Joined: 24 Dec 2003 Posts: 362 Location: Brisbane, Australia
Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2004 4:07 am Post subject: A Living Legend, The Norton
I have noticed that a lot of questions are asked about what is wrong here and how do you fix that.......
Well, what about a new topic just to write about the joys of owning a norton. Most of us appear to own commandos. And we obviously all love them.
I noticed the comments RE: no one these days being able to steal your norton as they wouldn't know how to start one.
You have to tickle the carbys just right, talk nicely & give it a kick in the guts(unless you are on a later electric start model).
Isn't that one of the best reasons for owning nortons? Most of us would have tuned/built it ourselves & it is a good feeling to have it fire up on that first or second kick.
Isn't it fantastic just to fire one up, select first gear & head off down your favourite route?
You are changing through the gears down some twisty section of road, always hearing that beautiful sound coming out the mufflers.
You get home, give it a wash and polish the alloy again ready for the next trip.
It does not matter where you ride, there are always admirers. Gee mate, "What year is that norton? I had one or my mate/cousin had one. That bike is a credit to you, I never see them on the road these days". You know the stuff I mean.
My wife has been at me to buy a new Harley Davidson Heritage Softail with all the extras. We have even been for a couple of test rides. Even though they are a nice bike, I still get back on the norton & & feel at home again.
So, what about some good reasons as to why it is great to own & ride a living legend we call a norton ?
I know you blokes/sheilas, guys/gals have some good stories locked away in whatever memory cells you haven't killed with alcohol.
Joined: 15 Apr 2004 Posts: 898 Location: Boulder, CO
Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2004 6:49 am Post subject:
Bear in mind, Reg, this is a technical support forum. Of course you're primarily going to hear about problems because that's what this forum is here for. And you have to admit our bikes present plenty of problems to us!
So what's nice? Here's a few things from my point of view:
It's an elegant, beautiful motorcycle. There's nothing like it in our modern era.
It's a reminder of a bygone era, when life was simpler and more innocent.
It's so much fun to ride. The sound, the feel, the entire experience.
It's so satisfying when you get it to start and run, knowing you fixed that unsolvable problem yourself. It's even more satisfying knowing the previous owner sold the bike to you because he gave up on ever getting it to run right
And for those of us who have history with Nortons, having one today brings back lots of pleasant memories of years in the past.
Was riding mine yesterday. A Harley rider pulled up alongside at a traffic light and yelled "Nice bike!"
Debby
(I know the next time I get mad at my bike and threaten to sell it you guys will make me re-read this!)
mmm, I believed it was a forum devoted to Norton Motorcycle enthusiasts,
not just a technical forum, but I could be wrong on that one also.
I can relate to your Harley Experience Debby, we met another couple that ride a 100th anniversary custom softtail at a pub just north of town.
When we arrived, there were about 6 Harleys & nothing else parked out front. I managed to park right in the middle of them & went in to grab a beer & found our friends.
A few minutes later some local bloke says "Who owns the Norton ?"
I put my hand up in the hand saying "That's my bike".
The bloke then says "That is the best looking bike out there mate !"
Well, didn't that put a smile on my dial, I was now sitting with 3 of the harley owners a my friend had brought a couple of his other mates along.
Owning & riding & working on a norton is great mate
Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2004 12:47 pm Post subject: Praise for Norton
Yesterday coming back from the club ride in the Sacramento River delta I got a thumbs up from a guy on a Buell. On that back of his jacket was "Hells Angels". That's high praise for the Norton.
Joined: 24 Dec 2003 Posts: 362 Location: Brisbane, Australia
Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2004 1:09 pm Post subject:
If you guys/gals can purchase "ozbike" magazine, "thunder down under" number 274 you will see my norton parked in a sea of harleys @ the Hells Angels, Brisbane annual Poker Run back in March. My Combat is on page 16 looking good.
Next poker run they have next March, I plan on taking one of their trophies for best british. The bloke who won it last march was on an AJS 500 twin circa 1954. Otherwise, that trophy may have been mine. How often do you see a 500 twin AJS on the road, let alone on a HA poker run?
Joined: 30 Oct 2004 Posts: 14 Location: Gold Coast, Australia
Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2004 1:59 am Post subject:
New to this forum but i am impressed by how good it is with really good technical help.
Been a member of triplesonline a Trident group for a while and it is a real community. Good technical help but they have a wonderful ability to go off on tangents about what is happening in world. Tangents are good.
This is probably one of the best Norton forums that i have come across and hopefully will be participating on a regular basis.
Been a Norton man since a bought a new Mk3 commando in 75 but presently have a Triumph T160 that will be joined in the garage by a Mk3 at the end of the week hopefully.
Why do we love Nortons and my case Commando's especially ? It looks right. You dont even have to ride it to know that the bike will deliver. But when you ride it it gives more in spades. An old boy i knew once said of the Nortons that they were 'honest bikes'. I was too young to know what he meant but now in my mid forties i think that describes them exactly.
So what is the difference between the triple and the twin. Well so far the triple is a fickle highly strung old lady that needs lots of tlc. Up to 99 when i came out to Australia i rode a 75 Commando summer and winter in Scotland with few problems. I doubt the trident would have coped.
Oh...and if the sound from the peashooters isn't enough then curl up and take up tiddleywinks
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At the end of 1967 the Norton Commando was announced.
The Norton Commando was greeted with a certain amount of scepticism because on first sight the commando appeared to comprise of the old Norton Dominator twin cylinder engine mounted at an inclined angle in a set of new cylinder parts.
It was not realized that the new Norton Commando Isolastic method of engine suspension damped out all engine vibration and produced a machine which had uncanny smoothness for a vertical twin. In due course the critics were silenced and the Norton Commando had the distinction of being regarded as the first of todays so called superbikes. There can be little doubt that the original design concept of the Norton Commando has proved correct, since comparatively few modifications of any real consequence have been made since production commenced during 1968.
Now nearly 40 years later Norton Commando riders like us are a breed of our own, and as far as we are concerned its still more fun to go for a blat on the old Norton Commando, and fast. As a Norton Commando owner and enthusiast, my goal here is to promote and give credit to those who keep the Norton name going.
It is more deserving to give credit to the Commando itself, for after all these years it continues to be respected. The original Commando designers like John Favill are those who deserve the credit for developing this incredible motorcycle.
The Norton Commando Roadster and Interstate of the late seventies, never died. Although the Norton Villiers factory dispersed the tradition lived on. Today Kenny Dreer in the USA is developing the new 952 CC Norton. What a great looking bike this is, and its engineering is still based on the original layout. It will be interesting to see how the new 952CC Norton does in todays tough motorcycle market. One thing is for sure, I would own one if I could afford it.
