What Did You Do With Your Commando Today?

By the way Ashley, that link that Les sent me to British Wiring here in the USA has complete main and headlight harnesses that look pretty, but not minimal like you're describing. I was thinking of buying a complete set from them. Pricy at $US320, including shipping.

Mart UK said:

I have the same shape filter on my single Amal 34. It replaced a much larger K&N, which I felt was too tight under the frame. I didn't expect it to be a straight swap, thought it would affect the carb's breathing. But, it runs exactly the same, which is really well in my mind. But, I don't have any other Commando riding experience to draw on. It idles fine, takes off on the throttle, without any hiccups and pulls to 6000 (self imposed max limit) very happily.

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Hey I wanted to pick this thread up again to point out something lost with these wee filters. That is, the stock setup allows for a slight vacuum in the oil tank for the breather to pull from the engine crankcase. When you put one of these cone filters on, or something similar, the slight vacuum of the carbs disappears from the oil tank, and the crankcase isn't actively breathing. What do you guys think? Is my thinking and logic correct here? I wonder if these aftermarket breathers solve this problem, or you just have to do something similar to stock to re-introduce this hose from the oil tank to the air filters to re-establish this active breathing of the crankcase.

johnm said:

Hope your bike starts in the morning.

I looked to see what sort of ignition you have but couldn't see it, because when I blew the fuse on my bike due to a short at the zenor it destroyed the Pazon black box. Confirmed by Pazon when I sent it for testing.

The fuse rating was too high to protect the Pazon. I now have a separate fuse ( 5 amp ??? ) on the feed to the Pazon. Not sure if that's a good idea but it does work.

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Well John, I just went out in the garage to do a quick test of the ignition and with the key at the on position and ignition light on, and plugs pulled and resting on the block, no spark when I turn over the engine. I think I can assume that my Pazon black box is fried as yours did. What sort of short did you have at the Zener that made your fuse blow? Also, to remove the black box for inspection and testing it looks like I have to remove the lead from the Pazon black box that connects inside the timing cover. This is new territory for me and I have no idea what I'm doing on that side of the engine.

Starvingphotog said:

I just went out in the garage to do a quick test of the ignition and with the key at the on position and ignition light on, and plugs pulled and resting on the block, no spark when I turn over the engine. I think I can assume that my Pazon black box is fried as yours did.

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Something you could check.
The last picture in your post #1,094 looks like two pairs of red (ground) wires connected to two single bullet connectors. If so, then you may need to connect all four reds together (with a double-common connector).

oH YES! I see now the error in my ways Les!
I did the same thing for the white wires - separating them out into single bullet connectors. In fact I did this for three double connectors from the original bundle, only because i ran out of double common connectors. I see now that these are supposed to couple and not be separated. This is was arrangement in the original bundle. Maybe related to the no spark but not sure. I'll need to order some double common connectors.

Also, other than the Reds that need to go together, and the Whites that need to go together, I've got to figure out the other singles that need to go together. Should be the remaining singles that I installed that need to be bulleted in a common double.

I'm hopeful that since the White's aren't bundled together that the Pazon just isn't getting any power...fingers crossed.

Starvingphotog said:

I'm hopeful that since the White's aren't bundled together that the Pazon just isn't getting any power...fingers crossed.

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Pazon white would normally connect to the white/yellow from the kill button/switch in the relevant handlebar switch cluster.

White is the power to the kill button unless the kill button is bypassed in which case Pazon white connects to harness white.

Here's a better photo where you can see that I separated the whites from each other and the reds from each other using single bullet connectors. The Other 3 pairs that I disassembled were assembled using double connectors so those are correct. So, just leaving the white Pairs and red pairs that need the double connector.

Starvingphotog said:

Well John, I just went out in the garage to do a quick test of the ignition and with the key at the on position and ignition light on, and plugs pulled and resting on the block, no spark when I turn over the engine. I think I can assume that my Pazon black box is fried as yours did. What sort of short did you have at the Zener that made your fuse blow? Also, to remove the black box for inspection and testing it looks like I have to remove the lead from the Pazon black box that connects inside the timing cover. This is new territory for me and I have no idea what I'm doing on that side of the engine.

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Good morning. Just waking up here in NZ and reading what has been going on.

You have already been getting good advice on the wiring side so I will not add anything to that discussion. Sorting wiring via photos and internet is not the easiest. What I would say is using a simple multimeter to test for continuity is a very useful tool.

As far the Pazon is concerned what I did was really dumb. I was actually working on the gearbox!!!!. I had removed the right Z plate to get at the gearbox and somehow shorted the zenor feed wire to earth. To be honest it was a few years back snd I can't remember all the details. I'm not sure now if the key was on or what else I might have been doing. Anyway this blew the fuse and the Pazon black box.

