Rotary Owners' Club

Hello Mike, apologies I was thinking of my Commander which does have a fuel filter. It sounds like your fuel system is good and I don’t think a carburettor fault would have given you your symptoms so I think it is an Electrical problem. Electrical connections can be a problem on motorcycles and we e...

Hello Tony, My 1989 Commander has now covered 247,000 + miles and still with the original rear chain. It’s an ex Welsh Police bike which I converted to Krauser just after I bought it in 1999 with 33,000 mile on it. Last year I had it tested for ULEZ compliance which it passed so I can continue to co...

Hello, Yes, just loosen the screws and rotate the retaining plate out of the way and you will be able to pull the fuel feed unions off to see if you have fuel. If you still have the original fuel filter fitted check the end hasn’t reduced in size due to modern fuel by pulling off the fuel hose and c...

Hello Philip, Your symptoms sound exactly the same as those on my bike which actually turned out to be very easy to rectify. My bike would click into gear with an very positive sound and action but unexpectedly jump out of gear. It turned out to be just two broken “pedal return springs” (57-0404) on...

Hello Roy, After reading your post I checked my bikes. I found the silencers on my Classic are black chrome and look ok on the areas which you can easily see but shabby low down so could probably do with a spruce up. I found my Commander which I’ve had from new has painted silencers and not looking ...

Hello Sid, By the looks of things you can purchase directly from Auto Sparks. I tried on line and all seems good. You can also buy the AMP multi pole connectors from them too same as the ones Norton used on Interpol’s, Classic’s and Commanders. Spare brass terminals are widely available on the inter...

Hello Sid, Naturally Graham would be first choice for parts but as he is out of stock these are made and still available new from Auto Sparks. Part Number MC430PP, £145.94 including V.A.T. delivery is £5.10. Also available from http://www.tms-motorcycles.co.uk/store/products/list.asp?cat_id=234 TMS ...

Hello Jannes, Whilst looking on the web site of “we buy any bike” where your Classic came from I looked at the Commander advert knowing that this also came from Bill and guess what? The handlebar Norton Decal from your bike is stuck to the fairing and clearly shown in the photos. So, did the other m...

Hello Jannes, It’s good to see you back on the forum and with a very nice Rotary Norton too. I know of this bike. Shortly after the original owner died I had contact with the family, I am under the impression it comes with a lot of spares, I’ll dig out what details I have on this bike for you. A cou...

Hello Laurie,

I have found this repair manual for the KM48 on line.

Try this link.

http://foxed.ca/rx7manual/manuals/sachs.pdf

Kind regards, Joe

Hello JB, What exactly is the problem you are experiencing, are you sure its an ignition issue? Ballast resistor is a usual suspect and can be bypassed by temporarily connecting together the two electrical terminals. This would usually manifest itself by only allowing the engine to run with the igni...

Hello Mick,
How about Spa Bikers’ Classics on July 5th -7th 2019 Not too far and Wiz Norton should be there too.
http://www.bikersclassics.be/

Regards, Joe.

Hello, The dates for the Wankel Treffen 2019 is the 12th - 14th of July. Full details in April. This time though it is being held in 53567 Kölsch-Büllesbach (near Bonn) a place where we’ve visited before, back in 2010. Gerald and I only attended for the day because my bike broke down on the Dartford...

Hello Tony,
I think I may have a new pair which I bought from Graham many years ago but never used. I’ll see if I can find them over the weekend.
Cheers, Joe.

Hello JB, I’ve done this job a few times now and the key has always been a tight fit in it’s groove so never presented a problem. Are you saying it’s loose, if so I would suggest there is a problem? Turn the eccentric shaft so the key way is at the top this should help to keep it in place. Good luck...

Hello JB,
Apologies for not replying earlier. Yes, the startright box was made by Julian Kemp at Minimag.
Regards, Joe.

Hello Geoff,
Oh, and welcome to the club.
Joe.

Hello Geoff, Well done on the purchase of your DKW. Let’s see some pics. These are a very rare machine and very underrated. I’ve owned my bike for 14 years and I love it and I’m not too far away from you I’m in Essex. Don’t forget all DKW / Hercules qualify for free road tax and I think now also no ...

Hello Mark / JB, I’ve cut and pasted Richard Negus’s excellent explanation of how it all works from his posting of July 10th 2013, I hope you don’t mind, Richard. Does explain all. In the original Boyer, the orange wire starts from the starter motor terminal of the solenoid and is only live when the...

Hello Mark, This is almost definitely the ballast resistor breaking down probably through old age, heat or a combination of the two. The ballast resistor is installed on the coil mounting plate and it directly feeds both coil + terminals from the ignition 10amp fuse. As a quick fix you can remove bo...

Hello Bill,
I have sent you an email and PM with details of this years WankelTreffen.
Many thanks, Joe

Hello Dave,

Photo’s emailed to you Saturday as promised. If you need any more or better pics, feel free to ask.
Many thanks, Joe

Hello JB, From memory I think it's 5 1/2 litres of coolant for the standard Commander with 50% antifreeze. Your not using a standard radiator so it will be a different quantity. Love the idea of waterless coolant, I've been thinking about usuing it since seeing it on TV's Car SOS or something simila...

Hello JB,
Contact Kev Traynor again he uses a different rad. in his Commander engine'd Kwak ZZR400. He was telling me about it recently but I cant even begin to remember what it came from, sorry.
Regards, Joe

Hello John, It's not your usual question for the forum sounds a bit specialist to me. Anyway, I assume you plan to fit an electric water pump. Kev Traynor has already done this along with a few other members such as Richard Negus so why not tap them up for details, maybe not Richard just yet as he's...

Hello Mike,
I'm glad you got it sorted in time.
It's great news there are still companies left which offer an excellent service.
Thanks for the company's contact details.
Regards, Joe.

Hello Graham, Try Julian Kemp at Minimag, he make the ignition units for our Norton's. I've commissioned him before to build an ignition for a different bike, first class service, brilliant product (easier to start than the original ) and competitive price to boot. Not to mention he's a really nice ...

Hello Ned, Try shorting the two connections of the ballast resistor together, it may be breaking down when hot though usually it would start whilst the starter button is depressed and cut out when the button is released. Shorting it out will supply a full 12volts to the coils rather than six but It ...

Hello Zed, Unfortunately I haven't ridden a bike since my head injury back in February so I can't actually recal any weave. I am however going out tomorrow for ride so I'll look out for that and report back. The Russian bike in the Epitrochoid is a MotoProm and owned by Swis member Hans Peters. He h...

Hello Zed, Just another thought. I have had to replace the water pump shaft on my Standard Commander every 10,000 miles, the seal rarely went, something must be wrong. On my 210,000 miler I rebuilt the water pump when I Moody's it at 33,000 miles and again at 160,000 miles whilst having the other wo...