 | |
| Manufacturer | Norton Motorcycle Company |
|---|---|
| Also called | P43 |
| Production | 1987 |
| Engine | 588 cc (35.9 cu in) air-cooled twin-rotor Wankel engine |
| Transmission | duplex primary chain, 5-ratio gearbox, single-row final drive chain |
| Wheelbase | 1,486 mm (58.5 in) |
| Related | Norton Interpol 2, Norton F1, Norton Commander |
The Norton Classic is a rotary-engined motorcycle built in 1987 by Norton as a special edition of just 100 machines.
The Classic used an air-cooled twin-rotor Wankel engine that had been developed by David Garside at BSA's Umberslade Hall research facility. [1] [2] [3] Garside, who had been impressed by the air-cooled single-rotor Fichtel & Sachs engine in the Hercules motorcycle, installed a bought-in F&S engine into a BSA B25 'Starfire' frame as a "proof of concept". This proved reliable and smooth, but under-powered. Having obtained a licence from Felix Wankel in 1972, Garside then created a prototype twin-rotor engine (with F&S rotors) which doubled the capacity of the earlier test "mule". This twin-rotor engine was installed in a BSA A65 frame. [4]
Wankel engines run very hot, [5] so in addition to its very deep cooling fins Garside gave this air-cooled motor interior air-cooling. Air was drawn through a forward-facing filter situated to provide a ram air effect. This air passed through the interior of the rotors and then into a large pressed-steel plenum before entering the combustion chambers via twin carburettors. [6] The plenum (which doubled as the bike's semi-monocoque frame) enabled the transfer of much of the heat to the surrounding atmosphere. The carburation process further reduced temperatures via the process of evaporation. Even so, at 50 °C the fuel-air mixture was still hotter than ideal, and the engine's volumetric efficiency remained somewhat impaired. The eccentric shaft's main bearings and the inlet manifolds were fed by oil-injection lubrication, and the fuel-air mix also carried residual mist of oil from the interior of the rotors, which helped to lubricate the rotor tips. [7]
Source: [8]
While its engine was revolutionary, in other respects, such as appearance, suspension and brakes, the Norton Classic was a conventional twin-shock roadster. The fork stanchions were protected by rubber gaiters; and a full enclosure protected the final-drive chain. The air-cooled Classic was lighter and more powerful than its only Wankel competitor in production, the over-complicated single-rotor Suzuki RE-5 motorcycle (which had liquid-cooled jackets and an oil-cooled rotor).
The Classic was discontinued after a limited production run of only 100 motorcycles, [9] and was succeeded by the liquid-cooled Norton Commander. [lower-roman 1] .
Compared to pistons, the rotors of a Wankel engine are massive and need time to warm up; yet, as NSU found to their cost with their Ro80 car, neither bikers nor car drivers have proved patient enough to give the engines time to reach operating temperature, and this impatience adversely affected reliability.
The Wankel's virtues of smoothness, compactness and lightness should be particularly suitable for aircraft, especially since the start-up procedure and the taxi to the runway gives ample time for warm-up. However, although wankels have been fitted into gliders and light aircraft such as the ARV Super2, such engines are still uncommon in aviation.
Perhaps inevitably, the Norton Classic's Wankel engine was further developed at Staverton into the MidWest aero-engine. The Midwest engine's output increased from BSA's 85 bhp to nearly 110 bhp [10] by improving volumetric efficiency as follows: cooling air was pumped under pressure by a belt-driven centrifugal fan through the interior of the rotors, but then dumped overboard. Filtered induction air at ambient pressure was then drawn into the combustion chambers. [11]
The Wankel engine is a type of internal combustion engine using an eccentric rotary design to convert pressure into rotating motion. The concept was proven by German engineer Felix Wankel, followed by a commercially feasible engine designed by German engineer Hanns-Dieter Paschke. The Wankel engine's rotor, which creates the turning motion, is similar in shape to a Reuleaux triangle, with the sides having less curvature. The rotor spins inside a figure-eight-like epitrochoidal housing around a fixed-toothed gearing. The midpoint of the rotor moves in a circle around the output shaft, rotating the shaft via a cam.
The Norton Motorcycle Company is a brand of motorcycles headquartered in Solihull, West Midlands,, England. For some years around 1990, the rights to use the name on motorcycles were owned by North American financiers.
A dry-sump system is a method to manage the lubricating motor oil in four-stroke and large two-stroke piston driven internal combustion engines. The dry-sump system uses two or more oil pumps and a separate oil reservoir, as opposed to a conventional wet-sump system, which uses only the main sump below the engine and a single pump. A dry-sump engine requires a pressure relief valve to regulate negative pressure inside the engine, so internal seals are not inverted.
