My new 1972 Commando Combat arrived today after a long journey from New York. It looks great and started on the second kick.

I took her for a spin today and man did it take some getting used to. It will take a while to get used to the right hand shift. The brakes on it are terrible. This is the first Norton Ive ever ridden, but stopping was a challenge. I ordered some high performance pads this evening to see if helps. I looked in the shop manual and it says to remove the front wheel to change the pads. Is there an alternate way of doing this? I just changed the pads on my bonneville and all it requires is the usual removal of the cailpers.

Commando uses a rigid section of brake tubing, so removing the caliper is a poop.

At least with just the front axle, there's no brake bleeding afterwards, just pump it back up and go.

Yes . You can ' run the bends ' , just kick ( drop ) her over a way , and let it run the radius of the bend , picking it up at the straights .
Youve seen the 1/2 in ' sleeve ' for mastercylinder trick mentioned here . ? ? or throw on another that bore to check it out ?

Two fingers out at the ball , gets better leverage , if youve got the grasp of a lumberjack .

rear Id keep ' deglazed ' with emery paper regularly . Fancy lineings like AM4 may get it a little more sensitive .

Once your used to it , you operate the controls , and let the machine do the work .
And carefull with the Gear Selector . Toe Action , not size twelve boot .A few weeks aclimatiseations usual .
to counter the ' opps ' , Deliberate intention premeditated , Keep the ' Brake ' ( right ) foot clear till automatic .
Avoids taping it every time you ' decelerate ' . Heels a bit heavy for the rear brake , but should pull it up .

I too have a 72 Combat and yes the brakes are nothing to get excited about...I just leave more room..... I see you have a Thruxton ( or it might be a Bonnie) how do you find that? I love mine although it don't have the sound or the low down grunt of the Commando you can red line it in every gear with no worries about 40 year old bits trying to get out.
I must be getting used to the Commando ( 11 months) as I don't bang it back into first taking off from the lights any more

While you have the front wheel off, fit after amrket slotted pads and with some effort a kit into the master cylinder on the bars.Add to this the stainless steel hose from the master to the hard plumbing above the caliper and this will transform the front brake.
Regards Mike

I have to be careful on my Combat below hi way speed not to lock up front on pure factory components. Norton left a tiny restrictor hole in the end of the big rubber boot 'valve' deep in master cylinder. Cut it completely out or as I do poke a cherry red 6 penny nail thought it. Then see if you can feel any swelling of brake hose along its length to hard lever grip, ANY. if so get new factory one as I did on stock Combat or a SS braid which is better yet, like I did on my special. Then clean and sand rotor good across the grain of pad travel. A bead blast even better. Then bed pads and drum in by hi speed hard as you dare pull downs with let off before stopping motion and repeat till ya can smell the brake, say 12 times or more.
Then keep eye on fluid levels to make sure is not sneaking out on the fly to leave you high a dry one good pull down to nothing at all the next instant.

No one else will do or has done this opening up mod but me and also every single upgrade resleeve kit ever sold as non have Any Restrictor, so no reason to fear it but tradition to cut end of ham off before cooking w/o knowing grandma only had a small pan... For even a bit more ease to squeaze buy RGM race lever.

Cool Norton thar' Johnny ... can't go wrong with black and gold Now as far as that front brake is concerned, please see the following post:

inexpensive-front-master-cylinder-upgrade-t8118.html

Just my 2 cents, hope it helps ... (BTW, with this setup, you can even use just one finger.)

You mentioned you ordered some "high performance pads".

I recently put in some AP Racing Pads I got from Commando Specialties and if that is what your getting I found them a big improvement over the old Emgo's.

hobot wrote:I have to be careful on my Combat below hi way speed not to lock up front on pure factory components. Norton left a tiny restrictor hole in the end of the big rubber boot 'valve' deep in master cylinder. Cut it completely out or as I do poke a cherry red 6 penny nail thought it. Then see if you can feel any swelling of brake hose along its length to hard lever grip, ANY. if so get new factory one as I did on stock Combat or a SS braid which is better yet, like I did on my special. Then clean and sand rotor good across the grain of pad travel. A bead blast even better. Then bed pads and drum in by hi speed hard as you dare pull downs with let off before stopping motion and repeat till ya can smell the brake, say 12 times or more.
Then keep eye on fluid levels to make sure is not sneaking out on the fly to leave you high a dry one good pull down to nothing at all the next instant.

