The Redneck Report

Well guys, I have been busy the last few weeks ordering parts and cleaning the old girl up. Just scored a set of euro bars to replace my hi riders for $35 on E bay tonight. Got my first package from Old Britts with my Power Arc ignition and seals for the timing cover, got those in (the seals) waiting for my points seal tool to come in before I get the timing cover back on. Also got some Avon 90/100 19 tires in yesterday, will be putting those on next week after I clean the wheels up over the weekend. Got the front caliper tool, master cylinder rebuild kit and new pistons, seals and pads coming in soon. Battery should be here in the next few days along with a slew of other parts. Also got some velocity stacks that I will be polishing up once I get them in to stick on the Amals, I hope those carbs work out! Oil tank still at CNW, will post pics when it comes home. Lots of little parts coming also, hope to have a video of the bike getting started in the next month and get her on the road!

Thanks to everyone on the forum for all the information to make this an enjoyable work, I have had nothing but fun doing this. Even my wife has remarked how much like a school boy with a new toy I seem like! Spent last night with the fuel tank in the living room detailing it while my wife was watching American Idol. I think I sat there for at least two hours cleaning all the gunk from around the decals and underside, gleams almost like new!

Cannot wait to get on the road with this old horse!

Later tater

Yeah man that's living the Commando life style, even wives can accept them as safe mistress. Savor the assembly and run in.

A definite lack of pictures in this update... :mrgreen:

swooshdave said:

A definite lack of pictures in this update... :mrgreen:

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Okay Dave, since you need some pics. Have not taken many pictures lately but here are a few.

Picked up a decent bike jack, helped in getting wheels off and moving around:


Here is my little grease monkey helping out:


She is pretty handy with tools, better than her older brothers, LOL!


She took all the screws out herself and put them "Away so they will be safe"!


Train em while their young!!!

Will get some pics up once I get a few more pieces on the bike.

Completely awesome pics!

Inspiring. I just picked up a '74 850 at a garage sale, took her to a nortonDude for a shakeDown. Can't wait to get her back & begin getting the lay of the land.

Hey platinum, best thing I have found is to read this forum, get a manual and get your hands dirty! Know your bike so when your sitting on the side of the road you may have a shot of getting her running again. I am bad ready to get this bike running, have not even messed with my convertible mustang with all the time I am putting on the norton!

Start your decade long learning curve by going to the initial Tech Information post.
Many times I google a question and get shown many post here on it, better than forum search at times. Once finished better hide keys from you know who.

Good to see you have an expert quality controll supervisor there to keep you on the straight and narrow Hobot
Too cute!

Remember to remove Grease Monkey when fitting Avon roadriders - good tyres, but have been know to hard to centralise on steel rims, my front was a real pain - rear was straight on!!

Ok, some more updates after a heck of a weekend. I have cleaned the wheels up getting them ready for the tires to be put on next week. I cleaned the mounting surfaces as best I could of all the rust with a dremel tool and wire brush then polished out. Once I got that done I waxed the heck out of the wheels to try and keep the rust from coming back or making it harder to! You can see my new tires in the background.



Here is the Power Arc ignition on the bike. I also put on allen key bolts on the timing cover, got them pretty cheap from Commando Specialties!


I have the coil mounted, still have not tightened everything down all the way. Just getting things lined out and making sure I have things right.

And the other side:


I have my battery hooked up but my electrical skills are not up to par yet. My wife's Uncle is a motorcycle mechanic so I am going to have him ensure this is the correct wire to hook the black and white wire up from the ignition. I may put a switch on the white wire later so I can use the aggressive curve later if I feel up to it? ! I did not cut any length off the wires from the ignition so I have plenty of length if I need to modify anything.


I picked up these velocity stacks for my 930 Amals but am a bit confused how they fit on. Any helpful hints out there??


I scored a set of euro bars the other night and they should be here in a few days. They have a 2 inch rise and 3 inch pull back. Once I get them I will measure and make sure I order the right throttle and clutch cables.

I feel I am pretty set to have this baby up and running once I get the oil tank back from CNW. I have replaced all the oil lines but am having some routing issues with the oil lines from the filter, kinda forgot how they came out (OOPS). Will be searching the forum for some pics and getting that fixed later this week!

