Zen and The Art of Norton Maintenance RTW Tour - 850 barrels needed

850 barrels in good condition needed (East Coast USA) .

Ladies and Gentlemen...

Does anyone in the US (prefer close to Boston) know of, or have a good used set of 850 barrels, +0.020" / 77.50mm or less that I can purchase?

(UPDATE 18 JUNE: I managed to find what looks like a good set of +0.020" barrels on Ebay last night/Sunday 17 June. I'll know more once I've received them on Wed - thanks to all for suggestions and help)

I've just airfreighted my 74 Commando 850 Interstate to the US from New Zealand, planning to spend 3 to 6 months meandering about riding in the US and Canada, on a personal Zen And The Art of Norton Maintenance Tour, visiting the many North American friends I've made through my tour guiding business in NZ over the past 23 years. After the US (next Northern Hemisphere summer) I plan to ship the bike to Japan to ride there for a while , then later on to the Asian mainland, and then overland to the UK heading westwards.

Amongst other preparations and modifications, I decided to have the cylinder bores Nikasil treated for durability back in NZ. The bike has been running strong and well here in the US , but yesterday the bike suffered a seizure on the drive side piston, in what looks to be a case of failure of the Nikasil plating - a big track of the plating has stripped away near the pistons gudgeon. I was only cruising at 60mph/3500pm at the time.
The right/timing side piston and bore are perfect - only the drive side is damaged. The bore size is 77.50mm, or +0.020" oversize.

I know where to find the replacement +0.020" forged piston I need (the bike has a big valve Full Auto head) however I find myself in need of a good condition barrels, either standard, or with a good condition 77.50mm / 0.020" bore.

I'm in Boston at present, so would prefer a local solution, but would be happy to have them freighted from anywhere in the US or Canada..

Please PM, or call my US contact number (650) 741-4160

Thanks in advance for any assistance or suggestions..

I would like to take this opportunity to thank John & Sue Healy and their son Tom of Coventry Spares in Middlesboro, MA, for their kind assistance and generosity in helping me out with a few earlier problems. They had everything I needed on the shelf - great people.


John Fitzwater

johnfitzw said:

850 barrels in good condition needed (East Coast USA) .
... in what looks to be a case of failure of the Nikasil plating - a big track of the plating has stripped away near the pistons gudgeon...

Click to expand...

Hi John,

much envy on your trip, the same has been on my bucket list for some time.
I had a similar failure on a Honda waaaay back, the guy who built my engine failed to put in a c-clip that held the gudgeon in place. Eventually it slipped to the side and milled a prefect groove up the side of the cylinder before seizing completely. Can't recall off the top of my scone how the pins are retained in a Commando, but you sure the same hasn't happened there?

Hi John,
Too bad about your seizure.
Did you check here in the for sale section: Broken lnk removed

I am not sure where he is located but it still needs to be bored to +0.020"
Option #2: You might want to contact Dynodave here. He is located in around the east coast area.
Cheers,
Thomas

The barrel listed in the for sale is in Australia, DynoDave is located on the North Shore of MA

Why not, simply, punch the barrel you have out to +.040 (+.060 if needs be) and be done with it? My shop is about 35 miles west of Boston and I'd be happy to assist, I have a local service that bores my cylinders and can hold any skirt clearance you specify. John, Tom and Sue (Coventry Spares) are also in my "back yard" so getting +.040 pistons assemblies (or +.060) is an overnight order for me, or you. You can reach me at 978-212-5432.

Regards,

Bill.

Bill,
Great Just around the corner. I don't know too many Norton specific shops in that area. I see two 06-5074 barrel sets in stock at Old Brits http://www.oldbritts.com/11_065074.html but that will cost a lot more than a re bore and new pistons. It will still cost an additional set of standard pistons to get him back on the road, if John goes that route.
Hope it all comes together.
Cheers,
Thomas

John , does this bike have the 2EX1 system on it?
Regards Mike

davamb said:

Hi John,

much envy on your trip, the same has been on my bucket list for some time.
I had a similar failure on a Honda waaaay back, the guy who built my engine failed to put in a c-clip that held the gudgeon in place. Eventually it slipped to the side and milled a prefect groove up the side of the cylinder before seizing completely. Can't recall off the top of my scone how the pins are retained in a Commando, but you sure the same hasn't happened there?

Click to expand...

Hi Dave - I have the engine apart now - it wasn't the circlips. Still getting the the bottom of what caused the seizure, but I have a couple of leads to check out.

Brooking 850 said:

John , does this bike have the 2EX1 system on it?
Regards Mike

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Hi Mike - indeed it does. Before we left NZ we added a stainless reversion cone on the end of the muffler - it's toned the volume down a tad, and fattened the mid-range... though with the 5 speed TTi box, it's hard to compare apples with apples. My previous ride in NZ with your pipe was with a stock 4 speed with v long gearing, and I often found I was between ratios - as hoped, the 5 speed has completely fixed that issue.

