Norton RCW588
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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 The Wankel engine (, ) is a type of internal combustion engine using an eccentric (mechanism), eccentric Pistonless rotary engine, rotary design to convert pressure into rotating motion. The concept was proven by German engineer Felix Wankel, f ...
used in the
Classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of Masterpiece, lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or Literary merit, highest quality, class, or rank – something that Exemplification, exemplifies its ...
soon followed by watercooled versions from 1989. Racing started in late 1987 with employee Malcolm Heath as development rider on a limited budget, then with a six-man team from 1989 including riders Trevor Nation and Simon Buckmaster. With major sponsor John Player & Sons, the Norton Rotary achieved significant racing success with riders Steve Spray,
Robert Dunlop Stephen Robert Dunlop (25 November 1960 – 15 May 2008) was a Northern Irish motorcycle racer. He was the younger brother of fellow road racer Joey Dunlop and the father of racers William Dunlop and Michael Dunlop. Like his brother, Dunlop ...
, and
Ron Haslam Ronald Haslam (born 22 June 1956) is an English former Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix motorcycle road racing, road racer who had been racing for over thirty years, winning two World titles, four British championships and having ridde ...
, together with stand-in riders Andy McGladdery and Terry Rymer.
Steve Hislop Robert Steven Hislop (11 January 1962 – 30 July 2003) was a Scottish motorcycle racer. Hislop won at the Isle of Man TT eleven times, was the British 250cc Champion (1990) and lifted the British Superbike championship on two occasions (199 ...
achieved a win at the 1992
Senior TT The Senior Tourist Trophy is a motorcycle road race that takes place during the Isle of Man TT festival, an annual event traditionally held over the last week in May and the first week in June. The Senior TT is the wiktionary:blue ribbon, blue r ...
race, the first time Norton had won the class since 1961, and Ian Simpson won the 1994 British Superbike Championship. The unique Wankel engine configuration measured at a capacity of 588 cc was accepted by the
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in 1990, allowing the Norton to enter the 500 cc Grand Prix premier racing class.''
Motor Cycle News ''MCN'' or ''Motor Cycle News'' is a UK weekly Motorcycle, motorcycling newspaper published by Bauer Verlagsgruppe, Bauer Consumer Media, based in Peterborough, United Kingdom. It claims to be "the world’s biggest weekly motorcycle newspape ...
'' (UK weekly newspaper) 12 September 1990, p.25. ''Go ahead for Norton GP attack'', Mat Oxley. Accessed and added 26 October 2015


