Another '72 Commando...

Hi guys,

Finally got round to taking a few pics of my charity case, don't let the first photo fool ya...What I first thought would be a quick fix has turned into another of those 'from-the-ground-up' restorations. Pretty much every component the same size, or smaller that an grapefruit is just plain worn out. It'll never be one of those matching serial number bikes as the frame starts with 146, the engine and gearbox start with 200. I did find a set of engine/gearbox cases on Ebay that are quite close to the frame number, so I'll be assembling those, find out what horrors lurk in the 200' engine later on. You might have seen a few of these pics before...



The bike came originally with a HUUUUGE fairing, which was already broken, so got consigned to the beginnings of the scrap pile.



The prop/kick stand lug seems to have been badly bodged at some point, they tried putting on a new one, tho it was welded on at the wrong angle!, another mount was welded on behind using u-bolts. :shock: Actually the frame is a topic all of it's own, is rather badly twisted, so much so, I ended up buying a new frame to replace it.



uh-oh..Note the interesting spin-on oil filter holes. Once the cradle was removed the holes were filled with weld and re-drilled.


I noticed when starting the bike the kick starter was slipping, so made a start on the gearbox the other w/e to replace the pawl...It seems to have been filled with old gravy, or something :roll:



More to come...

Fished off the outer case, found this...Which I'm told is quite normal? :shock:



When it came to the mainshaft nut, it would seem that the previous owner had tightened it so much, it'd wrung off the threads.



(sorry, seems to cropped the image for some reason)

I have to admit...That caused some head scratching. I could either try drilling the nut, or try pulling the selector rod, thereby freeing the forks and the whole lot should drop out.



I managed to get a spanner on the rod, unwound the rod through the hole in the mid gearbox...Tho on comparison with the other gearbox case I have...I don't think it's supposed to pass through the hole so easily. I'll have to pop a helicoil into the case to prevent the rod from unwinding through it.



So out came the mainshaft, could remove that pesky nut...



<edit> I forgot..the source of the trouble



And to top it all, the hardening has gone on all of the cogs :roll:

Steve

This w/e apart from getting a flat tire on my other bike :roll: I had the forks apart and replaced the stanchions, bushes, seals, etc. I was really surprised at how easily it came apart and went back together again So this is how it looks at the moment;



The cases went off for mods last week, so I thought I'd have a play with the crank I bought. (Another Ebay special)



Apart from some unusual nut configurations it doesn't look too bad, apart from what looks like the guy tried welding, or grinding a couple of them!



But despite all that they came off easy enough, not much sludge to be seen.





The only fly in the ointment seems to be this; Oh...Does anyone recognize the mian bearings on the bench? I had to fetch them off with a puller.



The journals are on ten thou shells, I'm hoping that a regrind will remove the nick..Fingers crossed!!

Cheers,

Steve

Man o man , you work fast!

Gosh darn those photo's and reviews sure make it worthy of most improved contester efforts and sense of relief it ain't me.
I've got one of those King/Queen seats, if ya can get over the looks of the thing, it about the most comfy seat you can fit.

Oh my. You had me going with that first pic. Looks like you fell into the same trap I did!

I have to be honest, say that after I took it apart, found what a mountain I would have to climb to get it back to being a daily/ usable ride, it just sat there for a year whilst I really got to grips with what needs/ needed doing. That and how to take it apart and to put it back together properly (Since it's the first Norton I've ever owned). Until I took the forks apart the other w/e, or the gearbox for that matter, I'd never been inside either before, so it was with a certain amount of trepidation. :shock:

It just goes to prove what a great site this is, as I've read and read, read some more + asked some questions to the point where I feel comfortable now about overcoming any problems. So thanks to all of you guys for sharing such a wealth of knowledge! I'm sure there'll be quite a few more questions yet!

hobot,

ha ha I can't believe how many time I've sat down after taking something apart recently and just sighed and gone :roll: I wished I'd kept what was vaguely called a wiring loom to show you guys. You would have laughed.

Jordan,

Lol, you have my profound sympathies bud! :wink:

In the last couple of days I've managed to find a steel Roadster tank some more Z plates and an original rev counter to put right the odd set I have at the moment. The speedo is the early type and the rev counter the later. They're all going to need to to go to a specialist to have them restored properly.

Cheers,

Steve

Not keeping the interstate tank?

My wiring was/is a nightmare too. I'm fighting non-functioning signals at the moment, nearing wits end. Don't feel bad.

-Jordan

Hegel said:

Does anyone recognize the mian bearings on the bench?

Click to expand...

Are there no markings on them at all?

Possibly RHP [Edit: or R&M] "MRJA30" or "6[etched] MRJA30" (the R&M/RHP "Superblend") or "NF306" ?

Jordan,

I'll keep the tank, tho for the strangest reason I'm not the greatest fan of it's overall shape. I had a dig through the correspondence I had with the previous owner yesterday, it was originally a roadster, he fitted the tank to go touring, or something. I'm just another one of those guys who's smitten by the roaster tank and the Corbin seat, I'm afraid.

L.A.B,

I think there is, tho it must be the smallest font on the entire planet, lol Either that or my eyes are on the way out. I'll have another look. I only asked since I not seen the rollers on the inner race before, all the others had them the other way around.

Cheers,

Steve

Hegel said:

it must be the smallest font on the entire planet,

Click to expand...

6(faintly etched) MRJA30 The "Superblend" (Thanks to jimmytwin for the photo).

jimmytwin said:

Click to expand...

Hegel said:

I only asked since I not seen the rollers on the inner race before, all the others had them the other way around.

Click to expand...

The factory seemed to use both types of roller bearing (NF and NJ) originally, however they eventually stopped specifying the "NF" type bearings which have the rollers/cage captive on the inner race. The FAG bearing introduced on the 850 models replaces all previous types and is still the recommended replacement bearing.

Hi L.A.B,

Yep...That's looks like the kiddie Thanks for that! + to jimmytwin

It's a bit of a waiting game now. Cases, cogs, nut's and bolts.

I suppose in the mean time I should make the engine stand :roll:

Thanks again,

S

It may turn out to be a blessing to just scrap the wiring and start over with a new $100 loom or brew your own w/o half it being useless police kit dead ends and loops, about half a shoe box worth. Trixie Combat has paired down wiring, which has a couple different colors on same power leads to confuse-delay me a day or two to get lights and action.

I like the big ole fat IS tank shape, great range, good kneed grip, wide place for tank bag, whats not to love about em? If ya really like the tiny tank look, hunt down a HyRyder fiberglass tank and seek out every gas station like a gal with a peanut size bladder to empty.

Yeah buying the new loom at this point is a bit of a no brainer @ $100. When I've finally gotten this bike to where I'm happy I'll make the loom for the other bike (I used to work for a racing technology company), some years ago.

Can't fault the long range value of the IS tank, and of course aesthetics are always a personal thing. If you look behind the bike in the pic above you'll see the English wheel. Another longer term project is to make a tank somewhere in between the IS and the roadster. But that's a while away yet as I've got to finish another metal-smithing project before that.

I'm having a "Corbin-like" seat upholstered on an interstate pan as we speak. Will let you know how it turns out.

I don't like the roadster tank but the Corbin seat is beautiful..