68-69 Commando S

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Does the rear mudguard have an indent on the right hand side so you can mount a tyre pump on the frame loop?
Why rewire from scratch? There are readily made wiring looms from LUCAS, plug and play.. almost
 
rivera said:
Why rewire from scratch? There are readily made wiring looms from LUCAS, plug and play.. almost
Click to expand...
My situation is -- #1 - because I can (done it many times), #2 - I use marine grade wire/connectors/switches, modern regulator/rectifier, ignition, coil.
When finished it is a simple, basic loom that I will be totally familiar with.
I have the original loom, point plate, coils, etc. in a nice box if at some point in time someone places this in the great "Fossil fuel museum".
 
rivera said:
Does the rear mudguard have an indent on the right hand side so you can mount a tyre pump on the frame loop?
Why rewire from scratch? There are readily made wiring looms from LUCAS, plug and play.. almost
Click to expand...
Yes, there is an indent for a pump. I got your message as well. At work now, will respond later.

Dutch said:
Or -- a complete inspection, change of lubes, metal fuel tank, tires and tubes, battery.
Click to expand...
This is the route I plan on. The bike will be mechanically sound with neccessary upgrades but show its age.
 
Pete, the early bikes came with different main bearings than the later model bikes. Your bike has one roller bearing and one ball bearing, rather than the 2 superblend bearings that later models have. IF you are going to freshen up the top end, then you might want to do the bottom too since you're half way there. I swapped my original factory bearings at somewhere around 10,000 miles and the originals were still good. (so they aren't "always" going to fail)

Certainly, you could just ride it as it is now, keeping in mind that extended high revs could score the roller bearing. Just giving you a heads up here, since most commando owners have later models with superblend mains, so it's not somthing they would bring to your attention.
 
o0norton0o said:
Pete, the early bikes came with different main bearings than the later model bikes. Your bike has one roller bearing and one ball bearing, rather than the 2 superblend bearings that later models have. IF you are going to freshen up the top end, then you might want to do the bottom too since you're half way there. I swapped my original factory bearings at somewhere around 10,000 miles and the originals were still good. (so they aren't "always" going to fail)

Certainly, you could just ride it as it is now, keeping in mind that extended high revs could score the roller bearing. Just giving you a heads up here, since most commando owners have later models with superblend mains, so it's not somthing they would bring to your attention.
Click to expand...

Great, thank you. I will add this to my notes. This is just the type of thing I would not have known to look for. I'm not planning on opening the engine yet, just the gearbox for now. Will make sure these are replaced if I end up inside.
 
Thanks for those pics Pete, but actually I'm looking to see where they attach to ground. I can't see it in these pics. I took mine off 30 years ago and attached them to something in the head when I rebuilt it, but I always wondered where they originally went. It wasn't in my notes. Everything else was.

Making your own harness is not a bad idea. These early bikes were dead simple too. But notice the schematic is not drawn like the harness is made although the colors are correct. You can also then use your own connectors that are probably better than those bullet ones. Look at the schematic and notice that as long as you have the battery hooked up, the headlight, horn, brake light and the alternator are still hot even if the 'ignition' switch is off. About all that ignition switch does is turn on and off the wiring to the ignition system. If I were to rebuild it, I'd change that. When I park my bike for a while, I take out the fuse to the battery so if something shorts, nothing gets burned up. You could also just put a hidden battery switch in it somewhere. Originally dead easy to hot wire too if you know how it's hooked up. Might consider also using a relay for the headlight instead of direct wiring the way it is originally.

There's also a black ground wire between the frame at the prop stand and the cradle. I got around that somehow.

Yes on the crank bearings. The original early pistons also were slotted and prone to breakage, although not normally. I had 13K miles on my bike when I broke the engine down and the shells on the rod's big ends were just fine, although there was quite a bit of sludge in the crank trap. I'm sure it could have easily done twice that without a problem but with regular oil changes.
 
68-69 Commando S

This photo shows the ground location pretty well.
I'll have to do some thinking on the harness situation. I may end up taking your advice and mounting a cutoff switch for the battery. Seems plenty of room for customization, thanks for the suggestions. I'm grateful for all the feedback so far. Cleaning the mikuni and a few other parts now.
 
Dutch said:
My situation is -- #1 - because I can (done it many times), #2 - I use marine grade wire/connectors/switches, modern regulator/rectifier, ignition, coil.
When finished it is a simple, basic loom that I will be totally familiar with.
I have the original loom, point plate, coils, etc. in a nice box if at some point in time someone places this in the great "Fossil fuel museum".
Click to expand...

Based on what I now know about the harness for this bike, how are you going about constructing yours to suit your needs? I have never built one myself.
 
NPeteN said:
Based on what I now know about the harness for this bike, how are you going about constructing yours to suit your needs? I have never built one myself.
Click to expand...

Here are a couple threads I had book marked a while back that may be of interest

https://www.accessnorton.com/NortonCommando/please-review-my-wiring-plan.16324/
https://www.accessnorton.com/NortonCommando/trying-to-revive-a-1973-roadster.17673/
https://www.accessnorton.com/NortonCommando/wiring-around-the-steering-head.18304/
 
Appears I should do some more poking around before asking questions, you guys are just so responsive! Waiting on my hardcopy manual in the mail, good reading .
 
Ah, yes. That's why I could never figure out where the red wires went. I ended up attaching them to the coil bracket. It actually seemed to work pretty good there.

When you start reading, it will never end. But once you start putting it back together, it will all come together. They are actually easy bikes to work on, if a bit disconcerting at times. When you get ready, start a build thread and you will get plenty of help. Nice bunch of guys here without too many pissing contests.
 
Your 750S seems a great project which will give you great pleasure. Your photograph of the red earth wire also highlights some very poor welding of a bracket on the frame. Based on that just inspect the rest of the frame very carefully.
 
Right, poor welding: my right hand tank support broke off during a ride to work- no more sparks because of the red earth point had no connection anymore . Had it rewelded and made a support strip of stainless steel plate to the left hand tank support. Without that support they swing like the wings of a butterfly!
and get rid of the horns attached to these brackets, even more load on them!
 
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