What Did You Do With Your Commando Today?

Given the
Ron Hulton said:
I went back and checked my notes .. Top ring was measured at .013 " gap L .013" R with the right being ok . It was the left that went 3 years ago .

Just heard from the machine shop that has my cylinder .. Bores are straight and round and in spec for my + .020 " pistons . New Andover piston kits on their way
Click to expand...
Given the history, I'd file an additional .002" clearance above that this time around.

JMWO
 
Ron Hulton said:
A picture is worth a thousand words. Sadly , no answers . Just waiting for Concours to recommend the correct JB Weld .

This is the Left side and the second time that the top ring has broken . The first time , 3 years ago the top ring broke and spit out about 2 inches of ring out the exhaust . This time 1/2 of the ring is gone . No damage to the bore either time .

New pistons to be ordered in the morning.
Click to expand...
I would not simply swap pistons without pulling that engine apart and measuring ever last part to within a ten-thousandth of it's life.

Somethin' ain't right...
 
Norton today polished up and ready for this evening's Moto Social here in Toronto .
Pulled clutch lever pivot pin for a wipe clean and a dab of fresh grease .
Question : The cable end into the clutch lever ( barrel ) has a white Teflon surround over it .
Does this need grease or not ? I suspect the Teflon piece is the anti-friction piece and does not require any grease . Featherlight .
The cable itself requires no lubrication for life , correct ?
 
Usually where a cable will break is where it runs through the cable adjuster on the lever end that is where I put a dab of grease to lube that area for long life clutch cables, I went through a few clutch cables in my early days till I put that dab of grease there haven't broken one since that was about 40 years ago, a dab of grease every oil change don't hurt.
 
Torontonian said:
Norton today polished up and ready for this evening's Moto Social here in Toronto .
Pulled clutch lever pivot pin for a wipe clean and a dab of fresh grease .
Question : The cable end into the clutch lever ( barrel ) has a white Teflon surround over it .
Does this need grease or not ? I suspect the Teflon piece is the anti-friction piece and does not require any grease . Featherlight .
The cable itself requires no lubrication for life , correct ?
Click to expand...

PTFE lined cables shouldnt be lubricated with mineral oil, but this stuff seems to be OK;

www.ebay.co.uk

Super Lube Synthetic PTFE Lubricant | eBay

Super Lube Synthetic PTFE Lubricant.
www.ebay.co.uk

I have used it on my clutch cable. There is also a thicker grease available.

I have also used the PTFE lube on squeaky door hinges in the house as it doesnt smell, and on the zip of my leather jacket as it wont harm the leather.
 
I use this on featherlight cables along with one of those clamps on gadgets that’s allows you to force the lube through the cable. Definitely makes a difference to the pull / feel.

wd40.co.uk

PTFE Lubricant

High Performance PTFE Lubricant provides outstanding lubrication for a range of applications, keeping tools and machinery running smoothly.
wd40.co.uk wd40.co.uk
 
Last edited:
jan nelder said:
Got to the Normandy destination yesterday evening, with quite a bit of popping and banging at times. Today’s ride to the British Normandy memorial was eventful: it went on to one cylinder 6 miles beforehand. Lots of fuel coming from LH carb: bowl drain plug had gone. Luckily two others in the group ha d tools and cable ties. The solution , eventually, after an hour was to fashion a plug from a foam kneeling pad, pressed upwards and held in place with a short section of the friend’s trouser belt cable tied around the carb in 3 directions. That stopped the leak, but still not firing, so back to base ( 35 miles) on one cylinder. Could still get 45mph cruising. It’s only day 3 of 11. However, I did bring a spare carb plug…..
Click to expand...
Tried a new plug and is now a lot better. Also spotted that the one-way breather valve near the LHS shock top mount was leaking on it’s way to rear of bike, which explained left side oil on shock/swingarm etc. Also bought two jubilee clips and rubber plumbing gasket, which were combined to make clamps for both float bowl plugs. Well-filled tank bag is vital for relief from clip-ons riding position…..

Also been lent a modern Indian Scout for two of the ride-outs in Normandy: impressive cruiser, very easy to get used to, and plenty of torquey push.
 
