Fitting a standard air box - 1976 850 Commando

Hello Russell,

First of all, remove the front wheel. Then...........

Sorry, I haven't tackled this, but I've read that you need to remove carbs, battery tray and all kinds of stuff.

I'm sure someone on here has done this particular job, and will be along shortly to advise.

I will watch with interest, because I'm thinking of removing my black air filter box in order to try a SU carb setup that I bought years ago, and haven't fitted because the black box is in the way of a single-inlet filter.

Allan.

Hi Russell,

I took off the black air box last year to convert to single Amal MkII.

ObviouslyI had to remove the carbs and manifold. I also had to remove the starter and loosen the oil tank to allow the box torotate. I drilled out the rivets holding the side panel bracket. I would besurprisedif you managed to get anywhere with the bracket still attached.

It eventually came out but it was a very tight fit. At one point Iconsideredusing a hot air gun to soften the plastic a little but persevered with brute force and ignorance.

I doubt it will ever go back in again, could you post a picture of how far you have managed to get ?

Regards

Tony

Either the factory welded up the frames round the plastic airboxes or they inflated them in-situ...

Make sure that you've got the correct battery tray as the earlier ones were a bit longer. I removed my Mk3 box within a few months of buying the bike and remember it as a real wrestling match that ended in destruction of the box. I can't imagine it going in without a lot of dismantling.

I've tried most permutations, but I haven't tried that one. From memory, you can't fit a 750 panel with tool compartment intact on a bike with the transverse battery, as used with the black boxes. The compartment can be quite easily removed. You might also need to ease the front edge, lower down to clear the ears on the box.

Your cover will probably have two rubber grommets on the rear edge which locate on pins on the 750 battery carrier. The Mk3 only has the top one of these and the cover has a small bracket welded on the lower edge (all Mk3 covers were steel) , with the same sort of fixing as the bottom of the oil tank cover. You'll need to fabricate something there as well as remove the bracket that locates on the frame gusset and drill a hole to locate on the Dzus fixing on the side of the Mk3 airbox.