Development


RC588

Tracing its origins to the motor from the Norton Classic devised and developed by David Garside at BSA in the 1970s, the racing engine was nevertheless the creation of Brian Crighton, who joined the Norton factory at
Shenstone, Staffordshire Shenstone is a village and civil parish in The Lichfield District, Staffordshire, England, located between Lichfield and Sutton Coldfield. The parish also contains the village of Stonnall. Transport Shenstone is very well served with Nationa ...
in 1984 from a background in electronic engineering to oversee the service department's maintenance of the
Norton Commander Norton Commander (NC) is a discontinued prototypical orthodox file manager (OFM), written by John Socha and released by Peter Norton Computing (later acquired in 1990 by the NortonLifeLock, Symantec corporation). NC provides a text-based user i ...
for the Police Force, and was responsible for establishing Norton's return to racing.''
Motor Cycle News ''MCN'' or ''Motor Cycle News'' is a UK weekly Motorcycle, motorcycling newspaper published by Bauer Verlagsgruppe, Bauer Consumer Media, based in Peterborough, United Kingdom. It claims to be "the world’s biggest weekly motorcycle newspape ...
'' (UK weekly newspaper) 12 September 1990, pp.cover, 25. ''Crighton shock for Norton Team'', Mat Oxley. Accessed and added 23 October 2015
After recognising the engine was capable of producing much more power, Crighton firstly received no backing from Norton management, instead developing the engine in his own time, until sanctioned by the factory in late 1987 with the prototype race bike debuted by Norton employee Malcolm Heath at Darley Moor. Based on an ex-police bike engine, it was restricted to club-level racing as the ACU had not decided on how to categorise the rotary engine as it was so unusual.A simple engine, ''Motorcycle Sport'', January 1989, pp.41-43. Accessed 4 February 2019 One of the initial changes for racing was to reduce the cooling-fin area on the engine, as when racing, the machines were moving at much higher speeds than the road-going types, where
traffic police Traffic police (also known as traffic officers, traffic enforcement units, traffic cops, traffic monitors, or traffic enforcers) are units and Law enforcement agency, agencies who enforce Traffic#Rules of the road, traffic laws and Road traffic ...
and RAC breakdown patrols had experienced overheating when in slow-moving convoys. Also added was Ram Air induction from fairing-mounted air scoops, which ''Motorcycle Sport'' confirmed in 1988 that Crighton had used since 1972, "...some years before Honda, who later claimed it as one of their innovatory applications...", and a longer induction-length. Power output was stated to be raised from road-going 79 bhp to 130 bhp, or with maximum ram-effect at a high-speed circuit of 140 bhp. The engine was basically similar to the road version, but fitted into a
monoshock A motorcycle's suspension serves a dual purpose: contributing to the vehicle's handling and braking, and providing safety and comfort by keeping the vehicle's passengers comfortably isolated from road noise, bumps and vibrations. The typical mot ...
Spondon aluminium frame with Kayaba front forks and Dymag wheels. The revised induction system was simplified, abandoning the road system where the cooling air was routed through the engine rotors before being fed into the carburettors. Instead, exhaust-gas velocity was used with a venturi to create a low pressure area that dragged the air through the engine components and into the exhaust system. Crighton confirmed the usual method of modifying a road engine for racing was to replace the essential components of crankshaft, conrods, pistons and camshafts – but the rotary had none of these. Even raising the
compression ratio The compression ratio is the ratio between the maximum and minimum volume during the compression stage of the power cycle in a piston or Wankel engine. A fundamental specification for such engines, it can be measured in two different ways. Th ...
was extremely difficult, requiring re-engineered rotors and/or altered motion within the chambers. Instead, modifications were made in similar style to two-stroke engines, by changes to the internal ports controlling intake mixture and waste gases, in conjunction with enhanced carburation and exhaust gas extraction. Initially the team raced with a limited budget in 1988 with riders Trevor Nation and Simon Buckmaster, having some sponsorship from
Dunlop tyres Dunlop Tyres is a brand of tyres which is managed by different companies around the world. It was founded by pneumatic tyre pioneer John Boyd Dunlop in Belfast, Ireland, in 1888. The brand is operated by Goodyear in North America (passen ...
, Duckham's oils, Renold chains and Amal carburettors. The roadgoing SU carburettors of CV type were replaced for racing by Amal slide-operated units.Norton's Racing Rotary, ''Motorcycle Sport'', June 1988, pp.269-276. Accessed 30 January 2019 Subsequent temporary riders covering for injuries included Terry Rymer and Andy McGladdery. The team won the British Formula One Championship with rider Steve Spray in 1989. Crighton left Norton in September 1990, following the appointment of Barry Symmons (previously chief of the Honda Britain motorcycle racing squad) as Race Team Manager in early 1990, with Crighton retained for consultancy work. Crighton subsequently developed a shadow-project which he named ''Roton'', again with Spray, which competed in the Australian GP held at
Eastern Creek circuit Sydney Motorsport Park (known until May 2012 as Eastern Creek International Raceway) is a motorsport Race track, circuit located on Brabham Drive, Eastern Creek, New South Wales, Eastern Creek (40-kilometres west of the Sydney CBD), New South W ...
, placing 15th with one World Championship point.''
Motor Cycle News ''MCN'' or ''Motor Cycle News'' is a UK weekly Motorcycle, motorcycling newspaper published by Bauer Verlagsgruppe, Bauer Consumer Media, based in Peterborough, United Kingdom. It claims to be "the world’s biggest weekly motorcycle newspape ...
'' (UK weekly newspaper) 24 April 1991, p.9 ''Roton's on right track''. Accessed and added 23 October 2015
Crighton aspired to pursue backing from Chris Oldfield, an Australian businessman and a potential investor who intended to manufacture the machines and run his own race team with Australian riders Grant Hodson and Wayne Clark. A limited-production road-going version was subsequently developed, initially designated P55, becoming known as the Norton F.1. File:Flickr - ronsaunders47 - NORTON F.1 SPORT. WANKEL ROTARY ENGINED..jpg, Road-going F1 File:Crighton Norton Rotary RCW588 Duckhams cropped.jpg, Brian Crighton with his Spondon-framed,
twinshock A motorcycle's suspension serves a dual purpose: contributing to the vehicle's handling and braking, and providing safety and comfort by keeping the vehicle's passengers comfortably isolated from road noise, bumps and vibrations. The typical mot ...
Norton at
Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport Race track, circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, sti ...
in 1993 (ridden by Jim Moodie) File:Norton Rotary 2009 cropped.JPG,
Michael Dunlop Michael Dunlop (born 10 April 1989) is a Northern Irish professional motorcycle road racer and the record holder for the number of wins and podiums at the prestigious Isle of Man TT, having amassed a total of 33 victories and having stood o ...
's updated Norton NRV588 rotary racer with Spondon frame and single, side-mounted rear suspension unit developed for the
Norton company Norton Abrasives of Worcester, Massachusetts, USA is the world's largest manufacturer and supplier of abrasives for commercial applications, household, and automotive refinishing usage. Norton Company was founded in 1885 by a group of ceramis ...
owner Stuart Garner, seen at the 2009 TT races


