upgrades??

what upgrade do you all recomend on my 73 850 ?

would be helpful to know what you think needs upgrading, maybe electronic ignition, or a single Mikuni carb etc?

I have an 850, '73. Check every inch of the wiring. Check the wires, components, connections, everything. Then, have fun. Norton ownership is not an act, it’s a culture.

Upgraded layshaft bearing - if not done already. CRITICAL! DO NOT PASS GO, DO NOT COLLECT LIFE INSURANCE! without doing this step.

New wiring harness, with soldered connections wherever possible.

Brakes. I like Old Britts "full monty" but there are plenty of alternatives.

Not so sure about electronic ignition. As a Boyer owner - it's never given me any problems - I'm still thinking about reverting to points.

Amals may need work (slides wear but can be resleeved). Others can comment on that. I installed Keihin FCR flatslides. Best carbs known to man. One downside only - spendy.

Wheels rebuilt or at least trued. Modern tires - Matt Rambow recommends Bridgestone BT-45s. I've had good experience with those on my Commando.

X-ring chain.

Three-phase alternator and modern regulator.

H4 headlight on a direct, relayed connection to the battery.

Leakproof fork seals, Fauth or Landsdowne mod to forks, proper modern fork oil.

Ikon shocks.

Heinz Kegler swingarm mod.

Mk. III isolastics.

Improved head steady - I use Old Britts but plenty of choices.

DynoDave clutch rod seal.

Improved tach drive seal.

Modern lubes - I like Redline 20W-50 in the crankcase, Redline Shockproof Heavy in the gearbox, and Redline MTL in the primary. I use the gearlube in the swingarm zerks too.

I'm sure I could come up with more if I consulted my shop records....

Enough???!?!

ENJOY the process! Best advice of all. I rode, and read, figured out what wasn't really working or could be improved, and did step by step - not logically, but as things came up. Worked okay. Don't ask me how much it cost. You don't want to know. and I sure don't want to know!

Best of luck!

Steering dampener and upgraded brake made a big handling difference other than tires. Best engine upgrade is electronic ignition and a good set of properly set up Amals!

sammy2chins said:

what upgrade do you all recomend on my 73 850 ?

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If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Commando's vary enormously in how easy they start stop and handle. If you've got a good one that starts on the nail, idles nicely, doesn't leak oil, shake its head, wet sump, and you're happy with the braking performance, leave well alone.

The upgrade path is a very slippery one, once you're on it its like a drug, you're always looking for the next fix.

Ride and enjoy.

Well, the landowne full monty. Forks are in a new era quote="sammy2chins"]what upgrade do you all recomend on my 73 850 ?[/quote]

Being somewhat lazy during my spare time and not wanting to do unnecessary maintenance, I decided a single amal manifold w 32mm concentric because I think two carbs are just extra worries and I hate balancing carbs. For street use I don't notice any difference except my bike runs superbly with one carb. Electronic ignition because I hate dicking w/ points and vernier iso's. I am going to do an LED tail light soon. those were my must haves for less maintenance and less frustration.

Upgrades in my opinion based on what I have tried on my Mark II 850. Some produce "upgraded" performance by returning the bike to oem specs:

One of the various front Fork mods (I used the Fauth and it's great)

OEM wheels/tires (yep, changing back to them was a decided handling upgrade and also allowed removal of steering damper)

Trispark (but still in the test/monitoring mode) othewise upgrade by going back to oem points/AAU. Remember that ONLY points allow you to actually time each cylinder individually (though you will have to use a degree wheel to determine the accuracy of the oem marks for that purpose). All Electronic units that I am aware of are wasted spark so that option does not exist.

For disc brake: SS line, sleeved mastercylinder at MINIMUM; Brembo MC for modern braking performance

All new internal rubber parts for ISOs.

Resleeved AMALS to return them to original clearances. Amals will idle smoothly at 600 RPM if set up and operating per specs. AFAIK, no one argues about their WOT performance.

That's pretty much it from my experience, anything else is just normal repair/parts replacement. Obviously some items are largely personal preferences for various items such as brake pad material, sealed bearings vs regular, Various ISO clearance (read everything from .001 to the oem .010) and other stuff like that.

I'm not going to say anything is necessary, but there are a lot of things that can make your bike nicer.
upgrade front brake
if you want modern tires you'll have to change the rear rim

all the rest are convenience and coolness factor just depends on how much money you want to spend.

