Commando suspension setup

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Maxton suspension is on a lot of the bikes being used in serious classic road racing, and they have even made cartridge internals for front forks on P65 MX bikes. The Maxton cartridge fork internals are designed and made for each specific application, but cost rules them out for anyone who is not involved with pretty high level competition, or who wants the very best available and is not overly concerned with price.
 
L.A.B. said:
Randomly selecting a parts book ('61-'62), under the heading: "FRONT FORKS WITH SIDECAR TRAIL" I find: "19506A Fork spring.....2..."
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Yes I have that one too.
Doesn't appear in the Commando lists though. ?
Nor in any of the Dealers offerings ?

I see that Ken McIntosh offers std and heavier springs for manxes - 4.5 and 5 mm wire.
External fork spring types only though....
 
There may be better but if cheap yet effective Roadholders is the goal I'm sticking with Greg Fauth's kit I've tested on and off road much much to my secure smooth delight. Again the springs out there may not work well per rider/bike w/o diddling their progressive staqes of rates by installing a few sections of springs.
 
hobot said:
Again the springs out there may not work well per rider/bike w/o diddling their progressive staqes of rates by installing a few sections of springs.
Click to expand...

Where do you get suitable sections of springs with different spring rates though ?

Springworks could (presumably) make you some custom ones.
Has anyone tried this. ?
Has anyone needed this ?

Or are riders getting heavier....?!
 
Hi

I believe Mr Bould is having a multiple choice spring accessed (different short lengths of differing springs linked together) oooh! :shock: :shock:
Get on with making some dampers for my triple please!!!!!
The wife will let you have time off from your chores John if she knows they are for me. :D :D :D
Ps Maxton forks still leak & now the rear shocks have followed them.
Hope to be well & ready for the new season.

all the best Chris
 
For Ms Peel I snagged last of a batch of custom 3 rate springs but also extended fork travel 2" extra inches so was stumped on what to put in as spacer until I tried a Ford 8D or 9D tractor valve spring found in spares bin at a real old fashioned machine shop. They are getting hard to find new as Greg Fuath has sold a couple hundred plus kits with them and pretty much got all them springs out there. So its a hunt and trial error sourcing a spring set on your own. I never ever ride very weird stuff or fast or crazy so can't take my word for what ya might be missing out on that's still basically a Norton inside and outside Roadholders.
 
Crikey , Even Hob's useing Ford Parts , Now . ! :P , :wink: . Apparently their computor / motorsport related stuff after Ferrari refused to have their name
on his cars allowed them to produce some bits that wernt totally useless , even on Tractors. :lol:
 
I have seen the light Matt and Ferrai's are in Peels sights to take on in techinical tracks the top speeds don't exceed 160 mph or so. No one has tired a race event yet on valve spring fork mods but most of them hunt pot holes and ruts and small animals for the unncanny nullification effect. Ms Peel will have a type of active suspension and a vital part is a rusty ole gate hinge I may leave rusty just to rub the elites rawer. I used to sit on very rear of seat to avoid the wrist arm neck jarring of stock set up to get to pavement and back, but not no more. I like my valve spring forks better than the sports bikes and dirt bikes i've tried in their own element. Peels main springs came from a long time expert with a first name of Geoff but can't remember/find the site again so far. But have a set to model if ever there's enough to make a new batch worth it.
 
Chris said:
Hi

I believe Mr Bould is having a multiple choice spring accessed (different short lengths of differing springs linked together) oooh! :shock: :shock:
Get on with making some dampers for my triple please!!!!!
The wife will let you have time off from your chores John if she knows they are for me. :D :D :D
Ps Maxton forks still leak & now the rear shocks have followed them.
Hope to be well & ready for the new season.

all the best Chris
Click to expand...


Interesting that your Maxton suspension is faulty...............they seem to have had great success with what they have been making for classic off road bikes, which are used in far harsher conditions than road race machines.
 
Hi Carbonfibre

Maxton seem to be getting mixed reviews with classic racing folk. Some well pleased others not. I gave them all the info on there sheet ie rider height weight swinging arm length distance to shock mount etc. I waited 13 months as they were so busy.
Shocks in favour are Falcon & very much now the Davies Honda shock. I am hopefully running Johns internals next season & will be able to see if they are an improvement. Then it box up the Maxton bits & send them back for overhaul.
Chris
 
The gun fork oil , in the olde days , was Auto trans fluid & STP . around 15 to 30 % STP , varied to vary damping .

PTFE or molyslip would be regaded as ' low friction ' additive , to reduce ' stiction ' and friction .
For less dramatically or finacially incined types attempting to refine the nature of the standard apparatus .
 
john robert bould said:
L.A.B. said:
Rohan said:
No 350 ever used the same front forks as the 850, so that part isn't correct.
Click to expand...

That isn't what John said.

