Cable ties

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maylar

maylar

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I've had my Commando since new, but I can't remember what the factory used for securing wires and cables to the frame and handlebars. I've been using standard nylon tie-wraps but they tend to be too narrow and dig into the cable and mar the frame after time.

The places where I have issues are securing the control wires to the handlebars, the tail light wire bundle on the rear frame loop, and the speedo cable to the lower frame. The latter is the most problematic, as the cable moves with the swingarm.

I've just painted my frame and have no desire to scuff it up again, so I ask what did the factory use and what do you guys use?

Thanks
 
My '73 had ordinary plastic cable ties on the wiring harness and the cables.
 
I use them myself, but for the absolute purists doing a 100 point restoration I don't think nylon tie-wraps were used by the Norton factory during most if not all of the Commando production period. I worked for the Brabham F1 team in 1978, tie-wraps were relatively new and we were the only team to have black ones - I had the job of dying them in a large pot of fabric dye.
 
dave M said:
I use them myself, but for the absolute purists doing a 100 point restoration I don't think nylon tie-wraps were used by the Norton factory during most if not all of the Commando production period.
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From period photos that show the wraps clearly, I would say they started using Black plastic tie-wraps from 1973 or maybe introduced them during 1972? Earlier bikes do seem to have the rubber type up to 1972.
 
I was told that items like the handlebar switch wires were tie-wrapped, but I used the chrome spring clips used on Triumph. I think they look better, and are re-usable.

For the wiring harness, I used velcro straps, again for their re-usability, and black nylon tie-wraps for the Speedometer cable, rear light wires and distributor wires. The original harness that came with the bike still had some cut tie-wraps on it, but who's to say when they were first used?
 
I have a number of these I salvaged from the computers I worked on. These are neat because they have a little lever that can be pressed to open the tywrap, an added bonus, they are wider than "normal" tywraps. I don't know if they can be bought in the US, but my daughter bought some white ones in a dollar store not even knowing they were the same as the ones I had. For what it's worth, these tywraps were used in Japanese supercomputers

Jean

Cable ties
 
I like those tie wraps, Jean. It would nice to find a source for them. Do they seem strong enough for motorcycle applications? I remember some Hondas having the same type of re-usable tie wraps,
 
Re:

L.A.B. said:
From period photos that show the wraps clearly, I would say they started using Black plastic tie-wraps from 1973 or maybe introduced them during 1972? Earlier bikes do seem to have the rubber type up to 1972.
Click to expand...

Just to back up L.A.B.'s findings, I have an almost complete brochure collection (just need the one with the 'R' type if anyone has one for sale !) and the 1972 brochure clearly shows the rubber ties but the 1973 brochures, both 750 and 850 clearly show black nylon ties on bars and down tubes.

I use rubber ties on my '75 as the nylon saws into the paint finish but these only seem to be available in a rather longer length than was previously the case.
 
I don't know if this is definitive but my '73 750 still has some of the original plastic cable ties that were on the bike when I took it off of the dealers floor in 1973. The ties holding the frame mounted wire bundles and cables (clutch, throttle, and choke) were all black and of varying widths. The ties holding the wire bundles running up the handlebars were white (or translucent) in color.
 
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