Quite frustrated

After cleaning the float bowls, I decided to go on a nice ride. The beast would not start. I checked everything. Fuel, plugs, points and connections, filed the points lightly. Must have kicked it at least 100 times, maybe more. Literally. It poofed and popped but would not start. Finally it started on one cylinder, I gave it a couple of revs to help clean it out. I had just cleaned the pilots as well. I am thinking there is a wiring Gremlin in the thing that wont let the coil fire. Coils are new last year by the way. Got it going and now it is running pretty well. Dont know whats up, My fascination is beginning to wane. Its a love hate relationship. When it does what it is supposed to, I love this bike, but.......
I am close to moving on. Anyone else ever feel that way?
At least it wasnt wet sumped after 3 weeks.

Don't give up.. It's usually something basic. How's the battery?

MikeM said:

After cleaning the float bowls, I decided to go on a nice ride. The beast would not start. I checked everything. Fuel, plugs, points and connections, filed the points lightly. Must have kicked it at least 100 times, maybe more. Literally. It poofed and popped but would not start. Finally it started on one cylinder, I gave it a couple of revs to help clean it out. I had just cleaned the pilots as well. I am thinking there is a wiring Gremlin in the thing that wont let the coil fire. Coils are new last year by the way. Got it going and now it is running pretty well. Dont know whats up, My fascination is beginning to wane. Its a love hate relationship. When it does what it is supposed to, I love this bike, but.......
I am close to moving on. Anyone else ever feel that way?
At least it wasnt wet sumped after 3 weeks.

Click to expand...

I knocked my bike over last week, fixed it as it was blowing fuses , thought it was fixed but when I was setting off for its MOT the fuse blew yet again. After disconnecting the rec/ref I set of the twenty miles in the pissing rain, got there bike passed, rode back twenty miles feet soaking.

Riding a commando is living the dream, wet or dry , plenty of time to move on when I'm dead. When my mando's don't work it's my fault no theirs , I can only apologise for my mechanical ineptitude. I never get frustrated when things go wrong after all " there's no crying in motorcycles".

Tough it out big guy, Rev the tits out of it , it won't fix the problem but it sure will put a smile on you face!

Jg

Original wiring harness?? Check every connection in it. Not uncommon for the female ends of the bullit connectors to split and give intermittent contact.

Have you checked the breather on the petrol tank ?

MikeM said:

I am close to moving on. Anyone else ever feel that way?

Click to expand...

In the 40 years of owning my commando I have felt like moving on many times, but I persisted because I'm a stubborn bastard. I bought my bike from a friend for $500. When I brought it home in the back of a truck because it didn't run, my dad questioned my ability to fix it, and that stuck in my craw. As time passed, I realized that a norton commando was the original Rubic's Cube. Getting everything right on a commando is a test of a person's will and intelligence. If you can fix everything, adjust everything correctly, and modify a few of the inadequicies of it's original design, you have a one of a kind bike that looks like a dynasaur, but rides the roads like a modern bike. Granted that it's underpowered by race bike standards, but if you ride the roads at race bike speeds all the time, then it's only a matter of time before you're kissing the asphalt at speed, if not from your own miscalculation, then someone on their smart phone cuts you off or a patch of sand takes you down...

Where ever I park it, other bikers come over and take a look because it's a historical relic that's survived and rides along the roads with them. It's like looking out the window of a Boeing 737 and seeing a WWII fighter plane flying along side you... Don't give up on your commando. If anything, modify it so it rides better than the day it rolled off the assembly line... When you get it to the point where it runs well, handles perfectly, and it set up the way you want find some twisty roads to enjoy it on. Crack the throttle open here and there and feel that parallel twin snappy torque band...

Sometimes when I'm riding in the wind, Ithink I can hear my dad saying, "Hey, good job kid! Well done!"..

Nicely said o0norton0o.

It often amazes me the amount of attention my Seeley Commando gets whenever I take it near a race circuit. Seems many of the kids these days have not ever seen a real motorcycle, but only the plastic throw-away bikes.

I bought my Goldstar as a dirtbike in 1975 just out of high school for $415. I knew very little mechanically and fought rfor decades. for the first 35 years it was extremely unreliable mostly because of the crappy ignition and charging system and the mounting brackets which were more wishful thinking than anything else. But once I put a Boyer crank triggered ignition on it the bike was transformed and I could then start addressing its other problems. It's a very nice bike now and probably works better than original.

Got to keep the faith!

They're way more rewarding to ride than any 'plug'n'play' motorcycle.
Love the WWII fighter analogy too!

My 850 let me down last year, and as I wasn't far from home I called for backup and got the trailer out.
It simply rolled to a halt on the way back from a ride, and no spark.
I finally traced it back to the bundle of earth wires under the tank having loosened the retaining bolt. Easy fix once found.
In the meantime my confidence in the bike was evaporating very quickly, but once the problem was found, it got restored quickly too.
When I rebuilt it I replaced all the connectors on the original loom with properly insulated Jap bullets, and I'd say it's saved me a heap of trouble.

Patience is required, but I learned a very long time ago that if it's right it's first or maybe second kick to start, or at least show willing.
If it hasn't got going by the tenth kick, just stop kicking and start investigating... wet plugs, dry plugs, spark... etc., etc.

B+Bogus said:

Got to keep the faith!


When I rebuilt it I replaced all the connectors on the original loom with properly insulated Jap bullets, and I'd say it's saved me a heap of trouble.

Click to expand...

I'm seriously thinking of replacing all mine with jap pattern connectors. The Lucas ones are bulky, tough to get apart, and tough to push in . The jap ones are much neater, sealed to a degree, easy to connect and disconnect, and you can see through the covers. The only thing putting me off is my poor old back.


Cheers,

cliffa