Norton Villiers Commando 1968 Re commissioning an adventures at 30



Had a spin out today again on the Commando :) quality of the clip is massively better now :) finally sussed out what I was doing wrong upload wise.

Re adjusted the Rear Iso needed a bit more clearance in it for the Iso to start working at the right rev range superb difference now and still handles!

One of the NGK plugs decided to start breaking down an ended up miss firing while I was riding luckily managed to get going an limp home. Swapped a different plug in had one of the old champions I'd took out and it ran perfect an back to her usual self.

Hence why she sounds a bit off song on the video.

Removed the exhaust locking tab washers and got a nice good swing on the nuts seems alot better with the tab washers removed.

For those riding 68's what Champion plugs are you using? Seen N6Y mentioned and N7Y as well


One thing I did notice was a slight noise at about 5 seconds in on the video, one thing I did notice is the iso metal clip has come off on the front boot, gonna put that back on over the weekend.

If anyone has any ideas on the noise that'd be helpful :)
 
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Put the Champions in the difference in performance is immense super happy with how it's running!

Has anyone converted from solid Rocker feed lines to the Flexi ones Andover sell? :)
 
On the flexible pipe I had one pull off a banjo just as I was checking the bike before a ride, it would have dropped off not long afterwards if I had not found it, the leak will reduce the pressure at the big ends and potentially dump oil over the rear tyre. The stainless is a safer bet especially if smooth coated so it does not hacksaw its way into other parts.
 
Bit of progress on the Commando today
Norton Villiers Commando 1968 Re commissioning an adventures at 30
got the timing cover removed ready to replace the gasket once I remove the old one gonna get some. Got the replacement small oil seal to go onto the pump as well just placed another order as I missed the Crankshaft oil seal and circlip oops! So ordered the proper drift tool as well and the propper tacho cable to replace the one the previous owner fitted gotta wait for all that to turn up from Andover kicking myself for missing it!

Replaced the sump nut to.

Spotted one issue when I removed the oil union bolt for the rocker feed it had something partially blocking the hole from when the previous owner put the engine together! Glad I got stuck in to working on her so I can find some of these lil issues, another thunderstorm stopped me carrying on unfortunately.

Weather looks better for Tuesday so hopefully gonna fit the new rocker oil line, removing the solid one and gonna check the clearances an replace the rocker gaskets to an the end caps were leaking as well so got a full set of gaskets for those. Hoping to cure all these silly lil oil leaks + a bit of piece of mind of checking stuff out.

Norton Villiers Commando 1968 Re commissioning an adventures at 30
62601643_10218998599660371_4508206924688261120_o by norton.rider, on Flickr

Norton Villiers Commando 1968 Re commissioning an adventures at 30
62795335_10218998598460341_8012725733703024640_o by norton.rider, on Flickr

Norton Villiers Commando 1968 Re commissioning an adventures at 30
64239019_10218998596140283_4845847197318643712_o by norton.rider, on Flickr
 
norton_rider said:
Thanks Lab, appreciate the reply :) buggers keep working loose on the rocker's only slight so thinking of moving to a flexible line.
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Hey -rider,
I see you may have pulled the rocker feed line in advance of replacement.

I have a chance to purchase braided, but trying to keep as much of the original stuff as ‘comfortably’ as possible. Not wanting to end up with a garage queen.

So, are your solid lines in good shape. Any ugly bends or knicks and such. Mine seem fine and fit relatively easily in place. But I have all these subtle bends or waves, very few straight as an arrow sections. Is that normal, anyone? Don’t wanna go around and hear, “looks great, but you should really do something about that ugly oil line”.

And did you try to use any assist on the fastener? It would have to be safety wired or rtv’d In my race org.
Thanks
Ciao
 
Hi Bus I'll get some pictures for you tomorrow hoping it's going to be really dry had thunderstorms here :) funds are a little tight so gone for rubber mk3 version from andover over the braided as it let me get a few extra bits I needed.

Will try some braided ones down the line though (pun intended) as a few on here have recommended them.

My uncle used to race a 1968 NV Gus Kuhn with his own tuned engine which was why I always wanted the early one.

