Cleaning my new to me 73' Norton Commando

Mountagrous

Mountagrous

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I just purchased a 73' Norton, I am new to these bikes coming from a 73' Honda CB450. I am really enjoying the learning process and working on these old twins. I've purchased some tools (whitworth) and others that I've sourced through the service tool catalogue. I hope to do most of the restoration work myself the bike has good bones.

I want to clean her up and see what and where she leaks oil, give her a thorough degreasing. What products and approach do you all have to offer a novice?
 
Fir genral degreasing and clean up. A good soaking with WD40 and wipe down with terry cloth/microfibre rag doesca decent job. Avoid carwash/dishsoap as thevwater will get into all the fittings and unless you are in a warm climate, running the afterwards, this will lead to corrosion.

For heavy built up grease/grime, i like Varsol on a rag or from a spray bottle or even soaking a removed part in a container of it. Great for swishing out the oil tank and fork tubes etc.

For paint work shine up, l ike "waterless" car cleaner products, as they dont need a rinse off.
 
Be careful of sprays on the aluminum parts - some can make them ugly. Avoid under the tank. Avoid the carbs and air filter.

Start with a cold bike and start and ride (carefully) the bike with it still wet. The rear brake is not powerful and will be non-existent if filled with water so be careful!
 
Tornado said:
Fir genral degreasing and clean up. A good soaking with WD40 and wipe down with terry cloth/microfibre rag doesca decent job. Avoid carwash/dishsoap as thevwater will get into all the fittings and unless you are in a warm climate, running the afterwards, this will lead to corrosion.

For heavy built up grease/grime, i like Varsol on a rag or from a spray bottle or even soaking a removed part in a container of it. Great for swishing out the oil tank and fork tubes etc.

For paint work shine up, l ike "waterless" car cleaner products, as they dont need a rinse off.
Click to expand...
Can you still get real Varsol in Canada? AFAIK, you can't in the US.
 
marshg246 said:
Can you still get real Varsol in Canada? AFAIK, you can't in the US.
Click to expand...
Yes...it is a low volitility type and not agressive on paint or plastics...any hardware store carries it here.

Cleaning my new to me 73' Norton Commando
 
Tornado said:
Fir genral degreasing and clean up. A good soaking with WD40 and wipe down with terry cloth/microfibre rag doesca decent job. Avoid carwash/dishsoap as thevwater will get into all the fittings and unless you are in a warm climate, running the afterwards, this will lead to corrosion.

For heavy built up grease/grime, i like Varsol on a rag or from a spray bottle or even soaking a removed part in a container of it. Great for swishing out the oil tank and fork tubes etc.

For paint work shine up, l ike "waterless" car cleaner products, as they dont need a rinse off.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info, I looked up Varsol and you can’t find it here in the states (even Amazon). I’ll look for something comporable.
 
Further research...Varsol is just the trade name...seems like it is also known as mineral spirits/Naptha/white gas.
 
Congradulations.
I graduated from a 69 CL 450 to a 73 Norton also.
However, that was 50+ years ago..............:eek::eek:
Hard for me to wrap my head around that.......
 
MichaelB said:
Congradulations.
I graduated from a 69 CL 450 to a 73 Norton also.
However, that was 50+ years ago..............:eek::eek:
Hard for me to wrap my head around that.......
Click to expand...
Okay, this is weird. My first bike was a '70 Honda CB450 and traded after a couple of years for a '72 Norton Combat (both bought new back in the day).
 
Last edited:
HouTexNorton said:
Okay, this is weird. My first bike was '70 Honda CB450 and traded after a couple of years for a '72 Norton Combat (both bought new back in the day).
Click to expand...

Weirdness continues,

In high school I rode my older brothers Honda CB450 which he bought new, I think that was a 1974. Fresh out of high school in 1975 I bought my 1972 Commando Combat Interstate. (I know of 2 previous owners before me).
 
I’m definitely not as cool as you all. I got into these vintage bikes in my late 30’s. One day I’ll have a cool story like all of you. Maybe my kid will have some good memories of working on the bike with dad.
 
71 CL450, owned same time as my Norton. Used to rip that little bike down the freeway at 80 no problem. I'd buy another, but no comparison between the two as far as I'm concerned.
 
I also use varsol as a first step to clean a dirty oily bike. Mineral spirits is pretty similar to Varsol. Pretty sure white gas is more volatile than varsol, but will work. In the good old days people used gasoline. Kerosene also works, but it stinks. Paint thinner is very similar to Varsol, if available in your part of the world.
Use lots of soft rags soaked in the solvent. Turn them frequently as you are picking up grit. Toss the rags frequently (mine go in a wood stove). Never use a gritty solvent rag on anything chrome, painted, polished, or plastic.
Wear disposable gloves because the solvents go through skin and attack the liver.
After the solvent use soap and water in moderation, and a fine abrasive polish on alloys. And maybe the paint, depending on condition.
Don't use abrasive polish on chrome, you will never get the scratches out.
If the engine, gearbox, center stand, and swing arm are really greasy, start there with an engine degreaser.
 
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If your new to Commandos I can definitely recommend the mini series collections from Mike on YouTube Mighty Garage.


For example this series on renovating a Fireflake Bronze tanked Commando.

.

He also has a couple of collection on his Black Mk2A bike.

Mike is very methodical and has a good teaching manner. Some people might think it a bit slow but I find the delivery very mature and even after 50 years of playing with Commando I learn a few things. Of course sometimes I might differ with some steps but your certainly not going to go wrong if you follow his process.

It's a site I check out every few weeks to see what's been happening
 
Tornado said:
Further research...Varsol is just the trade name...seems like it is also known as mineral spirits/Naptha/white gas.
Click to expand...
I bought some Clean-myride.com spray in the UK recently. Just used it for first time to degrease the tappet covers after polishing: it worked brilliantly. It is alkaline based, with almost no smell, and yellow dye added , so you can see where it has covered on a bike. Has very good reviews too. Streak-free finish on many tricky surfaces too!
 

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