I bought my first Norton in 1971 from Elite Motors (2012)

Very interesting blog discussing the "tax free" deals in the UK for motorcycles:

http://vickilanemysteries.blogspot.com/ ... urday.html

Are we having a "where I bought my 1st Norton" blog.
Well I got my Atlas in 1968 from Streamline Motorcycles in Dulwich, London. I was only 16 at the time.
I kept it until march 1973 which is when I bought my Interstate from Pride & Clark in Stockwell, which I still have & use when I get the time.
I should be on it today going to the big breakfast classic bike meet but family commitments stop me again.
Never mind, maybe I will get the Squires Cafe this afternoon instead.
Happy riding guys.

Hi

Duggie Clark southgate.

Dear old Duggie, scarred the crap out of me! Had a Triton & he helped me out with bits. Offered to knock money off if I gave him a Kiss!!! My mate Nige who new him for years was straight behind the counter! I had always paid in full, never knew I was beeing wound up! Went on to get a Trident & Dug went to Andover & brought a ton of spares. Eventually got me to buy an ex police Commando.

Chris

Got my first British bike, a spanking new Norton Interstate in the summer of 1972 from Coburn & Hughes in London. Much money spent on it over more recent years but still standard spec in appearance and still enjoying riding it. If I cant find a
good home for it when my body gives up, then Im gonna have it buried with me!!!

Got my first Norton from Pride and Sharks Stockwell, Used to live near Streamlines and hang exchanging lies with Niel, met Harold Daniel,Gus Kuhn ,Paul Dunstall,Nobby Clark (Hailwoods Mech) , My liitle Duck has an Elite Motors Badge still. Beat up Mods , Dance to the Angels ,hang at The Nightingale ,Chelsea Bridge and Johnstons,Work in Carnaby street, get drunk in the old Jail Biggin Hill, Don half miss those Times!!. Back to work on the Atlas ,The Classic TT beckons.

Chris said:

Hi

Duggie Clark southgate.

Dear old Duggie, scarred the crap out of me! Had a Triton & he helped me out with bits. Offered to knock money off if I gave him a Kiss!!! My mate Nige who new him for years was straight behind the counter! I had always paid in full, never knew I was beeing wound up! Went on to get a Trident & Dug went to Andover & brought a ton of spares. Eventually got me to buy an ex police Commando.

Chris

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Always used to buy my stuff from duggie , what a character I remember his advert in the TT program he got a lot of angry phone calls over that one!!
Funniest thing (apart from the kiss discount) was when he would work out how much the goods came to then remove the VAT
Plus the tax inspectors used to come to the shop and he wouldn't let them in!!!
He was a Norton man through and through ,
Happy times visiting that shop

montelatici said:

Very interesting blog discussing the "tax free" deals in the UK for motorcycles:

http://vickilanemysteries.blogspot.com/ ... urday.html

Click to expand...

What a wonderful link and delightfully told story. The one I have to tell is not so happy.

I had gone down to Dunstalls shop to pick up one of the Blair exhausts and whilst waiting to be served , an American , in his early 20s walks in ,and gets out a sheaf of papers. A dream for him was about to go sour. His announcement that he has come to pick up his bike is met with incredulity. There is no bike . The bike he has paid for is not there. Dunstall himself appears from out of a back room but is not apologetic. Chatting to the bloke he had expected to pick up the bike and ride out of London that day , so to make matters worse he has no accomodation.

Though I cant be certain my feeling was he was on leave before being sent to Vietnam .He was not a Student and had short hair. Unfortunately, I could not stay to see the end of this saga .Odd to think that my then wife and I were not on the phone , so all I could do was offer to put him up and gave him our address. He never showed, perhaps they came across so how it finished i do not know.

To be candid , I was embarressed ,what a way to treat someone . Made me feel ashamed to be a Brit.

norton bob said:

Got my first Norton from Pride and Sharks Stockwell, Used to live near Streamlines and hang exchanging lies with Niel, met Harold Daniel,Gus Kuhn ,Paul Dunstall,Nobby Clark (Hailwoods Mech) , My liitle Duck has an Elite Motors Badge still. Beat up Mods , Dance to the Angels ,hang at The Nightingale ,Chelsea Bridge and Johnstons,Work in Carnaby street, get drunk in the old Jail Biggin Hill, Don half miss those Times!!. Back to work on the Atlas ,The Classic TT beckons.

Click to expand...

Gus Kuhn himself , in person? I only knew Kuhns when they were an exclusively Commando dealership. There was a bloke who worked behind the counter , in his 60s I suppose , who had had throat cancer and he really had to struggle to make himself understood. The early 70s were not disability friendly and it always impressed me that he was employed in a customer facing role .

