Uprating wheels and suspension

[andygbsmith]

I have seen Commanders that have been fitted with USD forks and three spoke wheels etc.Whats involved? do you still keep the inclosed rear chain?Any info would be appreciated.Andy

[Richard Negus]

Hi Andy,All of these Commander upgrades were engineered by Norton Motors at Rugeley with a view to improving the dubious braking and suspension of what is a twenty year old design.To keep the enclosed rear chain and at the same time use a 160/70 ZR17 radial rear tyre meant that the complete power unit had to be moved to the left by 10mm. Said quickly, it doesn't sound too difficult, but involves welding/machining the gearbox case, machining the transfer ports, modifying the exhaust manifold, and many other minor changes.To make the rear suspension more rigid, an alloy rear fork similar to the F1 item replaces the tubular steel original and additional stiffness is provided by extending the pivot bolt through the footrest plates (more welding/machining).Adapting the new rear wheel to the enclosed drive required some new parts too.Substituting Marzocchi USD forks was a doddle in comparison, requiring only a new steering stem and handlebar clamps on the top yoke.The complete set of forks/wheels/discs/calipers come from MZ who specified them for the 1000c twin they briefly produced. The change in Euro rate makes these parts significantly more expensive.We produced a total of eight of these upgrades ; some were 100% rebuilds including engine and gearbox ; some were substitution of forks/wheels/brakes onto an otherwise original machine.The last one is my own, and different to the others in that since I was paying for it myself, I have used Kawasaki ZX9R forks/wheels/brakes/rear fork from breakers.It required the same amount of 'engineering' but I hadn't budgeted for overhauling seized 6-pot calipers and replacing warped brake discs.If you have a workshop and spare time, its an interesting project and it certainly makes a big difference to the Commander ; infinitely better brakes, rock steady cornering and more weight bias to the front is well worth having, in my opinion.If you'd like more detail, please PM me.R.

[andygbsmith]

Thanks for the info, I will PM you.Andy