Got vernier iso's which are utterly superb an the swing arm mod, Tri Spark huge difference an I'm gonna get a new set of carbs at some point got Premiers on the 650SS which really rock.
My uncle said it's definitely worth doing away with the solid oil line on the commando.

Gonna replace all the gaskets apart from cylinder head an base an take it from there :) those are ok luckily. 'touch wood'.

Only work I've done on her so far was the electronic ignition timing an setting the carbs up so just working my way through steadily sorting her out!

Cheers.
 
norton_rider said:
Hi Bus I'll get some pictures for you tomorrow hoping it's going to be really dry had thunderstorms here :) funds are a little tight so gone for rubber mk3 version from andover over the braided as it let me get a few extra bits I needed.

Will try some braided ones down the line though (pun intended) as a few on here have recommended them.

My uncle used to race a 1968 NV Gus Kuhn with his own tuned engine which was why I always wanted the early one.

Got vernier iso's which are utterly superb an the swing arm mod, Tri Spark huge difference an I'm gonna get a new set of carbs at some point got Premiers on the 650SS which really rock.
My uncle said it's definitely worth doing away with the solid oil line on the commando.

Gonna replace all the gaskets apart from cylinder head an base an take it from there :) those are ok luckily. 'touch wood'.

Only work I've done on her so far was the electronic ignition timing an setting the carbs up so just working my way through steadily sorting her out!

Cheers.
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OK. I will move toward the braided, I suppose.

Wouldn’t want originality to leave me stranded by the roadside... or worse.

Good luck with the work
 
So quite a bit of progress yesterday an just about to get stuck in again :)

Cleaned all the gasket surface up ready for replacing the outer cover gasket
Norton Villiers Commando 1968 Re commissioning an adventures at 30
IMG_20190621_123315946-01 by norton.rider, on Flickr

Then the timing cover as well :)

Norton Villiers Commando 1968 Re commissioning an adventures at 30
IMG_20190621_123330735-01 by norton.rider, on Flickr

Replaced the pump seal :) Old one underneath for comparison, when refitting the cover I checked the clearance on the cover as per the manual.

Norton Villiers Commando 1968 Re commissioning an adventures at 30
IMG_20190621_153940761-02 by norton.rider, on Flickr

Crankshaft oil seal ready to go on, unfortunately the drift tool was 1/10th of an inch to short for the cir-clip lip so ended up having to use the old seal for the final last push as a drift.

Norton Villiers Commando 1968 Re commissioning an adventures at 30
IMG_20190621_135605345-01 by norton.rider, on Flickr

Well that explains why the rocker lines were leaking oil previous owner hadn't used the correct seals.

Norton Villiers Commando 1968 Re commissioning an adventures at 30
IMG_20190621_181427520-01 by norton.rider, on Flickr

Cover back on :) along with the new oil line looks alot better!
Norton Villiers Commando 1968 Re commissioning an adventures at 30
IMG_20190621_191831059-01 by norton.rider, on Flickr

When I removed the tank ready for the next bit of work the top Iso bolt looked like it was hanging off unfortunately its sheared half way along, the previous owner had set the Isolastic's up far to tight for my liking compared to standard clearances in the 68 manual. So it must have strained the bolt, gonna have to order one on Monday.

Norton Villiers Commando 1968 Re commissioning an adventures at 30
IMG_20190621_170310057-01 by norton.rider, on Flickr
 
Those fork gaiters appear fully compressed as the bike is sitting. How are your internal fork springs? They may be "tired" and need replacing...

Copper sealing rings for the banjo bolts are not "wrong", just a different option.

I like "A boy and his bike" photo...
 
Very nice. The looks of the English bikes are still hard to beat even after all of these years. There's nothing sounds like a Commando doing it's thing either, especially when she hits her band.
 
Thanks guys! Yep forks are on the list handles superbly though.

An totally agree I've never quite experienced a classic that sounds as good as the commando since I sorted the plugs out back to Champion she's really got that Bark and Roar back!

Just removed the oil tap the previous owner had fitted.
Going to order all new oil lines throughout not to mad on how a couple are looking and the engine feed one is to short now with the correct fitment installed.

