First time I've posted on this forum but I've used it a lot over the last 18 months while I was working on the Norton. So here is my 850 Fastback "S".
I bought a new British Racing Green 750 Combat Fastback in 1972. I loved that bike even though the main bearings didn't get out of the warranty period. I had a lot of bikes over a 25 year period but my two favorites were the Norton and a yellow 1970's Ducati Sport. I stopped riding in '94 but decided two years ago that I'd enjoy tinkering with a Norton again. The great thing now is that you can make the Commando the bike it should have been. Main bearings that don't explode, carburetors that stay in tune and electronic ignition. This bike uses a Mikuni and a Tri-Spark ignition and starts first kick every time and idles perfectly. I also added a belt drive and updated the controls. I replaced the standard master cylinder with a 12mm Brembo but kept the standard disc. I'm amazed at the difference.
I like the fastback look and I love S pipes so that's what went on it. I bought the lot new from the UK and everything fitted apart from the side-covers which took a fair bit of work to fit. My big problem was with the fiberglass tank I got from Burtons. It's supposed to be resistant to up to 10% ethanol. No problem I thought as I will not be using ethanol fuel. In Australia you get to choose. I had a lot of trouble to get the bike running and eventually bought a new Mikuni as the one that came with the bike was looked pretty old and used. After I fitted the new carb the bike went well for a few weeks but then it started to run bad again. I pulled the carby apart and found some greenish sticky stuff in the jets. Then I stuck my finger in the tank and noticed the inside wall was tacky. I knew what that meant. Burtons do recommend you line the tank with something like Caswells but I thought that as I'm not using ethanol I could get by without it. You'd think that if lining the tank was that important they might do it at the time of manufacture. I took the tank off, cleaned it out and used Caswells. All is now well but long term I think I'll be looking at an alloy tank.
Some will notice the tailpiece has been cut to expose the frame. It has the wide frame loop but I couldn't bring myself to cut into the frame. In fact the whole bike could be restored to a standard roadster as I've kept all of the original parts.
The bike is a joy to ride and I know why I have such fond memories of my 72 Fastback. But now it starts and runs like a modern bike. I love character but reliability has something going for it too. I had a few Japanese bikes in the eighties and you could jump on them and ride to Sydney in a day (1,000 klms).
Anyway, a great site and thanks for4 the assistance during the build.
I bought a new British Racing Green 750 Combat Fastback in 1972. I loved that bike even though the main bearings didn't get out of the warranty period. I had a lot of bikes over a 25 year period but my two favorites were the Norton and a yellow 1970's Ducati Sport. I stopped riding in '94 but decided two years ago that I'd enjoy tinkering with a Norton again. The great thing now is that you can make the Commando the bike it should have been. Main bearings that don't explode, carburetors that stay in tune and electronic ignition. This bike uses a Mikuni and a Tri-Spark ignition and starts first kick every time and idles perfectly. I also added a belt drive and updated the controls. I replaced the standard master cylinder with a 12mm Brembo but kept the standard disc. I'm amazed at the difference.
I like the fastback look and I love S pipes so that's what went on it. I bought the lot new from the UK and everything fitted apart from the side-covers which took a fair bit of work to fit. My big problem was with the fiberglass tank I got from Burtons. It's supposed to be resistant to up to 10% ethanol. No problem I thought as I will not be using ethanol fuel. In Australia you get to choose. I had a lot of trouble to get the bike running and eventually bought a new Mikuni as the one that came with the bike was looked pretty old and used. After I fitted the new carb the bike went well for a few weeks but then it started to run bad again. I pulled the carby apart and found some greenish sticky stuff in the jets. Then I stuck my finger in the tank and noticed the inside wall was tacky. I knew what that meant. Burtons do recommend you line the tank with something like Caswells but I thought that as I'm not using ethanol I could get by without it. You'd think that if lining the tank was that important they might do it at the time of manufacture. I took the tank off, cleaned it out and used Caswells. All is now well but long term I think I'll be looking at an alloy tank.
Some will notice the tailpiece has been cut to expose the frame. It has the wide frame loop but I couldn't bring myself to cut into the frame. In fact the whole bike could be restored to a standard roadster as I've kept all of the original parts.
The bike is a joy to ride and I know why I have such fond memories of my 72 Fastback. But now it starts and runs like a modern bike. I love character but reliability has something going for it too. I had a few Japanese bikes in the eighties and you could jump on them and ride to Sydney in a day (1,000 klms).
Anyway, a great site and thanks for4 the assistance during the build.
