Newbie Commando owner

I got around to doing a little bit of tear down over the holidays. I really don't think things are too bad. Here are a few pics of what it looked like when I bought it.

Ugh a sluggish 850 E-start eh, which I've a hard time following one in tight twisties all loaded down with camping cargo on lowish aired tires, for comfort and traction I was later told, later after straining on my lightened up spiffed up 70 hp SV650 on pure non DOT race only tires, so sorry about your lazy cruiser handling that should please you no end and still tease me on a capable handy moderns no end, except when compared with a Cream o the crop '72 Combat with Interstate tank long range short sprinting Commando pleaser. Make do as you can i guess and get used to stranger approaching with dropped jaws and stories your ride flashing them back too. Oh yeah start shopping now for extra sprag thingies

Looks bleedy good . Would do me nicely .

Suspect the tyres maybe a bit hard . If left flat could be square . ?

You might need a can of CRC / WD40 or the like. on the switchgear in particular .
AND inside the switchgear More Particularly . ( :lol: ) . Spraying it into the screw holes , and the gap between the front & rear halves , and all the bolt holes
a few days before you get entusiastic , might be beneficial :lol: :shock: :wink: . NOW , theres all types of ' Cross Head ' screwdivers . SO YOUD better check
if thyre POSIDRIVE , and use the CORRECT screwdrivers . A gentle tap or to to seat / unseat screws , a firm grip & firm force in to grip , & No Second Measures ,
and they could all well come free , if you just crack them all a gnats D loose all before unDOing em . Otherwise youre in for a IMPACT DRIVER , & maybe a set of allen key cap scres to replace them .

Dont worry about the E.S. , you can throw it out . :wink: :lol: . Also left foot brakeable if you wanna swap it over sideaways . Though youre possibly best sticking to what youre used to there .
Changeing the foot brake down a gear doesnt always work .

Nice Machine , a good clean & polish . Cant beat ORIGINAL . 8)

Shit, I thought that bike would look worse than that. Clean it up, tend to the brakes and fuel systems and and I bet she fires up. New tires and off you go! Then start throwing money at it. :mrgreen:

Looks very promising!

Things are disassembling pretty good. Calipers are off. Master cylinder and switch assembly are broken down and off. The carbs are taken apart and soaking in cleaner. I have yet to tackle the break down of the calipers. My new question is a source for all the rebuild kits I need. Is there a one stop shop for the carbs an all the brake kits? I also need the fuel line kit, one of the banjos off the bottom of the carbs is broken, and new petcocks. That stuff should keep me busy for a while.
Thanks, Scott

Old Brits has all the fuel lines and banjo parts you'll need. I found it much more reasonable to buy the parts and rebuild as opposed to buying a complete fuel harness, but that's up to you. Start throwing money at it. Looks like it just needs a bit of cleaning, and new tires.

Dave
69S

Hey Guys I'm in Charlotte NC and finally got a Norton 750 COmmando in my garage. I wanted one since back in the day. I cant wait to get going with it. I got it from a guy at work he had it rebuilt in 87 and its got 6500 original miles on it. He rode it for 1 year then parked it in the garage.
Its got good tires and all parts. I hope to get it runing this winter. Shes kind of dusty and crabby but I can se her big heart under all that crud. She will sit in my new shop next to my 59 Chevy Apache Custom. I'm Ol Skool to the End.

I look FWD to hitting this site up with a few of the pain and learning curve balls this old Girl has to give me

Wish Me luck (-_0)

Lv2wrench Out

Lv2wrench, it didn't happen unless we see pictures. New thread please.

Nelson is in your area, there is a big group there.

Dave
69S

You lucked out if brake parts came a part and not just rust fused as one. Put the stock brake system kit in and poke out the factory rubber tiny restriction hole to get lock up power with enough panic grip - just not as easy as smaller resleeve but by golly more than the tire can take. Put in SS piston and pucks so next guy don't have to deal with rust fused brake system. SS braid hose is definitely detectable in brake effect vs grip effort. Resleeve if ya got a weak old mans grip but don't think easier lever action equals more effective stopping than the Lockheed with drum brake emulator removed.

