Featured In the October 2023 issue of Roadracing World:

        It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was part of a small design and development team working on a new Wankel rotary engine- powered Norton, but actually it was 47 years ago! 

        The bike was to have an air-cooled Wankel twin-rotor engine and monocoque-style steel frame. By 1980 the bike was still not in production and I emigrated to the USA; 12 years later I read that a Wankel-powered Norton racer had won the Isle of Man Senior TT, the first time a Norton had won the race since 1961!

            “Historic Racebike Illustrations: 1992 Norton NRS588,” by Mick Ofield

            In 1982 Norton produced a batch of air-cooled rotary bikes for police use, followed up in 1987 by a run of regular street bikes. Norton hired Brian Crighton as service manager, and he quickly realized the rotary would have great potential as a race engine. Management was not convinced but eventually allowed Brian to work in his own time with a police bike test mule. The rest, as they say, is history—and historic. Read the details in the latest issue of Roadracing World!

Roadracing World & Motorcycle Technology magazine is available in print and digital formats.

PREVIEW  October 2023 Issue of Roadracing World

Click to SUBSCRIBE NOW ! Or call (909) 654-4779, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday through Friday.

—Read the October 2023 issue of Roadracing World & Motorcycle Technology with your online subscription. Log in HERE

Available at Cycle Gear and other motorcycle retailers.

Visit www.roadracingworld.com daily for breaking news and events.

Like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/roadracingworld

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com @roadracingworld

Follow us on Instagram https://instagram.com @roadracing_world

Click here for Roadracing World sample issue (One sample issue per household, U.S. address only.)