What Did You Do With Your Commando Today?

sold a good +40 set of barrels to a guy who needs them for a damaged set on a 750 S he is overhauling, as part of his 30 bike collection. All helps for financing my rebuilds!
 
Laid it down 😡. Was enjoying a exceptionally nice fall day going through some local twisties when immediately after apexing a sharp corner at a good clip of speed, the dry pavement turned into a river. It was either a water main break or some guy was draining his pool (it was a lot more than somebody watering their lawn). Anywho, I ended up in the ditch, but luckily suffered only a broken footpeg and a small cut on the wrist
 
Went for what I thought would be a short ride to burn up the little bit of fuel left in the tank in order to refill with AvGas for winter layup. Absolutely beautiful day with little to no wind and temps in the mid sixties . Too nice a day to waste so put some more pump gas in the tank and rode for an hour.
 
Have been perusing various oil pressure gauges for sale and some comments here seem to favor Holland Norton Works offering. How do we order from their website? Was going to spring for the CBS one but the push in plastic tubing connections seem chancey.
 
Stevo said:
Have been perusing various oil pressure gauges for sale and some comments here seem to favor Holland Norton Works offering. How do we order from their website? Was going to spring for the CBS one but the push in plastic tubing connections seem chancey.
Click to expand...
Email him. He will respond very promptly.
 
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Stock m/c started leaking, so took the opportunity to upgrade the brake. Picked up a Brembo m/c with a micro switch. Got the bracket from Matt at CNW to mount the Lucas switch. Braided stainless line. Rebuilt the Lockheed caliper. The stock m/c and caliper were so fouled I’m surprised the brake worked at all, but before the leak it seemed to work as usual.

Finally got the tires (Avon RR, 100/90-19) mounted on the custom wheels I had assembled at Buchanan’s that have been sitting around for awhile. 2.5“x19” Excel rims, front and rear, stainless spokes. I had CNW polish the front hub and mod it to accept upgraded bearings. Got Don Pender’s rear hub with the upgraded cush drive, one piece stainless axle, and polished alloy brake ass’y.

Currently changing out the old oil tank for a freshly modded one from CNW and looking forward to a test ride with the new setup.
What Did You Do With Your Commando Today?What Did You Do With Your Commando Today?What Did You Do With Your Commando Today?What Did You Do With Your Commando Today?
 
Pulled the new plugs ( BP7ES ) , after a test ride to the liquor store and back . ( 10 C . in sun , but heavy traffic ... ) . Left side perfect , white with a hint of grey . Right side a sooty black , with a grey electrode tip .
Both carbs are 32 mm. Wassel about 1 year old . Took the R. side bowl off and found the jet assembly holder needed tightening up and needle jet the same . Main jet was tight . Stay up float seemed good and zero dirt particles . Whole operation took 35 minutes using the 1/4 W. 5/16 BS Spanner and a stubby Phillips for the 2 screws , needle nose vice grips to the aftermarket float bowl screws . The 2 screws are made for that gripping , also with a large slot cut into them for removal / tightening using a large coin ( on the road stuff ) .
This is the third time I've had to tighten up or reinstall jets or holders in the past year on these Wassel carbs . The first time was in North Bay returning from the Lavigne Norton Rally . The main jet dropped out to the bottom of the bowl and we 8 stroked to a help location , swapping plugs over every 15 minutes to get there . Wilderness bush on both sides . Canada .
Warm weather and the wife did not complain .
So I guess the moral of the story is if you choose to buy these Amal copies , tighten up these jets and holders really well .. enjoy .
 
Torontonian said:
Pulled the new plugs ( BP7ES ) , after a test ride to the liquor store and back . ( 10 C . in sun , but heavy traffic ... ) . Left side perfect , white with a hint of grey . Right side a sooty black , with a grey electrode tip .
Both carbs are 32 mm. Wassel about 1 year old . Took the R. side bowl off and found the jet assembly holder needed tightening up and needle jet the same . Main jet was tight . Stay up float seemed good and zero dirt particles . Whole operation took 35 minutes using the 1/4 W. 5/16 BS Spanner and a stubby Phillips for the 2 screws , needle nose vice grips to the aftermarket float bowl screws . The 2 screws are made for that gripping , also with a large slot cut into them for removal / tightening using a large coin ( on the road stuff ) .
This is the third time I've had to tighten up or reinstall jets or holders in the past year on these Wassel carbs . The first time was in North Bay returning from the Lavigne Norton Rally . The main jet dropped out to the bottom of the bowl and we 8 stroked to a help location , swapping plugs over every 15 minutes to get there . Wilderness bush on both sides . Canada .
Warm weather and the wife did not complain .
So I guess the moral of the story is if you choose to buy these Amal copies , tighten up these jets and holders really well .. enjoy .
Click to expand...
Right side richness found !
Generation 1 Stay Up float ( S ) , ( Amal ) , have sharp right angle cut to the stainless metal tangs . This was hanging up the R. side float . I could see the wear marks on the bowl where there should be none . Dremel tool to the rescue , small grinding disc rounded off both right angled corners and the area affected . I just found out tonight that there are new generation 2 floats that have the rounded corners . Seems like they couldn't get it right first run to me . Oh well , re-assembled and drove to a Jamaican Roti shop near High Park and ate with the squirrels and the wife . Lovely ride and day mid November . Rode home , pulled plugs after cooling down , to find grey tipped plugs on both sides . So all good now and the Norton running much better .
 
Torontonian said:
Generation 1 Stay Up float..,.

I just found out tonight that there are new generation 2 floats that have the rounded corners .
Click to expand...

According to Amal, that was just a faulty batch of floats, no "generation" 1 or 2.

