How do you usually start your Commando?

Schwany said:

I have not had a body part replaced in 73 years. Kick starting a 750 Norton engine to life is still relatively easy. I've had some motorcycles that were far more intimidating to kick start. My left hand kick start Rotax 560 thumpers always made me a little nervous when kicking cold.

Click to expand...

I'm trying to avoid knee and hip ops but had cataract operations in both eyes.

Aging is definitely variable. I have friends who could run with many 20 year olds.

johnm said:

I'm trying to avoid knee and hip ops but had cataract operations in both eyes.

Aging is definitely variable. I have friends who could run with many 20 year olds.

Click to expand...

At our age it's one body part after the other saying "Ha! you think that's bad - watch this!"

johnm said:

I'm trying to avoid knee and hip ops but had cataract operations in both eyes.

Aging is definitely variable. I have friends who could run with many 20 year olds.

Click to expand...

A little tangential BS of mine:

I cycle on an indoor bicycle trainer every other day. 24mph avg for an hour. My resting heart rate is in the low 40's. Sounds like bradycardia, but it's a healthy heart due to the cycling far as I can tell. I doubt I could keep up with anyone in their 20's unless they were overweight and out of shape. Lot of old slim farts out there in better shape than I am. Lot of people my age in far worse shape than I am.

I highly recommend cycling to men or women that want to ride motorcycles. It's what the fast guys do. I do it so I don't drop dead on the couch watching TV or mowing the lawn. Also helps with the kick starting.

Schwany said:

A little tangential BS of mine:

I cycle on an indoor bicycle trainer every other day. 24mph avg for an hour. My resting heart rate is in the low 40's. Sounds like bradycardia, but it's a healthy heart due to the cycling far as I can tell. I doubt I could keep up with anyone in their 20's unless they were overweight and out of shape. Lot of old slim farts out there in better shape than I am. Lot of people my age in far worse shape than I am.

I highly recommend cycling to men or women that want to ride motorcycles. It's what the fast guys do. I do it so I don't drop dead on the couch watching TV or mowing the lawn. Also helps with the kick starting.

Click to expand...

I don't think that dropping dead on the couch watching TV would be a bad way to go, as long as my team was winning

BERT said:

I don't think that dropping dead on the couch watching TV would be a bad way to go, as long as my team was winning

Click to expand...

My ex's step dad died peacefully in his easy chair while the Chicago Cubs won the World Series.

I can't think of a better way to go!

I worked in a Norton shop for several years back in the 90s. If they had center stands I used them, using pieces of truck mud flap under it so it wouldn't walk across the shop floor. Sometimes I had to start them while on the stand. If they didn't start after a couple of kicks I'd look for why and charge the customer -- plugs, carb cleaner, fresh gas, etc. How many times a day was this? Obviously too many.

This is why when I layed into the start lever on my Atlas the pain got me to order the T160 lever. It now hurts less and I can get it started. On my Commando I push the button -- works every time. No pain at all. Now if my hips stop complaining about the spread across the interstate tank.....

Schwany said:

A little tangential BS of mine:

I cycle on an indoor bicycle trainer every other day. 24mph avg for an hour. My resting heart rate is in the low 40's. Sounds like bradycardia, but it's a healthy heart due to the cycling far as I can tell. I doubt I could keep up with anyone in their 20's unless they were overweight and out of shape. Lot of old slim farts out there in better shape than I am. Lot of people my age in far worse shape than I am.

I highly recommend cycling to men or women that want to ride motorcycles. It's what the fast guys do. I do it so I don't drop dead on the couch watching TV or mowing the lawn. Also helps with the kick starting.

Click to expand...

Use it or lose it . ( Quoting my Doctor ) .
I bicycle every day , spring , summer or fall / winter . I'm an aggressive style cyclist .
65 1/2 yrs. old .
Raced with Hyabussas group last night . Norton kept right up .

BERT said:

I don't think that dropping dead on the couch watching TV would be a bad way to go, as long as my team was winning

Click to expand...

No thanks, old age (I want to see 105), a young lady sitting on my lap be better, nothing on TV worth dying for, but one last ride on my beloved Norton be the way too go.

I get my butler to do it.

BERT said:

I don't think that dropping dead on the couch watching TV would be a bad way to go, as long as my team was winning

Click to expand...

It'd be nice to go peacefully in my sleep like my grandad
Unlike his passengers all screaming and crying and making a fuss !!

Dan1950 said:

My ex's step dad died peacefully in his easy chair while the Chicago Cubs won the World Series.

