Rotary Owners' Club

A most embarrasing problem. I purchased the instruments for Classic production at the time, using Moto Meter, a German BMW OE supplier, and the next thing we (Norton Motors Ltd) knew was that all the letters and numbers fell off the dials...... Unbelievable.Then again, a while ago we used an English...

Non-Shenstone man? Yes, geographically correct, but I was involved heavily in rotaries as a works outpost and employee/shareholder of a joint venture firm. Guess who did all the emissions testing, not to mention who suggested the technical spec for the F1Sports to overcome the F1 emissions/heat prob...

Richard,At least we now know your involvement with the rotary engines is a myth- they were all built by a young apprentice gamekeeper! So you and Bob please stop to pretend otherwise. The truth always come out, even if it comes out more than 20 years later!

Just received from Nick Hopkins a cutting from the Sunday Times, 04.12.11 (yes, not very current!) "Bank boss gets on her bike", describing how the totally selfless Santander Bank sponsors small, struggling enterprises under the guidance of a Lady who grounded her own enterprise before she...

Dudly the dyno tech thought it would just keep reving and bhp increasing until engine blew up. No, it won't- the bhp increasing, that is. It will certainly rev until eventually the gyroscopic forces make the heavy rotor explode. I seem to remember that happens at about 14.00 to 15.000 rpm. I was to...

The blue F1Sports from e-bay was sold to Germany. the buyer contacted me and has the bike.Nick Papadakis no doubt has a different one- out of the thousands of blue F1Sports produced.....

And I thought Tritons were built because the Triumph chassis was diabolical, and there were Manx chassis at the Forula 500 car builders stacked right to the ceiling that they had no use for.... and later, Model 50 owners sold their gutless wonders to desperate Triumph enthusiasts... but I may have g...

Actually not sure if it is possible to use it- I don't have a 650SS conrod to compare- but a Commando conrod might do the job? Same big end & small end diameter, same length I believe.I must admit ignorance of 650s, never had one, and they are pretty rare in ze Fatherland.Never had a Commando co...

why do they bother.

Distraction?

Wayne, Sorry about the typing error. I also just heard the rider is paid 3.000 Pounds to hurl the contraption down Bray Hill. Rather him than me!

Normally well-informed sources tell me that the chassis is actually one of the Crighton RCW Spondon chassis- now no longer needed- into which the Aprilia engine was transplanted. Spondon had and wants nothing to do with it, I hear.So one could say it is at least a Norton chassis.

Rotor1,Let them try- not my problem. I know the seller of the F1Sport, he is not a crook. He is a dealer who had this idea he might make a killing on the rare bike he just bought. I doubt it will work, but then, who knows? I know of no other F1Sport for sale on the continent at the moment.Joe

Rustynuts,I love it! And very much envy you for getting the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to buy an F1 with desmodromic valve gear. Must tell Richard Negus about it- he never told me they made those! And must look in the Hungerford stores if we have parts left from the development.Still laughing,Jo...

Part# NM25035, is normally available from Andover Norton but I think they are currently out. If nobody else can help, I have some here (germany, Norton Motors GmbH).Joe S.

Thanks, John.Joe

Gentlemen,Thank you for your support and kind words. I am aware we can never get back to the level of support Richard Negus, for me the "father" of the Norton rotary, gave you. Fortunately we can still rely on his advice when we need it. Richard spent 100% of his working day at Norton Moto...

Wust588,Your complaint about the speed of Andover Norton’s service, or lack of it, has been noted and I looked into it. Your order was placed on either Thursday 17th or Friday 18th. Most probably the 17th. Entered onto computer Friday 18th November. Would have been despatched on Tuesday 22nd but Phi...

I think we (Andover Norton) have parts for these still, but you will have to check with Pete Morris via Phil in Hungerford.Joe

Yes, that is the one. I don't think we had another one. This was used- or was to be used, I forget, it is 20 years ago now (!)- to make more fairings. I know we had several seats, but those were of the later type. I think the next season we used the later fairing/seat combination.Joe

We used to have the early fairing bits left over from our first season with P55 0001. I think we sold them in Rugeley at the Norton Motors Ltd clearout, so they must be about in the ROC. If not, I will ask Pete if they are in our stores near Birmingham still.

How about fitting the Andover Norton system? One of the reasons for it was I thought Cravens were c**p.

The F1 was prone to overheating in city traffic as well as the Alps. I rode the bike we were trying to get emissions approvals with for several months in the Munich area and the Alps. I remember one night being blown off uphill by a Norton Classic- the Classic ran far cooler, the F1 was still boilin...

According to the stock list Andover Norton have them in stock.Joe

Wayne,Will discuss with Pete & Richard. If they reckon there is demand we can do something. We are currently restocking on some items that have been out for a long time like control cables, certain gaskets etc, but it takes time because many original suppliers have gone by the wall or aren't int...

Are you serious?

100% parts availability you don't have even with a living manufacturer for a product that is in current production. I see we don't have the P53 (Commander civilian) wiring loom but I think we have the construction board for it so it could be made if you put an order in.We are still sorting parts occ...

What parts do you need that are currently unavailable?Joe S.

And I thought they need all the racing guys for winning in MotoGP.

"No-one thought any less of Mr Van Veen when he used Comotor car engines in his OCR1000 - and I am sure no-one would think any less of Mr Garner were he to go down the Mazda route. (Indeed the prototype OCR1000 did actually use a Mazda engine - from an RX-2 I believe)"Good job VanVeen buil...

Because you use them?