Amal Stay up float. Version 1 and 2. Wheres the photo?

Sometime in the past maybe three years I recall reading a note with a photo describing the updated version of the stayup float. I'm not talking about the original plastic float versus the stay up float but an update of the stayup float which prevented the sticking of the float needle and erratic...
www.accessnorton.com www.accessnorton.com
 
luckyed said:
Stock m/c started leaking, so took the opportunity to upgrade the brake. Picked up a Brembo m/c with a micro switch. Got the bracket from Matt at CNW to mount the Lucas switch. Braided stainless line. Rebuilt the Lockheed caliper. The stock m/c and caliper were so fouled I’m surprised the brake worked at all, but before the leak it seemed to work as usual.

Finally got the tires (Avon RR, 100/90-19) mounted on the custom wheels I had assembled at Buchanan’s that have been sitting around for awhile. 2.5“x19” Excel rims, front and rear, stainless spokes. I had CNW polish the front hub and mod it to accept upgraded bearings. Got Don Pender’s rear hub with the upgraded cush drive, one piece stainless axle, and polished alloy brake ass’y.

Currently changing out the old oil tank for a freshly modded one from CNW and looking forward to a test ride with the new setup.
View attachment 110819View attachment 110820View attachment 110821View attachment 110822
Click to expand...
You will be pleased with your new upgrades! I also had Buchanans do my wheels and they do a beautiful job.Highly recommended.
 
Torontonian said:
Pulled the new plugs ( BP7ES ) , after a test ride to the liquor store and back . ( 10 C . in sun , but heavy traffic ... ) . Left side perfect , white with a hint of grey . Right side a sooty black , with a grey electrode tip .
Both carbs are 32 mm. Wassel about 1 year old . Took the R. side bowl off and found the jet assembly holder needed tightening up and needle jet the same . Main jet was tight . Stay up float seemed good and zero dirt particles . Whole operation took 35 minutes using the 1/4 W. 5/16 BS Spanner and a stubby Phillips for the 2 screws , needle nose vice grips to the aftermarket float bowl screws . The 2 screws are made for that gripping , also with a large slot cut into them for removal / tightening using a large coin ( on the road stuff ) .
This is the third time I've had to tighten up or reinstall jets or holders in the past year on these Wassel carbs . The first time was in North Bay returning from the Lavigne Norton Rally . The main jet dropped out to the bottom of the bowl and we 8 stroked to a help location , swapping plugs over every 15 minutes to get there . Wilderness bush on both sides . Canada .
Warm weather and the wife did not complain .
So I guess the moral of the story is if you choose to buy these Amal copies , tighten up these jets and holders really well .. enjoy .
Click to expand...
After talking to Concours, he suggested using Loctite 222 on all the screws that you found loose.Try finding a drain plug when yours falls out 10 miles from home.Don’t ask me how I know 😩
 
Took the cover off the gearbox to see if it still had oil. Yes it does!
yesterday went for a short ride to Middleton cause I haven’t had a ride for over a month. Beautifull ride, bike started 3rd kick.
on the return 2 Km from home a couple of clunks from the gearbox and the engine seemed to labour a little. The kick start lever turned anticlockwise and pointed to the ground. So Rather than stop and not be able to restart I rode the rest of the way home in 2nd and pushed left it in the shed. This morning the Kick starter is back in normal position but not turning engine over freely, also in neutral there is resistance when turning the rear wheel. Anyone point me to the right thread with this problem?
 
dgwilson said:
Took the cover off the gearbox to see if it still had oil. Yes it does!
yesterday went for a short ride to Middleton cause I haven’t had a ride for over a month. Beautifull ride, bike started 3rd kick.
on the return 2 Km from home a couple of clunks from the gearbox and the engine seemed to labour a little. The kick start lever turned anticlockwise and pointed to the ground. So Rather than stop and not be able to restart I rode the rest of the way home in 2nd and pushed left it in the shed. This morning the Kick starter is back in normal position but not turning engine over freely, also in neutral there is resistance when turning the rear wheel. Anyone point me to the right thread with this problem?
Click to expand...
Isn't that the symptom of a knackered layshaft bearing .
 
dgwilson said:
Took the cover off the gearbox to see if it still had oil. Yes it does!
yesterday went for a short ride to Middleton cause I haven’t had a ride for over a month. Beautifull ride, bike started 3rd kick.
on the return 2 Km from home a couple of clunks from the gearbox and the engine seemed to labour a little. The kick start lever turned anticlockwise and pointed to the ground. So Rather than stop and not be able to restart I rode the rest of the way home in 2nd and pushed left it in the shed. This morning the Kick starter is back in normal position but not turning engine over freely, also in neutral there is resistance when turning the rear wheel. Anyone point me to the right thread with this problem?
Click to expand...
Yes, sounds like layshaft bearing. Also sounds like you were lucky, they often lock up the gearbox, when that happens there’s not much you can do, even pulling the clutch in does nothing for you.
 
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Went for a ride with a buddy to a favorite spot for lunch . On the way back we must have been next to one of my daughter’s girlfriends at a traffic light . When I got home this picture had already made the rounds via group text ( ladies circle ).
I like to think she would have taken the picture even if she didn’t know who it was … LOL
EA135051-B10F-4028-9283-447FDADE30B1.jpeg
 
another find of unused parts( via Classic bike guide small ads), and it was 20mins drive away. Nice guy( ex Commando owner over many years) was selling off his remaining spares, plus complete set of Norton special tools!
Turned out he had a hydraulic bike lift ( about 18 x 24 inches) and several Norton history books and two Hemmings DVDs, so I bought those too!
 


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