What Did You Do With Your Commando Today?

I got my one more ride in today. Took 'uncle bob' out for a nice 25 mile cruise with a cold PBR stop along the way. He gulped in that cool air and ran beautifully. I believe that is all she wrote for my riding in 2021. Really got to enjoy the bike this year. 2019 and 2020 were filled with smoke and intermittent problems due to our progressive approach to the restoration. The winter to do list includes gearbox (unknown layshaft bearing in there), isolastics, swing arm, and wheel bearings. It has been a really cool adventure so far - getting into motorcycling - on a Commando - that my deceased friend bought new in '74 - that my son and I restored.
 
A Stebel will fit in the original horn space bolted to the bracket that holds the rear fender. No fender mod needed. However it is not in the recommended orientation according to the directions. It worked fine for me ( ~10 yrs) but I was always worried about it dropping off in front of the rear wheel. It's heavy. I replaced it with a small loud horn in the same spot. The Stebels can be split apart, separating the compressor and horn, and mounting just the compressor under there. Info on the net... but I didn't try that.
Sorry for the side trip. I took my last ride of the season this week too.
 
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Hey did a last ride yesterday when we had a brief hour of sunshine and a little warmer weather here in Michigan. A good ride but then I noticed the exhaust pipe was shaking and rattling. Decided to get back home only to find that my rose nut was loose. Seems my safety wire failed on the right side cylinder.

On a positive note, my Hella shells came today as well as the LED Beamtech lights. During a very long zoom call for work, I installed them on the Norton Commando Combat (I bought a set for it too since the original Lucas shell had a crack in it). Everything works nicely. The bike is positive ground so I didn't expect the LEDs to work, but they did. Nice bright white light. Both low and high beams work.
 

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Starvingphotog said:
Hey did a last ride yesterday when we had a brief hour of sunshine and a little warmer weather here in Michigan. A good ride but then I noticed the exhaust pipe was shaking and rattling. Decided to get back home only to find that my rose nut was loose. Seems my safety wire failed on the right side cylinder.

On a positive note, my Hella shells came today as well as the LED Beamtech lights. During a very long zoom call for work, I installed them on the Norton Commando Combat (I bought a set for it too since the original Lucas shell had a crack in it). Everything works nicely. The bike is positive ground so I didn't expect the LEDs to work, but they did. Nice bright white light. Both low and high beams work.
Click to expand...
Seems some of these LED headlamps don't care much about polarity . Mine was a straight plug in and play too. The worst case scenario would have been a blown fuse , easily rewired and then replace the fuse .
 
Not today but yesterday - along with two buddies a jaunt of about 40 miles through the woods of coastal southern NJ to a quirky inn and a favorite destination for bikers of all sorts . It is probably my favorite ride and I never tire of it. The joint lies on a tidal creek that feeds into Great Bay . We are in the grips of the effects of the big low pressure Nor’easter spinning away off shore with the consequential high tides . 100 yards from our destination we had to turn back because the bay was over the road . My Commando has been recently rebuilt from the effects of another low - Sandy - and I sure didn’t relish doing it again.
edit - Deets55 - if you read this Pete you know where we tried to go..
 
After Engine oil/filter,primary oil,and gearbox oil change along with cam chain check and new seals in timing cover for the new riding season, I took commando out for a 110 mile shake down.Bike ran extremely well obtaining 21km per litre ,riding between 100-120kph with premier amal carbs. (sorry not in miles per gallon ;).... but not bad I reckon ! )
If anyone is interested photo is south of Tuatapere heading along the coastline back towards Riverton and Invercargill,Stewart Island on the signpost is approx 52 km away. Beautiful on a day like today....... not so good when the roaring forties winds are blowing in ! Cheers Hendo
What Did You Do With Your Commando Today?
 
Oooh. Shiney.

I smelled petrol in the garage. My float bowl gasket had dried out over the last half year and was leaking. Tightened down the screws a little to see if it stops the leak.

If it doesnt, I have another new gasket. But, with the CNW starter now it is a bit harder to drop the bowls.

Three steps forward one step back.
 
