'85 Norton Interpol 2 - Wankel Cafe Racer

While browsing Ebay I tripped on an old magazine from 1992 detailing the Norton Interplus, a Interpol turned cafe, so decided to pick it up at .99£ who wouldn't. When it came the concept struck me as absolutely brilliant although a bit dated. So I started sourcing additional inspiration on the forums and www to get an idea of where to go with this.



Ringo's Gulf special http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=19771



CCRider's K7 http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=6339



The Ellaspede 001 http://www.ellaspede.com/bikes/hb001-1971-honda-cb350/

These led to the thought of building a modern take on the Interplus inspired by classic cafe racers. Lighter, more agressive, meatier sound, fiberglass gas tank and tail.

The Norton shares many of its parts with vintage Ducati's and Moto Guzzi's, in particular the Lemans and Bevel Twins, so sourcing parts and upgrading the suspension shouldn't be a problem. Well, that's the basic idea, let's see how it goes shall we.

EDIT

Went over the entire thread (December 2013) and modified some of my previous posts. This project has spanned some two years now and those same two years have personally been turbulent, as a result plans get changed.

Re: RotaryDane's Norton Interpol 2

Here's the low down from the old thread.

Found out about the Norton Rotaries back in late 2009 and knew there and then that I had to have my own. Turn of the year 2012 this bike turned up in Ireland having sat in a previous owners dank shed since 2003 after being decommisioned from service with Rochester Row RMP, Nine Elms under the Whitehall Horseguard, a month later she sat here in Denmark on two seized tires.

And this is what the bike looked like when it first came to Denmark, well worth a do-over.



For those who don't know google this is what a Wankel engine does special.


http://www.animatedengines.com/wankel.html

And a few youtube videos detailing the operation of the engine these are from the times when the Rotary engine was considered revolutionary now it is a relic, times change.

A few of Mazda's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyItjvs8nvI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xys2q_uItng

And a few of Suzuki's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkPeB1rAagU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biYUqHpOq9c

Re: RotaryDane's Norton Interpol 2

To be honest, disassembly was pretty uneventful, am really baffled on how simple this machine is..

The wiring however was a rats nest, loads of stray and mixmatched wires everywhere, no need to say that it needs replacing.



And this is where the bike is at now.



Not much more than a rolling chassis looking a bit rusty, best get the messy bits done first before embarking on getting the bits painted and polished. No need for it to look pretty when it is gonna be covered in foam dust dust anyway.
And there it is next step is to get moving on the fiberglass bodyparts with foam insulation as the base media and woven cloth and Epoxy resin on top.

Re: RotaryDane's Norton Interpol 2

This will be worth watching closely!

Crazy

Re: RotaryDane's Norton Interpol 2

I definitely want to see where this is headed as well. Should be amazing.

Re: RotaryDane's Norton Interpol 2

Got it all sqaured up. Homemade foam cutter nunchucks on the floor.



Shaved the tail and tank to basic shape, cut the tunnel out of the gas-tank-lump. It's starting to look like something.

Re: RotaryDane's Norton Interpol 2

can you say DIFFERENT! and AWESOME!. I'm in!

Re: RotaryDane's Norton Interpol 2

stroker crazy said:

This will be worth watching closely!

Crazy

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Booligan said:

I definitely want to see where this is headed as well. Should be amazing.

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BCBarker said:

can you say DIFFERENT! and AWESOME!. I'm in!

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Thank you all, am flattered!
and yeah well, have always been a nut-job and when that gets combined with wierd motorcycles you never know what you are gonna get.

Re: RotaryDane's Norton Interpol 2

Got a bit more done today.





Basically "done" with the coarse shaping of both the tank and seat, a doing over will be in order.
Next time around am going make up the side covers and get the details done on the tank and seat.

Re: RotaryDane's Norton Interpol 2

Well proportioned tank and seat!

An immense improvement over the original clumsy styling.

Crazy

Re: RotaryDane's Norton Interpol 2

stroker crazy said:

Well proportioned tank and seat!

An immense improvement over the original clumsy styling.

Crazy

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Thanks! Interestingly enough, the tank is just as long as the standard.

I don't know why Norton had to go for that clumsy fairing and not style something of their own to begin with, it looks almost straight of a BMW R100 RT.. The later Commander rotary did have its own special fairing looking pretty sleek.

Re: RotaryDane's Norton Interpol 2

Wow! keep going the way you are, and your gonna end up with one hell of a bike man!

Re: RotaryDane's Norton Interpol 2

andycafe said:

Wow! keep going the way you are, and your gonna end up with one hell of a bike man!

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Thanks!

Would really like to post some major shaping progress right about now but can't have just been shopping some of the last parts, learning from your mistakes of buying things when you need them and not before you do.
You know just the usual, pics will follow once it all goes on the bike.

Re: RotaryDane's Norton Interpol 2

Yep, I am on board. I dig your work so far, sir.

Re: RotaryDane's Norton Interpol 2

JustinLonghorn said:

Yep, I am on board. I dig your work so far, sir.

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You are most kind good sir.

Have just been down stairs to take a un-knackered-look at the tank and tail, to judge if a light sanding is all it needs to be done ready for fiberglass. The tank looks VERY WIDE and pudgy against the engine, guess what's in for a redo!

Re: RotaryDane's Norton Interpol 2

In your race to meet the deadline, don't forget to take photos for your eager audience!

Crazy

Re: RotaryDane's Norton Interpol 2

stroker crazy said:

In your race to meet the deadline, don't forget to take photos for your eager audience!

Crazy

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Never

So.. Have been playing with PU foam on just about every body-piece there is. Laid up some maskine tape on the frame and sprayed PU on that to get the basics of the side covers.

Re: RotaryDane's Norton Interpol 2


Next up; wrapping the whole damn thing in deep blue masking tape before giving it a coat of mold release wax

Re: RotaryDane's Norton Interpol 2

Tip #1 - wear disposable overalls; those little fibres get everywhere and the itching can drive you crazy!

Crazy

Re: RotaryDane's Norton Interpol 2

stroker crazy said:

Tip #1 - wear disposable overalls; those little fibres get everywhere and the itching can drive you crazy!

Crazy

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Thank you! Would you recommend re-using one pair or a new pair for each time you work with the stuff?