NZ Autocar
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Electric
  • Industry
  • Bikes
  • Classics
  • Motorsport
  • Prices
    • New Bike Prices
    • New Car Prices
    • Make
      • Alfa Romeo News and Reviews
      • Aston Martin News and Reviews
      • Audi News and Reviews
      • Bentley News and Reviews
      • BMW News and Reviews
      • BYD News and Reviews
      • Chevrolet News and Reviews
      • Citroen News and Reviews
      • Cupra News and Reviews
      • Ferrari News and Reviews
      • Fiat News and Reviews
      • Ford News and Reviews
      • GWM News and Reviews
      • Haval News and Reviews
      • Honda News and Reviews
      • Hyundai News and Reviews
      • INEOS News and Reviews
      • Isuzu News and Reviews
      • Jaguar News and Reviews
      • Jeep News and Reviews
      • KIA News and Reviews
      • Lamborghini News and Reviews
      • Land Rover News and Reviews
      • LDV News and Reviews
      • Lexus News and Reviews
      • Lotus News and Reviews
      • Mahindra News and Reviews
      • Maserati News and Reviews
      • Mazda News and Reviews
      • McLaren News and Reviews
      • Mercedes-Benz News and Reviews
      • MG News and Reviews
      • MINI News and Reviews
      • Mistubishi News and Reviews
      • Nissan News and Reviews
      • Omoda News and Reviews
      • Opel News and Reviews
      • Peugeot News and Reviews
      • Polestar News and Reviews
      • Porsche News and Reviews
      • RAM News and Reviews
      • Renault News and Reviews
      • Skoda News and Reviews
      • SsangYong News and Reviews
      • Subaru News and Reviews
      • Suzuki News and Reviews
      • Tesla News and Reviews
      • Toyota News and Reviews
      • Volkswagen News and Reviews
      • Volvo News and Reviews
  • Subscribe
    • Print
    • Digital
  • Contact us
    • Contact us
    • Advertise
NZ Autocar
No Result
View All Result
Home Bikes

Crikey – Crighton’s Rotary Rocket

Words NZ Autocar | Images Crighton Motorcycles

by Peter Louisson
November 5, 2021

Rotary engined motorcycles are rare beasts, a bit like their four-wheel counterparts then. Suzuki had a crack with its RE5, Yamaha had a concept bike, and Norton made a few rotary engine models but look what happened to that company. It has made a comeback this century, after an MD stuffed up and the company was sold to Indian concerns but there are not many rotaries in the new line-up.

Men at work

This preamble isn’t completely without direction because one of the former Norton employees who tinkered with their rotary wares back in the day is now marketing a handbuilt twin-rotor lightweight track bike that could well give a MotoGP bike a bit of a fright. As well it should, given it produces more power per litre than the top GP bikes.

The company is Crighton Motorcycles and the bike is dubbed the CR700W. It is said to be powered by one of the most potent naturally aspirated engines ever conceived, relative to displacement at least. They’re squeezing 220hp from the 690cc engine, and 142Nm of torque is developed at 9500rpm. Impressive no?

Just three moving parts

But wait, the bike weighs in at a minuscule 130kg dry, thanks to extensive use of aluminium (chassis and swingarm) and rims made from carbon fibre. Power to weight exceeds that of the WSBK machinery and is on a par with that of the MotoGP prototypes. Exciting stuff, as is the price, around $NZ160k. But then it is handbuilt by Brian Crighton, and just 25 units are being produced.

According to those who’ve ridden it, the power is tractable, usable and virtually vibration-free. Why it even has an exhaust note worth listening to, apparently.

Another advantage of the compact rotary is the bike’s low weight and low centre of mass, imbuing it with agile handling. It has top notch components too, Brembo brakes and Öhlins or Bitubo suspension, you choose.

Alex Head from Roton power, the engine maker, explains that this is a low-revving design, for a rotary, and uses ultra-low friction materials and unique internal geometry, making it robust and reliable. He reckons it will complete a race season without being touched.

Gleaming and beaming

Brian Crighton said that the CR700W is the culmination of everything he has learnt during his career. He believes he has created “the ultimate track and racing motorcycle.”

