1990 Norton 588cc F1
Registration no. FIL 7958
Frame no. P55-050110
Engine no. 05011010

• Rare rotary-engined Norton
• Two owners from new
• Only 6,254 miles recorded

'As an engine it's amazing: like a turbine or an electric motor. It just turns and you feel the beautiful simplicity of it. Though the throttle is a little heavy, it has the revability of a two-stroke but the fat, flat power curve of a big four-stroke... The real goodies are a chassis which feels milled from solid, and delightful steering which is at once strong but remarkably light.' - Bike magazine on the Norton F1, August 1990.

Norton's last valiant attempt to build a roadster around its fabulous rotary engine was easily the best looking. Race-styled and painted in the John Player Specials livery of the works bikes ridden by Steve Spray and Trevor Nation, the F1 made do with 94bhp as opposed to the racer's 150-plus, a figure which put its performance (top speed was around 145mph) on a par with that of contemporary sports 600s from Japan. In the quality of its equipment though, the F1 was streets ahead of the opposition: Spondon alloy beam frame, White Power 'upside down' forks, White Power rear shock and Brembo brakes all-round with floating discs at the front, gripped by four-pot callipers. Even today there are few road bikes better specified. The downside however, was the F1's cost: a colossal £12,700 (a Honda VFR750 cost £5,799 at the time) but then quality never did come cheaply. Perhaps not surprisingly, few F1s were made before the factory hit yet another financial crisis and production ceased. Today, this last 'proper' Norton has become one of the most sought after British motorcycles of recent times.

This example was purchased new by one Henry Genders of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, passing to the current (second) owner in October 1997. Used sparingly (the odometer reading is only 6,254 miles) the Norton has been kept in dry storage and is described by the private vendor as in excellent, original and unmolested condition. The machine is offered with a V5C registration document.