American Norton

swooshdave · Nov 29, 2010

grandpaul said:
Dave, you need to fix your signature link.

"linky no worky"

I figured it out, just needed the www and .com

thanks. fixed now.

rvich · Nov 29, 2010

britbike220 said:
Very cool project Dave; is it safe to assume there will be DVD's when the project is finished?

We want "American Norton" tee shirts!!!

(jeepers, my Plugz shirt is about to be turned into an oil rag...I need new threads!)

swooshdave · Nov 29, 2010

rvich said:
britbike220 said:

Very cool project Dave; is it safe to assume there will be DVD's when the project is finished?

Click to expand...

We want "American Norton" tee shirts!!!

(jeepers, my Plugz shirt is about to be turned into an oil rag...I need new threads!)

Yes, it will be a race to see which you get first, forum t-shirt or movie t-shirt. :mrgreen:

DonOR · Nov 29, 2010

Dave you are a lucky guy... congratulations and best of luck on this project. The website is most compelling, I want to know more. cheers, Don

swooshdave · Nov 29, 2010

DonOR said:
Dave you are a lucky guy... congratulations and best of luck on this project. The website is most compelling, I want to know more. cheers, Don

We want you to want to know more. :mrgreen:

swooshdave · Dec 12, 2010

New update on the website. We are going to try to make these more regular.

http://americannorton.com/they-will-come/

RennieK · Dec 13, 2010

Hey Dave, great project. If we comment on the site is there a blog where we can see the comments and responses or is it all direct email? I hope we don't have to join facebook (I've been resisting).

mototom · Dec 13, 2010

Rennie, I approved your comment on the blog and replied. We're doing some moderation of comments to try and keep the comment spam under control. And thanks for your comment -- it's great to know someone's actually reading what I write!

swooshdave · Dec 27, 2010

A new update today. Tells the story about how this project got started.

How Did I Get Here

Enjoy. :mrgreen:

britbike220 · Jan 5, 2011

Anything for the new year

swooshdave · Jan 11, 2011

britbike220 said:
Anything for the new year

Of course.

Minor update:

More Interviews!

Right now it's just slogging through and transferring many, many hours of video so that preliminary editing can begin. And then the process of "filling the gaps" with more interviews and other material.

Mixing footage from the HD video camera and footage shot on the Canon DSLR has proven to be a huge technological challenge. Hopefully that has been solved.

Thank you for your continued interest.

swooshdave · Feb 20, 2011

Good Times, Great People

There was a screening of the American Norton trailer last month. Unfortunately we can't share it. There will be a public trailer in the near future.

There have also been two more interviews since I last posted. These were guys who worked at Norton America. Great stuff.

swooshdave · Mar 9, 2011

Upcoming Interviews

We are still busy interviewing. We are very fortunate that many of the people who worked at Norton America are still in the Portland area.

We will also soon start our fundraising phase so this will be your opportunity be involved in the project. So far the expenditures have been modest, again, because we haven't had the travel expenses. But we will need to go visit a few folks and that is not cheap. And as we move into the post-production phase (editing, sound, etc) the real expenses will start hitting.

As I've mentioned before this is very much like a motorcycle restoration, the more you pay other people to do the work, the more expensive it is.

If you want to do it yourself, you may be able to spend less, but it takes longer. At this point we are still gathering all the parts and once we have them we'll know what we are missing.

Stay tuned!

grandpaul · Mar 9, 2011

Pretty cool. I clicked the link to the Guggenheim and copied that photo of my prototype bike. Added provenance.

Commando75 · Mar 9, 2011

In my humble opinion Norton did not, and does not, require 'bringing back'. Obviously when the company folded the flow of new machines to the market dried up (except a few 'assembled from spares' and the crated MK3's). That being said in the ensuing years Norton Commandos have attracted a very loyal and passionate following in the motorcycle world. The supply of spares and the existance of forums like this are a testimony to the popularity of a bike that has not been produced in more than 30 years. The fact that there are so many of the original Norton Commandos being ridden, restored, and traveled on today indicates to me that the Commando never went away and thus needs no 'bringing back'. If someone wants to pay a king's ransom for a modern motorcycle that is called a Norton Commando that is their business and I respect that. For me the existance of a 'new' Commando just makes the sensation of riding an 'old' commando that much more satisfying.

swooshdave · Mar 9, 2011

Commando75 said:
In my humble opinion Norton did not, and does not, require 'bringing back'. Obviously when the company folded the flow of new machines to the market dried up (except a few 'assembled from spares' and the crated MK3's). That being said in the ensuing years Norton Commandos have attracted a very loyal and passionate following in the motorcycle world. The supply of spares and the existance of forums like this are a testimony to the popularity of a bike that has not been produced in more than 30 years. The fact that there are so many of the original Norton Commandos being ridden, restored, and traveled on today indicates to me that the Commando never went away and thus needs no 'bringing back'. If someone wants to pay a king's ransom for a modern motorcycle that is called a Norton Commando that is their business and I respect that. For me the existance of a 'new' Commando just makes the sensation of riding an 'old' commando that much more satisfying.

I would love to hear your opinion after you see the movie.

Marathon Man · Mar 9, 2011

Commando75 said:
For me the existance of a 'new' Commando just makes the sensation of riding an 'old' commando that much more satisfying.

So..you'd be less satisfied riding an old Norton if a new Norton did not exist?

Webby03 · Mar 9, 2011

Anglophile said:
Commando75 said:

For me the existance of a 'new' Commando just makes the sensation of riding an 'old' commando that much more satisfying.

Click to expand...

So..you'd be less satisfied riding an old Norton if a new Norton did not exist?

That way you can say to people you ride a "real" one! :mrgreen:

builder · Mar 9, 2011

Commando75 said:
In my humble opinion Norton did not, and does not, require 'bringing back'. Obviously when the company folded the flow of new machines to the market dried up (except a few 'assembled from spares' and the crated MK3's). That being said in the ensuing years Norton Commandos have attracted a very loyal and passionate following in the motorcycle world. The supply of spares and the existance of forums like this are a testimony to the popularity of a bike that has not been produced in more than 30 years. The fact that there are so many of the original Norton Commandos being ridden, restored, and traveled on today indicates to me that the Commando never went away and thus needs no 'bringing back'. If someone wants to pay a king's ransom for a modern motorcycle that is called a Norton Commando that is their business and I respect that. For me the existance of a 'new' Commando just makes the sensation of riding an 'old' commando that much more satisfying.

Very well stated.

DonOR · Mar 9, 2011

Commando75 said:
In my humble opinion Norton did not, and does not, require 'bringing back'. Obviously when the company folded the flow of new machines to the market dried up (except a few 'assembled from spares' and the crated MK3's). That being said in the ensuing years Norton Commandos have attracted a very loyal and passionate following in the motorcycle world. The supply of spares and the existance of forums like this are a testimony to the popularity of a bike that has not been produced in more than 30 years. The fact that there are so many of the original Norton Commandos being ridden, restored, and traveled on today indicates to me that the Commando never went away and thus needs no 'bringing back'. If someone wants to pay a king's ransom for a modern motorcycle that is called a Norton Commando that is their business and I respect that. For me the existance of a 'new' Commando just makes the sensation of riding an 'old' commando that much more satisfying.

If it were not 10am, I'd say I'll drink to that!

American Norton

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