were conventional, reviewers remarked on its good steering and handling, aided by good ground clearance. Some reviewers even claimed it to be the best-handling Japanese bike, and close to European standards. After the novelty of the RE5's rotary engine had worn off, reviewers found only its handling to be its winning factor over other bikes. In 1985 Cycle World criticised the RE5 as expensive, over-complicated, underpowered, and hideous; and they declared it to be one of "The Ten Worst Motorcycles". Differing design approaches The Norton Classic was an air-cooled twin-rotor bike developed by David Garside at BSA, with a fundamentally different design approach. Whereas the RE5 was heavy, overcomplicated, expensive to make, and (at 60 bhp) a little short on power, Garside's design was simpler, smoother, lighter and (at 80 bhp) significantly more powerful. Specifications Specifications: Wheels: Front 3.25 × 19in, Rear 4.00 × 18in. Carburation: two-stage, two-barrel 18–32 mm Mikuni. Fuel: 85–95 octane. Starting system: Electric, kickstart (the latter intended to be offered only as an option). Performance: Top Speed (tested): . Standing ¼ mile: 14.02 s @ . Wheel Base: . Weight (curb with half tank of fuel): 255.4 kg (563 lb). Weight dry: 230 kg (507 lb). Technical features The engine has a single rotor with a capacity of 497 cc. The rotor spins on an eccentric shaft in a peritrochoid (Mazda uses an epitrochoid) chamber, giving three rotations of the crankshaft for every 360° of rotor travel. Compression ratio is 9.4:1. The eccentric shaft runs on plain bearings, which were better than rollers for heat dissipation. Combustion sealing utilised Apex, corner and side seals. At the three rotor apexes, tip sealing was accomplished with a three-piece seal tensioned by a blade spring. Apex seals were made of a special material known as Ferro Tic, which was a combination of sintered ferrous alloy and titanium carbide. The surface of the trochoid chamber which the apex seals rubbed along was coated with a CEM (composite electrochemical material) consisting of nickel silicon carbide. Side sealing used one blade-like seal and spring for each rotor face on each side (six side seals in total). Corner seals and springs finished the isolation of combustion. Blow-by gases are recirculated into the combustion process. The rotor spins backward in relation to the motorcycle. Primary power transfer to the clutch and transmission is by duplex chain. Clutch and gearbox Wet multiplate clutch, and five-speed,