There have been several efforts to bring rotary engines to bikes - the Suzuki RE5 and Hercules W2000 spring to mind - but Norton ' s 1980s and 90s efforts shine above the rest thanks to its loophole-exploiting race successes . Norton ' s rotaries scored British superbike titles and a memorable TT win , with Steve Spray , Trevor Nation , Ian Simpson and of course Steve Hislop all winning on board the machines . The 588 cc Wankel rotaries in the company ' s RCW588 and F1 racers offered huge straight-line performance advantages over 750 cc four-cylinder , four-stroke rivals thanks to the difficulty in establishing an effective equivalency formula in racing . Engineer Brian Crighton was the brain behind those rotaries and now his own name is appearing on a spiritual successor to the machines . The Crighton CR700W looks very much like the last rotary Norton - the NRV588 . Intended to race at the TT in 2009 , and itself a direct development of the 1990s machines , Crighton was behind that bike . Freed from the need to comply with racing rules , his CR700W is probably the most powerful rotary bike that the world will ever see . Its heart is a 690 cc twin-rotor engine , designed by Crighton for Rotron |
Power , which makes a variety of Wankel engines for use in aircraft , drones and other applications . Incorporating all the knowledge Crighton has gained from previous efforts , in uses innovative cooling solutions and materials to help solve the problems of apex seal wear that dog traditional rotaries . Power is rated at 220 hp at 10,500 rpm , with 105 lbft of torque at 9,500 rpm , from a tiny engine with just three moving parts . It ' s just 34 cm long , 24 cm in diameter and weighs a mere 24 kg , or 43 kg when the bespoke six-speed transmission is fitted . With no need for road-going kit , the bike itself is incredibly light , too . The frame follows the same extruded alloy Spondon design of the 90s racers , while the bodywork - which mimics the NRV588 - is carbon fibre , so the whole bike is just 129.5 kg dry . Carbon |
fibre Dymag wheels help keep the mass to a minimum , while customers will be offered a choice of Öhlins or Bitubo suspension . Crighton himself , now 73 , will handbuild the bikes at the Rotron factory , and just 25 are due to be made . Unsurprisingly , they ' re expensive , with a starting price of £ 85,000 (€ 100,000 ). Crighton said : " In so many ways the CR700W is the culmination of my career ' s achievements . Developed with my excellent lead engineer , Shamoon Quarashi , it encapsulates the absolute best of my engineering wisdom . And I believe the result is the ultimate track and racing motorcycle ." Alex Head , CEO of Rotron Power , adds : " The CR700W is a unique motorcycling masterpiece and a true |
work of art , born out of Brian ' s passion and genius when it comes to creating extraordinary engines and race bikes . It is more powerful per cc than any other normally aspirated engine in the world , with a greater power-to-weight ratio than the Aprilia RSV4 , or even the supercharged Kawasaki H2R . " The performance speaks for itself , yet despite the numbers it is far from a highly-stressed racing engine that needs rebuilding after every race weekend , and instead , thanks to its low-revving design , ultra-low friction materials and unique internal geometry , it is resoundingly robust and reliable , and will run a full season before requiring internal inspection . There are few machines as exclusive , with performance and uniqueness to match ." |