Description
H&H Classic Auction @ National Motorcycle Museum | Solihull, West Midlands
3rd July, 2024 11:00
1989 Norton Rotary Commander
'Runs like a dream'
Estimate
£3, 000 - £4, 000
Registration No: SMJ 111W
Frame No: 6097191
MOT: Exempt
A very well maintained Norton Rotary
Startright overhauled in 2022
Runs superbly and is ready to go
An unusual colour scheme
Current V5C on file
The rotary-engined Norton Commander stands as a rare machine in the motorcycle world, with only around 300 units ever produced before the final curtain fell on Norton’s production line due to the Midland Bank shutting down production. With adequate funding, this twin-rotor Wankel-powered machine could have become a benchmark touring motorcycle of its era. Felix Wankel’s ingenious rotary engine design featured a triangular rotor—a marvel of simplicity with remarkably few moving parts. Its high-revving capabilities and near-vibration-free operation made it an engineering marvel. Norton’s version of the rotary engine employed twin rotors, each fed by constant-vacuum SU carburettors. These carburettors drew in the intake charge through a plenum chamber, which served a dual purpose: cooling the engine and optimizing performance. The intake charge first flowed through the finned centre of the rotors, ensuring efficient cooling before igniting the power.
This 1989 Norton Rotary Commander has been maintained very well and is a known machine at the famous Startright Company as they have done a complete overhaul of the machine in 2022, including milling the engine. Since completion the Norton has not been used much but has been kept up together. It was believed to have been owned body a person who worked in a paint shop hence the unusual colour. The Norton runs very well indeed and comes with Startright bills and a current V5C.
