Rotary Owners' Club

Hello DickLong time no hear. Yes your old Commander is in fine fettle and running very well.You really must come to visit the Pacific NW and have a ride on your old bike.Roger

[quote="johnbirchjar"]Had a look on their web site,couldn't find anything about your Commander evil, rgds,J.B.[/quoteIt has been moved to the REALCLASSIC history pages as it was a bit big for FBGo to Realclassic then see list of all makes that have been covered. Click Norton, it should sho...

The current issue of the USA magazine MOTORCYCLE CLASSICS has a nice six page write up of my Commander.I met up with Journalist Robert Smith of Vancouver Canada for him to do the story.Some great photos, lotsa history and well researched tech stuff. It can be seen on www.motorcycleclassics.com.Roger

I welded a boss on the front of both sides of my Commander. Fitted a pair of on/off taps equipped with spigots. Joined the pair of taps with a short hose. They are both set in the ON position so that the left side of the tank will now drain out into the right side. Turn both off and pull off the hos...

It was in a Spanish museum for some years, eventually had a high quality rebuild in 2005 then sold and now I understand that it is has been sold on again.

RJournalists get by with in exactitudes with weasel clause phrases like Alleged, According to sources, given to understand, Common knowledge, and other £quid a time lawyer words.Go on, you know you can do it.R

It requires great patience but you MUST get it all out, Is it possible to put a tiny camera in there R???

JBThe us gallon and quart are 20% smaller in volume than the UK gallon. A bike returning 40mpg US equates to 48mpg UK.There are also differences in US ton and UK. The US ton is 2000 lbs or short ton. The UK long ton is 2240 lbs. The metric ton is 2204 lbs. The US auto industry was dragged screaming ...

Actually R it is not possible to buy US oil by the pint, most have no idea what it is. It all comes in Quarts.However the Silkolene comp 2 is a exception, it is clearly marked US pint I buy it by the case of 8 per case. I have marked the Commander dip stick in pints down from the full mark.R

Have not done enough miles on air cooled rottaters but my commander requires a pint every 250 miles.Know nothing about kilometres and litres as we have not been inflicted with all that euro speak over here.Roger

IanPut me down for one if I am not to late.Roger

DeanThe sure fire cure for head shakes is to fit a radial front. My preference is Michelin road three with a Bridgestone B45 or Avon rear. The Radial transforms the handling. I have used this on other head shakers with the same very positive results.In uk this practice is forboten but is there any o...

SteveSounds like it needs a new seal.Roger in the Pacific NW

Where were you all? my Commander was the only Norton Rotary there, caused quite a stir.Superb ride from here in Spokane, 700 miles there, 800 back because I took the exquisite Wyoming high country passes through Ten Sleep and up to Yellow Stone Park. Thirty minutes after leaving Buffalo I was up at ...

Thanks WayneBeen there done all that.With the reduction in plates I had to arrange stack height very carefully. I have it bang in the sweet spot of operating in the "flat" area.Steel springs are brand new Commando, they are much thicker than Commander and a flat as a pancake, likewise the ...

I placed my new spring face to face with the old one. Put them in my press to see comparison. The old one was completely flat before the new one had hardly started to deflect. The new one was so much stronger.The new one was just .002" thicker than the old one so it may have been different stee...

Thanks for advise Derek, appreciate it.From the get go this Commander has suffered from neutral selection problems..With recommended fluid it was a nightmare. The clutch has been pulled out so many times that I am considering wing nuts on the cover. It is hydraulic operated so first efforts were to ...

I recently fitted a new diaphragm clutch spring to my Commander. Result was that I had to have a left paw like Odd Job crushing Bonds golf balls. It was at least 30% heavier than the original spring which already bordered on the heavy but manageable. Has any one any experience of modifying a Command...

I have used the beads on bikes and my motor home for years with great success.The MH weighs 15 tons and is fitted with big truck wheels and Michelin's.The fronts developed a mild buzz at 55-65 which no amount of balancing could cure.My truck tyre dealer advised fitting a 1/2 lb bag of beads inside e...

All this talk of TWO taps on the Commander. Mine is a pain in the rectum because it has only the right side vacuum operated tap, reduces range to a few leagues, not much good out here on the frontier with gas stations half a State apart. What is this gizmo that Richard is blamed for???? I want oneRo...

Florida Mike has it well covered this side of the pond. RV buyers are the worst effected. Due to the complexity and dozens of differing factory warrantees on all the individual outside suppliers the "coverall" extended warrantee even at very high cost is a easy sell. Don't touch extended w...

The Thot Plickens.Wayne I see a frame head stock but it is too small to see any numbers of any sort.Needs a close up???R

Sorry Graham, my pork sausage like fingers triped in a G instead of a H in your nameR

The one listed at the recent Las Vegas auction has several claims to its provenance made by the auction house on its blurb. Some would seem to be the usual auctioneers hype and vague terminogical inexactitude. However some claims are very clear and specific. It states that the bike was acquired by G...

Over here (Pacific NW) some clubs have got a grip on the show only situation by insisting that all bikes entered in the conkers must have completed the road run first.Another idea is for the judges to narrow their choice down to a three or four bike short list. The owners then are called to start th...

A "Trailer Queen" is a term givern to bikes that are over restored for show only and extreemly low or no miles factory new museum pieces that are habitually trailered to shows etc instead of riding. Many show bikes never have fuel or oil put in them, certainly never to be started, let alon...

My assumption is that the owner is REAL proud of it and really does not want to part with it unless he gets his nose bleed price. Problem with these ultra low miles "queens" is that riding and enjoying them slashes the market value as each mile is put on.Roger

There is a Classic on fleebay with nose bleed numbers.Starting bid 12000. Buy it now 16000. No bids so far, DUUURR.??? Any bets on it selling or not??Roger

Generally speaking motor fuel here have always been 1/3 of Europe prices per gal. But the last three years the gap has closed up to approx 1/2. However remember that our gallon is 20% less than Imperial.In England couple of months ago I was paying 1.50 queens heads per liter. That translates to abou...

Trucks over here in the good ol US have enjoyed diesel fired cab heaters for yonks. Some are German made, some US. At $4 a gallon no truckers leave his engines running. Cab air is supplied by the engine driven compressor. Refers have a dedicated diesel engine and compressor mounted high up on front ...