Brought my two ladies inside for the winter season. I plan to redo the clutch on the 850. I plan to finish the cNw breather, oil filter kit on the Combat. On both bikes I plan to replace the fork oils, and adjust the primary chains and the drive chains. On the 850 the primary chain is way too loose, and on the Combat it's way too tight. I'll strike a balance in the middle and adjust both bikes to that. I'm looking forward to riding the Combat next year, for the first time!
 
Test ride with new AHB 2nd gear set, no strange noises or lockup at speed. As expected, a small change but Jeltz likes it.
Made a set of Kegler Clamps. Maybe install when the ice sets in. Should get 3/4" set screws.
What Did You Do With Your Commando Today?
 
I feel for you poor friends who got to lay up for the winter our summer is just coming up and our winter has been so nice for riding during the day, not to hot and no where to cold, just right, no snow or ice our way ever, anyway just rubbing it in lol.

Your friend from down under

Ashley
 
ashman said:
I feel for you poor friends who got to lay up for the winter our summer is just coming up and our winter has been so nice for riding during the day, not to hot and no where to cold, just right, no snow or ice our way ever, anyway just rubbing it in lol.

Your friend from down under

Ashley
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You Aussies suck! Lol! Winter is coming in this part of the world.
 
Our winter days usually between 18c to 24c and our coldest nights around 6c but mostly 10c in winter, well where I live anyway lol, but our summers can get a bit warm, I live SE Queensland and is sub tropical.
 
Ashman, that sounds like a pretty nice setup you have there! I like those temp ranges for sure. I grew up in the Toronto area of Canada, lived in North Carolina for 12 years, and now I'm in frigid and grey Michigan. I miss the constant sunshine of the Carolinas mostly, but not the oven temperatures of their summers. Michigan is a fair compromise with it's terrific summers for 4 months of the year but it takes a minute to get used to the seemingly constant grey skies the rest of the year.
 
Peavey Jeltz said:
Test ride with new AHB 2nd gear set, no strange noises or lockup at speed. As expected, a small change but Jeltz likes it.
Made a set of Kegler Clamps. Maybe install when the ice sets in. Should get 3/4" set screws.
What Did You Do With Your Commando Today?
Click to expand...
Peavey,
I used Allen screws with my-loc nuts. Have been on for 8 years with no problems
 
I'm doing the full service on my bike. Nearly finished. Today, checked my rocker adjustment. Very little clearance on 3 of the 4, especially the inlet side. If anything, I expected them to have greater clearance than spec due to wear, not less. Was it just previously set wrong, or is this usual? Would re-torquing the head (recently) have affected the clearance? The nuts mostly didn't move much, but they did tighten.

When I first got the bike both exhaust rocker covers leaked, so I put neoprene gaskets on them, which fixed it. Did the same on the inlet this time round. It was a messy time-consuming job getting the old Wellseal and paper gasket off the inlet side, without dropping any bits into the head. However, the front neoprene gaskets looked a bit worse for wear for only a couple of thousand miles. They've become very thin from the pressure. Can anyone recommend a good quality source?
 
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Mart UK said:
I'm doing the full service on my bike. Nearly finished. Today, checked my rocker adjustment. Very little clearance on 3 of the 4, especially the inlet side. If anything, I expected them to have greater clearance than spec due to wear, not less. Was it just previously set wrong, or is this usual? Would re-torquing the head (recently) have affected the clearance? The nuts mostly didn't move much, but they did tighten.

When I first got the bike both exhaust rocker covers leaked, so I put neoprene gaskets on them, which fixed it. Did the same on the inlet this time round. It was a messy time-consuming job getting the old Wellseal and paper gasket off the inlet side, without dropping any bits into the head. However, the front neoprene gaskets looked a bit worse for wear for only a couple of thousand miles. They've become very thin from the pressure. Can anyone recommend a good quality source?
Click to expand...

realgaskets.com

Valve Cover Gasket Set - Norton Twins 600 - 850CC

Valve Cover Set - Norton "Twins" 600-850 cc. Silicone gaskets. Reusable. Set consists of: one (1) Inlet Valve Cover gasket (part # 06-7551) and two (2) Exhaust Valve Cover gaskets (part # 06-7554). Made in the USA.
realgaskets.com realgaskets.com
 
went for nice 25 mile ride bike ran great however......idle too high when bars turned to left reckon cables binding somewhar off with the tank off with the tank
 
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