Racing results

The RCW588 had a number of racing successes at circuits including the
Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May and June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907 Isle of Man TT, 1907. The event begins on the UK Spring Bank Holiday at the e ...
, Cadwell Park, Mallory Park and Thruxton. Ian Simpson won the
British Superbike Championship The British Superbike Championship (BSB), known for sponsorship reasons as the Bennetts British Superbike Championship, is a road racing championship for superbike class machines in the United Kingdom and acknowledged as the premier domestic s ...
in 1994 on a Team Crighton Norton rotary machine with Duckhams sponsorship, an oil brand name owned by BP.


Legacy

Brian Crighton continued to develop the Rotary Norton NRV588 concept for Stuart Garner, owner of Norton Motorcycles Ltd based at
Donington Hall Donington Hall is a country house set in parkland near Castle Donington village, North West Leicestershire. The Hall and Estate was purchased in April 2021 by MotorSport Vision, which also operates the neighbouring Donington Park racing cir ...
, again using an aluminium twin-spar beam frame and swinging arm by
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
-based frame specialist Spondon Engineering, which became fully owned by Norton in 2013.


CR700P

Crighton has further-developed his own machine, designated ''CR700P'', with engine chambers enlarged to 700 cc, and using a sealed, pressurised-gas cooling system powered by an external, belt-driven pump circulating the gas through an intercooler mounted in the seat-tailpiece. This allows the engine, designated Rotron RT700, echoing the earlier 1990s era when he also used the term ''Rotron'' for his semi-works Norton rotary, to produce 200 bhp and remain within safe working temperatures.


CR700W

Engine geometry: * Generating radius ''R = 71 mm'' * Eccentricity ''e = 11.6 mm'' * Equidistance ''a = 0.5 mm'' * Rotor housing width ''B = 80 mm'' * Chamber displacement ''Vk = 345 cm3'' In respect to the 588 engine it has a thinner intermediate plate of 22 mm and wider rotor housings of 80 mm, but after all it is 5 mm narrower overall. It produces 220 hp at 10500
rpm Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...
( pme = 1.36 MPa) and 105 lbf · ft at 9500 rpm (pme = 1.30 MPa).


References


External links


Crighton Racing

Spondon Engineering
(archived) {{Norton motorcycles RCW588 Motorcycles powered by Wankel engines