What Did You Do With Your Commando Today?

Café au Lait said:

Honestly I wouldn’t let a fitter anywhere near my Norton.

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I always take the loose wheel in to the tyre shops. I once had a dealer replace a front tyre while they were doing a 6000m service on my bike. Rode it home (at motorway speeds, in the cold / dark / wet). The next morning I discovered that they hadn't tightened the front wheel spindle cap or even the wheel spindle pinch bolts at the ends of the forks... this was a big shiny main dealership - never went there again.

Also once have a tyre shop fitter put a new back tyre on the wheel with the wrong rotation, didn't spot it at the time, but very obvious when I rode the bike.

One of the roll pins, that’s what I call ‘em anyway, that are supposed to prevent the seat securing knobs falling off was missing so a while ago I drilled the cross hole slightly larger and fitted a screw with nut to replace it. While the pin on the other knob was present, the knob could still find it’s way off the bolt end so, drilled hole larger again, found another screw and nut and job done.
My knobs are not going anywhere.

Stevo said:

One of the roll pins, that’s what I call ‘em anyway, that are supposed to prevent the seat securing knobs falling off was missing so a while ago I drilled the cross hole slightly larger and fitted a screw with nut to replace it. While the pin on the other knob was present, the knob could still find it’s way off the bolt end so, drilled hole larger again, found another screw and nut and job done.
My knobs are not going anywhere.

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always like sensible upgrades!

I never had the roll pins in the seat knobs and it's never been an issue. I did recently buy a couple of roll pins and tapped one in to one of the seat knobs. Then unscrewed the seat knob to check it worked, and it came off in my hand. Turns out that the holes through the seat knob are not in the correct place, and the roll pin doesnt engage in the thin / shaped end of the suspension bolt. No idea who made the seat knobs, or where I bought them from.

re. what did I do with my Commando today, I took the battery out of it so that I could use it to power my timing light to strobe the ignition on my T140. Not sure if that constitutes blasphemy on this forum...

daveforty said:

I never had the roll pins in the seat knobs and it's never been an issue. I did recently buy a couple of roll pins and tapped one in to one of the seat knobs. Then unscrewed the seat knob to check it worked, and it came off in my hand. Turns out that the holes through the seat knob are not in the correct place, and the roll pin doesnt engage in the thin / shaped end of the suspension bolt. No idea who made the seat knobs, or where I bought them from.

re. what did I do with my Commando today, I took the battery out of it so that I could use it to power my timing light to strobe the ignition on my T140. Not sure if that constitutes blasphemy on this forum...

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I did and found exactly the same with my seat knobs. Faulty batch?

maybe, but if so, they were made a long time ago. Cannot remember if they were the original ones on my bike or not. My bike was an Interplod when I bought it, and I 'converted' it into a Roadster as soon as I got it.

I am lucky to have a nearby and friendly Yamaha dealer. They get me a tire, I pull the wheel off, put in back of car, take to Yamaha emporium they replace and balance the tire and call me when it's ready. Owner is a former racer, they always do great work.

Completed my Roadster tank refurb. Cleaned out the evaporust. Tank is nice and rust free. Popped it on the bike. Left tap leaking. Emptied the tank, removed the tap, gave it a clean and put a new Dowty washer on and it seems OK. Some slight wear in the brass cylinder was visible, but not bad and the rubber sleeve was clean and pliable, so I'll monitor it for now. Popped the seat on and I couldn't resist sitting on the bike. I was amazed at how much less reach to the bars vs. the interstate. I always found the Interstate comfortable enough, but it is a bit of a compromise.

The bike is now up on a lift, ready for a replacement back tyre to be delivered. I did some usual checks and found my headlight not working, but that's a topic I've raised separately and will look at tomorrow.

Looking forward to getting to ride a Roadster again.

Installed an Alton electric start. Assembly was straightforward, having the bike start by pressing a button is a real luxury.

Congrats. How long did it you to do it?

Saber said:

Congrats. How long did it you to do it?

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I think the manual claimed the reassembly could take 4-5 hours. Which if I did it again seems reasonable. However, I took a few days… not because there is anything difficult, I just took my time and also cleaned up a number of items on the bike that needed attention - Clutch plates needed cleaning, primary chain needed adjustment, starter button assembly needed contacts cleaning, wiring loom needed tlc, etc etc.
The only part that didn’t go smoothly was aligning the stator, I had to enlarge or rather clean out the mounting holes in the stator. Then I found the alignment itself changed when I tightened it down, I attributed this to a heavy coating on the stator that I finally removed beneath the mounting points.
After taking the bike for a 30 mile run yesterday, I removed the primary cover to recheck and everything looks good. So far I’m very happy with it, but it’s early days!

Yesterday I managed to blag a ride on a friends Commando, a 750 with a Mikuni single. He thinks the engine in a Combat but I was too polite to make a note of the engine number; he rode my W800.

Having never ridden one before acquiring my cNw, I’ve been inquisitive as to what Matt’s work has achieved over a more stock machine. Fast Eddie’s is quite close to mine and certainly closer than my friends. FE’s as commented before has a little less low end grunt but more up top, I prefer mine for road riding but I preferred his front end, mine dives a bit. I did learn that I don’t want rear sets too but do like his narrower bars.

The 750 was a very different story. First time kicker and a lovely instant idle. A very grabby clutch from a standstill, stalled the bugger first off
Much much quieter than my bike which I wasn’t expecting. I’m used to Matt’s peashooters and K&Ns compared to stock peashooters and a ham can. The big surprise was his Dunlop tyres, they were actually really good (dry ride only) and none of the scary shit I suffered with them on my W. The REAL difference though was how relatively gutless the bike was. Don’t get me wrong, it was really nice end enjoyable (apart from the stock seat which was frankly awful; kept slide backwards). I’m obviously used to the incredible throttle response from my FCR35s, the rapid acceleration and the aural accompaniment which is very addictive.

