Barber's 1010 Full Race Nortons

Great photos of delectable machines! Thanks for posting them.

what a spread! Thanks Steve, really like the close ups. by all accounts, you had yourself a real time. cheers, Don

Thank you; I just love the pits.

Where did you spectate from?

Glad to share. Wes & I got vantage points all over the place. We were more mobile than most d/t the 50 & 60 cc bicycles that could hit 30's mph on perimeter road yet just peddle silently among the people and motorcycle in the swap meet, pits area, Wall-Barrel of Death show, private bike show, auction show room, race inspection area, top of track officials roof, show girls photo spots and camp site.

I know we still missed stuff like the Motocross-trials event, most of the race starts and parties here and there. Did not enter Museum this year, which changes time to time, nor the major expensive banquet ceremony, most for the big boys like major sponsors and such. Everyone had a good view of the air show with strafing/bomb runs at fence level, straining radial engines harmonizing then gut shaking concussions.

More to come on Kenny Cummings the star of the show for a lot of us.

hobot said:

Wall-Barrel of Death show,

Click to expand...

By any chance is this the 30' or so high barrel that is 30' across kinda like a giant tea cup in shape? Riders start on the bottom flat and when they get up to speed they ride along the top edge of the barrel a few feet away from the spectators who are on a scaffold looking down into the barrel. I saw this a the circus when I was a kid close to 50 years ago but have never seen it again since. I was totally mesmerized by it at the time and will never forget those heroic scruffy bikers and their stunt girl. It would sure be cool if this still goes on.

Thanks for all the great Norton photos!

Yes sir Rip, vertical wooden track cylinder, open top, flat bottom with angled battens they ride up to reach the wall. A door at bottom for access. Steel frames held in compression by cables. This one was pretty new and well maintained so didn't rock and roll and rattle as much as 1950-60's well worn bolt holes and splintered wood ones that I remember made my groin tighten as a youth.
This one had top cable extend a foot inside of barrel as a barrier but old style had top cable on outside, nothing to stop the Loud Indians to pull wheelie up past the barrel lip and your face! My bud Wes got his first taste this trip and loved it.
They also had a display on outside deck with a XLCH type Harley on rollers they'd crank up and give display of some the stunts inside, hands off, laying down backwards, hanging off side saddle hands off. Cool two wheel physics to observe to me. Harley was chained down to prevent too far side to sides right off 3 ft wide rollers and of course not to jump rollers into the crowd below.
One of the best track corner/chicane views too from 25" high spectator deck.
Its tented colorful roof was definitely a visual mark for the racers to line up on.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDzIWNvnjwI[/video]

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8H4RRUs8wA[/video]


Might as well post a shortie of the over head show they did once a day.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgC8OIibCac[/video]

Cool! Thanks for posting the videos.

Like you say the construction of the barrel has been modernized but it's still the same thing. The one I remember had big gaps between the boards, about 2" if I remember correctly.

So there I am, busy as can be, with my head deep into the innards of a bike when I look up and spot some nutter in a white Knute Rockne-style football helmet bouncing about my pit with his Whizzer. It wasn't the first time I've seen this sight and I knew straight away it was our very own Hobot. I had quite a busy weekend (will write up something later), so couldn't get all the story, but I know he's onto some sort of crusade to get the Commando chassis to fly about 3' over tarmac and gravel. In the meantime, us mere mortals are doing everything we can to make our tires stick to the track. I think Tim (Britbike220) said it best - he's only a threat to himself. He's a good dude, and better to have someone thinking about it all than lying complacent.

Great to see all of you this weekend. What a blast.

Good pics Hobot!
And Kenny, funny as, your assesment of our Hobot especially when some of the terms used are translated back into Aussie, different meanings I hope? A Whizzer over here refers to part of a females anatomy!!! :mrgreen:
On a more serious note, who made your primary belt guard please?
Cheers Foxy

I"m still high from Kenny's adrenalin as well as the rest of the show, Glad I was able to add some head turning entertainment. Whizzer is a famous motorized peddle bicycle. Saw a version in a side show that had no peddles. Taking a whiz is about universal English speaking slang for micturation. Whizzing by - is also slang for going past fast.