I can't think of a better way to go!

Click to expand...

I suppose that depends on whether he was a Chicago Cubs supporter or a fan of the opposing team.

Torontonian said:

Use it or lose it . ( Quoting my Doctor ) .
I bicycle every day , spring , summer or fall / winter . I'm an aggressive style cyclist .
65 1/2 yrs. old .

Click to expand...

I was spinning it every day, but I like my average speed over an hour numbers better when I take a rest day between.

I used to ride a lot both road and off road. Still have 6 bicycles in the garage. I quit riding a bicycle on the street, and don't seem to have enough give a shite to seek out new off road rides since moving to Seattle.

Anyway, be the engine... ride a bicycle.

I stomp like hell and depend on a big fat rare earth magneto spark to give me a first kick start. Well maybe it doesn't work EVERY time but yes, it usually does.

About a year ago, I started my 850 (Tri-spark ignition). It ran for 4 about thumps then stalled and kicked back like a startled mule! I was still straight-legged on the lever which really slammed my knee and hip. The leg recovered, though I still have some occasional hip pain today.
No electric start planned--yet, but I'll do it if necessary to keep riding.

Rubicon note: In the 1980's, my '83 Toyota 4WD shortbed pickup with posi-traction in the rear differential did very well on the Rubicon trail Many weekend trips to Spider lake. Never participated in Smith's parade, tho.

Russ in California.

I'm a backcountry skier. That means I skin up mountains with a pack on, to ski back down them. My BC friends who were all 25 years younger than I, started dropping me regularly on the climbs when I was about 55 years old, because I just didn't have the fitness to keep up with 30 year olds. Some years later 2 out of the 3 of them are dead. One from avalanche and the other from a climbing rope accident. The saying that, "There are old climbers and bold climbers, but there are no old, bold climbers" rings true. Sometimes the couch is the less deadly choice....

At 65, my cardio fitness is all but gone, but I'm about 215lbs right now so I still have gorilla strength. I lengthened the kickstart lever by about 1-1/4" by combining 2 kickstart levers to make one longer one. The bike easier to kick over, but it's all really about knowing how your carbs are set up and what proceedure you need to employ to get it to light up on the first kick under all the different circumstances... That takes a few years of trial and error...

Right now, my default technique with removed choke levers is,...... bleed the carbs, kick it only once with the key off, turn the key on, kick with the throttle lifted about a quarter turn.... Seems to work 9 out of 10 times when cold... When it doesn't start, it usually is flooded and it takes 5 kicks to clear and start it...

jseng1 said:

I stomp like hell and depend on a big fat rare earth magneto spark to give me a first kick start. Well maybe it doesn't work EVERY time but yes, it usually does.

Click to expand...

Refreshing to read some reality. First kick cold starts and British motorcycles never made a lick of sense to me.

jseng1 said:

I stomp like hell and depend on a big fat rare earth magneto spark to give me a first kick start. Well maybe it doesn't work EVERY time but yes, it usually does.

Click to expand...

Yes the new Joe Hunts with the 4 rare earths makes life easy for kicking, my first kick for the day is always the biggest kick once it's been started for the day it sit on the seat kick most of the time and usually a short 1/2 kick before its running, the longer kicker also helps, no need to retard the timing as full advance it still fires on fire kick if the timing is set right it don't kick back at all.

Ashley

Does freeing up a cold wet clutch with the kick start lever count as a first kick? Or is that a zero?

I can see a belt drive clutch Norton starting on the first kick even without a Joe Hunt magneto, but not a pre-Commando with a 3 spring AMC clutch unless the wet clutch plates were brand spanky new. I always had to free up the wet AMC clutch before I kick started if I didn't want a huge crash into first gear. Might not be an issue with a diaphragm spring Commando wet clutch. Last time I started a Commando with a wet clutch was around 1987. Can't remember what it was like.

Since running ATF oil in my primary my clutch plates haven't stuck together and I am still running the original plates as well chain but I do pull my primary case apart once a year to make sure everything is still good as part of general maintenance, I been running ATF in my primary for over 40+ years, took me a while to work out what was causing the clutch to slip and sticking plates.

Ashley

ashman said:

Since running ATF oil in my primary my clutch plates haven't stuck together and I am still running the original plates as well chain but I do pull my primary case apart once a year to make sure everything is still good as part of general maintenance, I been running ATF in my primary for over 40+ years, took me a while to work out what was causing the clutch to slip and sticking plates.

Ashley

Click to expand...

I ran ATF in the primary of my A65T.