Saw one of these today....

milleplod · Post by **milleplod** » Tue Nov 08, 2016 6:31 pm

.....which was a bit of a surprise, to say the least! I think Norton only ever made a couple of hundred or so.

The one I rode looked like this!

They were a real flying machine compared to the K100RTs we had at the same time.....but they didn't stop half as well! The lack of engine braking felt a bit weird, but the engine was so smoooooth!

Pete

Blackal · Post by **Blackal** » Tue Nov 08, 2016 7:24 pm

I have to admit - I looked at the first photo, and thought "BMW"

Blast from the past!

Al:D

milleplod · Post by **milleplod** » Tue Nov 08, 2016 7:42 pm

Yep, more than a passing resemblance isn't there!

Pete

fontana · Post by **fontana** » Tue Nov 08, 2016 8:01 pm

It understandable to confuse other sports tourers and tourers with Beemers.
After all they invented these classes (R100RS/RT) so anyone else who wanted to compete had to follow the benchmark set.
Actually, the Norton looks more like the old GTR1000 to me, which looks like an RT, and so on

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milleplod · Post by **milleplod** » Tue Nov 08, 2016 8:13 pm

The Norton's had a lot of Yamaha stuff on them - suspension and brakes were, I think, from the early XJ900, and were waaay outclassed by the rotary engine!

Pete

fontana · Post by **fontana** » Tue Nov 08, 2016 8:15 pm

I heard those rotary's burned oil like a two stroke

milleplod · Post by **milleplod** » Tue Nov 08, 2016 8:26 pm

Yep, all part of the rotary engine design! A mate has a Mazda RX-8, he reckons his top-quality oil bill isn't far behind his fuel one!

It was hammered into us by a guy from Norton that we needed to check the oil tank daily, or risk seizing the engine if it got too low. Funnily enough, the Nortons had less down-time than the K100/K1100s we had, although to be fair most of the BMW's issues were down to our workshops having fitted police equipment post-delivery - think looms being hacked into and the like!

Pete