uh oh

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alan hodge

alan hodge

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took the commando out yesterday it was 65F and my pal calvin and i headed for the countryside road he on his 78 T140 bikes were running great sun was shining it was a perfect late fall Carolina day....uhoh! my bike started making an ungodly kabooomm kaboomm looked down the right hand exhaust was floatin free nut had come unscrewed...i had just wrenched on them a few weeks ago....this is the first time bike has acted a fool it has 1,100 miles since build....fished $2 mole wrench out of tool kit and screwed nut back in head with gloved hand and grabbed nut fin with wrench and screwed some more thank gawd the threads were OK but crush washer had been spat out.......made it 5 miles back to home and nut stayed put........today i took pipes off and checked threads and coated nut threads with hi temp anti seize grease and put new copper washers in and took proper nut tool and used might and main force on them will retighten after next (short) ride and safety wire...well,, that's my story and i'm sticking with it pic shows me on knees on roadside worshipping at altar of vintage biking
uh oh
 
I can't tell ya how many times that's happened to me on the road. Usually I hear the exhaust rattling before it comes completely off. I've taken to carrying a spare crush washer and the proper rose spanner in my tail bag.
 
Been there and done that... Now I've had unsightly safety wire since forever.... I prefer copper because mechanic wire doesn't seem to hold up as well, but one use and done with the heat so extra is kept handy.
 
A trick I was enlightened to some while ago (but I can’t remember who / where) was that not only should these be tightened when the engine is hot, but also whilst it is still running. Keep tension on the wrench whilst the engine is running and the vibes kinda help as an impact wrench. Seems to work.
 
One tip I got off this site, use high temp silicone sealant (usually a brown orange colour) on the exhaust roses. Helps kept em tight. Dont be afraid to wail on the rose wrench (I strike it with a small sledge hammer).
 
alan hodge said:
took the commando out yesterday it was 65F and my pal calvin and i headed for the countryside road he on his 78 T140 bikes were running great sun was shining it was a perfect late fall Carolina day....uhoh! my bike started making an ungodly kabooomm kaboomm looked down the right hand exhaust was floatin free nut had come unscrewed...i had just wrenched on them a few weeks ago....this is the first time bike has acted a fool it has 1,100 miles since build....fished $2 mole wrench out of tool kit and screwed nut back in head with gloved hand and grabbed nut fin with wrench and screwed some more thank gawd the threads were OK but crush washer had been spat out.......made it 5 miles back to home and nut stayed put........today i took pipes off and checked threads and coated nut threads with hi temp anti seize grease and put new copper washers in and took proper nut tool and used might and main force on them will retighten after next (short) ride and safety wire...well,, that's my story and i'm sticking with it pic shows me on knees on roadside worshipping at altar of vintage biking
uh oh
Click to expand...
Shows you being a compliant orthopedic patient. Protect those knees!
 
I thought Commando's don't vibrate and things don't fall off, tightening exhaust rose was a regular thing after buying my 850 new and after 79 I brought a Featherbed frame and in the early 80s started the Commando/Featherbed convertion, in 82 my hot rod Norton was back on the road and was a everyday ride till 6 years ago, everyone said the Commando motor in a Featherbed frame will vibrate so bad things will fall off, well after 39 years on the road my exhaust rose has never come lose and in all that time have only lost 2 nuts, top gear box mounting nut and one muffler mounting nut, not bad for a bike that surpose to vibrate so much your teeth will fall out, well I did get the crank balanced and everything is hard mounted.

Ashley
 
Had a head pipe fall out while on the way to a Brit Iron show in Auburn Mass a few years back. Fortunately I was right outside the main gate and was able to reattach, abeit loosely, with the tools that I had. Crush washer was lost on the road somewhere, but one of the vendors at the show had some. Problem then was tightening the thing with the only tool I had that fit - the stamped steel shock spring adjuster. The 90 mile trip home included stopping multiple times to retighten. My luck got worse when the hairspring in my gearbox also broke and I needed a flatbed to take me the 45 miles left to get home. There was a trophy strapped to the seat on my Norton, but looking good wasn't gonna help that day.

I now carry a spare spring, a crush washer, and a heavy duty spanner whenever I go out on the road.
 
ashman said:
I thought Commando's don't vibrate and things don't fall off,
Click to expand...

A significant proportion of a Commando does vibrate or at least shakes (even more so due to the Isolastics) which happens to be what the exhaust system is rigidly attached to.
uh oh
 
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L.A.B. said:
A significant proportion of a Commando does vibrate or at least shakes (even more so due to the Isolastics) which happens to be what the exhaust system is rigidly attached to.
uh oh
Click to expand...
LAB I did know that lol, I was just rubbing it in a bit as when converting my 850 to the Featherbed all those years ago I copped a lot of crap about it and so many people who think they know better even when they have never done it themselves, I have a love of Norton's since I was 17 and brought mine new and I also have a love of Featherbed frame Norton's and I have the best of both worlds, a hot 850 in a Featherbed frame that has been so reliable in all the years I have owned it.

Ashley
 
I rememebr this happening on San Mateo bridge, reached down and screwed exhaust nut back on with gloved hand at 72 mph. Repeated this feat all the way home
 
Fast Eddie said:
A trick I was enlightened to some while ago (but I can’t remember who / where) was that not only should these be tightened when the engine is hot, but also whilst it is still running. Keep tension on the wrench whilst the engine is running and the vibes kinda help as an impact wrench. Seems to work.
Click to expand...
Ludwig . Who else?
 
+1 for lockwire!
Most of my Commando heads have already been drilled for it - I always wondered if it was done at the factory?
 
If the engine / gearbox assembly vibrates independently of the frame, it would be silly to have the rear mounts for the exhausts rigid. With a crank balance factor of 54%, the engine/gearbox is probably designed to be smooth at about 3000 RPM. If you rev above that, the exhausts might try to come off the bike. A better way might be to fit stubs into the head with slip joints and springs on the pipes - like Japanese two-stroke racers.
 
Yes it was Ludwig. I arranged accordingly and in 8k since then no problem ever. In fact I just pulled them off last
week and they were very tight.
Also use the Hobot method in the silencer hangers, waisting them down. Have replaced one on each side in 10k.
And remember Ludwig said to REV the engine as you do it.

A comment on safetywire: If going down that route I would saftey the two roses to each other. In time the wire will
cut its way through ally.
 
Moto Guzzi's can do the same, I got some of these and modified them for a closer fit to the head (along with modified 'police finned covers to fit over them)
A Norton rose with a locking ring would not be hard to do and save the farmyard wiring jobs or wishy washy tightening procedures.

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There are a few older threads regarding the exhaust and supports off the cradle.
 
Is the MKIII design less susceptible? Maybe I'm just lucky as (thankfully) mine have never come loose.
 
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