Ariel Owners Motorcycle Club

Hi All
Could someone be kind enough to let me know their DKY rotor positons (when fitted to cam pedestal)? I have two cam pedestals, and the slots are in mirror-image positions relative to the locating pins, which suggests there were for different rotational directions. My original distributor was made up of a miriad of mismatching parts, so just need to confirm which is correct. Please see pics (both of same pedestal, one with rotor fitted).

Cam

The pics show the same orientation for the rotor arm and cam as my Mk 2.

However, even if it was the opposite orientation it wouldn’t matter, as when you are setting the ignition timing up from scratch you put the distributor in to the crankcase so it is approximately right, then just turn it so the points are opening for number 1 cylinder (which is on a compression stroke a bit before TDC) and the rotor arm should align with the HT lead for the spark plug in the number 1 cylinder.

Hi Paul
Same orientation, just 30 deg different. Believe me, it makes a difference when swapped out for the correct one. My bike had a cam from a completely different unit......not to mention it was in a re-jigged DK2!

Cam

Ah, i now see the problem. A cam and rotor that is “out” by 30 degrees won’t work, as you already know.