The GSX Series is Suzuki's range of sport touring motorcycles powered by four-valve per cylinder four-stroke engines. The first GSX models were introduced in 1980 and represented the next step in Suzuki's four-stroke road bike range after the two-valve GS Series.
Matchless is one of the oldest marques of British motorcycles, manufactured in Plumstead, London, between 1899 and 1966. A wide range of models were produced under the Matchless name, ranging from small two-strokes to 750 cc four-stroke twins. Matchless had a long history of racing success; a Matchless ridden by Charlie Collier won the first single-cylinder race in the first Isle of Man TT in 1907.
A motorcycle engine is an engine that powers a motorcycle. Motorcycle engines are typically two-stroke or four-stroke internal combustion engines, but other engine types, such as Wankels and electric motors, have been used.
The Suzuki RE5 is a motorcycle with a liquid-cooled single-rotor Wankel engine, manufactured by Suzuki from 1974 to 1976. Apart from its unusual engine, the RE5 is mostly a conventional roadster, albeit with some peculiar styling details thanks to Italian industrial designer Giorgetto Giugiaro.
Triton motorcycles were hybrid motor cycles built from the 1950s to the 1970s that involved fitting Triumph engines into Norton frames. Because no factory offered Triton motorcycles, they were typically privately built. However, some UK dealers offered complete bikes. The aim was to combine the best elements of each marque and thus gain a bike superior to either. The name 'Triton' is a contraction of Triumph and Norton; 'Triton' was the name of an ancient Greek god.
The X-engine is a type of pistonless rotary engine manufactured by LiquidPiston of Bloomfield, Connecticut.
Hercules was a brand of bicycle and motorcycle manufactured in Germany.
A plenum chamber is a pressurised housing containing a fluid at positive pressure. One of its functions is to equalise pressure for more even distribution, compensating for irregular supply or demand. It is typically relatively large in volume and thus has relatively low velocity compared to the system's other components. In wind tunnels, rockets, and many flow applications, it is a chamber upstream on the fluid flow where the fluid initially resides. It can also work as an acoustic silencer.
The MidWest AE series are lightweight, liquid-cooled, single- and twin-rotor Wankel engines, with dual ignition, designed for light aircraft. They were produced by Mid-West Engines Ltd. at Staverton Airport, Gloucestershire, UK.
A total-loss oiling system is an engine lubrication system whereby oil is introduced into the engine and then either burned or ejected overboard. Now rare in four-stroke engines, total loss oiling is still used in many two-stroke engines.
An internal combustion engine is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high-pressure gases produced by combustion applies direct force to some component of the engine. The force is typically applied to pistons, turbine blades, a rotor, or a nozzle. This force moves the component over a distance. This process transforms chemical energy into kinetic energy which is used to propel, move or power whatever the engine is attached to.
The Hercules W-2000 is a motorcycle which was made by Hercules in Germany. It was the first production motorcycle with a Wankel engine.
The Norton RCW588 is a Works Racing motorcycle, produced for the 1988 to 1994 racing seasons, initially with an air-cooled version of the road-going twin-rotor Wankel engine used in the Classic soon followed by watercooled versions from 1989.
David W. Garside is an inventor and former project engineer at BSA's Kitts Green research facility. He is notable for having developed an air-cooled twin-rotor Wankel motorcycle engine which powered the Norton Classic road bike. Although the Classic was not the first production rotary-engined bike, it was significantly lighter, smoother, more powerful and better-handling than the contemporary Suzuki RE5.
The Suzuki A100 is a Japanese motorcycle from the Suzuki Motor Corporation with production starting in 1966.Similar models were produced by Yamaha and Kawasaki with the YB100 & KH100 models, also with a single-cylinder two-stroke engine and rotary valve being examples.
The Norton Model 7 Dominator was a 500 cc vertical twin motorcycle manufactured by the Norton Motorcycle Company from 1949 to 1955. It was the first of Norton's Dominator range of motorcycles. The engine was designed by Bert Hopwood and was a departure from Norton's previous practice of producing single-cylinder machines. The Model 7 was used in Japan as a police motorcycle.
The Suzuki T350, also known as the Suzuki Rebel is a 315 cc (19.2 cu in), two-stroke, twin-cylinder motorcycle produced by the Japanese Suzuki company between 1969 and 1972. The model was based T305 and used an enlarged version of the T305 engine, which itself was an enlargement of the T20 unit. It was the fastest production 350 at the time. In 1972 a T350 was overall winner of the Australian Castrol Six Hour Production race at Amaroo Park but was subsequently disqualified but the same bike won the 500cc class in 1973. The model was dropped when the T380 triple was introduced in 1972.
Perkins, Kris (1991). Norton Rotaries. The Crowood Press. ISBN 978-1-85532-181-6.
Magrath, Derek (1991). Norton the Complete Story. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1852235451.
Development of the Norton Rotary Motorcycle Engine', D W Garside, SAE paper 821068