What Did You Do With Your Commando Today?

Starvingphotog said:
Good call. SAfety first. I did put straps on the bike afterward to add some stability. You can also see the two tubes of sand that I placed over the lower part of the lift to give it some stability and lower the centre of gravity some. Pretty busy already with just one day of working on the bike. You'd be surprised how sturdy those Bexley chocks are. I'm pretty much finished my cleaning and maintenance - just need to put some fresh trans fluid in. I ordered a couple chains from AN (06.4025) and when those arrive I'll install one of them, and keep the other as a spare. Then I should be ready for the season. I also replaced the Zener/Rectifier setup with a Podtronics over the weekend. I saw about 5 bikes roll by my house over this weekend. It got up to 10Celsius with plenty of sunshine. I kinda wished I was out riding instead of servicing the bike. Still, lots of fun working on the bike.

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While we‘re on the safety topic… it’s not good practice to store things under a lift, too easy to forget one day when lowering it…
 
Torontonian said:
Dad stored smaller pieces of lumber up in the garage loft until one day they relocated to the car roof.
I'm fishing in Nicaragua now, connected with a 3 ft. Needlefish on my first cast until it jumped and threw the hook . So that' s a good omen . Miss Norton but not winter .Will be renting a smaller bike soon .
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Eddie, I agree with you. That Redline box is empty. I put it there help remind me as well that I still need to refill the transmission with MT-90. Also, the sandbags I put there just to help give the lift some base weight. Good call though. It's really important to keep your workstation clean and tidy. This is a mess. I know better than this but was excited to get started. I plan to do some tidying up in about an hour, and a bit more tomorrow.
 
I do not trust those front chocks since I found my bike laying on the floor. It had a slow puncture. Luckily no damage was done, but if it had fallen off a ramp...
 
Oh my god man! Cliffa you're right! These things only work with an inflated tire! I'm gonna go strap the bike better now, instead of that oblique strap I put on. You just never know man!
Thanks for that reminder Cliffa!
 
My lift table has front legs that can slid out a lot wider than the table and also has screw down feet that sit flat on the floor to stop the table from moving and to hold the table sercurely, makes it very stable also locking pins and a bar so you can take the pressure off the pump when it lifted up, has 2 settings mid height and full height, a few friends who have lift tables but have never used the locking pins or bar and have only kept the table up on the pump pressure and their lift pumps have blown or leaking pump seals in only a short time if use, I have had mine for about 5 years now without any problems.
I also have a scissor jack that works so well on my lift table for wheel removal and is out of the way when working on the bike without it getting in the way when using both, 2 of the best things I have brought for my workshop.
 
Starvingphotog said:
Good call. SAfety first. I did put straps on the bike afterward to add some stability. You can also see the two tubes of sand that I placed over the lower part of the lift to give it some stability and lower the centre of gravity some. Pretty busy already with just one day of working on the bike. You'd be surprised how sturdy those Bexley chocks are. I'm pretty much finished my cleaning and maintenance - just need to put some fresh trans fluid in. I ordered a couple chains from AN (06.4025) and when those arrive I'll install one of them, and keep the other as a spare. Then I should be ready for the season. I also replaced the Zener/Rectifier setup with a Podtronics over the weekend. I saw about 5 bikes roll by my house over this weekend. It got up to 10Celsius with plenty of sunshine. I kinda wished I was out riding instead of servicing the bike. Still, lots of fun working on the bike.

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Rob,
Where did you mount your rectifier-regulator?
Mike
 
Just next to the battery. Not much room in there to mount it anywhere else, that I could see. Hopefully it doesn't get too hot to affect the battery as it's quite close.
 
I went for a short (2 mile) ride, it was the first time I've ridden my Norton in 32 years, actually the first time I've ridden any motorcycle in 32 years, so I was pretty nervous. Was breathing so heavily my visor misted up, and holding on so tight my hands started to ache. But it was great to be back out there.

I've spent the last few months working on the bike to get it ready to ride, so I need to build confidence in the bike and in me, so will be doing slightly longer rides each time. Don't want to ride it further than I can push it just now, just in case ...
 
Michael,
That's fantastic man! I started riding my Norton for the first time two years ago and I can appreciate how you're feeling. I did the same thing. Short distances to get used to the clutch and throttle, and handling of the bike. Increased distance and speed little by little. I'm still only doing about 40-50mph on the backroads here in Michigan, but have increased my distance to around 100 miles round trip outing.
 
Starvingphotog said:
Michael,
That's fantastic man! I started riding my Norton for the first time two years ago and I can appreciate how you're feeling. I did the same thing. Short distances to get used to the clutch and throttle, and handling of the bike. Increased distance and speed little by little. I'm still only doing about 40-50mph on the backroads here in Michigan, but have increased my distance to around 100 miles round trip outing.
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100 miles is pretty good, it shows you're where you need to be with confidence in your bike. I bought mine in 1975, and every year spent a month riding it all over Europe, until the kids arrived, then the bike went in the corner of the garage and stayed there a lot longer than I'd expected.
 
I have treated mine to some herringbone oil hose so I can get rid of the ‘ordinary’ stuff. I’ll get around to fitting it dreckly. ;)
 
I’ve set it posing on the seat to remind to do it, although I may treat it to a bit of Back to Black before fitting it.

if you’re referring to the fact my speedo and Rev counter are the ‘wrong’ way round, I prefer the routing of the cones this way. And it’s the same as the T160
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