Norton Commando Alton Starter Motor Project - Part 4 of 6 - Test Fitting

[@AltonFrancegetstarted]

Geoff and Mike made a skillful work to adapt perfectly the Alton kit on this very nice early Commando (prior March 1969?). That should not hide that probably 90% of the MK2 Commandos are NOT early ones. The Alton kits are fairly straightforward and fit on the vast majority of the Norton Commandos MK2. Alton supplied hundreds of kits for Norton Commandos MK2 since about 8 years worldwide. It is obvious that the owners / installers were far from having such challenging installations. No need of a milling machine to install a kit ! Ask to the Alton dealers. Watch these videos entirely and listen carefully to Geoff and Mike's relevant comments and general advices.

[@rscaryrsc]

You just never know what you’ll run into with these old bikes with slight differences from year to year. I applaud your patience in finding a way to make it work. I think it’s why we enjoy the problems they give us to solve and the satisfaction we get once solved.

[@CarlyG18]

Because the OEM original parts fit properly as they had to or the assembly line would be slowed up by the delays created. There is no reason for this aftermarket kit need to have so much work done to alter it to fit. Until the bikes have been butchered up by people who were unfamilar with the Commandos, there were only a few things to do to make them a little better. But OEM parts were made quite well considering that all the parts in the bike only cost about 500$ or so to the factory , as the bikes were leaving the factory in the early 1970s for approx 1000$ and still had to be crated and shipped as well as leaving the dealers some profit when they sold them.

[@buncho888]

That's the correct way to do it. Whenever I add a new part to my bikes that doesn't fit, I modify the new part to fit and not the original parts of the motorcycle. That way all your changes are reversible in the future and you haven't harmed the originality or appearance of the bike.

[@54macdog]

Brilliant work, that kind of thing is so frustrating. But you finished on a cliffhanger!

[@bobwampler3387]

Brilliant work!

[@markmark2080]

Thanks, guys, very thorough...

[@453421abcdefg12345]

In my opinion you did the correct thing on this conversion, the fact that it was not a straightforward fit is really not acceptable, with the original misaligned holes this would lead to an early failure, the clutch shaft centre is way out, and would only get worst when off the stand, to have to re machine the front attachment holes requires a milling operation, and the fact that it would not bed down due to the bearing housing radius should have been taken into consideration at manufacture, if a less skilled person was doing this job it would have been a very unsafe modification, Well done on rectifying this production fail ! Chris B.

[@AltonFrancegetstarted]

Geoff and Mike made a skillful work to adapt perfectly the Alton kit on this very nice early Commando (prior March 1969?). That should not hide that probably 90% of the MK2 Commandos are NOT early ones. The Alton kits are fairly straightforward and fit on the vast majority of the Norton Commandos MK2. Alton supplied hundreds of kits for Norton Commandos MK2 since about 8 years worldwide. It is obvious that the owners / installers were far from having such challenging installations. No need of a milling machine to install a kit ! Ask to the Alton dealers. Watch these videos entirely and listen carefully to Geoff and Mike's relevant comments and general advices.

[@453421abcdefg12345]

@@AltonFrancegetstarted I see that this would be acceptable, providing it is noted on the kit that it will ONLY fit late, (post 1969) bikes. Now it is known that it is not compatible with early production bikes, either a different kit should be offered, or the modifications pointed out the the buyer, it must be pointed out that a simple slot modification and radius in the mainshaft hole would make the kit compatible with all years, now that this problem is known, I always welcome customer feedback for this reason, it makes for a better product that buyers can trust ! Chris B.

[@Wooley689]

So I would venture to say, you have alerted Alton to all these issues so they can address and fix. My initial idea with the holes being off is that when part was put in machining mill jig that the cover was either shifted slightly causing the drill operation to be off a few tenths to a couple thousandths, or the jig had milling swarf not blown off which caused the cover to not seat properly.

[@sf940477]

Well done quite a lot of extra work required. That's why I have a 78 bmw airhead as my older bike, not too much faffing lol

[@TheDavey333]

Pity you had to do so much engineering to make it fit, but you got there in the end. More suspense to deal with, you like leaving us to wait 😀 You guys have the best accents, you should work together more. Have a great week 👍

[@TheMightyGarage]

Hehe, thanks a lot David. It's a true pleasure to watch Geoff at work! The excitement is brewing and I hope you won't be disappointed! Cheers, Mike

[@Georgeolddrones]

Thanks guys excellent video 👍🏍🏍🇬🇧

[@tadpoles10]

Great 'team work' guys, mm not what I was expecting however appreciate Geoff's none standard setup did not help. Enjoyed today's episode with a coffee for a change .. lol atvb t ..

[@CarlyG18]

The reason you need to have clearance between the swing arm end and inner cover is because the Engine works fore and aft on the isos and when the bike is being used the swing arm will move side to side as it is levered over . , You could pull on the tire to see how much movement there is at the swing arm pin end. It is not a good idea for it to rub or make the cover flex outward. Iso condition and end play affect the movement. With OEM parts , I never have seen a rub there if the cover is installed properly.

[@TornadoCAN99]

A bit surprising the new inner cover needed that much fettling. No worry on the timing gauge marks as these should be checked regardless on any Commando by using a degree wheel and locating true TDC, noting the gauge readings. So with new Alton cover, just re-check and use the new true reading (+/- X-degrees whatever the gauge indicates).

[@soldtobediers]

''Be sure you're right, then go ahead.'' David Crockett

[@davidshattock9522]

Norton owner ship mm is never dull. And as for maintain ence , shall.we say patience is essential and.projects to fit better. Alternatives a catapault.is needed to throw the rule. Book a good way aways in order to ensure success,to do things effectively as you chaps are seeming to be doing so effectively,incidentally.always.thought.the yellow looked great on the commando.

[@TheMightyGarage]

Thank you David, I’m glad you enjoyed this video miniseries. That was a really fun project best wishes, Mike

[@geoffhalsey2184]

To have to alter the fit so drastically, I feel that's a rather poor show from Alton considering it's such an expensive conversion. The fact that knew about these design faults and did nothing about it in their final product makes it worse.

[@christidmas3995]

So glad for you having the time and patience to overcome all of these problems.Not a simple Saturday morning job before a weekend ride for sure!

[@CarlyG18]

Alton has been making these for years now and still they require machining to fit. That is totally unacceptable. Real poor quality and hopefully they stand up to the test of time. It should be a 1/2 day job to fit, not a few days and re- engineering it..

[@AltonFrancegetstarted]

Geoff and Mike made a skillful work to adapt perfectly the Alton kit on this very nice early Commando (prior March 1969?). That should not hide that probably 90% of the MK2 Commandos are NOT early ones. The Alton kits are fairly straightforward and fit on the vast majority of the Norton Commandos MK2. Alton supplied hundreds of kits for Norton Commandos MK2 since about 8 years worldwide. It is obvious that the owners / installers were far from having such challenging installations. No need of a milling machine to install a kit ! Ask to the Alton dealers. Watch these videos entirely and listen carefully to Geoff and Mike's relevant comments and general advices.