What Did You Do With Your Commando Today?

Over the last couple of weeks, a friend and I pulled the motor which is at a machine shop getting the cylinders checked. It has about 50k miles on it and when I got it 12 years ago with a locked motor (pistons stuck), I only pulled the head and had the valves done. I had gotten the motor unstuck and have put about 30k miles on it since. She seemed to be a bit tired and listless so I figured it was time. It has also been leaking oil from the base and head gaskets. In the meantime, I have ordered a front fork rebuild kit and will replace the ISO's. I took the Mikuni carb apart last night and am in contact with Rocky Point to get a rebuild kit. I will also go through the gearbox to check the bushes. Have gone through a few over the years. Will do a deep clean, of course, and may go as far as painting the frame. WIll be cleaning and painting the barrels. Oh and I got a sump breather from NYC Norton. My friend build this engine holder to keep it all together for transporting it. He found a piece of scrap and the hardware altogether was about $25us.


 
Thanks to Mike @ AMR for installing lip seals on the outer cover for my gearcase.
 

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Something mundane! My order for the panier rails arrived, so spent the evening fitting them. All on and my old Hepco & Becker cases fit perfect. Bit of a faff getting everything seated correctly, still got the LH silencer to fit, then ready to roll. Must say, I'm pleased with how it looks with the cases on, but it's not a quick job to remove / fit the frames between trips. So, I'll leave the frames on for now.
 
I retired this week, so have time to catch up on all the pending jobs on my bikes. Today I pulled the primary apart, fitted a new CNW clutch centre hub, bearing, and the improved retainer circlip behind the clutch on the mainshaft. The last time I had the primary open was when I installed an Alton starter. I was very pleased to see that everything is as it was then almost 4 years ago. The most time consuming parts of the whole job were trying to fenagle the Surflex friction plates out of the basket and thinning the circlip for a tight fit in the groove.

I really regret I didn't paint the clutch diaphragm and centre while I had it open though...

What Did You Do With Your Commando Today?


Hey-Ho, next time.
 
cliffa said:
I retired this week, so have time to catch up on all the pending jobs on my bikes. Today I pulled the primary apart, fitted a new CNW clutch centre hub, bearing, and the improved retainer circlip behind the clutch on the mainshaft. The last time I had the primary open was when I installed an Alton starter. I was very pleased to see that everything is as it was then almost 4 years ago. The most time consuming parts of the whole job were trying to fenagle the Surflex friction plates out of the basket and thinning the circlip for a tight fit in the groove.

I really regret I didn't paint the clutch diaphragm and centre while I had it open though...

View attachment 84703

Hey-Ho, next time.
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'I retired this week'
A touch of the: 'green eye' here, Cliffa.... If not for my mate Cameron (no politics, mind) I'd have been there last week :-(
 
EstuaryBoy said:
'I retired this week'
A touch of the: 'green eye' here, Cliffa.... If not for my mate Cameron (no politics, mind) I'd have been there last week :-(
Click to expand...
Well, happy birthday for last week, at least! 2 years to go?

Picture with luggage on:
 

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I kept looking back at the picture I posted ((post #426) and thinking how shite it looked. I determined to remove the cover and do something about it. I was about to paint it when I remembered that I still have some fireplace hearth black from a bygone era. A quick clean-up with a green scourer to remove the surface rust, then apply the black sparingly with an old toothbrush, leave for 5 minutes, buff with a cloth and bingo - transformed within 10 minutes...


1644176573485.png



It looks grate doesn't it ;)
 
cliffa said:
I kept looking back at the picture I posted ((post #426) and thinking how shite it looked. I determined to remove the cover and do something about it. I was about to paint it when I remembered that I still have some fireplace hearth black from a bygone era. A quick clean-up with a green scourer to remove the surface rust, then apply the black sparingly with an old toothbrush, leave for 5 minutes, buff with a cloth and bingo - transformed within 10 minutes...


View attachment 84755


It looks grate doesn't it ;)
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Okay for burnouts now, too....
 
I ordered a new low-rise handlebar today to replace the US spec one that came with my 850. I find it a little too wide and a little to high on the rise. I'm a small guy and found that the low rise and slightly narrower bars on my Combat felt much more comfortable to me. I'm hoping it will help with the ride this summer to feel more one with the Commando.
Oh, and yeah, I picked up a full-face Arai Regent-X helmet yesterday. It came with glowing recommendations from a Colorado friend of mine and my wife has been pushing me to get a full-face helmet. It certainly takes away from the classic retro look of my el-cheapo Torc Amazon special open-face helmet, but safety first right:)
 
Starvingphotog said:
I ordered a new low-rise handlebar today to replace the US spec one that came with my 850. I find it a little too wide and a little to high on the rise. I'm a small guy and found that the low rise and slightly narrower bars on my Combat felt much more comfortable to me. I'm hoping it will help with the ride this summer to feel more one with the Commando.
Oh, and yeah, I picked up a full-face Arai Regent-X helmet yesterday. It came with glowing recommendations from a Colorado friend of mine and my wife has been pushing me to get a full-face helmet. It certainly takes away from the classic retro look of my el-cheapo Torc Amazon special open-face helmet, but safety first right:)
Click to expand...
I am on my third Arai, a RX-7v. They are great helmets.

What Did You Do With Your Commando Today?


I drained my sump and replaced a leaky float bowl gasket Sat am in anticipation of a ride today, seeing as it is a three day weekend. Of course, since then it's been dumping rain and muggy as. Sigh.
 
Nice day today. Went for a ride up the coast. Speedo stopped working. Cable has broken. Hopefully, no other damage. I did remove it and greased it, about 1,000 miles ago. Could I have caused the problem? Whilst I've no idea how old it is, I would have thought about 2014, 6,000 miles ago. So seems premature.
 

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Mart UK said:
Could I have caused the problem?
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Was the speedo cable routed (incorrectly) outside the headlamp bracket as the tacho cable is in your previous 'luggage' picture?
Just wondering if that put a slight bend in the cable?

Also, the crimped ferrule on the broken piece looks longer than usual.
 
L.A.B. said:
Was the speedo cable routed (incorrectly) outside the headlamp bracket as the tacho cable is in your previous 'luggage' picture?
Just wondering if that put a slight bend in the cable?

Also, the crimped ferrule on the broken piece looks longer than usual.
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That's a good spot! No, the speedo cable was within the headlight bracket. The tacho needs to go outside for the straightest run. Both gauges are non original, non NVT versions. So, I'm hoping an Andover Norton cable will fit the speedo. I looked at trying to bring the tacho within the light bracket when I changed the fork oil, but it didn't run as straight, no matter how I tweaked the tacho's mounting bracket. Possibly I over tightened the knurled nut after I greased the cable.
 
Mart UK said:
The tacho needs to go outside for the straightest run.
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I wouldn't have thought so although the cable would normally go on the inside of the downtube.
What Did You Do With Your Commando Today?


Mart UK said:
Both gauges are non original, non NVT versions. So, I'm hoping an Andover Norton cable will fit the speedo.
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Assuming they are earlier Smiths or Veglias then it shouldn't make any difference.

Mart UK said:
Possibly I over tightened the knurled nut after I greased the cable.
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That shouldn't affect the inner cable as long as that long inner ferrule wasn't being forced against the speedo.
 

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