I started off in the late 1950's,at 14 bought my first bike a 500 Rudge Ulster Grand Prix, bronze head ,high level exhausts, for a tenner ,rode it round the fields ,stripped it ,sold it ,doubled my money!!. Next a C11G, hid it behind the sheds,not allowed. First ride on the roads at 14 on a neighbours square finned Triumph 500 GP which I helped him fix. Frightened myself silly by giving it full throttle in first showing off. Never lost interest. working on Nortons,Rudge,Ducatis,moderns (if I have to!). I remember escorting a lost Atlas mounted Yank from pride and Clarks to Kuhns , I was 2 up on an 88 and still had to keep stopping for him to catch up. Its a wonder I survived, Some mates did not.

I guess that it's time for a Yank to chime in. I bought my first Commando, a new 1972 purple metal flake Combat Roadster, from Pokes Cycle in Seattle. As an over eager 19 year old I made the rounds of the 5 Seattle area Norton dealers. Pokes was the only one that not only allowed me to take a test ride, but insisted on it. He also had me ride a new 750 BMW for comparison. When you're 19 there is no comparison between the two. Hot rod Chevy or Buick station comes to mind. So started a long and somewhat expensive relationship, not only with Poke's, but also the Norton brand. As a side note I purchased my current 73 850 from Poke's son Ross in 2010 so the relationship continues.

My first commando. April 1974. I was working at my second job prepping new Triumphs and Nortons at Del's Cycle Center in Schofield, WI.
Jimmy the 'Bird" was the regular prep guy and had gotten hurt when a commando that had too small a front wheel installed got into a speed wobble and threw him down. I would take one bike from the crate to customer ready each evening. It took me about 4 hours. That spring Delmer had about 60 Triumphs sold and a handful of Nortons. I had assembled several Triumphs when one night Del had me do a Commando. I would always take the bike for a test ride before marking it ready for pick-up.
At this time you had to get on a waiting list for the Triumphs and he usually had a Commando on the floor. I had a Trident on order. When I rode the Norton I came back to the shop and made an excuse with a minor adjustment to something so I could take it for another test run. When I returned I went to Del and asked if I could cancel my order for the Trident and take the next Norton. He was more than happy to oblige. So I took my new Commando out of the crate myself. I still have it. Due to bad legs I haven't ridden it in 14 years. I am in the middle of a very thorough rebuild right now and will be using a CNW starter.

aries said:

Got my first British bike, a spanking new Norton Interstate in the summer of 1972 from Coburn & Hughes in London. Much money spent on it over more recent years but still standard spec in appearance and still enjoying riding it. If I cant find a
good home for it when my body gives up, then Im gonna have it buried with me!!!

Click to expand...

Bought mine from Coburn and Hughes in April 72.. previous years model with £100 discount . And yes still have it

In 1976 I was 17 years old just got my licence and my mate Don let me ride his hot 750 Commando Featherbed frame bike for the day the following week I went up to Morgan and Wachers in Brisbane and brought a brand new 74 850 the last one left with kick starter could have brought a electric start model but the kicker was $450 cheaper all up $1,999 on the road, no one knew I was buying it till my mate had to give me a lift to get it, a 17 year old skinny as a rake kid picking up his new Norton on a Saturday morning with the shop full of harden bikies watching me kick it over the first time, started on the first kick to their ammazment then rode it out the front door, still own it to this day but was covered to the Featherbed frame in the early 80s and still the same to this day, thanks Don for making me see the light lol.

Ashley

norton bob said:

I started off in the late 1950's,at 14 bought my first bike a 500 Rudge Ulster Grand Prix, bronze head ,high level exhausts, for a tenner ,rode it round the fields ,stripped it ,sold it ,doubled my money!!. Next a C11G, hid it behind the sheds,not allowed. First ride on the roads at 14 on a neighbours square finned Triumph 500 GP which I helped him fix. Frightened myself silly by giving it full throttle in first showing off. Never lost interest. working on Nortons,Rudge,Ducatis,moderns (if I have to!). I remember escorting a lost Atlas mounted Yank from pride and Clarks to Kuhns , I was 2 up on an 88 and still had to keep stopping for him to catch up. Its a wonder I survived, Some mates did not.

Click to expand...

I was just watching a Then Came Bronson episode with Kenan Wynn called the Old Motorcycle Fiasco. Kenan Wynn had a 37 Rudge Ulster, kind of cool.
John in Texas

I bought my first Norton from Pete's Cycles in Mesa Arizona. It was the last right hand shift 850 he had. A Hi-Rider at that! Put 500 miles on it in the first week, Pete was surprised I brought it back in so soon for it's 500 mile check up. Found an Interstate tank not that long after and bought an king queen seat with a built in back rest, god that was so much better than the factory Hi-Rider seat. I would ride it most everyday to work and now have about 250,000 on it. I say about as the original speedometer died at 97,000 miles and most of the rebuilds last no more than 30,000 miles.
Just installed a CNW starter last spring, great stuff.