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Kiwi ingenuity.

Submitted by david_watkins on Saturday, 18 February, 2017 - 00:00
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Commando

Frame fix.

I have posted asking for ideas about straightening my 850 frame.

Thanx for all the help, good on ya.

I took the frame to a supposed expert who wanted big buck dollar for doing the job. Too much, may as well buy a new one.

On the way home I dropped in to visit a mate who is a farmer and makes all his own farm equipment in his shed.

He took a look at the bent frame, grabbed a very big rubber hammer and flogged the down tubes in to line in a few seconds. No dramas.

Then we put the frame on the hydraulic tip bucket, on the big tractor, then chained part of the frame on to the small tractor. A few deft prods on the control lever pulled the bent in bits out and; Bob's.

After that I inverted the frame and put the rear loop on the huge rear tractor tire with the tip held by the vast mudguard. Pulling on the head stock the frame bent back into line, perfect.

An hour of measuring and shooting the dirt about how flimsy the frame is, all points lined up as per the book.

It cost me a crate of beer.

So much for all the doom and gloom of spending huge money on a job that can be done in a few minutes with few tools.

Paint next.

Kind regards.

Dave

Submitted by neil_wyatt on Saturday, 18 February, 2017 - 00:01

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I have been most impressed with the way the boys down under keep their machines in order. NZ is a major supplier of Manx parts too. I suspect the network of owners is as strong there as anywhere and they certainly know how to rally.

Submitted by iain_brown on Saturday, 18 February, 2017 - 00:02

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Hi Neil,

i hope the rest of your trip went well.

The presidential cavalcade made a largely successful return trip although the multi award winning commando do see the last leg of the journey from inside a van.

cheers

iain.

Submitted by martyn_watson on Saturday, 18 February, 2017 - 00:03

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I'm glad to hear you got it sorted Dave.

I had a similar problem with,ahem, a shortened wheelbase norton.i sorted it by putting the bike between two trees and using ratchet straps to stretch the bike back into shape.

I wasn't born in NZ, but when in Rome, so to speak...

Cheers

Marty

Submitted by david_watkins on Sunday, 19 February, 2017 - 00:00

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Previously martyn_watson wrote:

I'm glad to hear you got it sorted Dave.

I had a similar problem with,ahem, a shortened wheelbase norton.i sorted it by putting the bike between two trees and using ratchet straps to stretch the bike back into shape.

I wasn't born in NZ, but when in Rome, so to speak...

Cheers

Marty

Good on ya mate.

I've got a Venom frame that also needs a bit o the rubber hammer treatment.

Chur,

Dave

Submitted by martyn_watson on Sunday, 19 February, 2017 - 00:04

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Yeah, i heard those velocette venom brakes are too good for the frame! You don't get that problem on a norton..

Submitted by george_phillips on Sunday, 19 February, 2017 - 00:05

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I like David's definition of "a few tools". This include: a big rubber hammer, a hydraulic tip bucket, a big tractor, a small tractor, a big tractor tyre and a big tractor mudguard, Regrettably all that won't fit in m garage! But well done! AS my dad used to say "Necessity is the mother of Invention!" George

Submitted by neil_wyatt on Sunday, 19 February, 2017 - 00:06

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Hi Iain,

Home safe and sound thanks, So, someone had the ride of shame?

Well, it will soon be riding season here, a lot of bikes out today for that matter.

Back on topic: a local dealer once had a jig, I had my slimline Mod 50 frame straightened there for £50 in 2000. These days the workshops with the jigs want a fortune just for the set up, before any straightening takes place.

The moral is that a straight frame is a straight frame, no matter what method you use or what you pay for it!

Submitted by david_watkins on Sunday, 19 February, 2017 - 00:07

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Previously martyn_watson wrote:

Yeah, i heard those velocette venom brakes are too good for the frame! You don't get that problem on a norton..

Hi Martyn,

Ha ha. Yes the Velo's brake well, prob partly 'cause the brake lever has a longer distance between the pivot and the nipple. This is vital for the clutch lever to get the plates to seperate. They used the same lever both ends o the barz.

I'm going to get one of the new master cylinders, from Andover for the Norton, and remove the chrome from the disc. Also a teflon hose, brembo pads.

Tally ho

Dave

Submitted by david_watkins on Sunday, 19 February, 2017 - 00:08

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Previously Neil Wyatt wrote:

Hi Iain,

Home safe and sound thanks, So, someone had the ride of shame?

Well, it will soon be riding season here, a lot of bikes out today for that matter.

Back on topic: a local dealer once had a jig, I had my slimline Mod 50 frame straightened there for £50 in 2000. These days the workshops with the jigs want a fortune just for the set up, before any straightening takes place.

The moral is that a straight frame is a straight frame, no matter what method you use or what you pay for it!

Hi Ian,

True.

Regz,

Dave

Submitted by david_watkins on Sunday, 19 February, 2017 - 00:09

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Previously George Phillips wrote:

I like David's definition of "a few tools". This include: a big rubber hammer, a hydraulic tip bucket, a big tractor, a small tractor, a big tractor tyre and a big tractor mudguard, Regrettably all that won't fit in m garage! But well done! AS my dad used to say "Necessity is the mother of Invention!" George

Hi George, Indeed, none of the tools

were mine. Regards, Dave

Submitted by thane_gillies on Monday, 20 February, 2017 - 00:00

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I don't know what it was like on the lower side of the globe 50 years ago but you could ride almost the length of Britain to find a dealer in some parts of Canada. You learned to carry a few tools in the saddlebags and found ingenious ways to fix things. I have used the bucket on a Massey Ferguson backhoe and chains to straighten a featherbed frame and it now has a 1000 KZ engine in it and handles like a proper Norton in the bends and at 240 kms on the straights. Iknew there were other inventive folks out there.

Submitted by david_watkins on Monday, 20 February, 2017 - 00:10

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Previously thane_gillies wrote:

I don't know what it was like on the lower side of the globe 50 years ago but you could ride almost the length of Britain to find a dealer in some parts of Canada. You learned to carry a few tools in the saddlebags and found ingenious ways to fix things. I have used the bucket on a Massey Ferguson backhoe and chains to straighten a featherbed frame and it now has a 1000 KZ engine in it and handles like a proper Norton in the bends and at 240 kms on the straights. Iknew there were other inventive folks out there.

Hi Thane,

I used my Porter Cable router scroll base to compres the Norotn diaphragm clutch spring. Works a treat. I lived in Vancouver for a few years, tons of Norton parts, new and used, there then, eh.

Regards

Dave

 

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