Kevin’s 750 Commando

Electrically speaking, all big 1970s British bikes are the same. The difference with Commandos is they are a lot harder to work on.

Kevin’s bike was easier than most though, thanks to an Acewell dash that replaced the original clocks and warning lights, a Yamaha replica handlebar switch, and a twin output coil. All these parts are easier to deal with than original Brit stuff.

The snag with Kevin’s bike was corrosion – a house move had kept him away from the bike for a long while, and it had been languishing in a very damp garage. By the time his Norton got to the RR workshop, it was behaving badly.

It’s always good fun trying to refurbish old parts, or figuring out a better way to run the wires. I also wanted to keep the area under the tank as clear as possible. The short mudguard was obviously throwing road grit up at the connectors there, which is why a lot of them were fujada.

We were stuck with the Boyer ignition, sat on its thick ally bracket. There’s nowhere else for it to go. But I managed to save enough undamaged cable to get water-resistant Superseal connectors on. That should help. Everything else was moved to inside the headlight.

The bike started well, and did the correct inky-blink stuff at the appropriate moments. When Kevin came to pick his 750 up, he was really fired up to sort out the rest of the bike. The forks are from an Aprilia 125, and would benefit from correct weight springs and preload. And there are a few fasteners and parts which could do with renewing. We also discussed getting a narrower front tyre. Possibly that might render the steering damper unnecessary.

Altogether, a good-looking bike with a fun summer ahead of it. Cheers Keith!