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Long-time Asphalt & Rubber readers might recognize the motorcycle above. It started life as the Norton NRV588, and then later became the Crighton Racing CR700P.

What is old is new again, it would seem, as the Crighton CR700W is getting significant press this week. And although the bike is a massaging of a machine that has been in the two-wheeled nexus for over a decade, Crighton’s work is certainly lurid.

This is because the Crighton CR700W is the only rotary engine powered motorcycles available on the market, and  the headline features are certainly worth talking about.

We were disappointed last summer when the Norton NRV588 didn’t take a lap at speed around the Isle of Man circuit during the TT, but that didn’t stop the British racing team from clocking 178mph on the salt flats. It looks like Norton Racing has taken the data they’ve learned from the NRV588 and plan to refine the machine into a 700cc race-spec motorcycle that’s an evolution of the current 588cc pocket rocket. Altough Norton plays it coy on their website, rumor has it that they’re reportedly eying the British Superbike series and maybe even a World Superbike comeback within the next three years.