Norton used the “Interpol” name twice in their history: the first time was for a police bike based on the Commando, and the second time was for what you see here – a police bike built between 1984 and 1989 utilizng their twin rotor 588cc rotary engine. With that said, this bike has been customized (and as the seller puts it, “civilianized”) into a standard street bike.
Norton never sold these to the public, though they eventually made their way into civilian hands after they finished up duty with organizations like city police departments, military police, and the Royal Automobile Club. Brian Crighton actually used the motors found in the Interpol as the base for the famous Norton race bikes, he was able to get power up from 85hp to 120hp for racing applications. Here’s an example of what these looked like from the factory with the full fairing and police equipment.
The seller of this example (my buddy David over at Bullpen Cycles) says this may be the only Interpol in the US and that it was restored in the UK before being imported here. The odometer shows 2,975 miles but I assume that’s after the restoration as it presumably did more miles in police duty. It’s been painted in an interesting John Player Special tribute livery and it’d be a hit at something like the Hansen Dam show if you want to bring it out to LA next year!
Find this Interpol for sale in Edgewater, Florida for $13,600 here on Craigslist.
This bike-uriousity brought to you by Jay B!