Norman is a semi-retired Service Engineer and originally from Yorkshire. He holds a lifelong love for motorcycles and in particular old Norton’s the odd Triumph and more recently a new Kawasaki. Now living in Roscommon his passion and expertise is apparent in the meticulous detail with which he lovingly restores and maintains his motorcycles.
The Norton story began when James Landsdowne Norton was born in Birmingham in 1869, the son of a British cabinet maker he showed mechanical ability when at age ten he built a model steam engine. He suffered from severe rheumatic fever when he was 19 and his doctors recommended a recuperation sea voyage to New York to. While he did recover his health, the fever had aged him prematurely and he became known as ‘Pa’ Norton, as in Grandpa.
While he began his career as an apprentice toolmaker in the jewellery trade, his real interests lay in engineering and in 1898 at the age of 29 he founded The Norton Manufacturing Company at premises at 320 Bradford Street, Birmingham. Initially beginning as a manufacturer of bicycle parts the Norton company would expand to become one of the most recognisable motorcycle marques synonymous with technically advanced high quality motorcycles and TT race wins.
Pa Norton produced his first motorcycle in 1902, the ‘Energette’ a bicycle with a Belgian Clement single-cylinder 143cc engine mounted on the down tube and the petrol tank located to the rear of the seat. The association of high road speeds and Norton motorcycles began at this point at Pa claimed his Energette would hit 20 mph when the road legal limit at the time was 12 mph.
The Isle of Man TT (Tourist Trophy) wins, for which the Norton company would later become famous began in 1907 when Rem Fowler riding a 5 hp Norton with a Peugot engine won the inaugural TT Twin Cylinder Race.
Following on from the race wins, the company expanded rapidly and by 1909 there were eight Norton motorcycles in the range. Six of these motorcycles were powered by Norton’s own engine and two with engines from Swiss and French manufacturers’.
The deserved reputation of the Norton motorcycle for high speed grew and on 17 July 1914 Dan O’Donovan riding a 490 cc Norton achieved a record-breaking flying 5-mile at 75.88 mph, and the standing start 10 mile record at 73.29 mph.
At a family dinner James and his daughter Ethel came up with the famous Norton logo featuring the ‘curly N’. The new logo appeared on Norton motorcycles for the first time in 1915.
In 1925 , aged just 56 James Landsdowne Norton died of bowel cancer. While he had to watch the 1924 Isle of Man TT from a chair he was rewarded to see his Norton motorcycles winning two of the races. He is buried at Lodge Hill Cemetery in Selly Oak, Birmingham, England.
Following World War 1 Norton resumed racing and in 1924 began setting records again as rider Alec Bennett achieved the first TT race win with an average speed over 60 mph. Norton would go on to win the TT a further ten times leading up to them ceasing their involvement in the TT in 1939 with the outbreak of World War 2.
By 1953 Norton motorcycles were winning races, but this came at a financial cost that could not be off-set by sales and the company was in financial difficulty and sold out to Associated Motorcycles (AMC) who also owned the AJS, Francis-Barnett, James and Matchless brands.
AMC invested heavily and developed an improved version of the Norton gearbox to be used on all the larger models of AJS, Matchless and Norton. In September 1955 the 600 cc Dominator 99 was launched followed in September 1960 by the 750 cc Atlas with Norton’s famous Featherbed frame.
The Atlas styling was aimed at the US market with high-rise handlebars, small 2.5-gallon petrol tank and valanced chrome mudguards and chain guard. However the Atlas design produced excessive vibration at high revs, so the compression ratio was reduced.
The fortunes of Norton motorcycles were changing again as by the late 1960s the Japanese manufacturers were making inroads on the European marketplace and in 1966 AMC became insolvent and was reformed as Norton-Villers.
In November 1967 Norton-Villers launched the Commando prototype at the Earls Court Show in London and went into full production in 1968 as the world’s first production superbike, manufacture continued until 1977. The Commando engine had a hemi-type head, similar to all OHV Norton engines produced since the early 1920s. The former Rolls Royce engineer; Dr. Stefan Bauer was responsible for the revolutionary and award-wining Commando frame. Bauer and his team designed their frame around a single 2.25” in (57 mm) top tube and that the engine, gearbox and swing-arm assembly were to be bolted together and isolated from the frame by special rubber mountings. This had the effect of eliminating vibration issues by separating the rider from the engine by maintaining the required free play in the engine mountings at the correct level. The system was named the ‘Isolastic’ anti-vibration system.
The Commando went on to win Motor Cycle News’ Machine of the Year for five successive years.
Over 55,000 bikes were sold, making the Commando the most famous motorcycle to wear the Norton name.
The first Commando was 745 cc and in 1973 the engine was enlarged to 850 cc. The production period for the Commando ran from 1967 until 1977 and was succeeded by the Commando – Mark III Interstate electric start 850cc.
With sponsorship from John Player in the 1970’s, Norton entered factory racing with new racing bikes based on the Commando. In 1973 Peter Williams riding a semi-monocoque framed “JPS Norton” special won the Formula 750 Isle of Man TT.
Shortly afterward there was a merger of Norton Villiers with BSA-Triumph and this led the factory to abandon racing. The Norton factory race team did not resume until the Wankel-engined bikes of the 1980’s.
Sources of information
1. Norton Commando Restoration by Norman White
2. Norton Commando (2nd edition) by Mick Duckworth
3. Norton 1960-1970 Lightweight And Heavyweight Twin Cylinder Workshop Manual 250cc To 750cc. Including The 1968-1970 Commando By Floyd Clymer
4. www.cycleworld.com
5. www.iomtt.com
6. www.classicmoto.com
7. www.uniongaragenyc.com
8. www.nortonmotorcycles.com
9. www.nickhedgesphotography.co.uk
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