Test rider and ex racer, Mason Law, reckons “Riding the Crighton is a phenomenal experience. The raw speed of the motorcycle is mind-blowing.” Crighton himself is a former three-time British racing champion, and started tweaking the 85hp rotary engine from a crashed Norton police bike in the late 80s. His RCW588 racer won the 750cc Supercup Championship and the British F1 title in 1989, and in 1994 won the British Superbike Championship. It was eventually banned from competition, just like Mazda was following success with its quad-rotor machine at the Le Mans endurance race.

The CR700W has been over a decade in the making, and Crighton, now 73 years of age, remains at the centre of things, hand-building the bikes himself.

The CR700W engine contains three moving parts, and weighs 24kg, or 43kg with the transmission attached. The engine’s structural components are cast in high-strength aluminium alloy and machined in house. All the contact surfaces, including the two-piece silicone nitride ceramic apex seals, are low friction and high wear resistance.

Another interesting development is the titanium and inconel exhaust ejector system, which utilises the rotary exhaust to generate a high energy vacuum through the core of the engine, for cooling. This vacuum accelerates a continuous flow of air through the finned apex of each rotor tip, adding to reliability.

At its price it may seem expensive, but try buying a MotoGP bike. It makes the CR700W seem like a peanuts price by comparison.

Previous Post

Is the Ford Focus the next hatchback to go fully electric?

Next Post

Aston Martin’s DBX is outselling all its other models combined

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Free NZ Autocar Enewsletter
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
NZ Autocar is New Zealand’s leading automotive magazine. Delivering news reviews from the automotive world, including commentary from leading automotive writers and covers the scope of motoring including new cars, classic cars, EVs and motorbikes.

Our team

Publisher: Mark Petch
General Manager: Gavin Shaw
Editor: Kyle Cassidy
Senior Editor: Peter Louisson
News Editor: Harrison Wade
Art Director: Alex Schultz
Photographer: Isaac Western

To Subscribe

nzautocar.subscription.co.nz

Contact Us

Advertising:
Gavin Shaw
[email protected]
.
Editorial:
Kyle Cassidy
[email protected]
.
NZ Autocar
PO Box 44 304
Point Chevalier
Auckland 1246
New Zealand

Categories

Useful Links

Home
News
Motorsport
New Car Prices
New Bike Prices
Subscriptions
Competitions
Contact Us
Advertising
Terms and Conditions

© 2021 AUTOCAR 2016 LIMITED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Electric
  • Industry
  • Bikes
  • Classics
  • Motorsport
  • Prices
    • New Bike Prices
    • New Car Prices
    • Make
      • Alfa Romeo News and Reviews
      • Aston Martin News and Reviews
      • Audi News and Reviews
      • Bentley News and Reviews
      • BMW News and Reviews
      • BYD News and Reviews
      • Chevrolet News and Reviews
      • Citroen News and Reviews
      • Cupra News and Reviews
      • Ferrari News and Reviews
      • Fiat News and Reviews
      • Ford News and Reviews
      • GWM News and Reviews
      • Haval News and Reviews
      • Honda News and Reviews
      • Hyundai News and Reviews
      • INEOS News and Reviews
      • Isuzu News and Reviews
      • Jaguar News and Reviews
      • Jeep News and Reviews
      • KIA News and Reviews
      • Lamborghini News and Reviews
      • Land Rover News and Reviews
      • LDV News and Reviews
      • Lexus News and Reviews
      • Lotus News and Reviews
      • Mahindra News and Reviews
      • Maserati News and Reviews
      • Mazda News and Reviews
      • McLaren News and Reviews
      • Mercedes-Benz News and Reviews
      • MG News and Reviews
      • MINI News and Reviews
      • Mistubishi News and Reviews
      • Nissan News and Reviews
      • Omoda News and Reviews
      • Opel News and Reviews
      • Peugeot News and Reviews
      • Polestar News and Reviews
      • Porsche News and Reviews
      • RAM News and Reviews
      • Renault News and Reviews
      • Skoda News and Reviews
      • SsangYong News and Reviews
      • Subaru News and Reviews
      • Suzuki News and Reviews
      • Tesla News and Reviews
      • Toyota News and Reviews
      • Volkswagen News and Reviews
      • Volvo News and Reviews
  • Subscribe
    • Print
    • Digital
  • Contact us
    • Contact us
    • Advertise

© 2021 AUTOCAR 2016 LIMITED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.