I would suggest before you start to spend a lot of money on upgrades, get an owner/rider's manual and the shop manual for your bike, and be a regular reader of this forum. Loads of information and proper adjustment techniques. I was all ready to tear apart my gearbox and front brake caliper, but read though the mentioned manuals' applicable sections. I improved my front brake stopping power tremendously by topping up the brake fluid in the master cylinder, and reaming solidified crap out of the vent hole in the resevoir cap. The gearbox was initially stubborn about shifting out of neutral into first gear from a standing start. I made a clutch cable adjustment, as per manual, and replaced the gearbox lube with Redline Shockproof Heavy Gear Lube. That solved that issue and made shifting much much smoother. Also, cleaned out the moisture venting hole in the gearbox viewing cover plate. I switched to Redline 20W50 engine oil, and added Lucas synthetic engine oil treatment, and now my engine runs very smoothly, and is easier to crank over at kickstart. I am sure it runs cooler, too. And, other than the manuals, the best information source is this excellent forum. Do a search on just about any related topic here, and you will find some answers to your issue.
A good example was my issue with oil spitting out of my engine staining my pants and boots ,and oil dripping out of my engine cases after a ride (this was before I switched to Redline oil). I did a search here, and installed a $15.00 XS650 PCV valve ...result, engine leaking gone

I just saw this post because I was searching for sensible Command upgrades. I wanted to see what other people had done and get some ideas. So far, on my 73, 750, I have upgraded the ISO to MKIII, modified the crankcase breather by relocating it from the back of the crankcase to the mag drive casting on the timing side, modified the oil pickup in the crankcase, added a PCV valve and changed the layshaft bearing. My only advice is to replace the layshaft bearing. If you have never been into your gear box and don't know that it has been changed assume it hasn't and get this done. This bearing is critical, if it fails at best will send you walking and at worst will throw you down the road. In reality the Commando is such a great bike and there are so many worthy upgrades for it it is hard to choose (when on a budget.) I guess the great thing about a Commando is how usable and versatile it really is. My bike is a rolling restoration. The cosmetics stink but I do what I can, when I can afford it and the rest of the time I ride it warts and all. It still draws a crowd and I can ride with the modern bikes so life is good.

A couple upgrades are important that won't change the way your bike runs or handles are the layshaft bearing and replacing the rocker oil lines. I would add the vernier iso adjusters. I favor the Mick Hemmings units over the MkIII's for a lot of reasons but either make it easier to chase that sweet spot.
It would depend on where you live, but you should try to hook up with the Norton Club near you. People like to share things they've done that work and maybe after they get to know you they might swap bikes for a ride. You'll never know what you're missing till you've ridden a well setup Commando.

"upgrades" are in the mind of the owner. What one person calls an " upgrade" someone else would call a "downgrade."

Be careful on this particular slope!

Give your as a core to CNW then get one of theirs ordered up as you like.
No one is mentioning the funny business in getting parts to fit-work as advertised and getting inline for machine work. But enjoying the process can be almost as delicious as the powered journeys. I highly recommend Greg Faulths Roadholder kit or the other drop in to complete internal switch out offered.
Also the rod links at head and breast make a very nice stablizing effect and a rear link that provide stupid scary good handling.
If not re-doing the master cylinders, keep a good eye on fluid levels for 1000 miles to know it hidden leak down, as can lose complete brakes from one use to the next.

hobot
N.W Arkansas Ozarks, 1 factory Combat, 1 something else Commandish.

bmwbob said:

.... and a good set of properly set up Amals!

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now that's debatable -

bpatton said:

. . . and replacing the rocker oil lines.

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Yep, I quite forgot about the rocker oil lines. I replaced mine but it was such a normal wear item I never thought of it as an upgrade. If they are OEM they go brittle and eventually pop under pressure. It is messy in the extreme and without oil to the rockers you won't go far.

Having owned my 850 since new, there have been upgrades that were driven by frustration and failure of the original items, and some that were just "nice to have". The latter can go on forever...

The tach drive oil seal was the first, after having oil spew all over my right foot during a holiday weekend ride. The bike was only 2 years old.

Replacing the cheese head screws with Allens in timing cover and gearbox cover was next. Allows the covers to be tight and not leak oil.

Plugged and removed the silly rear chain (rear tire) oiler.

Boyer ignition replaced the points in 1980. Eliminated the need to fiddle with timing every 1000 miles.

I rode that configuration for 25 years or so, then upgraded the following:

High output alternator. Allows a bright halogen headlamp to be used instead of the lame Lucas 45 watt candle.
Sleeved master cylinder on the front brake. It's an amazing improvement.
Modern tyres - night and day difference over K81's.

Anything beyond that is personal preference.

I have a stock front disc brake set up on my bike. One of the first things on the winter's list is to get rid of the piece-o-spagetti brake line.

To address the issue of wet-sumping, I decided on a MK 3 timing cover with valve, spring, and the new style cone washer and oil pump feed bush. Don't know if it'll actually stop the sumping or even slow it down. We'll see. I just didn't like the idea of a check valve or manual cutoff on the oil feed line.

Stu