THE WAY TO GO COMMANDO
My Commando was now a collection of parts loosely bound by optimism. The project was at its lowest ebb, a more or less organised collection of crates and boxes of bits. In a state of maximum entropy as Prof Brian Cox might say. It would take energy, enthusiasm and no small amount of cash to assemble those parts into a functioning motorcycle. Perhaps this is the reason some projects fail at this point, where progress, if it is to be made at all, stretches into the distance, uphill.
Resolve and enthusiasm alone were not enough, this required a plan and I had one. Even as I was merrily taking the bike apart, I printed off parts lists and diagrams and highlighted them with red for parts needed and green for those I could reuse. There was an awful lot of red on those sheets as I slotted them into a binder. This had tabbed sections for the main assemblies, diagrams and pages from the workshop manual and, later, my notes, sketches and checklists. Technical data went in the front, headed by my project outline sheets and current task list.
Over-egging it only slightly, I listed the parts needed by group in a spreadsheet. The sorting and filter tools made it easy see what was needed as well as parts already in hand together with pricing and supplier information. So much for organisation, now for the real work.
Ultimately, everything attaches to the frame, so that was my starting point, together with the swinging arm, engine mountings, stands, yokes and sundry brackets. I masked the headstock, yokes, swinging arm and obvious places where powder coat did not belong. What I did not know,learned, was that there were other less obvious, areas needing to be clear of powder coat.