No one else will do or has done this opening up mod but me and also every single upgrade resleeve kit ever sold as non have Any Restrictor, so no reason to fear it but tradition to cut end of ham off before cooking w/o knowing grandma only had a small pan... For even a bit more ease to squeaze buy RGM race lever.

I take it then that the feeble single disc set up on a Norton, works better than the twin disc six pot caliper set ups of the "corner cripplers" we hear about so often>

Ok cool I see I got you thinking and looking for another weak link in me or Ms Peel, ugh me too like you can't believe.
May not resist fade like the real racers, that need them so much, but part of a magazine shoot out involves braking the shortest so yep that's on my list to set pecking order straight with factory Lockheed sculptured caliper and master cylinder. Part of being a beginner stunt rider is not being thrown over the bars. Only bike I couldn't stay in seat *No Matter How I Tried* was on Ms Peel, all the rest tipped up on nose lifting my seat so had to back off quick and make mental note to brake more early or go more slowly. I didn't have to make any extra effort to resist the modern dual rotor brakes on best warmed up race tires on best traction surfaces. They suck big wads to me and are way way too sensitive for panic attacks on slick surfaces to boot. Holding the loads against real braking is hard on a chassis, once rear lifts much the loads are relieved so as dramatic as stoppies appear they are not the shortest way down. So what's the longest distance you've seen a stunt rider ride a locked front on the ground? I'm not talking about Trixie Combat slow take off on locked tire that's not braking and little skill to do it even on un-tamed isolastics. What your own experience of best braking set up and when to apply it for going faster like Peel can? You bet it surprised the hell out of me the first 1/2 dozen down hill attempts to stoppie a Command. They can only at most lift the rear enough it wants to lead the way so that's when the real chassis to fork strain occurs. I don't try any stunt play until I've tested myself on the panic level of brake. If I can't bring myself to about throw self over the bars then its not a good day to go very harshly.

This is all factory Combat but the rim,fork brace and rotor but not tested on road yet. Hope ya like my chopper length Norton Roadholder forks too. They got some magic in them that spoiled me like no others.

Looks like a paris dakar super motad Command ? did you increase the front damper / fork travel to go with it ? hobot .

rx7171 wrote:You mentioned you ordered some "high performance pads".

I recently put in some AP Racing Pads I got from Commando Specialties and if that is what your getting I found them a big improvement over the old Emgo's.

I ordered the Ferodo high perfomance pads from Commando Specialties. Are the AP ones better?

Johnnymac wrote:

rx7171 wrote:You mentioned you ordered some "high performance pads".

I recently put in some AP Racing Pads I got from Commando Specialties and if that is what your getting I found them a big improvement over the old Emgo's.

I ordered the Ferodo high perfomance pads from Commando Specialties. Are the AP ones better?

Sorry I've never used the Ferodo so can't compare.
If the order hasn't shipped you could contact CS and ask them which they rate the best bight.
Mine at times almost sound like sandpaper rubbing and the disk face looks polished.

Bob

I talked to the guy at COmmando Specialties and he said that the Ferodo pads were as good if not better than the AP Racing ones. So we will see.

AM I crazy..... or is there no oil filter on a '72 Combat? Very strange.

The extra wiegt'd slow them down . Filters mid 72 on , No's here somewhere .And , No Wheelies .

Hows abouta bitta info on the Bike ? miles , Orig. or rebuild , Cam / . Whered it live and so on . Combats Haul ,
and require a degree of precission from the rider , and at times , his undevided attention . Though dont make a God of it .
Exacting maintanance sees the machineary at its best , std. quater miles were light up rear for wheelspin through first .
They say this is half a second faster in the quater , again precission of operation is the key to fast times .
We await youre report of performance , once run in .

looking at the early P.R.s with 2S cam and 30 mm carbs , its evident a Combat unleashed , has a bit of performance .