Another resurrection

mikegray660 · Jun 1, 2016

So my brother has never had a classic cycle and thought we'd restore/rebuild some old beater and drink a lot of beer and listen to music in the garage in the process. He found a 69 commando off of craigslist and bought it for too much $ and it was a mess ( I probably should of gone and looked at it with him)- previous owner monkeyed everything, might of come from texas so many hillbilly fixes on it. Anyway it required a new frame (old one rusted out and beyond repairs) tranny was crap and required new housing and gears. we rebuilt the engine completely - power max pistons, head all done and inlets worked over by Leo at MMW. 2S cam, BSA profiled lifters by Jim (with his PCV added too), new main bearing etc etc - everything polished, new paint by Brent at vintage classics ( thanks Brent http://vintage-vendor.com/index.html). Ended up going to a single TM flatslide more for ease of maintenance / tuning for brother. Pazon ignition. Rebuilt instruments, upgraded charging system.. you get the idea - sunk way more than we could very sell it for but that's the usual scenario.... took longer than we thought - but they always do (about 3 years)

went for the first inaugural drive this past weekend - bike started first kick, and with small adjustment idled beautifully - few small oil leaks that will require attention but nothing shocking for the expected teething problems one would expect - enjoy

here's a few pic's - hadn't been on the road since the mid-late seventies we figured - another one brought back

trident sam · Jun 1, 2016

Great looking bike, well done bringing back another.
How does the TM flat slide compare to a VM roundslide, what size is the one on the bike ?
sam

mikegray660 · Jun 1, 2016

hey Sam
its unclear other than seat of the pants dyno if there is any real improvement - but to me it seems that the "running out of breath" in 5K+ RPMs encountered in the single VM mukini are not quite as noticeable with the TM - however having said that these observations are from my 850, where I've experimented with both setups quite a bit and settled on the TM34. Since this bike was just rebuilt we didn't really ring the throttle to much to see how it ran at higher RPMs yet, but with the cam and head work seemed like the thing to go to without the 2 carb setup (we were leaning towards this but like I said my brother is a novice so went single route first) - but I also see no drawback in using the flatslide other than its $50 more than a single VM

best
Mike

Roadrash · Jun 1, 2016

Looks like an outstanding job. Enjoy, their a hoot to ride you'll find.

[previous owner monkeyed everything, might of come from texas so many hillbilly fixes on it.]

Are there no hillbillies and bad mechanics in California? Come-on. :roll:

You've just experienced what many of us have by restoring a bike that hasn't been worked on since the late seventies, when parts availability was questionable, No internet to find what you needed and the bikes were has-beens, not classics yet. People made due on bikes that were coming to the end of their original life cycle.. Mine had horrific home made parts on it when I got it. And it came from Massachusetts.

Danno · Jun 1, 2016

Beautiful job. So much better than another part-out.

Guido · Jun 1, 2016

The bike looks great! But I gotta ask you about those horns. I put a Fiamm horn from a car I found at the junk yard and it was better than the stock one.
Are those horns real loud? I want loud. Where do you get them?
Again great job on the bike.

DogT · Jun 1, 2016

Very nice looking job. I just have to say it doesn't look like a '69 though. But don't pay any attention to me. You done good bringing another one back.

ILLF8ED · Jun 1, 2016

Guido said:
The bike looks great! But I gotta ask you about those horns. I put a Fiamm horn from a car I found at the junk yard and it was better than the stock one.
Are those horns real loud? I want loud. Where do you get them?
Again great job on the bike.

Amazon Prime $14.02 free shipping
Fiamm Freeway Blaster

MS850 · Jun 1, 2016

Very nice, great color choice.

mikegray660 · Jun 1, 2016

Fiamm el grande horns - think they were about $25 for the pair, and yes they are LOUD but you must wire a relay in on them to make them that way

Guido said:
The bike looks great! But I gotta ask you about those horns. I put a Fiamm horn from a car I found at the junk yard and it was better than the stock one.
Are those horns real loud? I want loud. Where do you get them?
Again great job on the bike.

dennisgb · Jun 1, 2016

Very Nice! Turned out beautiful.

gortnipper · Jun 1, 2016

mikegray660 said:
Fiamm el grande horns - think they were about $25 for the pair, and yes they are LOUD but you must wire a relay in on them to make them that way

Guido said:

The bike looks great! But I gotta ask you about those horns. I put a Fiamm horn from a car I found at the junk yard and it was better than the stock one.
Are those horns real loud? I want loud. Where do you get them?
Again great job on the bike.

Click to expand...

I have one of those with a relay as well. Very effective!

grandpaul · Jun 2, 2016

Very nicely done in BRG.

trident sam · Jun 2, 2016

mikegray660 said:
hey Sam
its unclear other than seat of the pants dyno if there is any real improvement - but to me it seems that the "running out of breath" in 5K+ RPMs encountered in the single VM mukini are not quite as noticeable with the TM - however having said that these observations are from my 850, where I've experimented with both setups quite a bit and settled on the TM34. Since this bike was just rebuilt we didn't really ring the throttle to much to see how it ran at higher RPMs yet, but with the cam and head work seemed like the thing to go to without the 2 carb setup (we were leaning towards this but like I said my brother is a novice so went single route first) - but I also see no drawback in using the flatslide other than its $50 more than a single VM

best
Mike

Thanks Mike,
I know what you mean about the VM running out of breath. I will probably try a TM when I have some spare cash.
sam

mikegray660 · Jun 2, 2016

give me a shout when you do same and i'll give you my jetting numbers etc

trident sam said:
mikegray660 said:

hey Sam
its unclear other than seat of the pants dyno if there is any real improvement - but to me it seems that the "running out of breath" in 5K+ RPMs encountered in the single VM mukini are not quite as noticeable with the TM - however having said that these observations are from my 850, where I've experimented with both setups quite a bit and settled on the TM34. Since this bike was just rebuilt we didn't really ring the throttle to much to see how it ran at higher RPMs yet, but with the cam and head work seemed like the thing to go to without the 2 carb setup (we were leaning towards this but like I said my brother is a novice so went single route first) - but I also see no drawback in using the flatslide other than its $50 more than a single VM

best
Mike

Click to expand...

Thanks Mike,
I know what you mean about the VM running out of breath. I will probably try a TM when I have some spare cash.
sam

aceaceca · Jun 2, 2016

That is a nice piece of work. The green is beautiful. The kicker looks very long. How well does it clear the pipes and does it butt up to the foot peg stem? Who sells it and for how much?

trident sam · Jun 2, 2016

mikegray660 said:
give me a shout when you do same and i'll give you my jetting numbers etc

Will do cheers
sam

trident sam said:

mikegray660 said:

hey Sam
its unclear other than seat of the pants dyno if there is any real improvement - but to me it seems that the "running out of breath" in 5K+ RPMs encountered in the single VM mukini are not quite as noticeable with the TM - however having said that these observations are from my 850, where I've experimented with both setups quite a bit and settled on the TM34. Since this bike was just rebuilt we didn't really ring the throttle to much to see how it ran at higher RPMs yet, but with the cam and head work seemed like the thing to go to without the 2 carb setup (we were leaning towards this but like I said my brother is a novice so went single route first) - but I also see no drawback in using the flatslide other than its $50 more than a single VM

best
Mike

Click to expand...

Thanks Mike,
I know what you mean about the VM running out of breath. I will probably try a TM when I have some spare cash.
sam

Click to expand...

Another resurrection

Similar threads