New to Forum

[cyberfly]

Hi, Im a newbie to the Norton Forum. Ive owned both Matchless and 750 & 850 Nortons, but it has been several years since. I am now in the market for a good Norton project or a Royal Enfield. My big question for the group is:" Was there ever a Norton 750 or 850 that was called the Black Widow" ? It was a cafe racer and I seem to remember a model that was displayed at a Norton dealer that was advertised as a "Black Widow". Was I dreaming or was it bad drugs in college?? Not sure which. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Ron

 

[Hobot]

Maybe '72 Combat BomB in black with gold trim paint?

 

[swooshdave]

Hi, Im a newbie to the Norton Forum. Ive owned both Matchless and 750 & 850 Nortons, but it has been several years since. I am now in the market for a good Norton project or a Royal Enfield. My big question for the group is:" Was there ever a Norton 750 or 850 that was called the Black Widow" ? It was a cafe racer and I seem to remember a model that was displayed at a Norton dealer that was advertised as a "Black Widow". Was I dreaming or was it bad drugs in college?? Not sure which. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Ron

Could have been something the dealer put together.

Or the drugs weren't really "bad" but rather... "good".

 

[rvich]

I suspect he will be seeing the bats soon enough and then it will be a Vincent Black Shadow...

 

[travelerjerry]

Hi, Im a newbie to the Norton Forum. Ive owned both Matchless and 750 & 850 Nortons, but it has been several years since. I am now in the market for a good Norton project or a Royal Enfield. My big question for the group is:" Was there ever a Norton 750 or 850 that was called the Black Widow" ? It was a cafe racer and I seem to remember a model that was displayed at a Norton dealer that was advertised as a "Black Widow". Was I dreaming or was it bad drugs in college?? Not sure which. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Ron

Perhaps "Black Widow" was a term that if you owned a motorcycle, it was a "Widow Maker". Had that referenced to me when I owned my first Norton in 1974 by an older friend. Sent a chill, never forgot that comment. Ride Safe.

 

[Hobot]

Maybe then Black Widow was the first frames in black that tended to break their stems off.

 

[RoadScholar]

Black Widow (widow makers) Nortons were almost anything produced in 1968 with a single, unsupported, backbone frame...Recently there was such a frame on E-Bay, a perfect opportunity to re-live (for a short time) Norton's un-glamorous piece of motorcycle history, for the purchaser....

RS

 

[RoadScholar]

PS:

There was a marketing flap (flop) in the early 90s about a V-8 powered Norton, called the Nemisis that was herralded by Mike Tyson, before he acquired a taste for ears...

I never learned if a prototype was ever assembled.

Morbidelli produced a twin-cam liquid cooled 850cc V-8 about the same time frame (1994), for $75K, with a crate that was meant to be re-useable, so that you could send your machine back to the factory for service.

RS

 

[ML]

PS:

There was a marketing flap (flop) in the early 90s about a V-8 powered Norton, called the Nemisis that was herralded by Mike Tyson, before he acquired a taste for ears...

I never learned if a prototype was ever assembled.

It got built and I've seen a video of the engine on a test dyno. One hell of an impressive motorcycle. Check this web site article amd drool over the photos.

http://www.fasterandfaster.net/2010/04/ ... mesis.html

 

[dave M]

The Norton Nemesis is on display in the entrance hall of The National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham (that's England, not Alabama!) along with a very nice selection of factory Norton racing Commandos.

 

[bwolfie]

I remember seeing the Nemesis release info years oge. droooooolllll. I have it as a background picture. If it would have lived, what it would have done to the competition.

 

[rvich]

I suspect he will be seeing the bats soon enough and then it will be a Vincent Black Shadow...

FWIW that obscure reference is from Hunter S Thompson, who was a cafe racer fan BTW. Regarding the Black Widow. If you can visualize it, the people here can help you realize it.

Russ

 

[swooshdave]

I remember seeing the Nemesis release info years oge. droooooolllll. I have it as a background picture. If it would have lived, what it would have done to the competition.

Heh, there probably was never any plans to make that into production. It was most likely brought to that point to suck in investors and their money.

 

[bwolfie]

I know, but I can still dream.

 

[cyberfly]

Ok, thanks for all the reply's, so I guess it was just drugs and alcohol in college. But I really do remember a Black Widow 850 Norton. I use to live in the French Quarter in New Orleans back in the late 70's (77-79) and owned several brit bikes, MAtchless, Nortons, BSAs, Triumphs, had a Guzzi or two, and a Bennelli that was awesome,,, and God only knows how many old Harley Duo-Glides that I bought from the New Orleans police department over the years.
I remember the Black Widow, because it had a white spider web painted on the side panels. Maybe it was a one-off bike that was in the show room of one of the local dealers.

Thanks for the run down memory lane anyway, now back to my restoration of my BMW K75RS project.

ron

 

[Frank S]

I am another newbie. My Commando is awaiting repair - more importantly, awaiting accumulation of enough money to have Jim Comstock work his magic. In fact, the reason I have not voted for "most improved Norton" is that none of the Nortons seem to have fuel injection.

All right, maybe if you do not live in Colorado, you may not be aware that Comstock's fuel injection is being installed on new CNW machines. Of course that means that the upgrade is even more expensive!

I might as well include the listing of my current collection:

1970 Norton Commando
Moto Guzzi California EV (I rode it to Lumby last summer, so some Norton owners have seen it)
1970 Triumph T100C
1976 Yamaha RD400
1990 Ducati 907IE