Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Suzuki RE-5, which added considerably to the red ink of that corporation. Successful rotary history has been made by the Mazda RX-7 , with over a million of these sporty cars sold, a n d the German Hercules motorcycles, which had a 300cc rotary engine that was in production for six years in the late 70s. A lot of buyer resistance to the rotary principle has been evident, especially in the motorcycle world. Norton is out to change all that. The many-sided tale of the Norton continued after the demise of the Comando in 1976. In 1978 the company, and David Garside, moved to Shenstone, a small town in the Midlands near Birmingham, to work on the , development of the rotary powerplant. In 1983 the first lot of 50 rotary-powered Nortons were ready for sale - to the British police forces. In 1985 Philippe Le Roux, an Englishman with a French name, bought the operation. In 1987 the company, offically called the Norton Villiers Group, went public, offering 5,000,000 . pounds worth of shares .. . much as HarleyDavidson had done the year before. Norton appreciates that the rotary principle can be applied to more uses than just motorcycle engines. The ' ro tary is merely another variation on the internal combustion engine, although considerably lighter and freer of vibration than the reciprocating variety. The most influential market will probably be in the .a via tion world; a U.S. company, Teledyne Continental Motors, has already signed a IO-year exclusive agreement with Norton for use of the rotary in light aircraft. The engine can also provide a stationary source of power, and has marine uses such as in outboard motors. Le Roux appreciated that the name "Norton" was best known in its motorcycling guise. After all, it dates from before the turn on the century, when James L. Norton sold his first motorized bicycle. Being a good, strong corporate image, it was wise to keep that image alive. Though not the most profitable aspect of the anticipated rotary business, it would certainly be the most visible. ' Over the years various British police forces acquired hundreds of these rotaries, called the interpol, and have been quite happy with them. Inside the full fairing sits the air-cooled engine with two side-byside cylinders, fed by two constantvacuum SU carburetors, for a total displacement of 588cc. The frame is a pressed-steel monocoque construction, the transmission has five speeds, and final drive is by totally enclosed chain. According to several sources, the rotary maintenance record has been as good as, 'if not better than, that of the BMW R80 models which the police also use. In 1987 the factory sponsored a home-brewed team to go club-racing on the Bri tish circui ts wi th what amounted to a basic engine with modified intake and exhaust. The compression ratio was left at the standard 7.5:1, namely because upping it on a rotary means casting a new cylinder; no way to shave the head on this engine. The frame and brakes are by the British racing firm of Spondon, in Derby. The bike, called the RC588, has impressed everybody, riders and competition and viewers alike. The engineers estimate the mildly tuned engine was putting out over 130 hp (versus around 80 hp when stock), and that is just the beginning, running at a modest redline of 9500 rpm. There is no reason why this crank can't be spun to 13,000 rpm and even higher. With no reciprocating forces, vibration is virtually nonexistant. In 1988 the factory went for a little more glamour and entered the Isle of Man; there were some teething problems, as had to be expected, but Norton finished 33rd in a field of 120. Respectable for a first time out. Since then rider Trevor Nation has gone to show his heels to the 750 Superbike class on other British circuits. In the fall ' of 1987 100 lucky customers got the opportunity to buy a civilian version, when Norton offered the rotary, as the unfaired Norton Classic, for sale at the big annual British motorcycle show. They were snapped up - even at $9000 apiece - within days . A fair price for an instant collectible. Only 100? Why limit the production? Here's the reason. These were all air-cooled models, and in 1988 Norton began liquid-cooling the rotary. The only problem the company had found with the air-cooled engine was that several police bikes, which have really been serving as rolling test beds for the previous five years, had crank bearings seize due to over-heating. Inside that large police bike fairing there was no place for heat to go when patrolling heavy ' city traffic all day long. Heat should not be of any concern on the unfaired Classics. However, liquid-cooling has solved the problem entirely, according to engineers. The liquid-cooled Norton is called the Commander, and British police forces and the Royal Automobile Club have already begun to buy the single-seat models. Already the twinseat civilian models have begun to reach the affluent public - at $14,000 a unit, The Commander weighs in at about 560 pounds wet , with 18-inch wheels and a wheelbase of 58.5 inches, full sport-touring fairing and built-in saddlebags. everybody will get his or her chance to buy one. This Norton motorcycle is no rehash of old ideas, no appealing to nostalgia, no evocation of the past. This is new. This is impressive. This might well work. James Lansdowne Norton would approve. This, then, is the heart of the irid igenous British motorcycle industry, these three names: Triumph, dating back to 1903; Matchless, going back to 1899; Norton, back to 1898. These are noble names; they 've done their time, they 've won their races, they've proved themselves. Now new machines with these old names are being offered for sale. Some buyers, a few, will be moved to open their wallets by virtue of what is written on the side . of the tank. Most will buy these motorcycles because the machine suits their idea of what constitutes good entertainment. Horsepower is rated at 85 hp at 9,000 rpm , with 55 .6 foot/pounds of torque at 7,000 rpm. The Commander is not available in the United States yet, so do not go and harass your Norton dealer. The people at Norton are definitely partial to the buying power of 10 million American motorcycle enthusiasts, but the company is going to produce only a limited number of motorcycles every year. A ' la r ge market exists in Europe, followed by all the overseas possibilities stretching from Australia to the United States. Each country will require a distributor and dealers, and these will be set up in an orderly fashion. Patience. An even more exotic item, which debuted in prototype form at the Earl's Court show in London this last October, is the P55, a street-legal sports version of the RC588 racing rotary. The entire is tuned to develop something over 100 horsepower, and weight is rumored to be in the vicinity of 400 pounds. It comes dressed in very flashy clothing. The production of this model will be very limited, and won 't even begin until late 1989. And even more expensive - probably around $20,000. The rotary is coming, but don't expect it in the United States this year. Chances are this motorcycle will be around for a long time, and The Harris Matchless G80 wants to duplicate, in modern terms, the fun of the old single - lightweight, torquey, where the skill of the rider counts as much as the power of the engine, with the pleasant thrum and , hum that a rider wants on a country lane, working the throttle and the gearbox and listening to the muted exhaust bouncing off the pavement. The Triumph twin soldiered on for half a century, but it is now in limbo. The Triumph name is destined to live on, but in quite what guise we do not know yet. Triumph (Coventry) has got something up its sleeve, that is for sure. It is just that ' we won't know what it is until John Bloor is ready to show it to us. Norton has looked down a different road, and seen that it goes over , a far horizon. The new rotary engine . promises to be strong and reliable - if a bit unusual to the conven- t tionaI thinker. New motorcycles do not always have to appeal to the tens of thousands; a factory can exist quite happily, and profitably, building ! machines for a much smaller group. Riders buy their machines for all manner of reasons - speed, comfort, style, power, price, or for those less > definable reasons that exist solely within the viscera . "It feels right. It I sounds right. I want one." Whatever the future portends, be assured that as long as there is a Britain, there will be a British motorcycle. -

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