Norton "76" (2013)

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bwolfie

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Was this a last ditch, bail out the ship effort? Or somone's one off?
Norton "76" (2013)
 
It was a factory effort. If no-one does it first, I'll dig out the old copy of 'Bike' magazine that the photo came from and scan it.
 
Mick Duckworths Commando book states it was built in a few weeks in early 1976 - as a "last ditch attempt."

10.5:1 compression "from reshaped combustion chambers", SU carb, reshaped tank, Italian forks wheels and brakes .
On test by a magazine, gave 60 mpg. Sent to the US, Berliner said he'd take 7000, per year.
Dennis Poore couldn't give permission to use the Norton name (was in receivership by now) and the machine tools were
owned by a subsiduary not in receivership, whole project disappeared...

Owned by Bernard Hoopers son, survived intact the NMM fire.
 
This is the first time I have laid eyes on this bike. Where did you find this picture?

Gatsby
 
A attept to provide a practicable Road Machine , at the time .

1 3/4 in. SU carb , mags , disc brakes , E.S. , reasonable fuel range .
more a refineing / honeing for the time . Equal to any of the jap. hogwash of the Era if the manufactureing quality was maintained .
Poore alledgedly was prepared to buy the last 200 Commandos assembled ? but the recivers were in at that stage ,
and the situation was fluid . ( up the creek )Was in all the weeklys etc at the time. another great white hope in the land of broken dreams .
 
A few years ago there was photo floating around of a bike very simular to that one with a BSA B50 engine in it.
 
I don't like the rectangular look of the tank or the side cover. They should have kept the classic lines.
Jaydee
 
It looks like another attempt to compete by copying the Japanese - a bit like a ZIR Kawasaki. However I believe that Norton's problems were more fundamental than the appearance of their bikes. I don't know much about the stresses which occur in a 270 degree staggered crankshaft, however I've been told that they run much smoother than a normal 360 degree crankshaft. If the vibration problem in the commando motor had been solved by doing this with a billet crank, the bike might have been much better - no isolastics, and no out of balance crank doing its damage at high revs. I suggest that using auxiliary balance shafts to remove the vibration does not stop what is happening to the crankshaft , bearing and cases. The only other answer seems to be to recognise that the big vertical twin has reached the end of its development with the 850 commando motor.
 
At the time people bought a Commando because it looked vintage. I think the square tank and the cast wheels made this "improvement" as saleable as the equally unloved T140D Triumphs that were shipped to and fro over the pond in vain attempts to sell them. Those who bought a British bike at the time WANTED the retro appeal.

A typical case of not understanding who your clients are I think. The same drama happened at the Meriden Cooperative with cast-wheel varieties that did not sell, or the "Executive" with the fairing and panniers that nobody had been waiting for.

The SU carb was also the answer to no question. Not only did it castrate power, it also made the bike a pig to (kick-)start unless one used the- then- highly temperamental electric starter.

I don't think Hooper was of any importance in the industry after he left Norton. The "Wulf" two-stroke seems to have been a similar commercial success story as the Norton 76.
 
Nay Nay Bernard Hopper helped keep Harleys viable with rubber mounted and rod linked and Evo Norton head design after Norton collapsed. He also came up with stepped piston 2 strokes and side ways V motors like Guzzis if you hunt online enough. Commandos were meant to have rod links by Hopper but bean cutters got in the way.

http://www.google.com/patents/US3811528 ... CFEQ6AEwCQ
 
It may just be the photo but it looks like the rake of the front forks was increased. A longer wheelbase would have changed the handling. I guess it is what Armando used to say it is better to look good than feel good.
 
Those wheels brakes and forks look to be the same as fitted to some 76 Guzzis.
(Mick Duckworths book mentions the Italian maker).

No guarantees the rake, or yokes, are the same once on the Commando, but they (guzzis) steered pretty good.
Until the little damper units inside the forks leaked.