I look forward to test riding some others especially with twin carbs and also a MK3 but at this point I have more of an idea of what my investment has bought me. Regardless I know I’m happy because I ride it as often as possible; always good sign I guess

The point about performance on the single carb, I've seen this noted before. I have a single Amal 34 on mine (850 mk3). It flies. Easily quicker than my very healthy CB750K6. But i doubt it produces as much as a twin carb above about 6,000 revs. Unlike the Honda, which I rev out more, I don't tend to ride my Commando there very often. I like WOT 3.5-5k.

My 850 has about 9,000 miles since complete engine rebuild. It has good compression. I'd guess yours is also in fine fettle. That may have more to do with the performance difference you found.

There's a sweet spot on the stock seats I have, that hold you in. TBH, I don't know if that's sagging from years of use, or designed in. Perch in the right place and I find it holds me fine and they're all day comfortable. YMMV, as they say

As you may gather, I don’t have the experience to point as to why the bike rode like it did and I’m not pointing at the carb for sure just noting its spec. Don’t get me wrong, it went well enough with no flat spots or misses just hadn’t the pull I’m used to nor was it as keen to rev. At the end of the day it’s a sample of one and I’m careful not to judge the genre. I’m very grateful for the ride as I was for FE’s 920.

Now, who’s to try next….

That's one 100$ carb vs two

Café au Lait said:

As you may gather, I don’t have the experience to point as to why the bike rode like it did and I’m not pointing at the carb for sure just noting its spec. Don’t get me wrong, it went well enough with no flat spots or misses just hadn’t the pull I’m used to nor was it as keen to rev. At the end of the day it’s a sample of one and I’m careful not to judge the genre. I’m very grateful for the ride as I was for FE’s 920.

Now, who’s to try next….

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Is your engine stock?

There is no question that a single carb severely impacts performance above 4,500-5,000 rpm. This logic can, of course, be reversed: if you don’t go above 5k much, a single carb is pretty much perfect!

On my stock 850 with single 36mm Mikuni it was a very clear feeling of hitting the ceiling, yes it would easily rev above 5k, but it was obvious there was little point in doing so (unless already in top) as it just didn’t produce any worthwhile increase in power, so progress was more rapid shifting up a gear and using the torque.

Comnoz explained that it is not really a single carb issue per se, it is the limited space for a reasonably designed 1:2 manifold and the torturous flow path this results in. Hence why people like Baz enjoy good results from his big flat slide single carb on his DIY manifold, and frame sans gusset plate, which allows more room.

Although this is kinda obvious to state, tuned engines with bigger carbs and ports will not be allowed to show any benefit until those bigger carbs and ports come into play, and that can’t happen until the throttle is open wide enough to allow it! Engines like my 920 with its big ports and cam need to be pretty close WOT and have revs north of 4k before they really start to ‘work’.

Simon, when you rode mine we just weren’t going fast enough for you to get the full effect mate !

Anyway, next time you can try the 961. Just make sure you bring your ear plugs to cut out the engine clatter…

Regarding the forks, yes I agree that mine were better, but they are Maxton so they bloody well should be! If anything they were probably a bit firm for you due to me being heavier and them still running the set up I had for the track.

NPeteN said:

That's one 100$ carb vs two

Is your engine stock?

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No, its a cNw build with a FullAuto head, Kibblewhite valves, Web cam and FCR 35s W/cNw manifolds so I was expecting less performance from the 750.

TBH the ride was fairly short so had little opportunity to rev it out but even up to 4-5k it didn’t pull like mine so as I said and FE confirmed, it ain’t the carb.

I hear people say the Commando was the sports bike of its time and I get that on mine, less so on his 750, it rode calmer, less urgent.

Nigel, definitely take you up on the 961 mate, I always wear plugs so I’m good to go

Café au Lait said:

No, its a cNw build with a FullAuto head, Kibblewhite valves, Web cam and FCR 35s W/cNw manifolds so I was expecting less performance from the 750.

TBH the ride was fairly short so had little opportunity to rev it out but even up to 4-5k it didn’t pull like mine so as I said and FE confirmed, it ain’t the carb.

I hear people say the Commando was the sports bike of its time and I get that on mine, less so on his 750, it rode calmer, less urgent.

Nigel, definitely take you up on the 961 mate, I always wear plugs so I’m good to go

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Everyone should ride a bone stock combat
Take it to the redline in every gear
No ear plugs

Café au Lait said:

No, its a cNw build with a FullAuto head, Kibblewhite valves, Web cam and FCR 35s W/cNw manifolds so I was expecting less performance from the 750.

I hear people say the Commando was the sports bike of its time and I get that on mine, less so on his 750, it rode calmer, less urgent.

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Was a bit rhetorical. Your bike is far, far away from a commando "of it's time". 50 years and thousands of hours/dollars kinds of far away.
It wasn't just said, it was a fact

I remember watching a video of your commando long ago before I had mine. Pretty cool to see it pop up here. Stay active and enjoy your bike!

Just back from a ride. I thought I'd test it a bit. My single carb was still pulling lustily at 6,000rpm in 2nd. That was an indicated 75mph. You guys riding at 6 to 7k rpm, where are you riding?

I did notice more vibrations this ride (even before I went over 6k rpm!). I'm wondering if switching to the Roadster set up, moving me forward, and/or the lighter tank, either causes more vibration, or maybe puts me in a location where I feel it more? I did adjust the chain before the ride. I'll check I got it right and it's not too tight. Odd.