I recently acquired a 1974 850 Commando and, as a result, have joined this forum. This is my first post here. I've had experience working on other Brit bikes, but have never owned a Norton. This bike was parked in 1989 with about 11K miles on it. It sat in a dry and seasonally hot garage for 20 years in Yakima, WA USA. My plan was to see if and how well the bike would run before I got too carried away doing a restoration on it. I rebuilt the carbs, changed the oil and filter, put in a new battery, and spark plugs. The bike had good spark, so I didn't do anything with the ignition. I attempted to fire her up today, and she started on the second kick and ran very strongly. The problem is that oil was pouring out of what appears to be the joint between the head and barrels. I ran the bike for a total of less than 3 minutes on two starts and had a big puddle of oil on my garage floor. I'm hoping that there are seals in there that have dried out and are responsible for the spectacular oil leak. Is this a common and easily solved problem on Commandos which have sat for extented periods? What is the best approach to trouble shooting this problem?
Thanks,
Jim Malm
Spokane, WA USA
Thanks,
Jim Malm
Spokane, WA USA