A Short History of the Wankel Motorcycles

swooshdave · Nov 25, 2011

http://thevintagent.blogspot.com/2011/1 ... ycles.html

A Short History of the Wankel Motorcycles

A great overview of the Wankel engine and all the motorcycles that used it. Of course the Norton aspect is the most lengthy and relevant.

Such disappointments were rectified in 1990, when Norton finally lived up to its heritage and introduced the lovely 'F1' ('P55'), based on their RC588 racers, then in the midst of a terrific run of success on the racetrack; in 1989 they won the British F1 championship. Only one color scheme was offered, in race sponsor 'John Player' livery of black and gold. Power was bumped to 95hp@9500rpm, from the water-cooled engine. The F1 had issues with heat buildup, as the bodywork almost sealed the engine unit within plastic, and lost quite a few hp when ridden hard. Around 145 F1s were built. Built with a Spondon aluminum twin-spar frame, White Power upside-down forks, a Yamaha 5-speed gearbox, and stainless exhaust, the F1 sold for an expensive £12,000.

Just a short quote, for much more follow the link.

ZFD · Nov 26, 2011

Dare I say it you will find far more- and from the horse's mouth- on our Norton Motors Ltd webpage: www.nortonmotors.co.uk. This includes prototype pictures I bought off David Garside many years ago and the input of Richard Negus, Norton Motors "Chief of Motorcycles" in the rotary production era.
Joe Seifert

beng · Nov 26, 2011

Somebody that has a Norton Rotary or is a fan of them should get this literature from me before it gets any more dog-eared. If anyone is interested PM me.

It is a collection of Norton Rotary papers in a folder meant to sell stock in the company. It consists of a 50+ page book with photos and text detailing the entire company, four copies of a Norton Rotary newsletter with two extra doubles, six pages of specs and info on the racing effort printed on JPS letterhead, what appears to be a regular brochure for Rotary Nortons, and a few other booklets and letters:

swooshdave · Nov 26, 2011

beng said:
Somebody that has a Norton Rotary or is a fan of them should get this literature from me before it gets any more dog-eared.

It is a collection of Norton Rotary papers in a folder meant to sell stock in the company. It consists of a 50+ page book with photos and text detailing the entire company, four copies of a Norton Rotary newsletter with two extra doubles, six pages of specs and info on the racing effort printed on JPS letterhead, what appears to be a regular brochure for Rotary Nortons, and a few other booklets and letters:

I suggest you send it to Joe, if he doesn't have a copy already.

Matt Spencer · Nov 27, 2011

Mutter Fume . 132 mph lap at M.I.R.A. , 1975 .
With the new fangled 1985 Exaust its less feeble .

and one or two people think its UGLY . Gee . . . .

Maybe theyd still be in the upright , if they'd gone for this & volume in 85 rather than the worlds most expensive F 1 .

Earlier competition wouldve been the square case square tank Ducati GTS / darmah . Yes . Right . Well .How about NOW .

Cheesy · Nov 29, 2011

This one would have been seriously cool at the time, in fact if I had the money I would try and build a custom version of this today!

Vulin · Nov 29, 2011

I built and raced a rx7 for a few years. I have always wanted a rotary bike. If I ever have some spare change laying around, and a F1 comes for sale, its mine!

Cheesy · Nov 30, 2011

Vulin said:
I built and raced a rx7 for a few years. I have always wanted a rotary bike. If I ever have some spare change laying around, and a F1 comes for sale, its mine!

The Norton engine looks like a toy beside a Mazda one, Ive got a picture somewhere of a 13b rotor sitting on a Norton plate, there isnt much plate showing....

Matt Spencer · Nov 30, 2011

The Mazda's a bit heavier , but then again , a NVT Triple Rotor would be intresting .

Matt Spencer · Dec 2, 2011

Unclviny · Dec 2, 2011

I have always wanted a Hercules W2000, the quickest car I have ever ridden in was a well-heated-up Mazda Cosmo (an RX7 engine in a car that weighed like a Bug!).

Vince

ZFD · Dec 4, 2011

Bought the Norton factory's W2000 evaluation bike many years ago (1980s), had a test ride, sold it straight on. A dead bockwurst compared to any other rotary (27bhp!), not exciting at all. Years later rode our F1 racebike on the track- 140bhp, 140kg- slightly different performance........ Joe Seifert/Andover Norton

Cheesy · Dec 16, 2011

Here is an end plate sitting beside a Mazda rotor for a size comparison, you may also be able to pick out one of the Nortons weaknesses from the picture

Vulin · Dec 16, 2011

Looks like just plain aluminum. The side and corner seals would eat that material up pretty quickly. Mazda housings are chrome plated and the side irons are nitrided.

Cheesy · Dec 17, 2011

Vulin said:
Looks like just plain aluminum. The side and corner seals would eat that material up pretty quickly. Mazda housings are chrome plated and the side irons are nitrided.

Almost, its a hyperutectic aluminium but the surface is etched so it has a high silicon content and is slightly porous, I never got around to it but the easy fix is to machine the surface back a mm or so and plasma/thermal spray a molybdenum or nickle/silicon/iron based coating and then grind it back. The rotor housings are plated but I dont think that they had the steel insert that the Mazda ones had.

Even though the Mazda stuff looks pretty basic they put a hell of a lot of R&D into it, especially the seals, the apex seals are over twice as hard on the housing wear surface than the bit that sits in the rotor slot, completely different micro structure as well. The corner seals are an incredibly fine grain cast iron while the side seals are a very porous iron.

Matt Spencer · Aug 5, 2012

More Drivle . If SOME TUREYS had put THIS Chassis in production , and realiosed fuel injection waS INVENTED BEFORE 2001 , thw world might be a differant place .

Thats wots unda this .

Strewth , the SIDE COVERS are on Backwards . :? Must be a Norton Now . ! ?

And of course , if its BLUE , its British , is is that B.R.G. . :wink:

Site url , http://thevintagent.blogspot.com.au/201 ... ycles.html

and noteably his spiel is inaccurate regarding the chassis . no resemblance to BSA Bandit / Triumph Furey , or is that . . .

A 1961 Flat Single MANX , external flywheel ( like a Guzzi Falcone NORTON Chassis thgough , or is that HELE . ?

J.A.W. · Aug 6, 2012

Even firing multiples of 3 sound musical, compare a fartingly raucous 2 rotor Mazda with a triple rotor, which has that Trident/H2R/E49/Group A-XJS/Napier Sabre ripping, yet harmonic tone, so - has anyone bolted up 3 Norton rotors en-unit, maybe even the drone mill?