East-west devide

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You need to compare like with like. Compare a '72 Commando with a '72 CB750 ( Japan's answer to Brit big bikes) which would you rather hear?

Yep, me too.


I recently listened to a Jamiroquai CD. At the start of one track there's one of his Ferarris screaming off. I think it's a flat 12, gorgeous!
 
pommie john said:
You need to compare like with like. Compare a '72 Commando with a '72 CB750 ( Japan's answer to Brit big bikes) ....
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No. Compare it to a Z1. That is a better example of Japan's answer to the "Brit big bikes", and arguably it's the bike that caused their demise. Commandos, Bonnevilles, Tridents etc were selling along side Honda 750s in the 1969-71 period. Then came the Z1. America and Australia bought the big Kawasakis instead. Norton died a few years later.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=niEILoqqhOo[/video]

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=sHpsB5ll9DI[/video]
 
Corona850 said:
America and Australia bought the big Kawasakis instead. Norton died a few years later.
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Norton died because of gubberment interference - forcing them to amalagamate with triumph bsa enfield etc.
And guaranteeing money for this and then pulling back from it. etc etc etc ad nauseum.
Nortons were quite profitable in the 1970s, and in patches before - maybe because of their smaller-scale production, and keeping things under control.
They had previously put aside sufficient for a new factory, but AMC needed this stash to bail out other parts of the empire.
A sorry sage. Norton is still not dead though, and Mr garner seems to be prospering...

But we diverge.
 
If we have switched topics to the best multi-multi cylinder sounds of all time,
then the V16 supercharged BRM 1500cc (car) of the early 1950s would have to be right up there. ?
Folks who have heard it rate it as No 1 - of all time.

http://gpl.krej.cz/mp3/BRM%20-%20full%20track.mp3
(there may be a better recording of this - somewhere ?).

The late Gerry Bristow of the NOC chat group had heard this thing race somewhere. (Silverstone ?).
Said he could hear it on the other side of the circuit, above all the other cars.
Apparently the other drivers hated it, said they couldn't hear their own engine.

And Colin Chapman (Lotus) is said to have quoted that it (a later version) sounded glorious, but
"all the horsepower is going out the exhaust pipes".
Barely ever won a race either, so may be something in this....
 
That is certainly quite a howl from that beast. I tried to keep my opinions limited to street bikes used on the road. If we include all the race bikes, 12-cylinder Ferraris, we could have a complete symphony of sound.
I'll never forget reading a review of the Laverda Jota: the most antisocial exhaust note the tester had ever heard. A buyer should push the bike to the end of the street before starting it to avoid offending the neighbors. Of course, I wanted one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fc1JAhHpU0
 
If we are going Italian, then the Laverda V6, endurance racer, always sounded pretty mean.
Like a little Ferrari, but more revvy.
Sorry don't know where the link is.

Another one of those almost-but-what-could-have-been stories, since it didn't actually get into production.
 
Rohan said:
Norton died because of gubberment interference -
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Ahh .. the Government did it! The bastards! They go around screwing up companies willy-nilly so that they don't have to collect tax revenue from them. Nothing to do with antiquated design, inept management, over-unionized workforce, and losing market share to better engineered, higher quality products from competitors.

Rohan said:
- forcing them to amalagamate with triumph bsa enfield etc.
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Enfield? When did the government force them to merge with Royal Enfield? I think (not 100% sure) Manganese Bronze (Norton's parent at the time) bought RE in 1968. The government facilitated merger with Triumph-BSA that created NVT took place in 1972. So, you can't blame the government for that Enfield bit. Manganese Bronze (or Norton Villiers - don't remember what they called themselves in this period) had screwed up Enfield and closed it down before the NVT creation.

Rohan said:
A sorry sage. Norton is still not dead though, and Mr garner seems to be prospering...
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I assume you mean "a sorry saga" and that you are introducing a culinary herb into the discussion! :P But, for the 40 years or so when I one could not buy a new Norton motorcycle its wasn't dead? What - it was in some kind of hiatus, waiting for Garner's magic to appear? :roll:

Rohan said:
But we diverge.
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Do you mean 'digress' perhaps? So, let's get back on topic ...

The original post posed the question as to whether the Norton's attractiveness was based on looks and nostalgia (I thought the whole exhaust noise thing was secondary), and I think that it is primarily nostalgia. Nothing wrong with that. I have an old, Bakelite Stromberg phone on my desk, but I don't try and convince myself that it is as good a communication device as my Android smartphone. I've a 57 Ford Thunderbird in the garage, but it is nowhere near equivalent to my Toyota when it comes to actual utility. Nostalgia is OK, but recognize it as an irrational, emotional choice and don't try to make the case for Nortons (or whetever ...) as anything other than that.
 
Like Norton ,Royal Enfield were strong. Amalgamation a mistake, look at R.E. now in India and other lands.
 
Torontonian said:
... look at R.E. now in India and other lands.
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RE survived in India because it was (still is??) a closed market (there's that government intervention again, the bastards!). They were still making 1958 Morris Oxfords in India until very recently. Are you going to tell me it's because they were better cars and that's why they kept on being made there?

They made Urals and Dneipers in the USSR (based on a 1938 BMW design) - why - because they were better than any bike made post war? No, of course not!

Brit bikes were/are cool looking, but they failed because they didn't change and improve (fast enough) and were outclassed, and out-sold by Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, etc.
 
My Norton sounds pretty good. It becomes really pleasant drone starting at about 3500 RPM.
I'd be ecstatic if I could make the top end clatter go away.


This is what the engine in my other bikes looks like:
East-west devide

It has a pretty good exhaust note. and the heads are virtually silent
what can I say though........ Of course it is quiet, it's made by Honda. :lol:

All in all, I am pretty happy with the sounds that my bikes produce.
 
Clatter....? Check out" bored engineers" mayby your dreams come true?
Mark said:
My Norton sounds pretty good. It becomes really pleasant drone starting at about 3500 RPM.
I'd be ecstatic if I could make the top end clatter go away.


This is what the engine in my other bikes looks like:
East-west devide

It has a pretty good exhaust note. and the heads are virtually silent
what can I say though........ Of course it is quiet, it's made by Honda. :lol:

All in all, I am pretty happy with the sounds that my bikes produce.
Click to expand...
 
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