Rotary Owners' Club

I think the prototype P51's were reverse flow but can't recall how the engine was tied to the frame and how the air flow out of the centre plate was connected to the frame.They certainly had fabricated steel airboxes, with a foam element, above each end plate with the air inlet pipe above the radiat...

Converting air-cooleds to the same oil feed and rotor cooling air system as the Commander is a very good idea in theory. Fresh oil to the main bearings, cool air around the stationary gears - all good things !Doing it in practice is a different matter however ; City of London IP2's often cremated th...

Hi again Graham,A more positive response - but it does seem a case of one or the other (events).Do you know of any special deals on Hull / Rotterdam ? Even allowing for compulsory cabin accommodation from Hull, via Dover/Calais is 1/6th of the price but only 220 miles more (for me).Hull, Newcastle, ...

Hi Graham,Salzburg seemed a good idea at the time - but when casually mentioned to 'er indoors, the response went along the lines of " how long ????!!!".Negotiations are still in progress - but a compromise of Wankeltreffen may be more acceptable.Oh, and I've just come back from four days ...

A word of caution regarding tyre selection.'V'-rated tyres are the only approved grade of speed/load rating for Commanders (and Interpols too ). However, you are of course free to fit whichever brand and speed rating that you choose.If you should be unfortunate enough to make an insurance claim, and...

Hi Tonny,P51 was the Norton project code for the prototype water-cooled version of the Interpol2 ; P52 was the project code of the water-cooled Commander, which was a very different bike to the P51.I believe six engines and four bikes were made, with engine numbers P51/1 to P51/6 ; none survived as ...

Badge engineering is nothing new in the motorcycle world and perhaps BSA Triumph was the worst culprit. To the accountants of the time, using similar components on differing brands and models made sense but the end results were a compromise.The association between Yamaha, BSA and Norton has been goi...

Hi Barney,I confirm that your bike has an NML digital igntion ; the number 1002 on the box indicates it was the second production unit. So far, I think a total of 64 have been delivered.Peter at NML has a box that he can loan you for test purposes; if you phone him, be patient if there's no immediat...

a wonderful Lancaster at full throttle, taxi-ing out to the grass airstrip and back again. The plane does not have permission to fly, but still provides a wonderful glimpse into those far-off days, well worth a visit.best regards dp On another forum, I see that the Victor at Bruntingthorpe also had...

Hi again,I had a look at the parts catalogues and the NML stock & confirm that you have an early spindle 44-0012 with a later sprocket carrier 44-0094 ; the change happened in about 1985.If you wish to correct it, you can either buy the matching spindle 44-0089 or fit a sleeve to yours ; the sea...

Hi,You have a non-matching set of bits !Although sealed bearings will keep assembly grease in the bearings, they don't resist a positive pressure too well and can leak - as you have noticed.The sprocket carrier and spindle were modified to add a conventional oil seal to stop the occasional leak. The...

Hi Andy,The filters haven't been dyno-tested against the standard setup, but I don't think there is any improvement.Induction noise is increased as there is virtually no silencing - so it does make identifying a 'chuffing' engine more obvious.The main benefit is that you never have to buy another fi...

Hi Assen,No problems at all ! NML have done it on many customers' bikes and I have them on my own Commander; carb adjustments not necessary.Initially K&N's are more expensive but they can be cleaned and should last for ever.R.

The story in Epi #88 of the BSA-badged Classic illustrates all too clearly how some person's prejudiced viewpoint can, in the fullness of time, be perceived as a 'truth'. How, in the summer of 1973, Denis Poore was persuaded by the government to take on responsibility for BSA/Triumph (with anuual lo...

Hi Derek,The groove in genuine Brembo pads is a wear indicator ; use them after the groove has disappeared at your peril.The combination of a badly worn disc and worn out pads leads to the possibility of the pad only being retained by the pins when the brake is applied (rather than the braking load ...

Barney,There say a picture is worth a thousand words - how about one of the igntion unit so I'm able to identify it, and not talk even more rubbish perhaps.No over-voltage problem will harm the ignition trigger ; those used by the original Boyer unit (and the Startright digital replacement) are indu...

Hi Barney,Answering queries from rotary owners is no problem to me - but be aware that if you don't get a reply within a day or two, it means I'm away from home. Also be aware - I have been known to speak absolute rubbish !The photo shows something which has been fairly common on Commanders (which u...

Barney,Yup, 15.5v sounds a bit too high.The three blues are the a/c, the reds are duplicated + outputs and the two black/whites are - outputs. The finned casing is just a heat sink and need not necessarily be grounded; the black/whites go to one fixing bolt and, on yours I think, the ring terminal o...

I'm seriously thinking of going to the NOC International Rally at Salzburgring and Steyr in Austria, 18th -26th July, this year on my Commander.Anyone else going ??R.

Hi Barney,Glad you found the problem.As you read in my previous contribution, I have great reservations about long term trickle charging. It may of course be a fault with the bike's voltage regulator - not unknown with the original Kokusan and usually attributed to a bad earth connection at the regu...

Andy,I like Bridgestone BT45's !Let me know about the HID lights too ; I'm suffering the same problem but was put off by the kit price.R.

Barney,It's unlikely to be the starter motor ; battery is the usual culprit. They don't like the standard location, buried under the tank, as they get hot and they don't seem to like constant trickle charging either. Check the acid level.The ignition won't spark if battery voltage drops below about ...

There is a 6-volt gel battery with, I think, 120Ah capacity. I did several F1 Sport battery conversions (may still be a picture on the NML website under 'News') but, as they were too big to go under an F1 body, we went for a single YTZ12 ..... as the standard for both conversions. I don't have the c...

What we really need is two 6 volt batteries in series but I've never come across anything but giant industrial ones. Hi Graham,There is a 6-volt gel battery with, I think, 120Ah capacity. I did several F1 Sport battery conversions (may still be a picture on the NML website under 'News') but, as the...

Andy,The Commander had two batteries in parallel to give extra capacity for police equipment when stopped at an incident. As both civilian and police Commanders had the same rolling chassis, the civilian bikes also had twin batteries. If both batteries are in good condition, no problem ; if one cell...

Hi Andy,All of these Commander upgrades were engineered by Norton Motors at Rugeley with a view to improving the dubious braking and suspension of what is a twenty year old design.To keep the enclosed rear chain and at the same time use a 160/70 ZR17 radial rear tyre meant that the complete power un...

The chain link is THE safety issue with IP2, Classic and Commander. Other things are less significant :-. some IP2 wheels had cracks where the spokes meet the rim, but to the best of my knowledge, none have actually broken in service.. IP2 / Classic genuine Brembo semi-metallic brake pads corrode ov...

Hi Malc,Thanks for the reminder of that incident - your memory is much better than mine !I know many owners use split links and haven't had a problem - but, in my opinion,the consequence of a detached split link far outweighs the minor hassle of fitting a rivet link.R.

Richard did the factory fit rivet links when doing repair work, for instance when my engine was rebuilt in 2002? Is there an easy way to tell or do you have to remove one of the gaitors?Thanks in advance. Paul,If only the engine was done, then the rear chain / gaiters were not necessarily disturbed...