Advise sought for purchasing a rotary Norton - triple rotor?

[franz]

Hi guysI am considering buying a Norton Rotary and was wondering what I have to look out for or what common weak point are?Are there any Water cooled ones for sale once in a while? As I only seen air cooled once in the last few month.Out of curiosity has ever anybody attempted to make a triple rotor engine for this bike? Regards Franz

[kanonkopdrinker]

Hello Franz,I believe Graham did a "Buyers' Guide" for rotary Nortons .... have a look at the Startright website, its probably there.I have never heard of anyone attempting a 3-rotor Norton bike engine .... it would make it a little wide, no?There was a 4-rotor Norton engine in a car I believe ... didn't Richard write about it in one of the newsletters? David

[franz]

Hello Franz,I believe Graham did a "Buyers' Guide" for rotary Nortons .... have a look at the Startright website, its probably there.I have never heard of anyone attempting a 3-rotor Norton bike engine .... it would make it a little wide, no?There was a 4-rotor Norton engine in a car I believe ... didn't Richard write about it in one of the newsletters? David

Hi DavidTanks for your reply Checked out the Startright website a bid and found some helpful technical info for checking out the gearbox and engine in general on the Rotary- thanks for that lead.re 3-Rotor: I just fancy the sound of a triple. Had a 1000cc Hyde engine in a Trident. Also find the 20B sound of the Mazda triple rotor attractive.A bid extra power is also appreciated.Too wide? A bid wider yes but probably acceptable.But first things firstFirst I buy a Norton Rotary if I find the right one for me and then if I get my hands on an engine or 2 I give the 3-rotor a shot, unless somebody did it already. No Gain in reinventing the wheel.Regards Franz/AU

[johnbirchjar]

I don't think a three pot rotary would be any wider than a four pot conventional piston engine, (and just think of the fantastic sound a rotary triple would make ) J.B.

[Wayne]

hi Franzas you pm me i will put my reply hearAndover Norton have detaild discriptions on the differant models of norton rotarieswhich is the best, thats open to interpritation of what you want. The F1 can be an aquired taste to ride, i have always liked mine buth there are others who hated theirs and sold them. Then theirs the opiion a f1 sport is better than a F1, in slow trafic it has an edge in that it dose not hunt a at slow speed, i like them both as mutch thoughCommander i cant comment even though i have one i bought it for the engine, its a beast to push about compaird to a F1 though and its tall. Most people who have them seam to like them infact a few who bought f1s and did not like them bought commanders and loved them.The trick is to buy a good one which ever model you buy, if you can take some one who knows rotaries with you, bewair of a seller who wont start the bike once you have proved you are serious buyer ie cash in your hand.Remember the bikes are getting on a bit, stater solonoids, cush drives, ballast resistor, regas shock are all part of the course, and can fail on low milage examples, when given some use. gearbox can be an issue on the commander interpol and classic.Idealy you want a molied engine, Andover Norton have the records of the engines Norton did but graham at start rights also did moly conversions.All can be a joy to own, and a problematic bike sorted out, personaly i would advise buy a std bike and forget building special engines till you get your head round how they work. On all but the f1 engine there is no point in sever tuning ect as the gearbox wont cope. Regards Wayne