I also decided to just rebuild my brake master cylinder for now, I will probably send my master cylinder off next fall to Fred at Old Britts for a refit after I get a feel for the old girl.

Once I got the battery on all the lights came on but the left blinkers did not work at the same rate as the right. I cleaned the connectors with no change so I just ordered a new flasher switch, I may also need to get a new one for the drum brake.

Time to clean up and get ready for tomorrow. Hope everyone had a great weekend!!!

Unique way to mount the coil with the leads hanging down, hope that works on the road ok. I've a PowerArc too, looks space age.

I highly suggest on a factory master cylinder rebuild to burn-melt out the tiny pin hole size restrictor in the rubber valve. Made my factory brake distinctly easier to lock up and lever feel. Others have since tried this and report similar nice improvement.

warpedscout said:

I picked up these velocity stacks for my 930 Amals but am a bit confused how they fit on. Any helpful hints out there??

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They should just screw on. You have to remove the existing collars. I have a pair but I won't use them.

warpedscout said:

I feel I am pretty set to have this baby up and running once I get the oil tank back from CNW. I have replaced all the oil lines but am having some routing issues with the oil lines from the filter, kinda forgot how they came out (OOPS). Will be searching the forum for some pics and getting that fixed later this week!

Click to expand...

Maybe the "Official" oil line thread might help. :mrgreen:

hobot said:

Unique way to mount the coil with the leads hanging down, hope that works on the road ok. I've a PowerArc too, looks space age.

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That's how Old Britts mounts theirs.



I think it seems to cantilever too much but I'm sure it's fine.

I just went by what I got on the instructions as best I could read. Like I said, I did not cut any length off the original wires. I ran them up the frame in the existing zip ties and around the bottom top frame bar. There is plenty of slack in the wires where they sit, just wanted to have a clean look on my wiring.

Still do not follow on the stacks. Will look around some more but will probably end up with K&N on them for driving. Thought they would look good if I put the Norton in any local shows!

warpedscout said:

Still do not follow on the stacks. Will look around some more but will probably end up with K&N on them for driving. Thought they would look good if I put the Norton in any local shows!

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Those are the collars that need to come off.


If that doesn't help I don't know what to do. :mrgreen:

Oh Ok, you can hold the dangles up out of sight for better viewing, cool.
Otherwise I wondered if the mass of the leads would tug off the terminals.

The grit you feel hit your face and hands, occurs even more a couple feet lower as air splits around engine and slaps back together at carb mouths. I could not get away w/o a filer for very long and know of a number of short tests rides after a rebuild w/o a carb on dusty road that eat the valves up before return. Bugs not big deal they just burn up with a puff of their oil smoke.

Here is why I wired the ignition the way I did. Like I said I did not cut any length off of the wires so I have plenty to work with later.

Here is the wiring going up the front frame, will be using anther zip tie or two to clean it up later:


Here is the wiring covered up once the tank is on, have a few leads to wrap up that are not being used and a couple of wires that can be taken out of of the harness (points leads) then a good wrap up on the wires!


Thanks for the reply on the stacks Dave. I thought the pieces on the Amals were part of the body, once I saw your post and looked at mine closer it made sense. They will not both fit on due to the mouth opening size, may rig something up for shows but will be ordering a K&N filter to make sure the engine is only sucking clean air!!


Tires and wheels at the local Honda shop to get put on, should have oil lines routed correctly and chain clean and oiled good (Sitting in a bucket of oil right now) in a few day and ready for the wheels when I get them back. Bars should be in today (hopefully) so I can get those on (will post pics).

Now time to do some yard work since I am off today, yay :?

More toys, handlebars just came in! Everyone happy now?? I like them, comfortable and better look. Now to find some decent grips!

From the Front:


From the side:



From the rear:


With the tank on:


Just in case you don't know what the bike had on it, here is the Hi-Riders:


Now to get some measurements to make sure to order correct throttle and clutch cable. Oh, what is a good mirror to use, and is anyone using bar end mirrors? And if so how do you mount, just cut the end of the grip off??

Later

I think the HiRider bars were even higher.




There is at least one thread on bar ends. Might be good to check it out.

Looking groovy!