Kenny, I'm working up to post on you specially and to keep your sponsors happy.
Alas 3" inches off surface ain't always enough to get bike aimed around fast and far enough. So much so I now think its possible to do a barrel roll and land in control on Ms. Peel. To enter phase 4 handling, side leaps, takes way down low leaned launches. Don't know if the squat racers could pull it off. A side ways wheelie is not a side ways leap, just an exciting extension of phase 2, normal leaned counter steering. But I disdain the hesitations-lags in wrist straining acceleration through turns by the instants of rear grip loss. Need more power to explore that beyond The Gravel. Darn leaned tires just ain't up to it on tarmac or Grit.

When we were on the Wall of Death deck and over looking a hook turn that led into a slight bend then short open into a fairly sharp turn onto a long straight - I was plotting the lines I'd take if on Ms Peel. My jaw dropped when 125's to Indians were all on the other side of the track lanes I'd pictured!! They were doing it as 3 turns where I only saw two.

That vantage point also gave me another surprise revelation in handling physics.
A 125 had an Indian dogging his tail as they took the last far over lean to enter the straight. 125 had choice of lines and no intention to let the clunky Indian by - but that wallowing Indian leaned further over and hooked up more power than the 125 could and flat out turned the 125 on inside to gain 2-3 bike lengths, then they both got up right and neither could gain on the other, staying in that same relation till next turn. Perfect matched power/performance, that an articulated chassis could handle better, silly and scary as it looked. I hooted and hollowed and stomped around like Snoopy dog, getting more looks than with helmet on.

BTW Wes looking over football helmet at camp - pointed out some .22 cal holes shot thru it. Wes's motorbikes were exciting handful topped out, felt like normal dangerous motorcycles to me, straight line sprinters only.

Kenny, you always have interesting 'whizzers' attracted to you...

kinda enabling to see some serious contemporary race bikes... fitted with what appear to be factory frames... things that make ya go hmmmm?

oh well, went for a quick run downtown tonight, came back ready for a wet t shirt contest; about half an inch of rain in 20 minutes. time for a little pinot noir, goodnight friends.

My that is a good looking head on Kenny's bike !! Well, did you whup 'em or what? Don't keep me in suspense.

Roll up, roll up, get yer Norton heads here..................

Great pics and video!

Hobot, while I appreciate the shot of the monoshocker, it is far from a "Full Race" Norton!

Still waiting on track photographer's shots to come through, got the first couple of batches and i'm not in 'em.

1. Don't mis-construe me, I long ago leaned to fly a Combat off the surface anyway I liked - once rump rod installed. I only seek to do it way over the ton.

2. Rip, we got the good stuff before pasteurization became the rule, big gaps a kid could stick a hand through or watch under side of messy smoking flame spouting clunker roar by, steel frames twisting/swaying, bolts squeaking and wood splintering entertainment for all the senses. Riders seemed to have a safer vantage point.
They be out lawed today just by the pollution smoke oil trash factor, let alone the safety insurance political correctness issues.

3. Doug MacRae has won Daytona recently on non-linked isolastic Cdo chassis. All that tells me is, 1. Doug is supremely brave and constrained pilot, 2. still similar limits in too flexy-rebounding chassis as the too rigid ringing chassis.

4. Nortons ain't always the fastest Brit twin we saw, much to my dismay on these things.

5. Paul, your mono shock may not be full race ready but it sure looked the part!
I studied it closely, in awe of the compact hidden re-engineering it took some looking deep to see. UFO sleek to me, but don't see mono shocks dominating in handling so put my effort/expense in other areas. All these motorcycles stress me in a good way to attempt to catch up on such pleasing to eye opening creations.

6. Wall of Death deck view point that flabbergasted me seeing them take the easy lines through. Note the darkened strip where max side loads are being relieved, so indicates where getting on hi power to help straightening back up
out of there. Some ran off onto the run off area. I visualized Peels last flick up in the beginning of the clear area well before the dark zone. Its pretty wide open 'chicane' so simply the shortest way may be the faster, don't know, as I wasn't doing it.



[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUjUzdfJQvk[/video]