He said: "Norton fork front springs are a "one fits all" from a single 350 to a 850 twin"....which appears to be correct (spring part NM18813) for the standard road models with Featherbed frames and internal spring short Roadholders, lightweight 350/400 twins, and all Commandos.

http://www.nortonmotors.de/ANIL/Norton% ... s-list.php
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Thank you Lab, some of us read the posts...properly.
Having said that ,Rohan is correct in stating Commando Forks are differant.. 5mm Oval for starters, longer dampers, BUT just the same internaly...infact no better than they where post 1953,
Pre "cartridge" [ pre1953] have just a double taper bolt, with no damping between these tapers.

http://www.lansdowne-engineering.com
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5 MM oval forks..what does that mean ? I thought they were round.

I have well over a dozen commando springs and some are CW wound and some are CCW. about 80%/20%
I have only one "original" featherbed front end and it is still assembled on a 66 atlas.
 
dynodave said:
5 MM oval forks..what does that mean ? I thought they were round.
Click to expand...

The late sliders are oval as they are approximately 4mm-5mm wider in cross section front to rear than they are from side to side.
 
Chris said:
Hi Carbonfibre

Maxton seem to be getting mixed reviews with classic racing folk. Some well pleased others not. I gave them all the info on there sheet ie rider height weight swinging arm length distance to shock mount etc. I waited 13 months as they were so busy.
Shocks in favour are Falcon & very much now the Davies Honda shock. I am hopefully running Johns internals next season & will be able to see if they are an improvement. Then it box up the Maxton bits & send them back for overhaul.
Chris
Click to expand...


I know the owner of Falcon very well , and we will be testing some new shocks down there this Saturday. I would say an excellent choice for road or race type Norton, and far less money than Maxton. I also deal with Maxton though, and following an initial discussion about some shocks I required, they had been manufactured and shipped to me in less than 8 weeks, which I thought was pretty good. Johns shocks also look good, and I have talked to him at length about these, as quality seems excellent and price very reasonable.
 
Carbonfibre said:
Chris said:
Hi Carbonfibre

Maxton seem to be getting mixed reviews with classic racing folk. Some well pleased others not. I gave them all the info on there sheet ie rider height weight swinging arm length distance to shock mount etc. I waited 13 months as they were so busy.
Shocks in favour are Falcon & very much now the Davies Honda shock. I am hopefully running Johns internals next season & will be able to see if they are an improvement. Then it box up the Maxton bits & send them back for overhaul.
Chris
Click to expand...


I know the owner of Falcon very well , and we will be testing some new shocks down there this Saturday. I would say an excellent choice for road or race type Norton, and far less money than Maxton. I also deal with Maxton though, and following an initial discussion about some shocks I required, they had been manufactured and shipped to me in less than 8 weeks, which I thought was pretty good. Johns shocks also look good, and I have talked to him at length about these, as quality seems excellent and price very reasonable.
Click to expand...

My "Lansdowne" dampers use needle's and one-way valves to control the oil flow, but with any device the other parts i.e the general condition of the forks need to be in good order.

Sticking bush's and slider internal wear will cause "harshness" that will not be eliminated with my system,

It's surprising how many forks are worn out,[thats the slider], but after 40 years, its par for the course.


Reboring or re-sleeveing is the answer.. :?:
 
It depends on how much you want to spend.

Stock forks are OK but the clanking of their topping and bottoming is disconcerting.

I have no experience with the Lansdowne or Consentino products but they look to be top drawer.

I'm pleased with my Fauth kit, especially the increase in ground clearance.

As for the rear, I fell into some old Konis and they work just fine. If I didn't have the Konis, I'd go with Works Performance. Their products are top drawer and they are local to me.
 
Hi John / Carbonfibre

My sliders on both bikes are new! The problem I had with the Dick Hunt front end was stiction on full compression. They didn't want to come back up!!!!
Not good. Spent a lot of time cleaning up the steel bottom bushes (probably wearing them out) until all worked well. I am not a big fan of the grub screw in the leg aka Colin Seeley. Have since found the problem was the spindle not really seating in the slider. Not sure if this was the plating or machining. As I am going to be using these forks on the 750 next season I have once again cleaned them up but I am measuring the spacers wheel etc to see if the leg is pulling over on the grub screw. These forks will be fitted with a set of your dampers as well as a pair of Konis on the rear.

all the best Chris
 
it really depends on how much you want to spend, doesn't it .For road use, Progressive springs and 20w fork oil in standard amount did it for me. Topping out is very rare, action is quite good. Mostly ridden at highway speeds on our indifferent WA road surfaces. Mk111 BTW, different damping fluid hole arrangement to earlier models? Measuring the free length of the new Progressive to the saggy originals showed very little difference, but big lift installed.
 
Interestingly enough many users of "progressive" suspension springs are not aware of the fact that they only provide progressive action, when parts of the spring become coilbound.

In most cases so called progressive springs are wound in this way to enhance sales, and if they were truly progressive the forces involved when the spring becomes coilbound would greatly increase the chances of failure.

Easy to check this out, by simply compressing the spring the same amount as suspension travels, and taking note of how many coils are touching..........if none are touching, then the spring isnt progressive and wont work as well as a normal linear type part.
 
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