Every rotary motorcycle on this list went on sale to the public, rather than staying a prototype or a police machine. The run starts with a German air-cooled single and ends with Norton’s race-bred twins. Production figures and years differ between sources, however.

That is why Norton’s Interpol 2, a police model, stays off the list. Each item names its source, and conflicts are noted where they exist.

1. 1974–1977 Hercules W-2000 rotary motorcycle

The Hercules W-2000 used a Fichtel & Sachs single-rotor engine of 294 cc, cooled by air and a large fan at the front. Silodrome’s history says production began in 1974 and ended in 1977. In some export markets, such as the UK, the bike wore the DKW name instead.

According to Silodrome, the engine first made 27 hp at 6,500 rpm, and Hercules later raised that to 32 hp. Insurers, however, rated this rotary motorcycle by total swept volume, 882 cc, which pushed it into a costly bracket. Silodrome counts 1,784 bikes built, while Wikipedia rounds that to about 1,800.

2. 1975 Suzuki RE5

Suzuki’s RE5 reached production in 1974, the same year as the Hercules, Silodrome notes. Its 497 cc single rotor was liquid-cooled, and oil also cooled the rotor’s internals, per Wikipedia’s RE5 entry. Suzuki commissioned Giorgetto Giugiaro for the styling. Cycle News adds that the gauges sat in a horizontal cylinder above the headlight.

Cycle News says the bike reached U.S. showrooms in early 1975 at $2,475 and left the lineup at the end of 1977. Its estimate of total sales runs to 6,300–6,500, while Wikipedia gives about 6,000. Meanwhile, Cycle World ranked it last in a three-bike test against a BMW R90/6 and a Kawasaki Z-1, Cycle News recalls.

3. Van Veen OCR 1000

Henk van Veen, the Dutch importer of Kreidler, built the OCR 1000 around a Comotor engine. Comotor was a joint venture between Citroën and the rotary specialist NSU. Its 996 cc twin-rotor engine was water-cooled, Visordown reports.

Both Visordown and Wikipedia put production at 38 bikes. However, they disagree on dates: Visordown says 1977 to 1979, while Wikipedia says 1978 to 1981. Wikipedia also lists 100 hp at the rear wheel and a price of $15,000, which it says hurt sales. In January 2026, a 1978 example went to Mecum’s Las Vegas sale with no estimate listed.

4. 1987 Norton Classic

Norton’s first rotary for the public was a limited run. The Norton Owners Club history says the Classic went on sale in October 1987, with a batch of 100 offered at £6,000 each.

Power came from an air-cooled twin-rotor engine of 588 cc, according to Hagerty UK. Roland Brown’s Hagerty article gives its output as 79 bhp. He also notes that the way to measure a rotary’s capacity is open to debate. For that reason, the Owners Club adds that some makers would have called the same engine 1,200 cc.

5. 1988–1992 Norton Commander

Next came the Commander, a full-fairing sports-tourer. Hagerty says it used a liquid-cooled version of the 588 cc engine. The Owners Club records that the civilian P53 Commander and its police sibling both launched in mid-1988.

The Commander also had the longest life of any Norton rotary on this list. In fact, the Owners Club says the rotary line ended in 1992 “with the last of the Commanders.” That makes it the bookend of Norton’s road-going Wankel years.

6. 1990 Norton F1

The F1 was Norton’s road version of its RCW588 racing bike. Norton released it in 1990 with a Spondon frame, a reversed engine, Mikuni carburetors and a fully enclosed fairing, the Owners Club says. Hagerty adds that the hand-built bike was meant to echo the black JPS-liveried racer as closely as possible.

Its liquid-cooled 588 cc twin-rotor engine came from the Commander, according to Wikipedia’s Norton F1 entry. That entry rates it at 94 bhp at 9,500 rpm, while Hagerty quotes 95 bhp. Either way, Brown describes the hand-built F1 as expensive.

7. 1991 Norton F1 Sport

A year after the F1, Norton offered a slightly cheaper version, Hagerty says. To cut the price, it used simpler bodywork and lower-spec suspension, wheels and brakes. Similarly, the Owners Club notes the F1 Sport switched to SU carburetors and a more open fairing.

The racing link paid off in 1992, when Steve Hislop won the Isle of Man Senior TT on the RCW588, beating Carl Fogarty, the Owners Club records. Shortly after that win, Hagerty says, Norton’s new Canadian owners abandoned the rotaries and built only a small quantity of spare parts.

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This article was created with the help of AI and was reviewed and edited by Fast Lane Only editors before publication.