A Modern Manx?
A MODERN MANX?
One obvious result of Norton nostalgia
MANX
Norton
OH, YOU THOUGHT THE NAME NORTON WAS A synonym for motorcycle? Sorry, old boy, it just isn’t so. Though bikes like the Commander and now the F1 are bringing the company back into motorcycling’s spotlight, Norton’s core business these days is the production of rotary engines to power military target drones.
These single-rotor motors produce 60 horsepower, yet are incredibly small and light. Though their specification requires an operating life of just five hours, they actually last up to 40 hours in operation—70 percent of the time at full throttle. A twin-rotor version has now been built and is currently undergoing certification tests for use in light aircraft.
Yet, for all that, Norton’s historic need for speed has remained an important element of the firm, so much so that the company has a substantial turnover in remanufactured parts for its geriatric Commando Twin, which went out of production more than a decade ago. And, in fact, better than 95 percent of the parts for 750 and 850cc Commandos remain available; only fuel tanks and some minor body parts such as sidepanels are not available. In many cases, Norton claims the new parts are superior to the old ones, either because of improved metal specification, or because of reduced tolerances made possible by computerized equipment, or because of designs having been upgraded to eradicate previous defects.
And if the Commando can live on, well, why not a reborn Manx? Indeed, rumors persist of a deal between Norton and C.Itoh & Co., the giant Japanese trading organization, to produce a single-cylinder Norton roadster. Norton spokesmen say those talks haven’t progressed since initial contact was made about 12 months ago, but rumors continue that C.Itoh’s designers have built a full-scale mock-up of a Norton Manx for the 1990s, based on a liquid-cooled four-valve Single that also exists in mock-up form only. Since this is precisely the same route that the Güera Saturno (see Roundup, CW, August, 1989) took to fruition, the chance of a Norton/C.Itoh collaboration in the future can’t be ruled out, especially with Japanese sales of the Saturno remaining at better than one a day. —Alan Cathcart
