So many new upgrades available these days

jamesp said:
What do you mean by “stage 3 tuning”. Maybe I should have said “lavish it with goodies“.
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A true stage 1 modification doesn’t require any other engine mod to get it to work, this means it can be added in isolation. Other mods can help to raise the power gains and realise the potential of the mod, they aren’t mandatory. These are at the bottom of the tuning scene in terms of the overall benefits you will receive. Stage 1 modifications are usually a straightforward DIY fit, they should also work on a standard engine that’s in good condition.

Stage 2 mods tend to offer larger power gains than stage 1 but will require additional work on other parts if you want them to work reliably…stage 2 mods will require more specialist knowledge and tools.

Stage 3 modifications are known by most as a track day modification. Similarly, to stage 2, they will also require other mods to support them but they are usually less ideal for road use due to there aggressiveness.
 
This thread has gone on for a long time which gave me time to think of all the mods and changes my bike has had over 45 years of ownership. Some were very necessary. Some pure vanity. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Starting from front to back.

New stainless front and rear rims and spokes. Still 19 in. Sometime in the 1990s to replace very rusty originals.

A new stainless front guard to replace the one damaged by a Jaguar car backing into the original. Not really an upgrade. Around 2018.

Landsdown fork internals. 2018.

Hydralic steering damper. 1978.

CNW front disc. 2018.

Pazon ignition. 2018. Over the years it has also had the original points 1978, Rita 1979 and Boyer 1996.

Triumph left and right side handlebar switch units. 1996. I prefer all switches on the left hand plus I don't care for the Norton toggles that broke a few times.

Mirrors from a random Jap bike which work and look way better than originals in my opinion. 2019

Stripped exhausts repaired with BMW fittings. 1978.

Dave Taylor head steady. 2019

CNW isolastics 2019.

Crack tested, dynamically balanced and radius ground crankshaft. 2019

JS motorsport longer rods and pistons. 2019

CNW motor hardware kit including head kit. 2019

CMW rocker oil feed lines.2019

Tachometer drive seal upgrade. 1996.

Converted back to standard camshaft from 4 S around 1996. More of a reversal of the first owner "upgrade"

JS motorsport breather valve. 2019.

CNW hydraulic clutch 2019

CNW electric start 2019

Home made mini ham can airbox 2019

RGM fold away kick start. 2019. This is a really really good mod.

New wiring harness 1996.

Upgraded altenator and MOSFET unit. 2019

Premier carbs 2019

New Andover gearbox casing to replace cracked original. New bearings throughout including layshaft of course. 2019

Rear brake safely spring ??

One piece rear axle. ??

Icon rear shocks 2022.

Roadster tank and sidecover repaint 1996.

Interstate tank and sidecover set purchased for longer rides. 2019.

Various stainless bolts nuts etc added over the 40 something years.

Plus all the various maintenance items like valves, and various gearbox and clutch items which wore out over the years but they don't count as upgrades.

A final one which I regard as a very positive upgrade was a meticulous check as per the " World's straightest Norton article " the frame was checked on a jig, swinging arm straightened , isolastics, wheels ,rims forks alignment all checked. Made the bike feel much nicer.
 
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Looking at my list I'd probably split it into 3 parts.

The things I would do as soon as I had money no matter what my age or experience. This would include the one piece rear axle, brake safely spring, some kind of upgraded front brake, and upgraded head steady. Plus the worlds straightest Norton work. The layshaft bearing and repaired upgraded exhaust pipe fitting. Wiring harness.

Next the sensible and nice to have. Carbs, ignition, breather valve, kick-start lever, tachometer drive seal. Upgraded isolastics. Handlebar switches. JS longer rods and pistons. Crankshaft work. Front and rear shocks.

These two lists are based on my experience around bang for buck and outcomes. I wish I had done the world straightest Norton work for example decades ago. My bike was always a headshaker and pull hard left at low speed. Now it's very nice.

And lastly the age related ones. No way would I have fitted an electric start until 5 years ago when my knee went. Plus the hydraulic clutch. Both those are old guy upgrades really. But I need them now.
 
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There are other upgrades of the Roadholder fork besides the Landsdown kit worth mentioning, e.g. JS Motorsport bushing kit, JS Motorsport damper mods, Cosentino Engineering's bushing kit, and Cosentino Engineering's Showa cartridge damping kit.
In the braking department there are many upgrades available. The most extensive front brake upgrade program is offered by Norvil Motorcycles. Triton Motorcycle Parts (Don Pender) offers a very powerful single disk upgrade.
Best upgrade of cycle parts in terms of innovation IMHO is the "real" cushioned hub offered by Triton Motorcycle Parts, which includes a one piece rear axle.

- Knut
 
mdt-son said:
There are other upgrades of the Roadholder fork besides the Landsdown kit worth mentioning, e.g. JS Motorsport bushing kit, JS Motorsport damper mods, Cosentino Engineering's bushing kit, and Cosentino Engineering's Showa cartridge damping kit.
In the braking department there are many upgrades available. The most extensive front brake upgrade program is offered by Norvil Motorcycles. Triton Motorcycle Parts (Don Pender) offers a very powerful single disk upgrade.
Best upgrade of cycle parts in terms of innovation IMHO is the "real" cushioned hub offered by Triton Motorcycle Parts, which includes a one piece rear axle.

