Rotary Owners' Club

This was my second Commander. Maybe 80,000 miles on my first one which got a home brew Krauser conversion. Mileage per annum on this one is very patchy. When when I was still working we were clocking up approaching 20,000 miles a year but since redundancy in 2004 followed by carer duties I've not gi...

C'mon be nice John

Considering i bought it new. All of them bar about 10 when I sent a very experienced mate out on it to confirm that the gas shocks were low on gas and whatever road test miles Richard did after the Supreme conversion.

Rave review.

Clive

According to the spreadsheet 96,125 miles at the last fill up. About 140 miles since. Dover and back last Sunday. One day I'll transfer the data from my handy AA motorists record book to the spreadsheet. Time to join the Century of the Fruitbat. 1992 Commander Krauser Supremed by Richard. Need to ge...

That sounds a bit wrong. Measuring mine:- the length from pivot to pad base is near as dammit 13 inches angle of dangle of the side-stand relative to the ground with the bike on its centre stand and pivot play taken up is near enough 40°. natural position when extended with bike on centre stand puts...

The hydraulic clutch conversion fitted by Richard Negus to my Supreme Commander is certainly a bit easier to operate than the cable one. But, for a small handed guy like me, it moved the biting point even further out leaving me working it with the tips of my fingers and a seriously stretched hand. L...

3 rd result from my Google search

https://xjbikes.com/forums/threads/auto ... lem.24791/

We are only allowed two URL per post.

Clive

Assuming the Commander uses the same indicator control set up as the XJ900 I did a Google search for "XJ900 Yamaha self cancelling unit circuit" and came up with some discussions on the Yamaha XJ Motorcycle Forum that might be relevant. Some useful chat about how that self cancelling circu...

Trev Basically should be OK to arrange a stiff push fit in a 1/2" diameter hole if the light body is plastic. Probably best to start with a 12 mm one and ease out a touch or if its a fraction slack in 1/2" a bit of silicone sealer ought to hold it. But check the actual diameter of the bulb...

Trev The LEDS I got from Amazon were OPP ULITE H3, currently 19.99 a pair. https://www.amazon.co.uk/OPP-ULITE-Extremely-Replace-Daytime/dp/B08LV999WP/ref=sr_1_3?crid=25G1GGAOVW81K&keywords=OPP+ULITE+H3+LED&qid=1656855159&quartzVehicle=1506-1781&replacementKeywords=opp+ulite+led&s...

Tony I salute your Google Fu skills. I spent ages trying to track the light units down before giving up and making my own LED adapters. My LEDs draw less than half the current, 2 amps (ish) the pair rather than the 5 amps for the standard ones which is nice. Wonder what the quoted 250 hour lab test ...

I thought the front running lights were sealed landing lights for light aircraft so the bulbs were not replaceable, whole unit had to be changed. Anyway when I finally got my hands on a front panel and light unit for my Commander, which was originally made with blacked out lower screen and no light ...

Thinking about this the cover being proud of the seal in the middle indicates that it is slightly over bent. As you have an original glass cover the bend could be roughly checked against the glass one by laying it against both outside and inside. If the perspex cover is clear of the glass one in the...

Gentle heating does the deed. I've bent perspex with a wide nozzle on my old Black & Decker hot air paint stripper. Low setting I think but probably 20 - 30 years back so memory may be failing. Kept it moving and arranged things so the piece I was bending settled under gravity. Not sure that I'd...

Southco do a zillion or so different types in with all parts sold separately so you can build up the right combination of barrel length, cam arm length and fixing style. Being an industrial supplier the locks might be better quality than those from Screwfix and other DIY, E-Bay et al suppliers. I'm ...

What size tyres are you running and what make of damper assembly? Even when brand new the standard clearance at the rear tyre isn't much. Perhaps 3/4" at most if memory serves me right I think Hagon damper units are a little longer than the standard Koni ones, maybe 1/4" at most. Not much....

