The Norton F1 was a Wankel rotary powered road bike built by Norton Motorcycles between 1989 and 1991. It had an engine capacity of 588cc, race spec suspension, an aluminium alloy frame, a hydraulically operated clutch, 5 speed transmission and front/rear disc brakes.
The bike was a revelation when it was released and the original race version won its first ever outing at Brands Hatch, the road going version was put on sale a year later for £12,000 (a stupendous amount of money at the time) and saw limited sales success, it also had issues with excessive emissions and overheating but none of this ever concerned me. I wanted one then and I still want one now.
Ben Branch has had his work featured on CNN, Popular Mechanics, the official Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with millions of readers around the world and hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
The new Belstaff Resolve Boots were developed by the team at the storied 95 year old British motorcycle apparel company specifically for people who want a safe motorcycle boot that they can also wear while walking around town – without hobbling. Each pair is made from thick 1.8mm to 2.0mm full-grain leather for maximum abrasion…
The 1988 Honda Africa Twin XRV650 was the marque’s first major foray into the market for adventure motorcycles. The bike was officially launched on 20th May that year – painted in red, blue, and white it was intentionally made to look like the Paris-Dakar Rally winning bikes.
This 1912 Indian Board Track Racer is a pristine restoration by globally recognised expert Jim Prosper. Prosper is one of the finest restorers of Indian board track racers in the world, his restorations are considered some of the most authentic, factory-specification examples and they’re rebuilt using nearly all early factory parts that are painstaking sourced from…
The legendary NCR workshop played a significant role in the early competition life of Ducati, perhaps most famously they built the special 900cc race bike that Mike Hailwood piloted to his seemingly impossible comeback win at the the 1978 Formula One TT at the Isle of Man. NCR was founded in 1967 as a small motorcycle…
The Norton Model 30 International is deservedly remembered as one of the most iconic and important motorcycles ever built by the British marque. Norton works team rider Jimmie Guthrie set a slew of new world speed records on a Model 30 International in Montlhery, France at the “concrete bowl” circuit. Jimmie initially set a new one-hour world…
Although it’s a controversial thing to say to an American, the Harley-Davidson XR750 only really exists because of the British. Now before you start heating the tar and plucking yourself some feathers, hear me out. The Harley-Davidson XR750 – A History Speed Run The AMA Grand National Championship Class C rules which governed flat track…
