Rotary Owners' Club

If the diagram is correct, the bottom relay has both coil terminals connected to ground . . . There are four terminals on a relay - two are the coil, two are the controlled circuit (the contacts).Relay coil connections: Hot (this is where the switch connects to), Ground (to chassis). Power to the co...

Ouch. I've seen that happen on older (mid 60s) BSA's, makes an ungodly mess of the engine. I seem to recall it was caused by excessive advance.But now you have a rolling chassis just begging for an engine conversion - I've seen a Norton Dominator with a 500cc Kawasaki triple in it, all that space ju...

No offense taken, certainly!I was under the impression that the UK MOT was a combination of both the yearly fee (i.e. license plates) PLUS some kind of an inspection of the vehicle with mandatory correction of found faults - evidently I was not correct . . . (was I at least close?)Different states h...

Regarding Florida's no MOT requirement, we found that it simply had a negligible effect on road safety, so why bother with it? It was a HUGE amount of hassle and aggravation for no practical reason, and the costs of the program far outweighed the benefits. It simply didn't work, so we binned it.It d...

MOT testing . . .This assumes the MOT person knows what he's looking at. I remember taking a Saab 93 two-stroke through Florida inspection and failing because "the rings are shot, it is smoking". The inspector didn't know what a two-stroke engine was, so I went to another inspection statio...

Tom,How the heck did you get this thing past the NTSB? "Exhibition only" category? (Or is US Customs still looking for you? Very Happy)Some years ago I "federalized" a 1968 MB 280SL, got my "one free hit" on emissions but had to change/add a number of very minor things ...

First time I saw the surface discharge plugs was in 1969 (or so) when they were widely touted as THE answer for plug problems for the Kawasaki 500 and 750 triples. I owned a bike shop and more than a few of our customers rode these bikes. We ordered in several boxes of them, customers bought them, a...

I just thought these plugs as they work similar to the old surface discharge type may have been of interest cry And you are quite correct.Please understand that I am slamming THEM, absolutely not YOU. I think it was Thomas Edison who was talking about the difficulties he was encountering in trying ...

Underwhelmed. Utterly underwhelmed.If this stuff worked, every car and bike manufacturer on the planet would be all over it in a New York heartbeat . . . a five percent horsepower increase just by swapping the spark plugs? No other changes needed? There are automotive engineers who would gleefully s...

Mick,Thanks for the info on the idle stabilizer plumbing, that will help me. I've checked the module and finds it holds pressure, which I'm told is the check for good/bad. Don't know if it moves yet - we'll see.I still have to figure out the autolube plumbing - mine is a '75 with the pump. I think i...

Interesting device . . .The transmission appears to be out of an early 50's 250cc single (R25/3) because it has the hand neutral finder lever and the open drive shaft coupler (shiny band at the rear of the transmission) and no air filter housing on top as with the twin cylinder bikes. The final driv...

I'd like to know, too.And while we're there, where do the various vacuum and oil hoses go? I have the screw-in idle stabilizer capsule and it checks good, what does it connect to? (I suspect the vacuum tap on the inlet manifold.) I also lack the autolube plumbing diagram.Inquiring minds want to know...

A helmet doesn't make us invulnerable. It protects our tender noggins, which really ARE surprisingly tender - walking into a wall at just 3 mph can actually kill you, if you do it just right (or just wrong, as the case may be).What a helmet really does is keep you from banging your brains out as you...

Rare, but it happens. As you say, dropping a spark plug on a hard concrete floor will ruin it. This really hurts when it is a brand new $50 aircraft spark plug (but it would hurt more after takeoff). Too much anti-seize will wreck a plug as well, if you get any on the porcelain insulator, the plug i...

Supplying a wiring harness to a customer where English isn't the language . . . Think IKEA - picture instructions. Also take a peek at/into any late model "world car" (Ford Focus, etc.) to get some idea of the symbols used for high beam, low beam, horn, etc.Label the ends of each wire, if ...