- Knut
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Now you mention the "real" cush drive on the back wheel
One of the upgrades I did on my commando was fitting an apprillia Pegasso hub laced to an alloy morrad rim which has a really good cush drive
The wheel is very much lighter than the standard commando wheel even with the edition of a brake caliper
Plus I machined the swing arm to take the larger one piece wheel spindle
Very happy with the whole package done over 20 years ago
 
baz said:
One of the upgrades I did on my commando was fitting an apprillia Pegasso hub laced to an alloy morrad rim which has a really good cush drive
The wheel is very much lighter than the standard commando wheel even with the edition of a brake caliper
Plus I machined the swing arm to take the larger one piece wheel spindle
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The upgrades I mentioned preserves the looks of the bike, and can be viewed as an evolution of the original design. For instance, the cushioned hub, which is externally very similar to Norton's rear hub up to 1974.
I like these non-apparent upgrades the best. Fitting a huge brake disc to the front of a Commando of post-72 vintage makes the bike look ugly, I think. I'd much rather fit a hub with a hydraulically operated drum brake.

If you propose the adaption of alien parts, the list of possibilities is endless. There are certainly better forks available today, e.g., USD forks, but they will transform the bike completely in every sense of the word,
and may prompt reinforcement of the frame, etc.
I have modified my Mk3 extensively as well. Discussing these mods will be the subject of another thread.

- Knut
 
mdt-son said:
The upgrades I mentioned preserves the looks of the bike, and can be viewed as an evolution of the original design. For instance, the cushioned hub, which is externally very similar to Norton's rear hub up to 1974.
I like these non-apparent upgrades the best. Fitting a huge brake disc to the front of a Commando of post-72 vintage makes the bike look ugly, I think. I'd much rather fit a hub with a hydraulically operated drum brake.

If you propose the adaption of alien parts, the list of possibilities is endless. There are certainly better forks available today, e.g., USD forks, but they will transform the bike completely in every sense of the word,
and may prompt reinforcement of the frame, etc.
I have modified my Mk3 extensively as well. Discussing these mods will be the subject of another thread.

- Knut
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Yep I find it hard to know when to stop 😂😂if you zoom in you can see I made clock holders to look like Norton ones
Also I made the stainless headlamp brackets to fit the Yamaha forks look like commando ones
Infact the whole bike was built from parts for very little money
Ignore the front mudguard it'd been in a altercation with a van!
 

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When I said the stock bike is quite good I forgot the brake problem. These bikes go much better than they stop, in stock form.
If there was only one upgrade to be done then for me it would have to be the front brake.
I tried the Vintage brake pads that were supposed to make the brake " scary strong"
It still overheated fizzled to nothing on 2nd or 3rd hard application in the mountains. A master cylinder sleeve won't help with this.
I installed the Madass kit. It's very good. I'm sure the CNW Brembo kit is an excellent one too.
As far as the big disc looking wrong, that isn't worrying for me.
I'm more worried about how the bike will look going over an embankment with me on it!

Glen
 
baz said:
Yep I find it hard to know when to stop 😂😂if you zoom in you can see I made clock holders to look like Norton ones
Also I made the stainless headlamp brackets to fit the Yamaha forks look like commando ones
Infact the whole bike was built from parts for very little money
Ignore the front mudguard it'd been in a altercation with a van!
Click to expand...

Nice pic baz 👍

Ahh, roll on summer.
 
mdt-son said:
The upgrades I mentioned preserves the looks of the bike, and can be viewed as an evolution of the original design. For instance, the cushioned hub, which is externally very similar to Norton's rear hub up to 1974.
I like these non-apparent upgrades the best. Fitting a huge brake disc to the front of a Commando of post-72 vintage makes the bike look ugly, I think. I'd much rather fit a hub with a hydraulically operated drum brake.

If you propose the adaption of alien parts, the list of possibilities is endless. There are certainly better forks available today, e.g., USD forks, but they will transform the bike completely in every sense of the word,
and may prompt reinforcement of the frame, etc.
I have modified my Mk3 extensively as well. Discussing these mods will be the subject of another thread.

- Knut
Click to expand...
Yes I can agree a modern front disc does look a bit out of place. But I'm OK with the way my bike looks. Mostly looking original. - although I kind of wish Matt had not made the stay on the guard go down under the calliper. One day I may cut and reposition it.

The carb rubbers to the airfilter are missing in this photo. It was a work in progress day. The misaligned tank stripes have bugged me since they were done in 1996. But that's not even a first world problem. 🤣🤣🤣
 

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johnm said:
Yes I can agree a modern front disc does look a bit out of place. But I'm OK with the way my bike looks. Mostly looking original. - although I kind of wish Matt had not made the stay on the guard go down under the calliper. One day I may cut and reposition it.
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The look is that of a bike which will stop quickly!