So that's it again for a few days now till some more parts arrive I wanna replace the rocker gaskets and do the clearences when I'm at the point of putting oil on. Need to do the gaskets on the end caps as well :)

Norton Villiers Commando 1968 Re commissioning an adventures at 30
IMG_20190622_153857961-01 by norton.rider, on Flickr
 
grandpaul said:
Those fork gaiters appear fully compressed as the bike is sitting. How are your internal fork springs? They may be "tired" and need replacing...
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They're compressed because they should be covering the chromed fork slider extensions.
http://www.classicbike.biz/Norton/Brochures/1960/69NortonCommandoBrochure.pdf

grandpaul said:
Copper sealing rings for the banjo bolts are not "wrong", just a different option.
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Certainly not entirely the right option in my opinion compared with the correct wide aluminium washers. Edit: Copper sealing washers can be used for Aeroquip etc. braided stainless banjos but I would still recommend using an aluminium washer next to the head or timing cover.

https://andover-norton.co.uk/en/shop-details/17098/washer-d12-701-nmt1084-
 
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Need to dump the rubber gloves because it's a known fact that burnt oil from a Norton has multiple beneficial health qualities & promotes long life, also reducing any tendency toward the onset of erectile dysfunction as proven by the crowd you are now associating with on this site. Keep up the good fight.
 
norton_rider said:
When I removed the tank ready for the next bit of work the top Iso bolt looked like it was hanging off unfortunately its sheared half way along, the previous owner had set the Isolastic's up far to tight for my liking compared to standard clearances in the 68 manual. So it must have strained the bolt, gonna have to order one on Monday.
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norton_rider said:
Norton Villiers Commando 1968 Re commissioning an adventures at 30
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That's not what I would think given your widow maker frame. I would think that the yoke and frame were flexing so much because of the lack of the triangular bracing of the the later model frames, that the engine was acting as the diagonal brace at the headstock applying force between the front isolastic and the headsteady. So much so, that it broke the bolt...

I know you said you consulted Norman White, and of course I'm only fit to carry his toolbox around, not question his judgement, but it's your ass on the line. Fix the headstock.... I bet if you called Norman and told him the headsteady bolt sheared, he might change his opinion about making the frame repair...
 
Cheer's guys :) super appreciate the replies yeah always been looking at those gators haha! Cheers again L.A.B. for a great post enjoyed looking at that brochure.

Those are the washer's I got L.A.B.

Found a few other issues some of the oil lines are on the point of failure in some of the areas that were not visible so going to replace the lot + the engine to tank feed line is to short now. Glad I got that tap removed, especially with how bashed it was. So gonna order the oil lines from Andover and the sheared headsteady bolt.

One thing I was wondering when I read up about the headsteady that's been fitted by the previous owner they have springs on them, with mine being the earlier frame no where for it to fit. How integral is the spring to the operation of the headsteady? So that's something I need to think about wondering if that had any bearing on it. Other side of it could be the ham fisted previous owner come across a few examples of that on the bike
!

haha Jbruney :) so I've heard :p seen the nastiness of contact dermatitis with people in print who didn't look after there hands not pretty!

Actually been speaking to him about getting it done booked up all year so something to re address over the winter said to give him a call back around then.

She's just about to click onto 100 miles since the previous owner had the speedo rebuilt.

One other leak I've got ever so slightly is the oil feed joint on the primary side of the crankcase where the line goes in at the front, going to go through the parts drawings and see if anything is missing.

Might actually get a second Commando either a 69 or a later one just in the process of selling a few of my Japanese two strokes RD250LC etc. Although I am really hankering for a 1940's ww2 16H

Stuck the new rubber in on the primary cover just got to decide what to run in that, my uncle reckons he used to just pop the inspection cover off an lube the chain but I dunno.

Norton Villiers Commando 1968 Re commissioning an adventures at 30
IMG_20190622_173420609-01 by norton.rider, on Flickr
 
norton_rider said:
Stuck the new rubber in on the primary cover just got to decide what to run in that, my uncle reckons he used to just pop the inspection cover off an lube the chain but I dunno.
Click to expand...

Careful saying things like that around here or you might lose control of this thread REAL fast. Ha

Enjoying your progress.
 
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