1st ride

finally! got most of the issues sorted out on the '72 and got a 10 mile ride in today. 1st ride on a norton! i'm a new rider and took the safety course on a suzuki gz 250 riding thru obstacles and different circuits for 3 days. suzi was fun and i learned a lot but now i was on the big boy. clutch/throttle took some getting used to and i killed it many times. finally got the touch and before i knew it i was merrily tooling up the hill in front of my house. anxiety/excitement/euphoria! of course i floundered about shifting gears, missing every one. bike was just purring at 3000 in 2nd gear. tested both brakes and they seemed to be able to rein me in but once i get up to interstate speeds i'm wondering how they'll be. i was only going to go thru the nighboring subdivision, about 2 miles, but things seemed so perfect that i just kept going thru the twisty/turnies in the area where i live. norton pulls like my 455 poncho not like the suzi. i could feel the rear end sway a bit on the esses but from what i've read this is to be expected. burned my calf bad on the pipes as i was wearing shorts. right pipe shows some heat discoloring, brown/blue, but left doesn't. right plug is tan/black, left is black/tan. now to figure out carbs, 930's, and try for a decent idle/mixture. 3d suduko is what it is. anyway, i'm happy as a clam at high tide and can't wait 'til the morrow when i need to figure out why the headlight won't work. rick

Cool, glad u had a fun time!

what a great feeling: taking that first ride.......

then comes the "why doesn't THIS work right?" portion of the program: It's been about 8 months from the first firing until I feel like I have most of the bike sorted out......

And I have the requisite burned calf from kneeling too near the pipes while tuning the carbs.....

above all else: have fun!

Congrats.

When you get a bit more experience and the old girl is sorted out and ready to try the highway... entrance ramps are waaay fun on a Commando. Click second gear, grab a big handful of throttle and tach her up to 6000. You'll be smiling for a week.

Glad you had a good first ride, Rick. Hope you are at the start of a long love affair.
Can I give you a small piece of advice...been riding 30 years....don't wear shorts! If you fall off....uhh.

Maylar....6000!! You on a 750 or 850? Do 850's go that far without going bang....anyone? I havn't dared going over 5500 yet.
But you are right, mine starts to come on the cam at about 4000 ish, and the smile factor just comes in.
Someone on this site once said if you keep a Commando below 4000 it will last a lifetime, and they are probably right, but with all that going on above, why would you want to?

Set the bik on it's centerstand (or chock it up), and try to move the rear wheel side-to-side. If it wiggles at all, you ought to go with the drill-and-bolt-on swingarm pivot fix. Search for it, it's in a dozen posts at least. No more rear end wiggle.

Grandpaul's right...my Combat's swingarm had approximately 1/2 in. of side-to-side "play", but after installing the collar kit developed by Heinz Kegler there is absolutely ZERO movement. Here's a link to info about the kit and installation instructions:

http://nortonclub.org/docs/swingarm.pdf

bigstu -

Commandos redline at 7000. The factory cam peaks out at about 6K and I bring my 850 there in 1st and 2nd gear on a regular basis. With a 20 tooth sprocket 6K in top gear is almost 100 mph and any Commando should be able to get there without breaking anything.

When correcting lateral movement of the swing arm don't forget about the spindle bushings, cradle to engine mount and front isolastics. These can all contribute to excessive side-to-side movement of the swing arm. I do agree that the spindle wallowing out the cradle is usually the problem and the collar fix is the way to go.

I did have a high speed wobble that I suspected was from swing arm side play. I went through everything. Eventually, I changed the rear tire. High speed wobble disappeared. BTW, the new tire was the same size, brand and model as the old. Could of been the mounting, don't know.

I'm happy you enjoyed your first ride. There should be a lot of rides to come.

thanx boys. my swingarm has the capscrew on top and in the center. 90 degrees toward the back there are 2 setscrews, one at each end. i know this isn't the collar mod but do you think this is another version of the mod? i don't know how thick the steel is in the swingarm or if enough threads can be put in to be secure. time for more research.

rgrigutis said:

thanx boys. my swingarm has the capscrew on top and in the center. 90 degrees toward the back there are 2 setscrews, one at each end. i know this isn't the collar mod but do you think this is another version of the mod? i don't know how thick the steel is in the swingarm or if enough threads can be put in to be secure. time for more research.

Click to expand...

That is one of the mods.

congrats man! It made me remember the time I first rode on my bike...how nostalgic.

thanx swooshdave. is the mod on my bike as effebtice as the collar mod?

It sounds like the one I did on my bike. The original mod was to weld two nuts to the swingarm and use bolts with locknuts to nip up the excess clearance with the swingarm spindle. I think this was most likely in Norton News. Mine has been working fine and I don't think there is anything wrong with it but the collars are a more elegant and easier solution. I'd say leave it. (I was just out wiggling my rear wheel earlier this morning and it is still nice and solid back there.)

Russ

rgrigutis said:

thanx swooshdave. is the mod on my bike as effebtice as the collar mod?

Click to expand...

Since no one has probably measured how effective it is, sure. I think I'm going to try the collar solution as I like the idea of a clamp all around the spindle but I can't say if it will be any better.