What I would do now if I were you is disconnect your battery negative wires completely. I'm assuming you have a positive earth. (Wires coloured red).

Check your battery is fully charged.

Now take a separate exta piece of wire and just connect the negative side of the battery straight to the feed wire to the Pazon ignition unit cutting everything else out of the system including the main switch. Do you have a Pazon wiring diagramme? If you don't I can try looking.

Now if it doesn't start you probably have a good fail test on the Pazon excluding any other problems in the wiring system. Yes you do have to remove the wires down to the timing plate to remove the box.

Unfortunately I'm not hoping to be much help on fixing any fault in the box because Pazons are actually made here in NZ and I just rang up Andy at Pazon and talked to him. I couriered it to him over night. It was tested immediately and a new one sent back. Your best bet is maybe to find a US agent and try substitution.

Hope it works out

Hey there John,
So, I think what happened to you with the zener and the earth was what happened to me. I saw my earth dangling there and it must have connected with the zener at some point and blown the fuse. So, the scenario is the same, except i wasn't working on my gearbox, earth was just dangling there. And from the looks of it, for a while as well. I'll start with correcting the wiring as Les pointed out, and check again for a spark at the plugs. If no spark I think I can safely say that I've replicated what happened to you, and off to Pazon the black box will go.

Starvingphotog said:

Hey there John,
So, I think what happened to you with the zener and the earth was what happened to me. I saw my earth dangling there and it must have connected with the zener at some point and blown the fuse. So, the scenario is the same, except i wasn't working on my gearbox, earth was just dangling there. And from the looks of it, for a while as well. I'll start with correcting the wiring as Les pointed out, and check again for a spark at the plugs. If no spark I think I can safely say that I've replicated what happened to you, and off to Pazon the black box will go.

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Good luck.

Out for another long ride today doing some nice spirited twisties when I made a quick glance at my Odo, and just had to pull over and take a snap;



First 7k miles took 45 yrs. Last 13k only five seasons with about 5k of that just this year.

Running great past few months other than some oil line issues and tailight bracket breakages.

SWEET! That's pretty great to have not missed this magic moment. Too bad you didn't watch it roll over from 19,999....but I guess that might have been unsafe...

Starvingphotog said:

Hey I wanted to pick this thread up again to point out something lost with these wee filters. That is, the stock setup allows for a slight vacuum in the oil tank for the breather to pull from the engine crankcase. When you put one of these cone filters on, or something similar, the slight vacuum of the carbs disappears from the oil tank, and the crankcase isn't actively breathing. What do you guys think? Is my thinking and logic correct here? I wonder if these aftermarket breathers solve this problem, or you just have to do something similar to stock to re-introduce this hose from the oil tank to the air filters to re-establish this active breathing of the crankcase.

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Afraid I know nothing of the stock set up. Mine arrived with a single Amal and K&N. However, it did have a breathing problem, oil trying to push itself out of a few places. I put the aftermarket reed valve (bought from Holland NW) and the bike became very happy. It just seemed smoother / looser. So, you may have a point.

Yeah, there are some other threads on breathers in this forum that talk about various options and locations on the bike and condensation and all sorts of heated discussions I saw. Point is the same. The bike needs to breathe and must have some sort of slight vacuum or reed breather installed to create 0 to negative pressure in the bike to eliminate internal pressure and oil leaking at joints. That's my amateur take on it, for what it's worth. I might look into getting one of those NYC Reed breathers at some point if I go with these cone filters. Pricy for sure, but very well regarded from the discussions on the threads.

I wish I could do something with my Seeley 850 today. It is sitting in my shed with the clutch in bits, and I cannot even bear to look at it. My mate who dropped dead at the wheel of his car, rode it at both Winton and Mount Gambier. I had known him since I was 18. We used to fight each other regularly, but we did that without any real malice. We understood each other perfectly. He was the one who taught me how to build a race motor. And in recent years, he was my main helper at race meetings.

Sorry about your mate there Acotrel. In time I hope you'll get back to that 850 and find some peace with it working with your hands to restore it back to a riding state. And heck, maybe you'll be the rider!

Al he might be watching over you if you get back into your bike, he might even hand you your tools. When things get me down the bikes always gets me back up, very rare I ever feel down and I have lost a few good friends in the last year, but none of them rode bikes, 2 old work mates.
Cheer up Al and get stuck into it, it will help.

Ashley

Al, Ash is completely right. I lost my son at 20 years old last year to a car wreck. In a way, these bikes have helped saved my sanity. It's been a tough two years so far, and his birthday was October 11th. This week has been a tough one celebrating what would have been his 22nd birthday. I can honestly say that when I'm working on my bike, I feel him near me. When I'm riding I feel him behind me. I had bought these two bikes for us both to go riding one day. In a way, we get to do that. Motorcycling would have been something he would have loved. He was a musician living in Charlotte. He was my son.