Sounds like too much of a scratch risk with nice shiny fresh paint. If my memory is correct fitting, or attempting to fit, the front mudguard with the wheel in place is on my don't try that again list! I simply don't recall whether that was because it was a right palaver and not worth the fuss and e...

In my view the easiest and neatest 4 pot retrofit is the Yamaha FJ1200 et al calipers. Very small and simple bracket to span the gap between caliper top bolt and fork boss. Caliper fits on bottom boss and lays back about an inch at top boss. Caliper bosses need thinning about 1/8" to centralise...

Don't know if they do direct to customer sales but Southco list the full range of Dzus fasteners. Pretty sure ours are the D4 Standard Line breed. Relevant catalogue pages are here :- https://files.southco.com/static/Literature/d4.en.pdf Google finds a few retail suppliers but its generally not clea...

Sorry John. Didn't manage to get out today. Job that has to be packed tomorrow blew up in my face! 3 am "That will be quicker and easier" idea was anything but. Wasted ages going all round Robin Hoods barn with lots of cut'n try thrown in 'cos I forgot that 5/16 BSF and M8 use same size ta...

Hi John Its not in his stock list. Eastbourne is just down the road from me so maybe I'll take a run down on Saturday, if it doesn't rain and I've gotten Jody's Bimmer race car bits finished, to take a gander at what he has. Prices seem outrageous to me. But then I bought my bikes to ride, not polis...

Being less than impressed by the thickness of the specified SAE 140 oil, I expected to need a spoon not a pourer to get it in, I switched to Castol R 40 after my first gearbox rebuild following the advice of an acquaintance who found R the only way to keep a Burman box on a Vincent sprinter in one p...

Looks as if the teeth are proper full depth involute form rather than the modified versions the Japanese seem inordinately fond of. If so it might be possible to find a stock gear from folk like HPC with enough meat on it to be modified so a sprag clutch fits. If you can't find a stock gear cutting ...

Moly coating is basically there to prevent seal / sideplate scuffing when there is insufficient lubrication around. As when starting up after the engine has been stationary for long enough to allow all the oil to drain off the plates. The references I've seen suggest that oil persistence is pretty g...

O ring holds it too firmly if its not been properly fitted with a smear of red rubber grease. Not convinced by WD40 as a releaser. WD means water dispersant not lubricating or releasing. Despite widespread use its crap at both. Plus Gas is usually better although it will most likely damage the O rin...

Being unimpressed with the cooling (non) arrangements and dubious of the reliability of older electronic ignitions I fabricated a slot in "holster" out of sheet alloy for the standard ignition box and stuck it to the front of the tank. A tension spring across the front kept the box in plac...

Combining Internet searches with old fashioned books and some hopefully correctly recalled conversations with various folk who I had reason to believe had real knowledge I think the thinking behind SU needle bias is as follows. As John says it all started with trying to meet emissions requirements. ...

I reckon the hydraulic clutch on my Supreme is a bit lighter than the original cable operation. I have small hands so there were always issues with getting the biting point close enough to the handlebar to have decent control without being so close that the clutch dragged even with the lever right b...

There may be issues with parts supply for motorcycle dampers. Koni pulled out of the motorcycle damper business around 2000 / 2001. Ikon bought the rights to use the technology and started making very similar units. Distributor is Ikon Shocks UK :- https://ikonshocks.co.uk . They still list a fitmen...

Hard to use too much loctite as any squeezing out of the joint doesn't go off. More likely to be the wrong grade. The high strength varieties are strong and bonding area in a thread is considerable. Folk in general have no feel for the relative strengths of strong point fastenings, like bolts, and w...

When the float is lifted by more fuel flowing into the float chamber it compresses the spring which pushes the float needle up onto the seat shutting off flow when the maximum level is reached. So the spring actually operates the valve but the float has to rise high enough to compress the spring eno...