swing arm side to side play

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it warmed up enuff here today to go to garage and while there I measured side to side play in rear of my 72 commando...I took a wooden stool and taped a ruler to it (not a political ruler but one of those things with numbers on it) and made a mark on stool and ruler and put the stool tool right up against centerline of tire....I got 1/16 or so each way I did same on end of swingarm and got 1/16 each way...….how that sound? bike has new vernier isos I installed during the build///also... my rear fender looking at bike dead astern looks offset to left about 3/4 inch so I taped string to frame backbone and ran it across rear fender and down to tire and it only showed 1/16 offset to left I think (aftermarket) fender had a slight 'twist' how that sound?
 
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Did you take a good look at pivot spindle and bushes in swing arm Alan .... I have never measured mine but did replace everything in there including spindle which looked good ... just for peace of mind .... I haven’t noticed any movement since .... the rear fender well , seems I can move it anytime I touch it , not going to fall off and maybe it finds it’s happy place .... do spend time getting sprockets and wheels in line .... I am no expert , no doubt experts will chime in on this subject ....
Craig
 
I use to shim the swingarm bushes, so that the swing arm is static under its own weight. I use iso shims for this purpose.
 
it warmed up enuff here today to go to garage and while there I measured side to side play in rear of my 72 commando...I took a wooden stool and taped a ruler to it (not a political ruler but one of those things with numbers on it) and made a mark on stool and ruler and put the stool tool right up against centerline of tire....I got 1/16 or so each way I did same on end of swingarm and got 1/16 each way...….how that sound? bike has new vernier isos I installed during the build///also... my rear fender looking at bike dead astern looks offset to left about 3/4 inch so I taped string to frame backbone and ran it across rear fender and down to tire and it only showed 1/16 offset to left I think (aftermarket) fender had a slight 'twist' how that sound?
The fender is a peice of spaghetti, ignore it.

The swing arm spindle being loose in the engine cradle, is the common pattern failure, Commando design flaw. Perform the “Kegler mod” and be much improved.

https://www.accessnorton.com/NortonCommando/another-kegler-s-arm-mod-thread.11598/
 
As others have said make sure the swing arm pin fits perfectly in the engine cradle
Make sure the isolastics are adjusted correctly
Make sure the crankcase bolts are tight
 
alan hodge
sounds O.K. as long as the handling is good. With mine on the centre stand like yours, it,s harder to judge by eye as it tends to move as a unit on the ground, but around the same 1/16" iso flex each side you have, relative to the frame.
No clunking or obvious looseness present in the spindle assembly itself.
It,s a part of the bike I,ve never serviced but it handles well in all situations with none of the reported Commando handling oddities in bumpy high speed corners or low speed wobbles etc.
I do have separate, total loss oil feeds on each side to keep the pivot and bushes lubed but if any problems arise, I,ll just replace the bits as required.
 
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