The guzzi brakes also had that odd linked-brakes feature that the footbrake operated one front disc AND the rear disc, and the handlebar one operated the other front disc. Stopped pretty good, once you got used to it. Less chance of locking the front wheel like that too...
 
79x100 said:
It was a factory effort. If no-one does it first, I'll dig out the old copy of 'Bike' magazine that the photo came from and scan it.
Click to expand...

There is a picture of this bike in Roy Bacons Norton Twin Restoration.
Cheers,
CNN
 
Hobot,
It wasn't Hooper who introduced the Isolastics (and the diaphragm clutch) to Harley, it was his old friend and colleague John Favill.

To today's eyes the cast wheels don't look too modern, us now being used to them. At the time the cast wheel was considered "modern", and many motorcyclists preferred the spoked wheels, especially those in the market for a "classic" bike. The sentiment remains, hence typical "retro" models still sport spoked wheels rather than the- much cheaper, hence for a manufacturer far more attractive- cast wheels.

The Moto Guzzi style forks, brakes and wheels were not popular and, in fact, a cost saving exercise against Norton's own "Roadholder" type forks, AP Lockheed/Norton calipers, and spoked wheels.
 
ZFD said:
At the time people bought a Commando because it looked vintage. I think the square tank and the cast wheels made this "improvement" as saleable as the equally unloved T140D Triumphs that were shipped to and fro over the pond in vain attempts to sell them. Those who bought a British bike at the time WANTED the retro appeal.

A typical case of not understanding who your clients are I think. The same drama happened at the Meriden Cooperative with cast-wheel varieties that did not sell, or the "Executive" with the fairing and panniers that nobody had been waiting for.
Click to expand...

I really was embarrased as a Triumph fan when I first saw the TSX:
http://gallery.nen.gov.uk/asset662794_14416-.html

Looked like a copy of a Yamaha Special or Kawasaki LTD. I suppose they felt they had to try something? From my end, I wasn't wanting them to change iconic Triumph looks, but worried because the local dealer seemed to be going month to month, and wouldn't get more than a handful of bikes a year. It wasn't the looks, it was the worry, already having seen BSA and Norton go.
 
They stole the tank off my old Mach III, painted over the "Kawasaki" and painted "Norton" on it! Heck, they should have stolen the engine too. Then maybe they'd have had a bike that would have been able to handle as well as accelerate! :)
 
gatsby said:
This is the first time I have laid eyes on this bike. Where did you find this picture?

Gatsby
Click to expand...
The bike is mentioned and pictured in Steve Wilsons «Norton Motor Cycles» page 50.

Fritz
 
Id thought most people in Europe bought a Commando to go howling across the countryside , or continent .

All the outside supplyer up to date add ons , wheels brakes suspension A fuel tank that carried fuel :shock: etc
wouldve reduced the MANUFACTUREING costs , or investment . And the thing looks at least as up to date as the hineous GS 750 suzuki .
Norton "76" (2013)


then theres the Heskith . :wink:
Norton "76" (2013)

Issue 102 1999
Norton Prototype 1976 test (Design to follow the Commando) - big article
 
The British should have avoided trying to make Japanese bikes. The most sensible Norton twin was the Manxman 650. It was based on the manx racers . I realise that Norton must have felt the need to progress and keep up with consumer taste. The trouble is that the Japanese bikes have no soul, so why would you copy their style ? A four cylinder Japanese bike is usually better in every way than an old style Norton twin except for one thing - if there is a bit of lout in you, a Norton will bring it out. Motor cycling is about having fun, and feeling enthusiastic. The more the British bikes have approached Japanese design, the less I have liked them. I suggest that only a certain type of person buys a Norton - someone looking for an adrenalin rush. It is not only top speed and reliability which gives you that. I look at those old commandos with their silly isolastics and drum brakes , and I still get a buzz. 'Some things are so bad that they are good.'
 
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