kempoyner said:
Excluding the later model modern Nortons, If you could have 2 Nortons sitting in your garage, what would they be? One has to be a bone stock factory Norton, the other is a second party speciality race Norton. Base you decision on dependability, collectability,function (thrill to ride!) and just plain Beauty. Money is has no bearing, your rich!
All Nortons are dependable as far as British machinery goes, even the race bikes have a brilliant history of completing countless long-distance races.
Collectable could mean that the bike is popular now because it was plentiful and popular then, or it could be because the bike is extremely rare or even unique.
In this day and age what Norton is not a thrill to ride, and beauty is dependent on personal tastes, some thinking Commandos are stunning, some don't like them, same for the featherbed bikes.
The Manx is undeniably the Norton most enthusiasts are curious about, it has everything going for it, looks, history and scarcity compared to later production bikes.
20 years ago I bought a copy of Mick Woollett's book on Norton history when it came out and was fascinated by the photo of the factory racing twin on page 273. The Manx single was a production racer of which about 100 were sold to the public each year, but this twin was a "works" job of which three were made with slimline frames and shipped to the USA early in 1962 to do battle there, not for sale to the public at any price with parts on the chassis and inside the engine that were never put into or on a production bike. Beautiful unobtanium.
Imagine my amazement a few decades later when one of those three racers, and probably the only one left intact ended up sitting in my garage, very surreal is the only way to describe it. It is of course a thrill to ride.
