Rotary Owners' Club

Its immaterial what value the vendor puts on the Classic. It only gets that value if he finds a buyer at that price.If six Classics appeared on the market at the same time I would expect they would acheive maybe up to £6,000 each due to the market being flooded.Theres only a finite number of punters...

I have put on ebay a jacket I have owned for a number of years but rarely wear so moving it on as part of a general clearout. In as new condition. Ebay item no. 181030586260.Derek F.

Vincent worked at Elites tyre emporium at one time in his youth & I suspect they came from there!!Cheers,Derek F.

I think I put about 50 millilitres in each chamber John but I didn`t do it as an exact science & I dont think it is too critical. The more you put in ,the more smoke you get. A syringe or turkey baster are good for squirting it in.I have read good things about the american product so will be int...

Oh that is good. I always fear the worst,[eternal pessimist], especially with rotary`s but this is good news. Hopefully many thousands of miles of rotaring to come.Derek F.

Bad news I`m afraid. Almost certainly your engine is knackered.It sounds like the side plates are smeared [grooved] causing lack of compression & therefore great difficulty in keeping the engine running at low revs. My Commander ticks over at 200 revs.I think you will find most forum members hav...

I concur with Dave. I did the second rebuild of my Interpol in 1989 [First by Reg Allens] & spent a lot of time on the phone to Shenstone & after that experience all subsequent rebuilds [F.1./commander] have been factory rebuilds.Derek F.

The advice I got from Shenstone in the 80`s John was to pour Redex into the chambers via the plug holes, rotate the engine to distribute it, & leave it to soak overnight to soften the carbon.Wether this is good practice now or if Redex has the same properties it had then & would still be eff...

The LOTTO started the week before the Hendon auction & I bought a ticket dreaming that if I won I would buy the Norton Rotary Equipe.As I now dont own them you can see I wasn`t a winner!!I had a chat with Colin Seeley there & bought of him the Duckhams display board listing all the Norton te...

Just dosed the red one with Redex petrol treatment this morning John as its running a bit rough on one chamber so suspect the carb is a bit gunged.When I got my first air cooled Norton in 1988 most conversations with the factory ended with "Try giving it a good shot of Redex" as being the ...

In 1989 I tried to sell a 3 bedroomed semi located on the east london/essex borders. The sale price steadily dropped from 86k down to 37k over 6 months when that buyer dropped outThe equivalent house now, even in these recessionary times, is about £210k.Thats about a fourfold increase against maybe ...

I marshal at the T.T. & have seen the progress made with electric bikes for the last 5 years in the Zero Carbon class.They have gone from only a couple completing the lap with a best lap time of 83 m.p.h. to this year doing, I think, a best of 103 & about a dozen finishing the lap. I think t...

Hello John,I have a box of 50 self adhesive 5 gramme weights which measure 15 m.m. square each. Obviously you can fit two to make up 10 grammes. How many do you want?Personally I dont bother balancing wheels because I only feel it is worthwhile if travelling over 100 m.p.h.Derek F.

The value to the buyer I suspect was that zero miles means new & unused.How much would a equivalent new modern bike cost in a showroom? About the same amount i suspect. I dont know because I haven`t been in a showroom for 20 or more years & dont buy the comics or bike magazines so only have ...

That is correct Ian.Derek F.

Went & started Red Commander this evening after 5 days of standing in the cold.Turned it on & it showed 12 volts on the voltmeter.Hit the starter button & it fired up instantly so I am confidant that despite the low voltage readings all is well with the charging system.Cooling system is ...

I have a collection of 5 used Shending voltage regulators you can borrow to play with if you want John.Lights on & engine running I get anything from 11.9 to 13.5 volts but generally 12.2volts with no sign of my 5 year old batteries not being sufficiently charged. I.e, it starts instantly.The bi...

New old stock down pipes for air cooled engine. £70.00 plus postage.Derek, 0787 961 5056.

Hello Dave,Mine was about £7.00 too but I flush mounted it on the dash & wired it in.With heated handlebars [not grips] & all lights on showed about 12.2 volts.What is yours showing?Derek F.

Fitted digital voltmeter to Red Commander which informed me that I was getting a very good charge until I put the lights on when it only showed 10.1 volts going to the battery.Had a think about the shortfall & came to the conclusion that a "lighting coil" wasn`t being switched in when ...

On my Red Commander I have engineered some additional support to the pump spindle.I have installed a plain bronze bearing in the impeller cover which supports an extension to the pump spindle which is threaded onto the original spindle.Also have removed the inner seals from the two ball bearings &am...

I get about the same from my water cooled.Derek F.

I purchased two voltage regulators from Al Osborne @ £30.00 each. Mounted each one on a length of 20 m.m. copper pipe fixed to the Commander rear brake reservoir mounting bolt.Very cool location by the rear o/s spring & a good heat sink. Special price as I bought two & at a Norton rally. So ...

Thank God they dont. I had the timing side shaft shear off the flywheel on my DBD 34. That brings you to a sudden halt.Then sit on the roadside scratching your head for five minutes trying to figure out whats gone wrong before the long push home.Still I only paid £37.00 for it out of someones front ...

I have heard of people powder coating Norton barrels & then suffering piston seizures due to the cast iron fins & dimples being wrapped in an insulating jacket of paint.Even the casting dimples in iron & aluminium have a cooling value.I run my barrels with a nice patina of rust with no p...

I agree Wayne with you 100% on the labelling of stuff. When my son died he had a garage full of japanese bike parts & was running road & race bikes. Suzuki`s & Kawasaki`s.It was a struggle to dispose of his possessions anyway without the added problem of not knowing what bike/model it ca...

Unfortunately both Commanders are poorly so I shall be on what a Commando should have been, a Laverda 750SF.I shall be marshalling at the end of Kirkmichael opposite Tony Easts house/museum in a private front garden.Staying at the brother in laws in Pulrose close to the Quarter Bridge so will probab...

It was an extremely hot day John. My Commanders run at 81 degreees in normal weather but have gone up to 130 degrees in very hot weather.I dont like it either but I guess it is the nature of the beast.Derek F.

Any one got a spare Commander stator? New or used,I dont mind.The grey commander one has burnt out for no reason that I can fathom at 35,000 miles.Thanks,Derek.

47 m.p.g. on a fast continuous run i.e. motorways at 80/90 m.p.h.32 to 36 m.p.g. around town.All on unleaded low octane.All my Commanders have been the same.I stopped fiddleing with the carbs 20 years ago as the differences were negligible.It seems to me the rotary sucks in what it needs, burns it, ...