Simon’s Norton Commando 850

Simon is that most excellent of people, a repeat customer. I did his T160 a year or two ago, and a highly experienced mechanic who did some work on it afterwards told him it was, “the best wired Triumph I’ve ever seen.”

So Simon brought his Commando in for the same treatment. The original loom was OK, but with a patched-in charge warning system, reg rec and ignition, it was looking likely to cause a problem. Simon also liked the idea of a fuse box, rather than the Norton’s original single main fuse.

Jobs like this are electrically simple, so the preparation phase is often the longest job. There’s not much room on an 850, so adding a fuse box meant relocating the regulator rectifier and horn; revising the switchgear cables; making up sub-looms for the tail light, ignition coils, rear brake switch and neutral switch; and revising the way the wires for the warning lights go. Once all that is in place, you can visualise how to organise the main loom.

I ended up with an almost pure layout: a single trunk with branches at one and, and roots at the other. There was one exception: the branch for the ignition system.

It’s always satisfying when a bike starts first prod. And this one did. It’s a great bike Simon has.