bill said:
Mark
I am not the one that has come on here and touted my ware's as a magical device that will transform a commando into a true corner carving, peg dragging ride.as a matter of fact I do not advertise my stuff any where! as I posted to you a while back (in another post or forum) I would NOT use a headsteady to correct a misalignment issue and IF I remember you agreed with that assessment but I am getting older. as I posted before the commando frame assembly as a whole is not that ridged and also for that reason I feel that bigger wheel's and tires hurt a commando's handling. I spend 6-7 months in the mountains of NE Tn and I have touched down parts on my commando riding it hard but that is not the norm. I also do not make wild claim's of vastly improved handling and reduced vibration, the main thing about my front kit is the lack of maintenance and the headsteady is it is more ridged than stock. if you truly want to transform a commando than a total remake is in order. I would start at the spaghetti swingarm (have you seen how easy you can twist one) and work my way to the front fork's and yokes that you can twist with your hands.
Jim Comstock has a front link on his bike that is below the mount and uses ATV tie rod ends and was welded to the frame.mine is above the mount and is a bolt on affair. he also is working on a headsteady that uses the ATV ends.
you posted that you are in VA. where about's ? you missed out on a great ride that we do every year from blowing rock N C.
you should come over to my parts ( I have a campground ) and try out the roads here :mrgreen:
windy
Windy
Thanks for the invite. Most of my riding is limited to one day per week, so local is the norm. But, you are surely close to shouting distance, or have we now established that we're there?
Friend, I make no "wild claims" . I am simply reporting the facts about my bike and the improvements the heim link provides. My unit is SIMPLY ADJUSTABLE, and it looks nice. What's so irritating about that? You earlier indicated that you did not utilize the tall tower approach on your headsteady because of concerns about flexing, but now you attest to the need for such movement?
I couldn't agree with you more about resizing the wheels and such. These approaches at getting modern sensibilities bolted onto the bike are ill conceived and poorly defended. Yes. I did agree with your point about how to better correct for the misalignment. I did not, however, agree with your point about preload being something to be avoided. In fact my entire discussion of my unit points out that it is a compromise instead of rebuilding/remachining the frame from the tubes up. With careful assembly, I can dramatically reduce the gap in the front and rear isolastics, to nearly zero, thus they are not preloaded; that would require forced pressure between the end cap and the tube while at rest. This is not the case. You can disagree with my approach, but I don't see why you have to get all steamed up about it. I'll make a plan to come down and visit you. Like they say, taste the pudding before you criticize the process. By the way, if one heim is good, then three must be better. Well, maybe; but putting the one up front makes sense regarding lateral movement - it just DOES NOT AFFECT or REMEDY misalignment of the motor/subframe/wheel assembly. For that you need to rotate the misaligned assembly about its pivoting axis, which is the rear mounting point. If you disagree with that concept, then you are left with remachining the abutments true to the frame. I really can't believe you disagree with that.
If I'm not mistaken, an ATV (all terrain vehicle) end is no different than a heim or rose joint. But, looking into those, the aviation quality heim joints are more to my taste as to what looks good, performs well, and provides the size and adjustability I'm looking for in this application. The space under the tank is very limited, and I like the simplicity and durability of something that is precision machined. Just my opinion.
Now, I will stick my neck WAAAAY out. I think a lot of the problem with bending swing arms and flexing forks, and weak suspension damping has more to do with changing times, than newly discovered weaknesses and flaws in the design. Is it just me, or has the entire world, no longer just the good ol' U.S. of A, become super-sized? What do you reckon was the weight of the test riders for the old Norton Dominator or Commando? And what would you guess the average weight of today's Commando rider to be? When I was twenty I weighted 145 pounds. I'll guess that the typical Commando rider, and probably more importantly, the one who has experienced swing arm failure, is more towards the two hundred mark. But I could be wildly incorrect. What's the average weight of a racer these days? I think a lot of folks feel offended by this idea. And a lot of folks feel offended by somebody else making a little bit of an extra effort to accomplish something that they didn't do, perhaps due to shop resources. I engineered the improvements to the DT headsteady, and paid a professional machine shop to CNC-manufacture it by way of my, yes unique, computer data. I then hand finish and assemble them in my shop. In that process, I've discovered little tweeks and improvements that are hand made, and will be added to the next machine run. Sorry if that process is irritating to those who prefer to bend, weld, file, and powder coat. Anybody in the manufacturing business would see that all this to-do about a simple machined pattern part is all just hooey.
Well, this is all fun and stuff, but whatta ya say we just get together and have a ride and tip a few. I'm really not a bad guy, and on weekends I work out of an old shed. My pride and joy is my Handy Lift and a real hardwood topped work bench I finally bought for myself last year - no more plywood! I do things the old fashioned way mostly, until I discover that today's technology can make a significant impact on old gems. The Norton needs to be understood and kept true to its origins. Amazingly, I think you and I can actually agree on that point.
Tell ya what, let's meet halfway somewhere where neither of us will have an advantage with knowing the roads!
Cheers,
Mark
