What Did You Do With Your Commando Today?

Hey there guys, I'm looking to get my wheels redone and plan on going with an 18"in the rear, and continuing with the 19" on the front. Any recommendations on tire setups I should consider? I'm leaning toward Avon since everyone else seems to like them, but not sure if they make an 18" for the Commando.
 
Starvingphotog said:
Hey there guys, I'm looking to get my wheels redone and plan on going with an 18"in the rear, and continuing with the 19" on the front. Any recommendations on tire setups I should consider? I'm leaning toward Avon since everyone else seems to like them, but not sure if they make an 18" for the Commando.
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Be aware that Avon has announced they are closing UK operations or at least motorcycle tires - don’t know how this will affect availability.
 
OH Yikes! I did not know that....Thanks for the heads up Richard. Looks like we'll need to find an alternative to Avon RR tires sooner rather than later.
 
Starvingphotog said:
OH Yikes! I did not know that....Thanks for the heads up Richard. Looks like we'll need to find an alternative to Avon RR tires sooner rather than later.
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Matt at cNw recommends Bridgestone BT46, 100/90-19 front and 120/90-18 rear. I have a set mounted, but not ridden on yet. You can still get Avons from Andover Norton or feked.com, last I saw recently.
 
jamesp said:
Matt at cNw recommends Bridgestone BT46, 100/90-19 front and 120/90-18 rear. I have a set mounted, but not ridden on yet. You can still get Avons from Andover Norton or feked.com, last I saw recently.
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I got 2 Avons from Feked last month. I was surprised to see how quickly they came.
 
jamesp said:
Matt at cNw recommends Bridgestone BT46, 100/90-19 front and 120/90-18 rear. I have a set mounted, but not ridden on yet. You can still get Avons from Andover Norton or feked.com, last I saw recently.
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Yes, I think I recall Matt telling me something about that a while back. I think that he modifies the rear tire as well since that dimension is too large for the swing arm. I might be wrong on that, but not sure 120 will mount without rubbing on the swing arm. Currently I have 110/90-19 on the rear and they fit nicely.
 
Pulled front disk off/cleaned, degreased, prep'd and hit it with VHT caliper/disk paint. Getting ready to cure it in the kitchen oven (yes, wife is out of town ;-).

Reset primary and final drive chain tensions.
Nearly ready to replace front tire, so decided to try my hand at sidewall lettering paint in white....kinda like it but need better skill at staying within the letter lines before trying on fresh tire.
 
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bluto said:
Installed some clamp on headlight brackets as I detest the stock setup with O rings. Not great looking but they don't rattle ;-)

What Did You Do With Your Commando Today?
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Today, I rode to the pub.
Then, after reading your post, while reposing in the garage viewing area, set out to find the clunking in my forks. NOT the headlight ears, nor the brake, it's internal to the forks. Madass Lansdownes. Not sure what the problem is, but I'm not taking it apart for now.
 
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bluto said:
Installed some clamp on headlight brackets as I detest the stock setup with O rings. Not great looking but they don't rattle ;-)

What Did You Do With Your Commando Today?
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Actually they look better than the stock cheap looking tube / stamping weldments. I would change mine out but don’t want to disassemble the forks.
 
Tornado said:
Pulled front disk off/cleaned, degreased, prep'd and hit it with VHT caliper/disk paint. Getting ready to cure it in the kitchen oven (yes, wife is out of town ;-).

Reset primary and final drive chain tensions.
Nearly ready to replace front tire, so decided to try my hand at sidewall lettering paint in white....kinda like it but need better skill at staying within the letter lines before trying on fresh tire.
Click to expand...
Gas grill works great for curing.
 
Starvingphotog said:
Yes, I think I recall Matt telling me something about that a while back. I think that he modifies the rear tire as well since that dimension is too large for the swing arm. I might be wrong on that, but not sure 120 will mount without rubbing on the swing arm. Currently I have 110/90-19 on the rear and they fit nicely.
Click to expand...
Matt told me that the Bridgestone 120/90-18 comes with shaved side walls from the factory. He told me that Bridgestone is the only tire manufacturer that does that. I should be able to get mine on sometime next week, will report back.
 
Tornado said:
Pulled front disk off/cleaned, degreased, prep'd and hit it with VHT caliper/disk paint. Getting ready to cure it in the kitchen oven (yes, wife is out of town ;-).

Reset primary and final drive chain tensions.
Nearly ready to replace front tire, so decided to try my hand at sidewall lettering paint in white....kinda like it but need better skill at staying within the letter lines before trying on fresh tire.
Click to expand...
Some pics of my handywork:
What Did You Do With Your Commando Today?
What Did You Do With Your Commando Today?

For disc painting, I just sprayed whole thing, no masking. Then fitted some old pads and spent a nice evening tooling about neighborhood doing lots of braking. Took a few blocks until paint started stripping away. After a good few miles, nearly all paint gone from friction surfaces and good braking returned. Surpriaed how cleanly the edges came out with this method. Way better than i could have done with masking.
Will swap back to fresh pads shortly.
 
Tornado said:
Some pics of my handywork:
View attachment 107323View attachment 107324
For disc painting, I just sprayed whole thing, no masking. Then fitted some old pads and spent a nice evening tooling about neighborhood doing lots of braking. Took a few blocks until paint started stripping away. After a good few miles, nearly all paint gone from friction surfaces and good braking returned. Surpriaed how cleanly the edges came out with this method. Way better than i could have done with masking.
Will swap back to fresh pads shortly.
Click to expand...

A friend of mine did the lettering on his Avon Speedmaster… but only did half a job ;) …

What Did You Do With Your Commando Today?
 
bluto said:
Installed some clamp on headlight brackets as I detest the stock setup with O rings. Not great looking but they don't rattle ;-)

What Did You Do With Your Commando Today?
Click to expand...
Here’s what I did to mine…
www.accessnorton.com

Headlight bracket has movement up and down.

Hi all, after having work done on the front suspension of my 1974 850 Commando l had a knock in the front suspension. On investigation I have found that the left side headlight mount has about 2-3mm of up and down movement, after looking at many exploded diagrams and reading of manuals I have...
www.accessnorton.com www.accessnorton.com

They are now such a good fit I’m not sure if the o-rings are even required any more.
 
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