Commando frame welding

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APRRSV

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Hi all,
I will be bringing my 1971 frame to a local welder for replacement of the stock sidestand pivot with the update. Can anyone tell me what type of welding/brazing this operation will require?

Thanks,
Ed
 
Thanks for the reply Maylar. The reason that I ask this question is many years ago I crashed my Commando and the frame needed straightening/cuttting and welding. When I got it back, the frame broke at the weld while I was kick starting it. The guy that did the frame repair told me that it was because the tubing was an alloy he was not familiar with and required special welding. Not saying I believed him, but want to make sure.

Ed
 
The workshop manual specifies that the Commando frame is mild steel.
NO special welding required, whatsoever.

Some decades ago now, I just electric welded (stick welded) the sidestand bracket on a 1973 850 frame that had had a hard life - too much kickstarting on the sidestand. ?

It was good for all the time I had it after that - including kick starting it on the sidestand !!
And as far as as I know is still going good with subsequent owners.

Welding on any sort of relatively thin walled steel tube does take a skilled touch.
Too many amps or linger too long at any one spot will have holes or thin spots,
so maybe your welder guy then needed a refresher on how to weld thin tubes...
 
APRRSV said:
Thanks for the reply Maylar. The reason that I ask this question is many years ago I crashed my Commando and the frame needed straightening/cuttting and welding. When I got it back, the frame broke at the weld while I was kick starting it. The guy that did the frame repair told me that it was because the tubing was an alloy he was not familiar with and required special welding. Not saying I believed him, but want to make sure.

Ed
Click to expand...

I think he was looking for a excuse for his stuff up, anyway I just did a new side stand lug on my mate's Norton frame and I just welded it with a mig welder, the new lug has many spots to weld to the frame and once welded it won't brake again, just make sure you have the angle right before its fully welded.

Ashley
 
Providing the frame tube has not been crushed, then it will be fine - any decent welder with the correct kit should be able to do it, just make sure you have a template of the angle it is supposed to be at, for the later side stand it should not be an issue as the lug plate position is governed by the down tube and cross tube.
 
I don't think I would let any welder go near the frame with an arc welder. If you do, let us know how many holes he blows through the thin wall tubing as he tries to weld the thick bracket to it. Tig, braze, or mig would be my preferences, probably in that order.

Stephen Hill
 
Weren't many Commando frames made in Italy out of crap ? How many broke in service ? If it wasn't for the isolastics most of them would probably have cracked very quickly due to that big crank thrashing about inside the motor. I once looked at a standard frame with view to building a second bike - I walked away.
 
acotrel said:
Weren't many Commando frames made in Italy out of crap ? How many broke in service ? If it wasn't for the isolastics most of them would probably have cracked very quickly due to that big crank thrashing about inside the motor. I once looked at a standard frame with view to building a second bike - I walked away.
Click to expand...
Your dislike of commando frames is well known so yes if it didn't have the isolastics fitted it would probably break that's the reason they can get away with a very light frame,it adds up to quite a package excellent handling and perfectly smooth but we are getting off the subject of frame welding somewhat!! cheers
 
Commando frames were made in Italy by no less an outfit than VERLICCHI
Apart from some very careful measuring, there are no obvious or apparent differences (??).
So we don't know where you get your Commando misinformation from....
 
??
What are we supposed to be hmmming about ?

Verlicchi frames are highly regarded - usually with Italian engines in them !
It was a surprise to me when I heard that Nortons had contracted them to make frames.
Be interesting to know what made Nortons split with Reynolds ?
£££, or ?
 
sorry, never heard of Verlicchi, just a noob wonderin' ...

Rohan said:
??
What are we supposed to be hmmming about ?

Verlicchi frames are highly regarded - usually with Italian engines in them !
It was a surprise to me when I heard that Nortons had contracted them to make frames.
Be interesting to know what made Nortons split with Reynolds ?
£££, or ?
Click to expand...
 
Norton contracted with Verlicchi to make Commando frames at some point in the production range, but kept Reyolds on contract to continue making them until they ran out the materials already in the pipeline. The first Verlicchi frames were fine, but as time went on they drifted away from the spec dimensions. In the end, Norton was sending all the Verlicchi frames to Reynolds for inspection and repair before using them. Ken Sprayson joked that Reynolds were making more profit from fixing the Verlicchi frames than they had been making from producing them.

Norton switched to Verlicchi because they could get the frames for £3 less than the £12 - 10s that they were paying Reynolds.


Ken
 
lcrken said:
Norton contracted with Verlicchi to make Commando frames at some point in the production range, but kept Reyolds on contract to continue making them until they ran out the materials already in the pipeline. The first Verlicchi frames were fine, but as time went on they drifted away from the spec dimensions. In the end, Norton was sending all the Verlicchi frames to Reynolds for inspection and repair before using them. Ken Sprayson joked that Reynolds were making more profit from fixing the Verlicchi frames than they had been making from producing them.

Norton switched to Verlicchi because they could get the frames for £3 less than the £12 - 10s that they were paying Reynolds.
Click to expand...
tx. l do actually recall a bit of that & it may have great significance,

l tend to focus on stuff that jumps out quick, short & clearly first tho,

some are way better than others at that, good or bad
 
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