Joined: 15 Jan 2008 Posts: 533 Location: Laredo (south) Texas
Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 11:34 am Post subject:
A good morning's work-
Installed primary inner case after shimming the backside of the center stud for a nice flush fit front-to-back
Then, installed the primary drive system after shimming up the clutch basket for as near perfect chain alignment as I could get (it's awfully close)
Installed replacement alternator and clutch with new Barnett plates. I added an additional plain plate to achieve very near the optimal clutch stack height of 1.045", I got 1.022". The old stack was .955, probably the lever pull was pretty stiff.
Then, I assembled a nifty gudgeon pin fitting rig from a section of allthread and some washers & spacers, made fitting up the pistons a breeze. I had always used the gently smacking with a piece of soft wood for backup and a plastic hammer, no more. All 4 circlips snugly nipped in thier grooves. Hey, I got the pistons right way 'round on the first go! hee hee
Joined: 15 Jan 2008 Posts: 533 Location: Laredo (south) Texas
Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:37 pm Post subject:
Things go pretty smooth with minimal interruptions and plenty of shiny new hardware.
This is as clean as the area between the crankcase and tranny will ever be until the next time this bike is overhauled.
No matter how hard you ry, you can't properly detail this area without yanking the engine & tranny totally out of the frame.
Remember to install the rings right side up!
Proper blocking and good ring compressors go a long way to making this task easier.
Oops! set the jugs down before placing all the cylinder nuts between the studs and bottom fins.
That takes some hand-tiring juggling to get 'em all in there and loctited.
All done with the cylinders, nice and clean piston tops.
Head slipped right on, all new stainless steel fasteners gleaming proudly. Excellent compression,
and it strokes through very smoothly.
All new chrome rocker shaft end caps & bolts yet to be installed.
Next engine pix will feature all the highly polished covers, but not just yet.
Joined: 15 Jan 2008 Posts: 533 Location: Laredo (south) Texas
Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 1:16 pm Post subject:
I'm prepping to haul 7 bikes to the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation fundraiser bike show at a Honda dealer
150 miles from me (all day tomorrow in Corpus Christi, TX), so didn't get a lot done today.
Nice fresh brake shoes, freshly Cad plated springs, retainer bar & bolts, new locktab (bent the tabs right after the photo).
Sorted all the appropriate new bits, greased the bearing and slapped it all up.
Installed the stub axle, spacers, etc., clipped it all in with the circlip and voila'
Brake hub spins nice and free, and the brakes are, of course, excellent.
Joined: 15 Jan 2008 Posts: 533 Location: Laredo (south) Texas
Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 12:05 pm Post subject:
Head steady installed (need to fine-tune alignment), coil mounting & coils installed, new rocker shaft caps installed, polished rocker inspection caps installed with new hardware (wrong washer on intake side, looking for correct one), Sparx ignition unit mounted (not pictured), more hardware sorting done.
Joined: 15 Jan 2008 Posts: 533 Location: Laredo (south) Texas
Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 3:25 pm Post subject:
Set the new wiring harness in place along with the Sparx harness, connected the coils, strung the stator wires down to the timing chest, installed the Zener Diode and tachometer drive.
Installed the handlebars and fairing front mount, then set the tank and seat in place to start mocking up for mounting hardware.
Houston, we have a problem. The dashboard interferes with the top yoke on left and right full lock. I'm going to need to scratch my head a little bit on this one.
The fairing lowers fit to the bottom of the tank PERFECTLY.
Joined: 15 Jan 2008 Posts: 533 Location: Laredo (south) Texas
Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 11:24 am Post subject:
I temporarily installed the footpegs with freshly plated hardware (they'll have to be removed to install the tranny & primary covers), then had to look high and low to find spacers for the pillion pegs; rounded up all matching hardware for the exhaust brackets, new iso rubbers, and set everyting in place for preliminary alignment.
Not sure how I overlooked new exhaust flange nuts in my parts order, so I sprayed an old set for temporary fitting. New set on order with a handful of other insignificant bits.
