Nice ride, middle of November

Try 100+ for 10 hours a day in October/November in England with no windscreen! That was our high-speed endurance testing at the MIRA test track in Nuneaton. Stop evry hour to fill up the tank and adjust the chain (1/4" on the prototypes for quite a while). Back out for another hour then a change of rider, too. At the end of 10 hours, back in the van and to the Marston Road factory. repeat for about a month, IIRC.

Did have one encounter whose effect is still visible as a 40+-year old blister on my lower lip. Our helmets back then were the Air Force bone-dome type with RAF goggles or a visor - no lower face protection. I encountered a large bumble bee doing about 20 mph in the opposite direction to my 105 and didn't duck fast enough!

If I'd had the turbo-Visor then, I might have avoided it. The Turbo-Visor was a circular, slightly domed Plexiglass (UK Perspex) device mounted on a needle roller bearing. It mounted on the front of your helmet with the lower half of the visor covering down close to your chin. All round the rim of the disc were small vanes. Based on the same concept as the "clear view" screens on ships, the slipstream over tha vanes caused the disc to rotate. I don't remember for sure, but I think they were doing 1000 rpm at 30 mph. it developed enough centrfugal force to throw any moisture off the visor and keep your vision clear.

We got some to try out. My first trip, it worked fine at lower speeds, but slowed down as I went faster. At the same time the end of my nose started to get hot. It turned out the disk was deflecting and actually rubbiing the end of my nose. An extra quarter inch on the stand-off fixed the problem. I don't know if the thing made it to market, but it certainly wasn't a runaway best-seller.

TJKII said:

Dave,
That freak snow in Oct. destroyed all sorts of trees and left us w/o power for 52.5hrs. I thought the riding season was all but done but now I'm riding all around on the bikes surveying at the storm damage. We lost one large mulberry (uprooted) and part of an old swamp maple. Fortunately they both missed everything!
Tom

Click to expand...

We lucked out, they were predicting about 4" here, but we only got maybe an inch of slush. Didn't do anything. I remember the one we had here on 10/10/79, waking up to 'crack, swoosh, bang', the limbs falling off the trees, but it wasn't as bad as they had up in CT.

Frank,
Yeah, when you're 20 you can do that stuff. I think you told me you're scared to ride now?

Dave
69S

Actually, Dave, I was 27 then! I would still ride in anyplace that drives on the British side of the road, particularly if the bike had a right-side, one-up, three down shifter. I find the idea of riding in the US, particularly around here with all the silver-haired old ladies who can't see over the top of the steering wheel of their Lincoln Town Cars, just to be too risky.

Even after living in this country for 43 years, I think I'd have problems without the visual cue of sitting on the opposite side of a vehcle, as you have in a car. I could switch back and forth between UK and US fairly quickly in a car (about 2 miles will do it) though I haven't been back to the UK for about 8 years now, so I don't know if that ability is still present.

I'd also need electric start. At 70 (just last month), I doubt I could kick a Commando into life!

frankdamp said:

I'd also need electric start. At 70 (just last month), I doubt I could kick a Commando into life!

Click to expand...

Actually Frank, I turned 68 on the 11th. I bet you could do it as long as you haven't been damaged in the starting leg. I don't have any problem, but I did strain my ankle one day trying to show off starting it with my Crocks on. Nothing but boots from now on. But believe me, it's a brute and scares me to ride it, but I manage. I'm hoping to get another day in this year, supposed to be in the upper 60's again after the rain ends.

I haven't experienced the 'other side of the road', so can't speak to that, but the right side 1u3d has been my mantra forever, I can't get used to anything else, my first one was a BSA B33, I guess it broke me in right.

Dave
69S

I'm burning some midnight oil on an old man easer and an old electric starter saver - as someday it could happen to me too.

64 degrees is about what I can expect on a nice summer day! Anything below 40 starts to feel like winter here, which I guess it is.

Russ

Hey Frank,
What is the fuel economy at 100mph.
What gearing were you running.
AC.

Re:

Try 100+ for 10 hours a day in October/November in England with no windscreen! That was our high-speed endurance testing at the MIRA test track in Nuneaton. Stop evry hour to fill up the tank and adjust the chain (1/4" on the prototypes for quite a while). Back out for another hour then a change of rider, too. At the end of 10 hours, back in the van and to the Marston Road factory. repeat for about a month, IIRC.

Click to expand...

Aye them were t'days DampFrank, when men were men and women liked it that way. John Hudson used to tell me about riding around in flat caps, bless him. Wish I'd have been there, simpler times...

AussieCombat said:

Hey Frank,
What is the fuel economy at 100mph.
What gearing were you running.
AC.

Click to expand...

Aye Frank, as AC asks, I'd love to know what the mpg was on a new bike with new Amals, strung out at 100mph for that long?

I think we gassed up every 100 miles, but we didn't have the production gas tanks at that time. I would guess at somewhere around 30mpg (UK gallons). The gearing was whatever went into the early production bikes. For quite a while the speedometers were no use, as they had the wrong ratio in the speedo drive and read 1.6x actual speed. Going from very old memory, no guarantees, I think 100 mph on the speedometer (62 mph really) was about 2000 rpm in 4th, which would be 31 mph/1000 rpm. My Renault 18i wagon was about that in 5th. As I say, that's from very faint memories.

On 750 Ms Peel in her prime set up playing deadly sports bike games for 40-60 mile in 20 to 40 min long sessions at WOT beyond red line eating up AMC bushes, hardly ever getting below 90 mph my mileage dropped from mid 50's to mid 20's. At 90-100 mph easy cruise home mileage was mid 30's. BTW I'm so skinny I don't feel need to tuck down till speedo showed 120, either on my Peel or my SV650. I hated to hold over 90 on my SV650 for long as hands tingles from the valve train buzz but would trace out on the smoooth Commando. Very few police bother with our rural routes.

We probably didn't do enough total miles for those problems to start showing up. They had just started testing with one bike when I joined the company in March 67 and we were done by Christmas. Engine life wasn't particularly critical as it was essentially an Atlas motor, plus we blew one to bits when the final drive chain snapped at 105 mph and full throttle. I'm guessing that neither of the prototypes had done much over 30,000 miles. I wish we had done some testing on the "Belgian Pavement" track at MIRA. That would have identified the weakness real quick. I remember my uncle driving a Leyland single-decker bus on that track, Within 4 days, all the passenger seats had broken off just above the floor. He'd gone down there for three months of testing!

The long-term fatigue testing I proposed on the frame was started, but got turned off. We should have realised when the Stormer M-X works bikes started breaking that the Commando could have the same issue. The Stormer was "inverted" since the top tube was welded to the headstock near the bottom and there was a wrap-around stiffener above it, but we gor a transverse crack in the top half of the top tube just aft of the stiffener. Tha photo of the Commando failure that was posted a while back was almost identical, except the other way up. One Stormer failed all the way around.

Bottom line was that the Commando was not fully tested before it went on the market. There was too much of a rush to get it out there.

November 21 ,2011. Drove to work in 2 degrees Celcious. Flooded carbs by ticklers ,much fuel overflow. Started first kick .Drove to work,gloves not good enough so reached down to massage barells at every stoplight.Helped alot. Arrived on time .November grey skys,no leaves on anytrees, just phoned travel agent to book Mexico City Jan. 7 th to early April. Smart move?

Hah. I went out today, 63F, 17C, not bad but had the issue with the negative battery lead I posted in the other thread. However, it's supposed to be 62 and sunny on Friday, the 25th. We'll see and report. Certainly wasn't like this last year.

Keep your stick on the ice, Toronto.

Dave
69S