The Mightaswells Project

Thought I'd take the time to chronicle my refurbish project that I went through this year. You all know the dreaded "mightaswells"... got the fender off, mightaswell get it chromed...

It started with something that's annoyed me for years. Back side of the primary was contacting the swingarm. Enough so that the drive chain was digging aluminum shavings from it:



Mightaswell take it off and check alignment of the gearbox and engine. A straightedge across engine and gearbox sprockets reveals that the engine is twisted to the left:



Mightaswell take the engine out and check the mounting holes. Oh my, elongated holes and one is cracked:




Gotta get that welded. Mightaswell mill all 3 holes for brass sleeves:






Gotta replace that nasty cam I found:



Mightaswell replace bearings and shim the crank:



Mightaswell get the head reworked by Memphis Motorwerks:



Mightaswell polish the aluminum:



Mightaswell get some stuff chromed, and clean that rear wheel.



Mightaswell install MKIII isos, a Tri-Spark ignition, convert to negative earth, get some LED blinkers... I haven't tallied the bills yet, but I think I sunk about $4K into the old girl this year. She's worth it:

Nice ride! The end result is definitely worth it. I know how you feel, It seems like once you start there is no stopping until you have touched everything on the bike!

Definitely a nice job! One of these days, by golly, I'm going to paint a Commando Red!

...and Blue, and Yellow, and BRG, and...

awesome, i felt the same way as you. might as well do it all lol

pelican said:

awesome, i felt the same way as you. might as well do it all lol

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Yup. Been there and still doing that.

Understand that I've owned this old 'Ho since new. Never been inside the cases until this year. She represents 34 years of my life. Runs as good as she looks, and Lord amighty she looks good.

In my rather biased opinion, no motorcycle has ever been created that equals the Commando. Mightaswell take care of her.

Great job. How much difference did you notice when she went back together? That cam sure does look nasty!

She's a beauty ! Reminds me I need to go harass Leo Goff over dinner and tell him to hurry and finish putting mine back together

I really appreciate it when guys take the time to do a pictorial on a build, regardless of the detail or lack there of . It helps to inspire others to get of there ass and upgrade/replace those old troublesome parts of their bikes that they/I have been putting off.
Well done.
JUG

That head looks awesome. Leo Goff and his crew at memphis motor werks do some great work don't they. The bike turned out really nice and thanks for the photos on the motor alignment. I'll make sure to check that on mine when I'm putting it all back together.

byrdman76 said:

That head looks awesome. Leo Goff and his crew at memphis motor werks do some great work don't they.

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Off topic, but do those guys work on Triumphs? I want to send my 750 head out for a hop up and I have no idea where to send it off to.

If I am looking at that cam the right way I am surprised the bike ran at all. It looks like the lobe on the far right is ground down and there is a spike of metal on the left side of what is left of the lobe. It must run much better now with the proper lift.
I am in the middle of a similar project. It stared out with resen from the gas tank geting into the carb and causing it to stick. Just got the phone call yesterday that the barrels are bored for the new 20 over pistons. Hope the head comes back soon.

Yes Coco , Leo at Motorwerks does about anything you can imagine . Usually when I stop by there I see a Norton head or two , a Triumph head or two , and 3 or 4 sets of BMW Boxer heads . WRT Triumph heads , he actually designed a replacement head to address some of the performance shortcomings of the original , but decided not to pursue production due to cost issues I think .

Ron

Ron, if you get to do dinner with Leo please buy him a beer for me. Make it a Sam Adams (New England's finest) if possible, and tell him a Connecticut Yankee says thanks.

He had to mill the head flat and cut the valves pretty deep, a condition that made the valve stems high and my pushrods were then too long. Leo offered to trim the pushrods and get them back to me in a day. I did them myself on a lathe at work, but he called my cell and asked how I made out. The term "World Class" comes to mind.

Boz, your observation of the cam is correct. I'm also suprised that it ran at all, but I understand now why I couldn't get the left side to idle. This kind of cam wear unfortunately is not uncommon on 850's.

In keeping with the mightaswells theme, here's another - mightaswell paint the frame. I have an airbrush that allows me to spray very selectively, so I didn't have to remove the wiring harness.



And for those who might be changing superblends, you can make a simple tubular drift with standard sized cast iron pipe. Protect the crank with masking tape inside the pipe and tap the bearing inner race home with a mallet:

Maylar , I'll do that next time . We didn't have our usual Memphis vintage bike club
dinner this past Wed due to it being Leo and Jill's 36th anniversary . I'll tell him you said thanks again .

Ron