Is that a one-off engine? I thought Sachs was known for making rotaries for snowmobiles?
Or did you mean a one-off Hercules with a rotary? Lol
Bet that thing leaned one way really well, with the mass of the rotor spinning at thousands of rpm, and probably stood right up when you let off the throttle.
I’m a huge rotary fan (have owned a couple RX-7’s), and rotaries on bikes seem like a great idea - except for fuel consumption and that rotating mass issue.
Norton made a few, the Commander (not Commando) in the late 80s and early 90s was the main one, they bought the tooling from Hercules. Didn’t really work out in the long run.
Norton were pretty successful racing those bikes too, but they were too thirsty and had inherent heat issues.
Suzuki made one too, the RE5.
I would love to hear what that engine sounds like … beautiful machine
Somewhat like this.
Neat … I have a few old friends who grew up riding bikes in the 60s and 70s. I was expecting a different sound as one of them described riding a Suzuki wankel as sounding more like turbine when going at speed and high revs.
What ever the orientation and engine design … I’ll always love having just a powerplant and two wheels … nothing more free than that.
