Norton (motorcycle)

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Image:Norton motorcycle badge.jpg Image:Norton-850-commando.jpg Norton is a British motorcycle marque from Birmingham and founded in 1898. By 1913 they had begun manufacturing motorcycles. This began a long series of production and racing wins.

They were one of the great names of the British motorcycle industry, producing machines which for decades dominated racing. The original company was formed by James Norton in Wolverhampton in 1898. The Isle of Man Senior TT, the most prestigious of events, was won by Nortons ten times between the wars and then every year from 1947 to 1954.

Between 1937 and 1945 nearly one quarter of all (ca 400.000) British military motorcycles were Nortons, basically the WD16H (solo) and WDBig Four outfit (with driven sidecar wheel).

Post war, the Norton brand was renowned for the quality of the design and handling of their motorcycle frames, particularly the Norton Featherbed frame. So much so that Cafe racers would use this frame with an engine from another manufacturer to make a hybrid machine with the best of both worlds. The most famous of these were Tritons - Triumph twin engines in a Norton frame.

In 1960, Norton was sold to Associated Motorcycles (AMC), who also owned the brands AJS, Matchless, and Villiers. The Birmingham factory was closed and production was moved to AMC's Woolwich factory in Southeast London.

By the late 1960s competition from Japan had driven the whole British motorcycle industry into a precipitous decline. In 1969 the Commando was introduced, its revolutionary isolastic frame and powerful engine made it competitive with Japanese superbikes of the era. Despite different variations and respectable sales, the company declined and went into liquidation in 1974, but in 1973 Norton was reformed by the British government as Norton-Villiers-Triumph (NVT), taking the Triumph brand from BSA. Due to a labor dispute, NVT went into receivership in 1974, ending production of the original Norton Motorycles. The name was relaunched on an ambitious scale in Lichfield in 1988. The new models have succeeded on the race track - winning the Senior TT in 1992 - but they have moved rather more slowly in the commercial market. Image:Rhas.jpg

In the 1980s, the company went through several incarnations. It had some success making motorcycles for police forces and civilian versions, including the Wankel engine powered Commander. By the 1990s more troubles had arrived. During the 1990's, Kenny Dreer of Oregon began producing new Commandos and is currently designing a whole new machine.

Perhaps the most famous (or infamous) endorser of Norton Motorcycles was Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, who, along with his friend, Alberto Granado, famously toured South America on a 1939 Norton 500, nicknamed 'The Mighty One'. Unfortunately the bike did not complete the journey with them, and was wrecked somewhere along the route.

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Models

  • Pre War (1908 - 1939)
    • Big Four (Model 1)
    • 16H
    • Model 18
    • Model 19
    • Model 20
    • Model 22
    • CS1
    • ES2
    • CJ
    • Model 30
    • Model 40
    • Model 50 & 55
    • International
  • War time (1937 - 1945)
    • WD16H
    • WDBig Four
  • Post War (1945 - )
    • 16H
    • Model 18
    • Model 19
    • Big Four
    • Model 500T
    • ES2
    • Atlas
    • Manx
    • Mercury
    • Dominator
  • Superbike Era
    • Commando Combat
    • Commando Fastback
    • Commando Hi-rider
    • Commando Interstate
    • Commando Roadster
  • Revival period
    • Norton Commander
    • Norton F1
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External links

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