Grease nipples

Status
Not open for further replies.

Stuffa

Joined
Jan 7, 2018
Messages
38
Country flag
Forgive my ignorance but do you need a special grease gun fitting to fit the grease nipples on the Commando? Or can you change the nipples to take a modern grease gun fitting? I know the one on the swing arm takes oil not grease.
 
The only other one I know about is on the speedo drive. Replace it with a standard fitting or use an adapter. You can fill the swing arm either by removing the center bolt and filling or removing the grease fitting and using a pump oil can. Use 140 weight gear oil in the swing arm.
 
htown16 said:
The only other one I know about is on the speedo drive. Replace it with a standard fitting or use an adapter. You can fill the swing arm either by removing the center bolt and filling or removing the grease fitting and using a pump oil can. Use 140 weight gear oil in the swing arm.
Click to expand...
Thanks, yep I was referring mainly to the speedo drive nipple. Would you happen to know the thread type for the nipple? I think I need to get some lube in there
 
I use one of these on the Speedo , the rear brake shoe pivot and rear brake pedal pivot:

Grease nipples


Have a second I put STP Oil Treatment additive in for use in swingarm. Seems to not leak out too fast.
 
Each time I remove the wheel, I check the drive and bearings for lubrication. If the drive is dry, I re-pack it with grease. Never used the nipple and never had a drive failure.
 
I modified my speedo drive to work off my front wheel. I also changed the pyramid shaped grease nipple out for a standard nipple so I could pump grease into the drive with a standard grease gun fitting. I can tell when my speedo needs more grease because when I duck out of the wind behind my fairing I can hear it whirring ever so slightly. A pump of grease and the sound goes away for a month.

Grease nipples


I also use a special oil in my speedo drive called "Jewel amber oil", which Jim Comstock recommended. I bought a cartridge for my grease gun online. I use it in my swingarm pivot too, which also has a standard grease nipple too, not the weird pyramid shaped one. I had previously inquired here if that pyramid shaped nipple was a european fitting or had some special purpose, but I don't recall getting an answer.
 
The weird fitting is call a Tecalemit fitting and is used on older British bikes and cars. You can find vintage grease guns to fit it on ebay. I bought one a few years back because it was made from brass and I'm a tool junky.
 
I have a grease gun with adjustable fitting and will fit any size nipple, but I never use it on my speedo drive as I repack it when fitting a new tyre, am still running my orginal drive and cable, not bad after 43 years and well over 160k miles.

Ashley
 
ashman said:
I have a grease gun with adjustable fitting and will fit any size nipple, but I never use it on my speedo drive as I repack it when fitting a new tyre, am still running my orginal drive and cable, not bad after 43 years and well over 160k miles.

Ashley
Click to expand...
That's unheard of longevity Good Sir!
Mine has 12,000 miles now, speed showing a fairly severe tick on the needle...+/-10 mph through most of speed range. No clue how much love it recieved by DPOs.
I have new repo to swap in when stock finally expires.
 
I think my Norton is a freak its always been good to me since new, my mate who got me started in Nortons and Featherbed frames still scratches his head in disbelieve in how reliable my Norton has been, after selling me his Featherbed frame back in 1979 he turned to building Tritons.
Maybe because I talk to my bikes, I always thank them and given them a pat on the tank for getting me home safe lol.

Ashley
 
Last edited:
I think Jim Comstock said he tried oil in the drive and that gave a little bit longer life. Otherwise I think he gave up and went to electronic.
Lighter grease like rocker arm jewel amber will help but you will be wiping it off the rear hub all the time. I use it in the swinging arm too
and that pisses out the same. In fact, rocker arm grease pisses out of the gun all the time too!
 
Tornado said:
That's unheard of longevity Good Sir!
Mine has 12,000 miles now, speed showing a fairly severe tick on the needle...+/-10 mph through most of speed range. No clue how much love it recieved by DPOs.
I have new repo to swap in when stock finally expires.
Click to expand...

Sometimes this " tick " can be related to the inner drive cable being too long from the brass clamp ferrule to speedo head .This puts undue pressure on the speedo mechanism's inner bearings.There is a measurement for this and I don't have with me,away from home.Someone out there should have this.This info was passed to me by an instrument service guy who had repaired some Smiths speedometers for me and did not want them damaged by faulty inner cables excess length ,which he said was a common fault with the cables.
Paul
 
I wore out 2 speedo drives [ 2 bikes ] before I realized they needed regular greasing. I grease now before every big ride and about every 3-6 months in between, using slick 50 grease. I have never changed the tecalemit fitting but use a grease fitting that has a sharp taper on my grease gun. The speedo drive gets about 6 pumps of grease as the wheel is rotated. The bike then gets ridden for 1/2 hour to expel the extra grease then gets cleaned up. It is messy but what the hell. My bike is a rider, not a garage queen. The longest it has gone between greasing is the 3150 miles done 2 years ago during the Cape Reinga to Bluff and back ride.
Dereck
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top