CanukNortonNut said:

Hi John,
Too bad about your seizure.
Did you check here in the for sale section: Broken lnk removed

I am not sure where he is located but it still needs to be bored to +0.020"
Option #2: You might want to contact Dynodave here. He is located in around the east coast area.
Cheers,
Thomas

Click to expand...

Many thanks for the link and suggestions Thomas - I hope the barrels I purchase on ebay y'day are the solution.

RoadScholar said:

The barrel listed in the for sale is in Australia, DynoDave is located on the North Shore of MA

Why not, simply, punch the barrel you have out to +.040 (+.060 if needs be) and be done with it? My shop is about 35 miles west of Boston and I'd be happy to assist, I have a local service that bores my cylinders and can hold any skirt clearance you specify. John, Tom and Sue (Coventry Spares) are also in my "back yard" so getting +.040 pistons assemblies (or +.060) is an overnight order for me, or you. You can reach me at 978-212-5432.

Regards,

Bill.

Click to expand...

Many thanks for the great suggestions and kind offer Bill - if i get stuck I'll take you up on the offer..
I don't believe it's a straightforward job to re-bore a formerly nikasil plated bore. I'm not totally confident of the accuracy of this belief, but I believe the nikasil material needs to be removed by acid etching from the old bore, before a the new bore can be machined. That etching process can take up to a week, apparently - it's a slow process.

Thanks John, looks good, quite the pack horse.
Is that a pre Mk 3 motor in a Mk 3 frame or just a Mk 3 backend?
After you mounted the 2EX1 system, did you need to change jetting and also , did you need to rejet after the change of the reversion cone?
Good luck with the repair.

Regards Mike

Brooking 850 said:

Thanks John, looks good, quite the pack horse.
Is that a pre Mk 3 motor in a Mk 3 frame or just a Mk 3 backend?
After you mounted the 2EX1 system, did you need to change jetting and also , did you need to rejet after the change of the reversion cone?
Good luck with the repair.

Regards Mike

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It is indeed, quite the packhorse Mike - I guess I have about 40kg in total in luggage at the rear, maybe 7kg in the tank bag. So 47kg / 103.6lb in total - the ideal weight of a good pillion passenger
It feels absolutely great, planted and taut on the road, like it's never felt before. Even in Packhorse Mode, there's not even the hint a wiggle on rain grooves or seal edges.
I made a number of upgrades to suspension and frame before departing NZ:

• I changed the offset of both front and rear rims to put the rim/tyre centres on the frame centre line (that's hard to do on the front due to the front hub offset design) - the rear had been 12mm to the left, and the front 9mm to the left. The bike now tracks dead straight if I let go of the bars.
• Madass's Landsdowne fork internals
• Jim Schmidt's Turcite fork bushings
• New Andover Norton fork tubes with polished inner bores. My old fork legs looked like the internal bore had been drilled out with a wood auger, causing a lot of stiction on the fork springs - I'd like to try a hi tech antifriction coating on both fork springs and the internal fork tube bore.
• Ohlins rear $$$$hox supplied and fettled by Robert Taylor of KSS in New Plymouth, NZ
• Jim Comstock's cyl head steady
• New "soft" isolastic rubbers from RGM
• And the best modification of all - a Herb Becker style engine/gearbox cradle lateral support block - many many thanks to Doug Macrae for revealing his/Herb's secrets here: https://www.accessnorton.com/Norton...o-handling-secrets-revealed.8641/#post-113806
  This last mod has transformed the handling - the bike feels taut and planted even on poor, grooved, tracked surfaces, fully loaded.
  Every Commando should have this mod.
• Additional frame loop cross members as shown in Doug's posting above
• A Jim Comstock style under engine buffer/support mount to support the front isolastic and prevent sagging.

Re the zorst:

Re the frame:

Thanks John, hope your repair goes well.
I noticed that once I had fitted my 2EX1 to my race bike I had to go up a main jet size or 2
very informative.
Regards Mike

Brooking 850 said:

Thanks John, hope your repair goes well.
I noticed that once I had fitted my 2EX1 to my race bike I had to go up a main jet size or 2
very informative.
Regards Mike

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Thanks for the tip Mike. With the wonderful service and support of Coventry Spares in Middleboro, Mass, I arranged to receive bigger main jets out to 330 (currently on 300's) 107 needle jets (just in case), and the richer 2A1 needles today. Plus, I purchased that Air Fuel/Lambda gauge and sensor today - I'll put the fitting into the collector, and will monitor the A-F ratio for the next few weeks as I ride.
Hope you're not to cold down there...

John,
Please keep us in the loop on how the re-bore repair goes. We like road trips. Keep on keep-in on...the adventure continues.
Cheers,
Thomas

Hope you make it out west after the top end fix.
There are thousands of miles of twisty roads thru beautiful scenery out here.
Can provide maps.

Glen

Lewis and Clark could have used a couple of Commandos. That route is a favorite now but it just about killed them!