You did well !
If you intend to get the bike up and running for the least cost, make sure the oil lines are not split, particularly the return from oil filter to oil tank, and the rocker feeds.
DAMHIK.
sam

lv2wrench said:

Hey Guys I'm in Charlotte NC and finally got a Norton 750 COmmando in my garage. I wanted one since back in the day. I cant wait to get going with it. I got it from a guy at work he had it rebuilt in 87 and its got 6500 original miles on it. He rode it for 1 year then parked it in the garage.
Its got good tires and all parts. I hope to get it runing this winter. Shes kind of dusty and crabby but I can se her big heart under all that crud. She will sit in my new shop next to my 59 Chevy Apache Custom. I'm Ol Skool to the End.

I look FWD to hitting this site up with a few of the pain and learning curve balls this old Girl has to give me

Wish Me luck (-_0)

Lv2wrench Out

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Welcome!

At this point the fuel tank has been cleaned out, the vinegar did surprisingly well. The gas cap broke though, I am going to try to drill and tap the stud to reattach the spring and rubber seal. Carbs are clean and waiting rebuild kits. Brake calipers are soaking, I have not tried to disassemble yet. I will take a closer look at the oil lines. I am not exactly sure what the thing is at the end of the oil line that comes off the top of the oil tank. The line goes into a sort of a T with a smaller line at the bottom that looks like a vacuum line would fit to. ? A little each day.

That thing is an oil breather/separater. The pipe from it's body goes to the original air box and the angled one coming out of the bottom goes via a "T" to the intake manifold balance tube. I have neither the original air box (believe it to be very restrictive) or that breather. I'm just running a road draft tube right off the oil tank. By the way the foam element in that air box is probably pretty fragile by now so make sure you take it out or replace it before you start it up or your engine will ingest the whole thing! YIKES!

ScottMDMC said:

Re: Newbie Commando owner

Post by ScottMDMC » Sat Jan 05, 2013 4:21 pm
At this point the fuel tank has been cleaned out, the vinegar did surprisingly well. The gas cap broke though, I am going to try to drill and tap the stud to reattach the spring and rubber seal. Carbs are clean and waiting rebuild kits. Brake calipers are soaking, I have not tried to disassemble yet. I will take a closer look at the oil lines. I am not exactly sure what the thing is at the end of the oil line that comes off the top of the oil tank. The line goes into a sort of a T with a smaller line at the bottom that looks like a vacuum line would fit to. ? A little each day.

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Good luck with your project! All the items you're dealing with are important and have to be dealt with for sure but, unless I've missed it, I haven't read anything about engine condition? Just wondering, since that would be my first priority. If pulling the plugs, checking what comes out of the sump, looking at the rockers, making sure there is lube in the cylinders and then (carefully) checking compression, etc. turns out to indicate an engine rebuild/refresh is in order, then it won't need rebuilt carbs and brakes just yet. Just a thought.

I did spray the cylinders with fogging oil and let it set a few days before giving a few full kicks. It felt like good compression by the foot. I changed the oil, it was pretty thin, probably half gas. Have not yet pulled the rockers off. I did take that air box off and it was filled with black sludgy sponge stuff, must have been the air filter.

DogT said:

This thread is 2 months old and he still has only 1 post. I'm guessing he lost interest.

Dave
69S

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I'm thinking the snowball rolled over him on the way down the hill and buried him.


http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo ... y/85618456

I got my calipers all broken down last night. I thought you might be interested in how. I could not figure out how to pull out the inner pistons with out drilling through the caliper like I saw on the forum. I was trying to figure out what I could wedge in the hollow of the piston and not damage the caliper. I came across a piece of thin wall 1 1/2" galvanized pipe. I peened the end of the pipe so it was slightly tapered and gently tapped it into the piston inside the caliper. I then put the caliper in a vice and twisted the pipe back a forth with a pipe wrench. The first caliper came out pretty easy the next one took a decent bit of heat. That's done, now on to something else.

Cleaver extractor tool use, be relieved that was all it took. I've seen my own Combat in disassembled states too much so appreciate seeing yours but can't take it too long anymore.

I was exactly in your position last January with my 72 Combat. 1 year and 7k later I am still at it. Janauary to June doing basically what you are doing now. Then a wonderful summer of riding. Now a winter of fettling. Enjoy yourself. It looks lke you are off to a good start. You will find the folks on this site are very helpful when you get stuck. There is always an answer to your problem here.
Have fun.