake, disc/caliper-side slider (06-3316) and one disc brake, non-disc/caliper-side slider (06-3318).

speirmoor · May 29, 2017

Beautiful resto Bucks !

Another Commando back from the Dead

bucksfizz

Fast Eddie

Danno

bucksfizz

grandpaul

bucksfizz

mdt-son

bucksfizz

GavinJuice

bucksfizz

N0rt0nelectr@

bucksfizz

Danno

KEV-C

bucksfizz

chaztuna

L.A.B.

Moderator

acotrel

L.A.B.

Moderator

speirmoor

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