I rode to Alices Restaurant, met up with some people I knew, got back on the Norton and headed South on 35. The flasher on the turn signals died. I rode through the upscale little town of Saratoga, thought of stopping for a snack, but all these SUV's were driving all over the road so I got out of there and headed home on 280, which is, for a freeway, a very scenic road. About 125 miles all together. I got the bike home, bought a new flasher and asked the auto parts palace to order me another one. They only had one, but the turn signals are working now.
 
Last full day in Normandy today, and visited St Mere d’Eglise, one of the first villages to be liberated by US forces from Utah beach, and had the privilege of a brief chat with US veteran Warren Goss, who was one of the first ashore on Utah as part of the Special Brigade Engineer Shore Regiment. Now 98/99 years old. RESPECT.
 
Discovered that my commando has a 4th gear....
Been riding to work lately, basking in this lovely Michigan summer weather. 120 miles round trip.
Had to add some oil the other day when I noticed it was under the L mark. Half a quart.
Being more diligent now to check oils and fitness of bike before my rides into work.
Running great. Seem to get about 90 miles or so to a Roadster 2.5 gallon tank, cruising around 50mph, give or take.

Good times...
 
Starvingphotog said:
Discovered that my commando has a 4th gear....
Been riding to work lately, basking in this lovely Michigan summer weather. 120 miles round trip.
Had to add some oil the other day when I noticed it was under the L mark. Half a quart.
Being more diligent now to check oils and fitness of bike before my rides into work.
Running great. Seem to get about 90 miles or so to a Roadster 2.5 gallon tank, cruising around 50mph, give or take.

Good times...
Click to expand...
You are doing better than I am on gas mileage. My bike gets a hair over 40 miles to a gallon.
 
Well, I do have this single carb setup going on here but it doesn't seem like it's that much better gas mileage. I was off on the round trip. It's about 110 miles round trip and It looks like I go through a whole tank to make that trip. So about 44mpg it look like. Not a huge difference. Plus I'm an easy rider. No "ride it like you stole it" happening here.
 
Starvingphotog said:
Well, I do have this single carb setup going on here but it doesn't seem like it's that much better gas mileage. I was off on the round trip. It's about 110 miles round trip and It looks like I go through a whole tank to make that trip. So about 44mpg it look like. Not a huge difference. Plus I'm an easy rider. No "ride it like you stole it" happening here.
Click to expand...
A taller gear will help with mileage. So if you are running a 19 tooth on a 750 or a 20 tooth rear sprocket on your 850, you may want to go up one to a 20 or 21. That is if you do a lot of long mileage trips. It takes the fun factor out a bit but it will give you better mileage by dropping the revs down.
 
Tore apart and rebuilt the front end with Acadian . Thank you so much for your offer of help .
Up on the lift , wheel and brake off .
Since I brought over new stanchions , upper and lower bushes ,circlips , seals , Bel Ray 20 W . bottle , Ikon Springs , we decided to go for it and install all the new parts .
180 C.C. of Bel Ray 20 into each tube . Unscrewing the rusty lower fork leg seal retainer on the problem disc brake side was challenging .
Heat gun to the rescue , penetrant , giant curved grip vice grips to the retainer threaded ring with a stanchion tube to the end of the v.g. tool , lots of leverage force with heat and it was off . Yay ! Lots of water with emulsified oil came out of the MK 111 disc side .
Drove home , feels way more solid .
 
I had enough of the seal retainer design and changed it. Same as you, I would always get to a point of disassembly where the retainer had to be unscrewed and would always have a problem. Just like you I would resort to channel lock pliers or a monkey wrench and ruin the outside of the retainer nut.... When I started my damper modification project, I knew I was probably going to disassemble my sliders at least a half a dozen times, so I modified them to look like this... It never slips and I don't have to take a damn monkey wrench to my forks.....

Here's the full thread if you want to see where I got the wrench: https://www.accessnorton.com/NortonCommando/strap-wrench-to-pin-wrench.38856/


What Did You Do With Your Commando Today?
 

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