norton motorcycles (uk) ltd

[cornishman]

update from the norton owners club mag received today, an interview with stuart garner .He says that brian crighton has left ( we knew that ) and we have new people in and engine development in the last couple of months has moved faster than it did in the previous 12 months ,complete with oil cooling to succeed with emissions testing .I wonder how long until we see it in production

[Interpol2471]

That will be never then, and I would suspect complete propaganda to cover the sad loss of Brian who knows these engines just about better than anyone, except for Richard of course

[Richard Negus]

Brian who knows these engines just about better than anyone, except for Richard of course

Very kind of you Paul, but I'm sure you remember that without Brian's vision, there wouldn't have been any Norton rotary racing and the Norton history would have been very different.Please forgive my lack of posting recently; I've been feeling a bit Mr Grumpy more than usual so thought it better to desist for the time being.

[johnbirchjar]

Hi guys, I too have just read the latest offerings in "Roadholder" and I too wondered about "internal oil cooling" surely Brian C (or Richard) must have pondered long and hard about this? and do's anyone know what system the Mazda car uses?Changing direction,as is my want,I have pondered in the past as to why rotory engines are so expensive? after the initial tooling the cost of production must be peanuts compaired with a twin piston engine, let alone a four pot!! I remember discussing this with Del Boy some years back and him telling me that Nortons did a questionair to the general public on how much they thought a fair price would be for their new rotary,(I don't know what model)anyway, it toped up about half as much again as the price that D.B. thought was fair.(I expect I will now get lessons in ecconomics & spelling, my spell- check do'nt work on e-mails) regards,J.B.

[Dell Boy]

Nortons in, I think 1985, showed the Aurora? at the T.T. & I filled in a questionaire about it & answered the question "What price do you think it will be?" with £3,500. Big japs at the time were about £3,000 I think. The Norton guy nearly had a fit & said it would be between £ 5,500 to 6,000. Of course I nearly fell over then. I recall someone telling me around then that the Norton rotary engine had only 166 parts in it including all nuts & bolts etc. & the frame was a simple box that a Y.T.S. trainee [remember them] could weld up so I reckoned it would be a very cheap motorcycle to manufacture even in low volumes. A good design feature on that prototype was the whole rear section of the mudguard assembly lifted up & I think stayed up because it was spring loaded to make removing the rear wheel a doddle. I was very impressed with that feature. Shame it didn`t progress to the production bikes. Any more knowledgable input on that period out there? Derek.

[Dell Boy]

I have thought since the last T.T. that it was time for new blood/ideas/vision? to get involved in the rotary bikes because it appeared to me, as an interested outsider, that things were stagnating. Seeing Brian there, looking to me, by his body language, very disheartened did not fill me with good expectations of the Rotary effort at the T.T. or for the future. Derek.

[johnbirchjar]

The idea of the number plate swinging up did progress to the Classic,but,unfortunatly, not spring loaded,( do all rotaries have this fitment? )J.B.

[rotaryart]

There are just a few small companies still looking at small rotary engines, and Im still a firm believer that there is still something more to come from rotaies.Its ok having ideas but its another thing finding the funding to produce and test and develop further, then protect it.In my perfect world, Id ask all the rotary knowledge in to one room and start fresh, new blood is good if with the right mix old magic.I guess prices are reflective of tooling, cost of development and limited runs in small numbers.If someone like Mazda gets involved and mass produces then the cost on an engine is very cheap compared to a piston engine, especially if you talk performance engines.Great Mazda video on there manufacturing processhttp://www.mazda.com/mazdaspirit/rotary/howto/

[Interpol2471]

The IP2 has the flip up rear mudguard but it is held by an elastic strap Norton special tool xyz1234567qbc lol