Rotary Owners' Club

All,About two years ago I overhauled the water pump on my Commander, currently and while preparing for the NOC rally in Italy scheduled for May I have overhauled the pump again; bearings are like new and the mechanical seal although a little tatty is still good, also checked the Oldham coupling and ...

John,I am preparing to attend the NOC International rally in Rimini, currently sorting the Commander to hopefully have a trouble free trip. As I stay in Aberdeen it is unlikely that I will be travelling with any other bikes, my route will be via Poole to Cherbourg through France into Italy then back...

John,I spoke to the owner of the blue Commander regarding the master cylinder cover plate, it seems he made the plate himself and owing to advanced years is not interested in making any more, pity as I think it would set my or come to that any bike of nicely.As a matter of interest I first saw the b...

John,Via a convoluted way I have found the contact details of the owner of the bike, if successful in finding out A) if he made the cover himself or B) if he purchased the cover from a supplier I will let you know.I agree with you it would look good on my Commander as well!Tony

All,Re the attached, spotted in Bremen during the NOC International Rally 2014.Anyone know if it is a special or are similar cover plates available?ThanksTony

Richard,I would have to check the clutch drum when I get home tonight as I am not sure if the bearing less circlip can move out towards the clutch plates, if it can then I would suggest a means of ensuring that it cannot move axially is required. I found that when pressing the bearing with circlip f...

Easy when you know (or are told) howNow to find a 6007 C3 bearing with a snap ring groove!!Tony

Richard,Fantastic advice thank you very much.This simple job has had me scratching my head for two nights, as soon as I get home tonight I will following your instructions and will revert with how I get on.Thanks again.Oh and by the way Merry Christmas to you and to all those who read and contribute...

Commander P53I would be very grateful for some help in removing item 13 bearing clutch sprocket as shown page 10 and 11 of the replacement parts catalogue.During the engine and gearbox overhaul I found the bearing to be very rough and coupled with an occasional slip of the sprag clutch decided to re...

Castrol Tection DD 40 and Shell Rotella DD + 40I did use Rotella in my Commander until I ran out then switched to Castrol Tection DD 40, luckily we have some Detroit Diesel generator engines type 8V 92 so have access to as much as I need within reason, before switching I compared the data sheets and...

The original mechanical seal is still available, I fitted one two years ago and have a spare in my tool box, original size seals can be obtained from:John UreFerrier Pumps (Aberdeen) LtdUnit 5 Portlethen Ind EstAberdeen AB1 4PFTel: 01224 782022Seal type 700, size 0127, material code BVPFFI have no c...

Mark,Many thanks for your post, I hope you had a good holiday.I have had some good advice regarding preparing for the trip to Italy and intend sorting the Commander this winter in readiness for what I hope is going to be an excellent holiday.ThanksTony

John,http://www.novaracing.co.uk/index.htmlTony

Roger,Many thanks for the reply, I shall try Andover and Graham as suggested.By the way, did you use the same cooling fan or go for a larger one?ThanksTony

AllI am currently visiting Desenzano Lake Garda with avg. temperatures mid to high thirties, being in Italy has set me thinking about the NOC International Rally next year in Rimini, which I am very much looking forward to, and how the Commander is going to handle such high ambient temperature.This ...

JB,I am going to Wales, red Commander two upTony

Pete,I have sent you a PMTony

Gerry,This will be my second winter so am also new to the rotaries.Last winter I filled an oil feeder with Rotella pushed a length of small bore hose onto the spout removed both plugs and squirted a fair amount of oil into the engine, I then selected first gear and turned the engine via the rear whe...

I have ordered a trigger from Boyer, it is the one with a 5.5mm armature.Chatting to Kevin at Boyer he said they make two triggers one with a short armature and one 5.5mm long, as the armatures are mild steel round bar if I find that it is too long I can cut it to size.Thank you for all your suggest...

J.B.Perhaps this should migrate to technical? in any case thank you for your input which is greatly appreciated.My gearbox rattles when in neutral and in gear with the clutch pulled in it becomes less quiet when taking up drive and whines in all gears except fifth.Regarding oil; I use the grade as o...

Boyer have new triggers in stock but they have two types and I do not want to strip my gearbox cover to check the one as fitted.If anyone has a spare trigger they could please measure for me, the difference between the new ones in stock is the length of the round mild steel armature sticking out fro...

Gripper,I am not an expert and it took me some time to find the misfire on my Commander. If your bike was OK until you cleaned the carbs I would suggest that is where the problem lies.Does your bike pull strongly through the gears does it only bog down in fifth, if you drop it down a gear and give i...

John,Thanks for the reply, I read the article very interesting and good that high quality engineering is still being practised in the UK.I was hoping to find a used but good gearbox that I could fettle over the winter, my gearbox is ok but sounds very agricultural, but from what I have read and been...

I am looking for a gearbox for my 1990 water cooled Commander, any condition considered as long as it is all there.Tony

Graham,Many thanks for your advice on the phone, since first noticing the misfire some weeks ago and in the process of checking all possible causes I have learnt a lot about these bikes; still so much more to learn.I think my rotary is a great bike; it is interesting, challenging and can be a joy to...

i have sorted the misfire; last night I removed the right hand carb including the induction and idle tubes, stripped the carb 'again' made and fitted new joints cleaned both ends of the tube(s) checked the O ring which was luckily not hard boxed it all up cursing the clip that locates the fast idle ...

I have tried, I think, just about everything:The bike pulls well and has no problem when the throttle is opening only when cruising at say 3k to 4k there is a misfire and a very occasional back fireChanged the plugs and checked the plug leadsGW recommended I clean the carbs (done), I will check the ...

GripperThanks for the info.My new filter stood the test of ethanol and is now fitted but it was too late to get the bike out for a test run, once I get the chance to give it a run I will let you know what I find.ThanksTony

I came back from the Shetland classic show with the left hand cylinder oiled up, two new plugs and all back to normal; however:At the same time I found that the left hand air control adjustment screw was different (3.5 turns) to the right hand screw (2 turns) I set both at 3 turns, i.e turn fully CW...

I would think 50 to the gallon from a Commander is a bit unlikely,J.B.See attached fuel receipts.06/04/14 13:26 filled up at Crieff Garage unfortunately no record of amount of fuel06/04/14 16:24 filled up at Shell Keith 11.82 litresTrip on my speedo was 145.1 miles, on Google Maps the route I took i...