Talked to the wheel builder who assured me I'll have the wheels by the weekend. I'll either be nominally satisfied or extremely ticked off on Friday evening about the time the UPS truck shows up.
Joined: 15 Jan 2008 Posts: 533 Location: Laredo (south) Texas
Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 4:55 pm Post subject:
Actually, the clearance issues involve the fork yokes hitting the dashboard right at the tail that has the dunsTall logo, where it mounts to the main upper bracket.
I'm working on playing with the mounting and bars, I'll work it out.
Got the fenders installed, the rear one is a very nice piece that I'd been saving, I'm going to use the scruffier one on my '70 as it's not going to be a show bike. Digging through all the piles of cad plated stuff to find all the right stuff is getting easier as I pull out more and more stuff. It's rather cool having basically all new hardware to work with.
Also sorted both axles, all the axle spacers, washers, felt seals & cups, and new bearings in anticipation of the wheels arriving.
Joined: 15 Jan 2008 Posts: 533 Location: Laredo (south) Texas
Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 12:28 pm Post subject:
Stripped, cleaned & repainted the master cylinder, replaced all the rubber bits and washer/valve, re-assembled with a bit of fresh brake
fluid for lubrication. Just need 2 or 4 new thin phillips screws to secure the console halves together (using 2 existing screws right now)
Rebuilt the polished caliper with new seals and hand-polished pucks, installed along with refurbished hard pipe,
awaiting new hose to complete the front brakes.
Last edited by grandpaul on Fri Apr 18, 2008 12:31 pm; edited 1 time in total
Joined: 15 Jan 2008 Posts: 533 Location: Laredo (south) Texas
Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 12:30 pm Post subject:
Went ahead and assembled the dash to the fairing, and installed the old (mostly straightened) clubman bars to demonstrate that
there is no way this pairing is going to work without installing the bars in the "lower" setting. Even these clubmans that are almost flat,
are still too high up, even with the fairing mount at the highest position it can possibly go.
Paul,
While they are not cheap, I have found the best choice to be these Tomaselli adjustable clip-ons. They allow the most adjustment for Dunstall and Production Racer fairings.
Joined: 15 Jan 2008 Posts: 533 Location: Laredo (south) Texas
Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 5:36 am Post subject:
Ron, that's EXACTLY what Chip directed me to source on Saturday when we last talked. They are also exactly like the ones on my Combat, and the ones I installed on Charlie's Norton cafe bike (my first paying client).
Joined: 14 Nov 2007 Posts: 9 Location: St. Petersburg, FL
Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 8:05 am Post subject:
Yes, good call on the Tomaselli's, Ron. Paul and I agreed that going that route would offer us the greatest flexibility. Thanks for the input...it's greatly appreciated!
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At the end of 1967 the Norton Commando was announced.
The Norton Commando was greeted with a certain amount of scepticism because on first sight the commando appeared to comprise of the old Norton Dominator twin cylinder engine mounted at an inclined angle in a set of new cylinder parts.
It was not realized that the new Norton Commando Isolastic method of engine suspension damped out all engine vibration and produced a machine which had uncanny smoothness for a vertical twin. In due course the critics were silenced and the Norton Commando had the distinction of being regarded as the first of todays so called superbikes. There can be little doubt that the original design concept of the Norton Commando has proved correct, since comparatively few modifications of any real consequence have been made since production commenced during 1968.
Now nearly 40 years later Norton Commando riders like us are a breed of our own, and as far as we are concerned its still more fun to go for a blat on the old Norton Commando, and fast. As a Norton Commando owner and enthusiast, my goal here is to promote and give credit to those who keep the Norton name going.
It is more deserving to give credit to the Commando itself, for after all these years it continues to be respected. The original Commando designers like John Favill are those who deserve the credit for developing this incredible motorcycle.
The Norton Commando Roadster and Interstate of the late seventies, never died. Although the Norton Villiers factory dispersed the tradition lived on. Today Kenny Dreer in the USA is developing the new 952 CC Norton. What a great looking bike this is, and its engineering is still based on the original layout. It will be interesting to see how the new 952CC Norton does in todays tough motorcycle market. One thing is for sure, I would own one if I could afford it.
