Old Britts

Dimensions for a Commando Pit Stand

Summary:

This article provides the dimensions for building a pit stand for Norton Commandos. This stand lifts the rear swinging arm allowing for normal work on your bike from general maintenance to rear wheel removal. I made my stand from 1" square tubing of 1/8" thickness. I made this stand to fit the rear part of a MK3 swinging arm. You may want to measure the distance between where you want the stand to fit on your Commando to make sure the dimensions across the top are correct. You want the stand to fit under the swinging arm, but not damage and cables, hoses, etc.

The Stand:

Stand

Stand

Stand

For the top of the stand that contacts the swinging arm, I actually took a section of 1 5/8" exhaust pipe that I had laying around, cut it lengthwise and welded it to the top. You could take any pipe of the desired diameter, cut it lengthwise and weld it to the top. If the pipe you use is thick and does not bend easily, make sure it is a larger diameter than the swinging arm. I then drilled a hole just under the welded pipe halves to be able to wire tie the rubber buffers to the top.

Rubber Mounts

The 1 3/4" hard plastic wheels bolted to the end of the stand are some old chair casters I had laying around. I drilled out the studs on the casters and bolted them to the stand. I did not weld the wheels to the stand, in case I ever want to change them. You could use a variety of wheels, but I found that by having the wheels prutrude aproximately 1/2" below the bottom rail, it is easy to put the bike on the stand and if you are on a smooth floor, you can actually role the stand and the bike a short distance. If I want the bike a bit more stable, I place a 1/4" piece of plywood in front of the stand's wheels and that eliminates the ability to roll the stand and bike.

Wheels

Dimensions:

Dimensions

Fred Eaton


Return to Old Britts home page …… Return to Technical Articles

This page was written and designed by F. H. Eaton & Associates if you have any questions or comments please contact us at info@fheaton.com