There's someone over there in Blighty who makes replacement wiring harnesses for all kinds of unusual/rare/antique bikes and cars. Not awesomely expensive, if I recall.Shame I'm not over there, I could probably sort this out in a weekend and enjoy doing it. Did a Porsche 914 once with a big Chevvy V...

Local Auto Parts Man . . .Perhaps (and only perhaps) the fuel lines and filters are ethanol proof, but that doesn't help the carb floats, gaskets, O-rings, fiberglass fuel tank and so forth. My experience with most local auto parts guys is that they usually don't even know enough to be dangerous. YM...

Ethanol is a pain in the (you name it). Worst idea of a collection of bad ideas - utter disaster unless you drive a newish car, preferably a generic Japanese sedan, basically a rolling toaster (appliance).Even Al Gore (who tells us he invented the internet) now admits that ethanol isn't worth the tr...

Cruising around Craigslist today, discovered the mother of all ugly fairings (which is my opinion, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I truly think this beholder might be better off with VERY dark glasses) - a genuine, brand new never installed Jackwall (yes, that's really the name of it) fai...

Re: talking b*ll*cks . . .I usually just nod in agreement and then take my leave. There's no point in talking to these morons and much less in arguing with them. You can't teach them anything, nor should you really try, that's not in your job description and it won't be appreciated anyway.I'd really...

Further to the idea of a light bulb under the crankcase, there is a device called a "Thermocube" which looks like a normal three way outlet, and has a thermostat inside. It turns on at 35 degrees F, and turns off at 45 degrees F. If you set one of these up with a standard light bulb or a 1...

Is there a problem getting Shell Rotella T oil over there?I was just in the local FLAPS (friendly local auto parts store) and they have it in liter cans, one gallon cans, five gallon cans, straight 30, and 15W40. They can order straight 40, I think I bought some a few months ago at a 7-11 or similar...

and anyone else with a Deek is bound to have had, 'Is it really 2000cc?' What? It isn't?Customer comes into my shop (Outrider of Miami, back in 1970) and wants to know if I have parts for Honda."Yes, what kind of Honda is it?"Puffs up his (scrawny) chest and proudly announces "A RED ...

When? Where?"Norton Rotaries being a bit thin on the ground in the US" has to be a masterful understatement . . . would you be interested in having a Hercules "fellow traveler" at the rally? Moral support and all that, ya know? Best Regards,FloridaMike

Sounds to me like you're going to be spoilt for choice ;-)Sure beats "Sorry, that's unobtanium, you'll have to scrap the vehicle."Wonder how many other sources will pop up?Best Regards,FloridaMike

Aircraft Spruce sells Dzus fasteners, all sizes, shapes, flavors. You'll need to determine exactly which ones you need. They are based in California, they also have a UK (and German) distributor. Their catalog isn't free, but it is HUGE and makes wonderful reading for anyone interested in machinery,...

Definitely feeling the love out here in Florida regarding my Hercules . . .Went to http://www.hercules-wankel-ig.de/ of which I was a member some years ago. Tried to sign in but cannot find the access codes (one of them was a certain well known brand of oil) and of course my computer thinks the pass...

Look at the bright side - at least you found this the EASY way, as in "Dang, lookie here, guys!"You're quite correct, you could have also found this the HARD way, as in BANG - "OH SH*T!"Back when we used crossbows to hunt pterodactyls I had a motorcycle repair shop on the south e...

Hoarding . . . very gray area here.Having spares for your own bike's anticipated needs in some reasonable mileage in the future isn't hoarding.Having TONS of spares which you'll NEVER use up in twelve lifetimes is hoarding, especially if they are badly stored in a leaky shed and are deteriorating.Ha...

Sounds to me (from here, far, far away, and never having seen one) that this just might be a simple thermistor (positive or negative temp coefficient) plus a tiny potentiometer for the final adjustment . . . ?But why would you need a scope and signal generator to adjust that? Scope + sig gen is for ...