I recently got the sidestand on my '74 MK2A 850 working properly for the first time since I bought the bike in 1998. The few times a fix was attempted, it always seemed to end up with a mismatch of parts. Some of this has already been mentioned, but to clarify ... You need the correct, high-tensile bolt (
https://andover-norton.co.uk/en/shop-de ... e-06-2872-) and the correct nut to be sure of a dependable sidestand. Then, you need the correct bush depending on which sidestand leg you have – you might have an original, factory stand, or you may have a 'later' design (
https://andover-norton.co.uk/en/shop-de ... g-06-2001-). I have the latter, thanks to someone who drove a car into the opposite side of the bike when it was parked, and I eventually got around to finding that it takes a different bush – AN call it a 'pivot spacer' (
https://andover-norton.co.uk/en/shop-de ... side-stand – the pivot spacer/bush for the original sidestand is at
https://andover-norton.co.uk/en/shop-de ... side-stand). Whichever Commando sidestand leg you have, something that may not be obvious, and confounded me for the first few years of ownership, but is key, is that the pivot spacer/bush is slightly longer than the hole that it fits in through the sidestand leg: this means that the bolt, nut and pivot spacer/bush are effectively locked to the sidestand bracket when tightened, and the sidestand leg alone swings around this assembly. Forgive me if I'm telling you something you already know, but it wasn't obvious to me, from the variously ancient or abused parts that were in place. On my bike, the whole business used to pivot around/inside the bracket when I got it, and there were washers under the head of the bolt and under the nut, presumably to allow this to happen. So my sidestand only worked when the bolt and nut were not fully tightened. (Crazy, right?) Because the gorillas who effected the (other driver's) insurance repair on mine seem to have hammered the old-style pivot spacer/bush into the replacement, new-style sidestand leg, thus locking the two together and once more forcing bolt, sidestand leg, pivot spacer/bush and nut to pivot on the bracket, a slight 'countersink' was created where the pivot spacer/bush meets the bracket, so I added a slimmer washer there too, to stop the pivot spacer/bush settling into it. Although I expect it would have been better to have welded up the countersink and refiled/redrilled. Obviously, too much washer there and the sidestand leg won't abut properly against the bracket. Whether or not to grease the cylindrical face between the sidestand leg and the pivot spacer/bush? In an exposed position like that, grease might quickly become grinding paste, but I felt a strong urge to grease it so I did. YMMV on that, and if I hear howls of 'degrease it!' then I shall. It might bear repeating that, when properly fitted, the side-stand leg should swing up alongside the lower frame rail: there really needs to be a rubber stop (
https://andover-norton.co.uk/en/shop-de ... side-stand) on the sidestand's peg to stop it bashing a hole in the frame. Lastly, the only thread in the whole setup should be on the end of the bolt, which is unthreaded for its length through the bracket and pivot spacer/bush. That's just my experience, and I hope it helps! Cheers.
