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- Nov 20, 2004
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- 20,098
Yeah I see what you mean Lab, it does look like the down tubes have been sleeved
They were probably cracked I suppose?
Or completely broken!
Yeah I see what you mean Lab, it does look like the down tubes have been sleeved
They were probably cracked I suppose?
It's a shame you've got this problem,but it's an early commando and we'll worth doing, how's the glass fibre tank holding out?Thanks for advice. Will pull tank and take closer look. Cheers Darren.
Its not melted, but it does look dirty inside. Was considering inline fuel filters, but have got other priorities now . All part of the journey etc.It's a shame you've got this problem,but it's an early commando and we'll worth doing, how's the glass fibre tank holding out?
My one melted unfortunately
Was considering inline fuel filters
Esso Synergy plus is still ethanol free
That is brilliant info, thank you Spannerhands, I will give him a call tomorrow and see if he can take a look on Friday. I undid the bolts and moved the fuel tank back an inch and took a better look at the headstock. The pictures make it look worse than it does in person, definitely need to get it checked out mind. It looks like two tubes were welded over the original downtubes at the headstock in addition to the north-south tube. There's also an extra piece between the down tubes. One piece of good news is that when I moved the tank back I think I found an electronic ignition box cabled tied to the frame, so not all bad news. Thanks again, Darren.Hi Darren
I am just down the road in Devizes. I would be tempted to get the frame or bike with the tank off to Norman White in Andover. He is not that far away and he will be able to give you an expert view on it and what is required to make safe. He also set my twin leader up with a stiffening kit and it is certainly the best drum brake I have used. Concerning the ethanol problem in he short term Esso Synergy plus is still ethanol free so I would use that.
Thanks for info, so yes I've got one in that range. Having taken a look I can see that there is an additional tube running north-south which I *think* is the factory recall modification, plus as you can see from the picture I think its also been broken at headstock and welded back up. Does not look pretty, but appears to be robust.
"Bronze welded" I've never seen a stock commando frame bronze welded by the factory?The headstock/ tube weld looks like a bloch-up job to me. It should have bee SIF Bronze welded, as per original. I would be redundant to ride this until it it corrected.
How would being redundant affect your decision to ride the bike?The headstock/ tube weld looks like a bloch-up job to me. It should have bee SIF Bronze welded, as per original. I would be redundant to ride this until it it corrected.
How would being redundant affect your decision to ride the bike?
Ohhhh. . . .bollards!How would being redundant affect your decision to ride the bike?
Did you notice if it had this brake stiffening kit installed?So have spoken to Mr White and will be getting his view on frame towards end of next week. Have also taken front drum apart (could not resist). I can see from the wear that the shoes were only touching drum in certain parts, maybe due to it being sat for long periods. I also found that the brake tie rod (sits outside the hub and connects the shoe cams) was bent. Perhaps 15 degrees. I can only assume that this was due to someone over adjusting it to try and get the brakes to work? Anyway, I've cleaned, reassembled and fitted some new shoes and its feeling a lot better. The brake lever is reluctant to return to normal position, but assume this will improve once the new shoes bed in, but that will need to wait. Thanks again for the guidance.
Darren.
Thanks Cliffa. No, it looked like the parts catalogue, other than the shoes were modern and it did not have slippers. I do intend to do upgrade, but I want to get someone who knows frames to take a look at headstock first.Did you notice if it had this brake stiffening kit installed?
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If not, it's probably worth the investment if you intend to keep the drum brake.
Cheers,
cliffa.