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Back On The Road After 20 Years

Submitted by steven_hurd on Sat, 21/04/2018
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Commando

I bought this 1975 MK3 as a non-runner from a dealer last year, and spent the winter restoring it but with some modern touches. I fired the bike up today and it started first time! Runs lovely and sounds sweet as a nut with the peashooters on. Took it for a quick run round the block but can't get it into any other gear apart from 1st. (Can't get it into neutral either). I'm going to drop the outer primary and have a look, but I'm not sure what to look out for? I've read discussions regarding a spring that apparently causes this problem if it's not put in round the right way, so that's the first place I'm going to look at but any other ideas?

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Submitted by john_holmes on Sat, 21/04/2018

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Outer gearbox cover not outer primary, you need to first make sure the gear change pawl spring is the right way round and then adjust it by small amounts, the old Britt's website has a good section on it.

Submitted by steven_hurd on Sun, 22/04/2018

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Thanks John, The Old Britt's website does show everything clearly. No wonder I couldn't find the spring everyone was talking about, I figured the problem was on the primary side! The engine and gearbox were both rebuilt and assembled into the frame by Norman White so I didn't have any input with them. Frustrating that I've now got to pull it apart just when the weather is looking good.

Submitted by jem_nicholls on Mon, 23/04/2018

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If Norman assembled the engine and gearbox into the frame I feel sure he would have tested that all was correct so if I were you I'd have a word with him first as he may have a simple quick fix. In my experience he's very helpful and takes (rightful) pride in his work.

Having said that the spring in the outer cover is the most common culprit of this problem, part no. 04.0038. From memory you have to bend it slightly to achieve clearance both above and below the pawl (04.0024)

https://andover-norton.co.uk/en/shop-drawing/128/gearbox-inner-cover#

Submitted by steven_hurd on Mon, 23/04/2018

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Yes I'm seeing Norman who is going to fix it for me. Fingers crossed I'll be out and about this weekend! (Unless the snow comes back)..

Submitted by michael_sullivan on Tue, 24/04/2018

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If I were you, I would not take the bike out in public without having a plan at hand to remove all the drool from jealous admirers.

Wonderful job Steven. You can be proud!!!

Mike

Submitted by steven_hurd on Tue, 24/04/2018

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Thanks for the kind words and advice, the bike is now working perfectly!

Went down to Norman White this morning and he found and fixed the problem while I waited. He also adjusted the timing and it now runs even better.

Took it out for a spin when I got home and got an MOT done while I was out, passed with no issues. I'm surprised how well it handles, I thought with those skinny tyres it would be a bit twitchy but it's really nimble!

After 45 years of bike ownership this is the first British twin I've ridden and I loved it.

Submitted by steven_hurd on Tue, 24/04/2018

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The gear selector pawl had somehow got turned round and was facing the wrong way. Maybe it got turned round during assembly of the outer cover.

Submitted by steven_hurd on Mon, 28/05/2018

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So I've now put 200 trouble-free miles on the bike since the rebuild, and it is a joy to ride.

A couple of observations:

  • The combination of a mini-starter and a Shorai battery is fautless and starts with just a tiny whiff of the starter button, even when hot.
  • Engine is oil-tight with no leaks, garage floor is dry!
  • The 34mm Mikuni ran great right out of the box and no adjustments so far.
  • The Tri-Spark works well, and was easy to fit and set up.
  • The repro Taiwanese fuel tank looks good, fits well and is leak-free.
  • The new digital clocks are working fine, but the speedo mists up after a short ride. I need to go back to ANL with that as it wasn't cheap.
  • The gear change lever appears to go 'stiff' after a while, and gear changes are harder. Although this hasn't happened on the last ride.

Submitted by john_neely on Tue, 29/05/2018

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Lovely attention to detail with good improvements.

I see you are running 100/90 tyres front and back road riders? how do you find them?

Submitted by steven_hurd on Tue, 29/05/2018

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Yes they are RoadRiders and I like them.

They are very stable and have plenty of grip too. No idea what they are like in the wet but should be good as Avon's normally are.

 


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