IN
THE
WIND
P30
NORTON DEVELOPING
SUPERCHARGED 650 TWIN!
N
orton's Executive Director
and Head of Design Simon
Skinner has hinted the iconic
British marque is considering
supercharging its yet-to-be-
released 650 parallel-twin.
Skinner made the comments
while chatting to Cycle News
about the 1200cc V4 superbike
project, due to be first shown to
the public at the NEC Show in
Birmingham, UK this November.
"Stuart [Garner, Norton CEO]
has ideas about supercharging
the 1200 V4, but we in engi-
neering want nothing to do with
that¾we'll give it to someone
else to do as a relevant little
project aimed at absolute perfor-
mance," says Skinner. "Super-
charging the 650cc parallel-
twin spinoff from the 1200 V4
is much more interesting and
rational, and we're working on
that right now. A bike weigh-
ing 150kg (330 pounds) with
170 bhp from a supercharged
650 twin would go like stink, as
well as being environmentally
friendly, and better on fuel and
emissions.
"The great thing about
modern-day supercharging is
that you can have variable boost
controlled by the ECU. You put
loads of boost on as standard,
then bleed it off and on as you
need it, but you do it electroni-
cally. We looked at turbocharg-
ing as well, but it's that worry
about the throttle response and
the ability to get it off the line
that deterred us, plus the issues
of greater heat and bulk com-
pared to a mechanical super-
charger."
Should Norton indeed follow
through with the promise, it will
join Kawasaki as the only cur-
rent manufacturer (H2 and H2R)
to have a production super-
charged engine available to the
public.
Alan Cathcart
Skinner (pictured here) is confident
the 650 supercharged twin will be a
massive success.
HONDA 300s
RECALLED
O
wn a Honda CBR300? Then listen up.
American Honda is recalling year 2015-
2016 CBR300RA, CBR300R and CB300F
motorcycles. The affected motorcycles may
have an improperly machined crankshaft
which may result in the failure of the connect-
ing rod bearing retainer. If the connecting rod
bearing retainer fails, the engine may stall, in-
creasing the risk of a crash. Honda will notify
owners, and dealers will replace the crank-
shaft assembly, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin August 31, 2016. Owners may
contact Honda customer service at 1-866-784-1870. Honda's number for this recall is KB9.
You can see the recall here. CN
Honda has issued a recall of its CBR300s.
