Technology new Norton engines

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Technology new Norton engines

Technology new Norton engines
Eight sample

The name Norton should become the new power word in the superbike scene. A British-American investor group is making the debut with three different eight-cylinder models between 110 and 280 hp.

Peter Ward

02/12/1999

As the North American company Norton Motors International (NMI) announced the production of spectacular eight-cylinder models several times in the last few years, the industry only donated a slightly compassionate smile. The British trade magazine Classic Bike, for example, bluntly recommended the men behind the ambitious project: They should either shut up or finally build a motorcycle. At the moment, it looks as if the company, which was reorganized in 1998 and is based in the US state of Minnesota, decided on the latter.
The company that emerged from the merger of Norton Motorcycles in Shenstone near Birmingham, UK, and March Motors International in Minnesota, plans to launch six new models this year and next. Insiders think this is utopian, but so be it. The envisaged range includes two V8 hyperbikes with 280 and 230 hp, a V8 tourer called Commando with 110 hp, two Norton Manx with 750 four-cylinders (184 and 165 hp) and a two-cylinder touring machine. You can already look at things that are already valuable: the Nemesis eight-cylinder engines are being tested, and a prototype made its debut at the Birmingham Motor Show in November, albeit a bit hidden at the Bridgestone stand, which was exclusively for Norton tires for the advance into new ones Speed ​​regions developed. On these soles, front 120/60 ZR 17, rear 200/50 ZR 17, the new superbike should reach well over 320 km / h.
The technical head behind it all is 54-year-old Briton Al Melling, who with his construction company Melling Consultancy Design (MCD) in Rochdale, north of Manchester, was previously mainly active in the automotive sector. His latest project is even his own Formula 1 engine. Melling is known in England as a slightly eccentric but highly talented technician with a good dose of patriotism. The passionate motorcycle collector explains that he wants to restore the Norton brand to its former glory and has so far invested the equivalent of around twelve million marks out of pocket in the project. In addition to Melling, 57 other investors are to hold shares in Norton Motors International. The largest contributor among them is the real estate dealer Luigi Aquilini, based in Vancouver, Canada, who, according to Melling, has pre-financed the development of the new models with the equivalent of around 18 million marks.
The flagship in the NMI catalog is the Nemesis, which means something like retribution or punitive justice. The basis of the V8 with a displacement of 1.5 liters is a water-cooled inline four-cylinder with a 73 millimeter bore and 44.7 millimeter stroke – exactly the same as the Kawasaki ZX-7R – with a working volume of 749 cubic centimeters. Melling combined two of these units with four-valve cylinder heads into an eight-cylinder that sits transversely in the frame like the legendary 500cc V8 of the factory Moto Guzzi from 1957.
Rotated 180 degrees, the second cylinder bank is behind it at a 60-degree angle, slightly offset to the right. Narrow spur gears each drive two overhead camshafts, on the left for the front cylinders and on the right for the rear cylinders. The gear primary drive transmits the torque to the multi-disc clutch running in the oil bath on the right-hand side and from there to a six-speed gearbox. The chain drive to the rear wheel is on the left side of the engine.
The mixture formation is the responsibility of an injection system whose nozzles come from Bosch. Melling relies on the British manufacturer MBE for the electronic management of ignition and injection. A pump draws the oil from the generously dimensioned wet sump for the lubrication of the V8, which in the basic version is supposed to achieve a whopping 230 hp and thus a specific yield of 153 hp per liter of displacement. Al Melling borrowed the construction of the chassis from Honda’s VTR. A cast aluminum bridge forms the backbone of the chassis over the engine. The two-arm aluminum swing arm of the rear wheel guide is mounted in the motor-gearbox housing. The fork design, on the other hand, is new: the sliding tubes are cast with the front wheel cover as a stable, one-piece bridge and at the same time accommodate the two four-piston calipers of the brake system. By reducing the number of individual parts, according to Melling, a very low weight can be achieved: the Nemensis, which is clad with carbon fiber parts, should weigh just 217 kilograms.
The highlight, with an extremely optimistic 280 hp on the rear wheel (at 15500 rpm), is the Nemesis A, which is 15 kilograms lighter. The wheels and frame of the supersport version, which can theoretically reach 360 km / h, are made of magnesium. An active chassis combines anti-dive functions with automatic lowering of the chassis at high speeds. The Nemesis A is switched according to Formula 1 style: with two electrical contacts on the right and left on the handlebar. The clutch separates electro-hydraulically, with a special program at start and stop. Special technical feature of the four- and eight-cylinder series: In the Supersport versions, three spark plugs per combustion chamber. The advantage: rapid ignition of the mixture. Its throughput is not regulated by conventional throttle valves, but by rollers that open the inlet channels by turning.
Wouldn’t he overwhelm the average rider with such an extreme motorcycle? Melling has a plausible answer ready: The EU Commission in Brussels is planning that, from 2004, manufacturers in Europe will only be allowed to sell motorcycles that are no more powerful than the models built so far. You have to go to the fullest now, then you will have air later.
The plan is to manufacture around 3,000 four and eight-cylinder cylinders per year in a new factory near Manchester with 80 employees. At the same time, NMI in Minneapolis, USA, wants to put around 7,000 two-cylinder touring bikes on their wheels every year with around 30 people. Although there are currently neither pictures nor technical data of the models, the price has already been determined: the machine called Norton Nirwana will cost around 35,000 marks. The Commando with tubular frame and its own 90-degree V8 (1497 cm³, bore x stroke 62.5 x 61mm, 110 hp at 7000 / min) is located at 52,000 marks, the four-cylinder Manx is in the list with 55,000 marks. And the nemesis? Without VAT, Norton Motors is asking for 23,000 English pounds, or around 65,000 marks. Average earners should be knocked out at this price. go, but wealthy prospective buyers have a potent competitor: Heavyweight Mike Tyson has already ordered according to the NMI. And it could get pretty snappy if it doesn’t work out with Norton this time either.

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