Rotary Owners' Club

Hi All, You may have noticed Jannes from Holland asking for help with Classic LE044 (the RED one!) which he's trying to convert back to standard. One of the things he would very like to have is the A4-sized certificate provided to each of the original buyers confirming the particular serial number s...

Hans,
Well done!
The only difference between the pairs of numbers for front and rear is that one is left handed and the other right.
It may be important to some owners that the lettering on the orange lens is the correct way up.

R.

They were probably XJ900F 'cos that's what we had from Yamaha as as a donor bike for parts.
BUT, the F1 has different stem lengths front/rear so one of them may be from another model.
R.

Terry,
Those lights were originally for light aero application; Whelen in USA still list them with part numbers starting 70346. As an aero part, they'll probably command a price premium though.
Woodway in Coventry were suppliers to Norton but their web site doesn't now include them.
R.

Since a fire at my home last September, all my books and files are in store and not accessible to give you the Yamaha part numbers. However, if you have a hard copy of my hand-written/illustrated F1 Parts List, you will find the Yamaha numbers in there. If not, then a pleading email to Andover Norto...

Hi Jannes,
You could put the IP2 bar on the left side and the Classic one on the right.
That would give you a better handle for lifting onto the main stand.
R.

Hi Jannes,
The chrome-plated bar is the same for both sides, but the bracket at the rear of the bar, hidden behind the plastic panel, is handed left and right.
It is possible to bend a left side bracket to make it into a right side one.
Now go find a bar and bracket! AN don't appear to have either.
R.

Registered 1985 with engine/chassis number starting with a '3' means it's an IP2 document and plate.
R.

And more:- The last is one I did for myself, with Kawasaki forks/wheels/brakes and a heavily modified Kawa rear fork.

All were done at Norton Motors Rugeley.
R.

johnbirchjar wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 18, 2019 11:41 pm

"Rare" being the operative word,how many in total?Richard?J.B.

There are/were six in total, plus the half one I did for RR's feet-forward machine. Here's few:

Scavenge level.jpg This container was an accessory car screenwasher bottle. The cap and pipes need to seal on the bottle so that induction vacuum is maintained. One pipe goes to the frame scavenge fitting, the other to the l/h induction pipe. Dispensing with the second battery was one result of hav...

... and 17" cast wheels, radial tyres, 320 mm floating front discs, Nissin 4-piston calipers, Brembo rear caliper.......

Sorry, couldn't help myself!

Hi Jannes,
That's correct - although I learned long ago that my memory doesn't always reflect what actually happened and someone else may have a more accurate 'truth'.
R.

4291, completed 02/04/1993. One of six painted green despatched to Portugal.

Sorry about the delay! Officially there are, or were, 100 examples numbered LE001 to LE100. But the prototype Classic, numbered PP001, used for testing and brochure shots, still survives in a private museum in Germany. That bike is the one with a very thin seat and a slab-sided fuel tank. There were...

I wish I had a better memory! This bike, #4230, passed final inspection at Shenstone on 30th November 1989 and, according to my records, was a twin seat Commander. As I don't have a copy of the sales records, I don't know to whom it was sold, nor whether it was still a twin seat when sold. It was fi...

Yup, thought so!
Sold at Bonhams Stafford for £1,150. Photos show it with the side removed and black/yellow tape on the 'leg protector' bits.

As you suggest, never a police bike. Originally a Norton demonstrator and then sold to TRRL (now TRL) and became a 'leg protector' demonstrator. It has a tubular structure inside the fairings to support the tin boxes that were supposed to deform in an accident, requiring much modification to the plu...

Mark, Very kind of you - but we couldn't really take all the credit for that. Wheels were supplied by Grimeca, fully machined, and the speedo drive bits also came from Italy, both items originally specified for the Morini 350 vee-twin. All we did was assemble them with a bit of grease to ease assemb...

Mark,
It's a press fit; just needs a couple of tyre levers to prise it off.
R.

Hi Jannes,
When you are removing the rear wheel, the brake caliper and plate must first be removed and moved out of the way. The hook is to support the caliper when doing this.
In my opinion, a bit over-kill and an unnecessary item.
R.

This machine was originally purchased by The Patrick Collection for display in their museum in Birmingham. The Museum had to close and the bike passed into private hands, although I'm not sure who the first 'private' owner was. It was eventually acquired (at Bonham's Auction perhaps?) by Graham of B...

You're unlikely to find a new genuine Yamaha vented disc now, but there are a few used ones on eBay, mostly listed as XJ900 pre-Diversion.
Lot's of replacement new solid discs though.
R.

Hi Jannes, With the engine running, the only time the oil pump doesn't turn (IP2/Classic/Commander) is when the bike is stationary, gear engaged, and clutch lifted. That's because the pump is driven by the end of the gearbox input shaft. I don't believe any damage can occur during those brief moment...

Hi Jannes, The lenses, and possibly the bulb holders, were made by English company L E Perei; lenses had all the correct 'E' approvals. I don't know if they were made specifically for Norton. When I enquired a few years ago, they said they no longer had the mould tooling and couldn't make any more. ...

There really is a connection between the Classic rear light and the Aston Martin Lagonda. Norton's own in-house designer, Mick Ofield, did the styling for the '1000'- series rotary, often referred to as the Aurora or Cooke Nielsen. which almost made it into series production. A car stylist, William ...

Jannes, UK vehicle registration series have changed several times over the years. The oldest system was six, or less, characters such a LG9899, my first car and AUJ800, my first bike. Then to promote annual sales, the manufacturers requested a year code resulting in GWD607D, a 1966 T100, my first ne...

Jannes, In the UK, the original registration number is related to the year of first registration and the area where it was first registered. After that, the owner can ask for a different number which may mean something to him personally (such as JPS 588 for an F1) or, if following the year/area seri...

Jannes, I share your reservations about Boyer ignition units, but haven't seen many problems with the Power Box. The AN regulator is a typical Japanese/Chinese part where the only faults I've found have been in the wiring connections of the bike, particularly a bad earth connection. On the MK3 Comma...

Hi Jannes, Take care - the regulator pictured by Andover doesn't appear to have a cable for the charging light, only three yellow a/c wires, a red and a black. If you want to retain the charging light, Boyer still manufacture a version of the original Power Box. Search for PBOX00106 which is the neg...