Glen
 
Braking performance is a no-brainer to me.
I started two wheels with an engine on a mini bike in the 3rd grade and I cannot remember the amount of times since I wish I could have stopped sooner. Some of it my fault some of it lousy brakes.
WGAS about looks when cell phone jockeys are paying more attention to their text than the road.
I am fully dedicated to real world modern braking technology.
JMHO.

So many new upgrades available these days
 
The Norton stock disc brakes were good when new buying my Commando new and me being a 17 year old light weight I could lock up the front brakes easy, but over the years of riding every day they become near impossible to lock up and started to become dangerous even after a few rebuilds, them days weren't much said about reducing the size of the MC or decent pads.
But the first day back on the road from a rebuild with new crank cases a car turned infront of me the brakes worked but something wasn't right but had to lay it down better than hitting the car side on, this should have been a warning but only 2 miles from home and first outing I thought the brakes just needed bedding in, how wrong I was.
Afew weeks later was leaving a friends place and not even 100 yards away on the corner of a T section I had to hit the brakes hard for a car and before I knew it I was thrown over the handle bars, I only put light pressure on the brake but for some reason the front brake grabbed violently can't remember much after that as I hit the bitumen pretty hard and was in shock, in my mine everything was right and a thew things broken on the bike had to trailer it home this was a Sunday afternoon, at 8 pm I was in so much pain in my left arm I needed to get to the hospital to find I fractured my left elbow and broken my left thumb.
Well that was it for my front brakes while recovering I sent away to RGM for a full Grimcia front brake system, 12" semi floating disc and racing caliper, longer lever , MC and SS line, wasunder $600 at the time and really was one of the best upgrades I have done, the brakes are as good as my modern 2013 Thruxton and now if I want one finger operation they work so well and I reacond it looks great that big disc on the front, looks like it means business.
Yes there are maybe better brake systems around but way more pricey than the Grimcia system was right for my money and so far works great with no problem after 12 years on the bike, great being able to stop quickly and looks a lot better than the stock dics set up.
My advice to anyone is don't muck around with old near 50 year old brake system as one day without warning they will let you down, my life is more important than keeping my bike original, but then my Norton hasn't been original since 1980.
The Lansdown front end internals, the front brake system and the Joe Hunt Magneto was 3 of the best upgrades I have done to my Norton in over 40 years after converting it to the Featherbed frame, a great handling bike, great brakes for stopping and slowing down and big fat spark for that big bang inside my lightly hotted up motor, I love my 1200 Yhruxton but there something special about my Norton that puts a big smile on my dial everytime I ride it even after 40 years of building it, such a fun bike to thang around on, no wonder I have a big smile on my dial when I hope on it and take it out, love it no other bike has done that to me most have come close but the Norton is my Hotrod bike.
I didn't expect this thread would go the distant but its great in what so many have done to make their Norton's even better and some of the latest upgrades, man I got to win the Lotto lol, wishful thinking again 😀.
 
Great pic there Lineslinger with your little helper, 24 years ago I was painting my house my youngest daughter was about the same age and she watched me stirring the big drum of paint in my shed I put the lid back on it after filling my paint can 1/2 full to do more painting.
Later going back to the shed to get more paint here was my baby girl had the lid off the big drum with my stirring stick in the drum, paint on the floor and my Norton and a big grin on her face, priceless, I was more angry at the wife as she was surpose to be keeping a eye on her so she had to clean the paint off my Norton lol.
To this day I still find bits of house paint on my bike and on the floor of my shed a very worn little painted foot print from my baby girl, Rose is now 26 years old and one day I showed her that little foot print and asked if she remember that day, she couldn't believe it was her little foot print, priceless.
 
baz said:
Yep I find it hard to know when to stop 😂😂if you zoom in you can see I made clock holders to look like Norton ones
Also I made the stainless headlamp brackets to fit the Yamaha forks look like commando ones
Infact the whole bike was built from parts for very little money
Ignore the front mudguard it'd been in a altercation with a van!
Click to expand...
Wow, in the language of the cycling world, you have Z plates made of drillium. Not seen that before
 
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ashman said:
Great pic there Lineslinger with your little helper, 24 years ago I was painting my house my youngest daughter was about the same age and she watched me stirring the big drum of paint in my shed I put the lid back on it after filling my paint can 1/2 full to do more painting.
Later going back to the shed to get more paint here was my baby girl had the lid off the big drum with my stirring stick in the drum, paint on the floor and my Norton and a big grin on her face, priceless, I was more angry at the wife as she was surpose to be keeping a eye on her so she had to clean the paint off my Norton lol.
To this day I still find bits of house paint on my bike and on the floor of my shed a very worn little painted foot print from my baby girl, Rose is now 26 years old and one day I showed her that little foot print and asked if she remember that day, she couldn't believe it was her little foot print, priceless.
Click to expand...
Haha. My 36 year old daughter (now lawyer) doesn't smile too much when I remind her about similar events. 🥰🥰🥰
 
Haha kids don't you love them, my daughter made such a mess with the paint in my shed but you can't get angry she thought she was helping she was only 2 1/2 years old but to see that big grin on her face, priceless.
 
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