Noticed Harley Owners Like Your Norton?

Feel free to talk to me. I rode Triumphs in my youth. It was not safe to ride Harleys in those days (where I lived) because of the "clubs" but you were accepted if you rode a European bike. Even if you were in a "club" you weren't safe if you entered another "club's" territory. The old school bikers would push Japanese bikes off cliffs, set fire to them or at best just knock it over. Cool people in my youth (Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood, Bob Dylan, etc) rode Triumphs. I saw few Nortons, but now that I own one, I think it has the perfect look, sound and ride. When Triumph went under, I rode Harleys (still have one), but my first love was still English bikes. My garage has 1 Norton, 1 Laverda, 6 Triumphs and 1 HD. Guess which one is my favorite (and gets the most looks).

the Laverda of course! :mrgreen:

christulin said:

Feel free to talk to me. I rode Triumphs in my youth. It was not safe to ride Harleys in those days (where I lived) because of the "clubs" but you were accepted if you rode a European bike. Even if you were in a "club" you weren't safe if you entered another "club's" territory. The old school bikers would push Japanese bikes off cliffs, set fire to them or at best just knock it over. Cool people in my youth (Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood, Bob Dylan, etc) rode Triumphs. I saw few Nortons, but now that I own one, I think it has the perfect look, sound and ride. When Triumph went under, I rode Harleys (still have one), but my first love was still English bikes. My garage has 1 Norton, 1 Laverda, 6 Triumphs and 1 HD. Guess which one is my favorite (and gets the most looks).

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Whoa! the Italians know how to style and build high performance machinery... Ducati... Aprillia...Laverda...MV Agusta et al . All welcome in my garage!

This all a Harley Davidson sports bike needs to be. Simple and functional - no bullshit !

Now that's something I could live with. None of the HD BS.

Here is a pretty neat one, built more like a "standard" rather than a café racer or a chopper





They are on facebook too with lots more pictures including builds and cheesecake http://www.facebook.com/roquechopdesign

Jean

Somebody in the US must have built it - just shows that the capability is there and that not all Yanks are obsessed with the outlaw/Easy Rider garbage. The motor I looked at the other days had been built into a chopper. It had Sorensen NC machined heads on it, and the rest was just as good. The guys were a bit dismayed when I said it was a waste of a good motor. The bike didn't even have rear suspension. I really think these kids don't know what a real motorcycle is all about. When I was very young, I built a super hot Triumph motor into a rigid frame, and rode it very fast across an airstrip. I only ever did that once ! It was bloody appalling. I just don't understand the mentality of building a motor like that into a rigid framed chopper - it can only be due to ignorance, it certainly was not for the love of fast motorcycles.

Jeandr
With a single tube frame and the swinging arm mounted like that, it must flex and crack. Late 1950s swing arm Triumphs were built with that type of frame and they always had a hinge in the middle. The sixties British cafe racers were built emulating bike such as the Manx Norton, they were light, functional, and handled very well. With some of these modern designs, the manufacturers have lost the plot ! The bike in your pic looks great, but the tank and handle bars are silly - the bike is trying to be something it can never be.

acotrel said:

Jeandr
With a single tube frame and the swinging arm mounted like that, it must flex and crack. Late 1950s swing arm Triumphs were built with that type of frame and they always had a hinge in the middle. The sixties British cafe racers were built emulating bike such as the Manx Norton, they were light, functional, and handled very well. With some of these modern designs, the manufacturers have lost the plot ! The bike in your pic looks great, but the tank and handle bars are silly - the bike is trying to be something it can never be.

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You could be right, but remember, the Trumpets were built differently, the frames were tubes and lugs, the modern frames like this one are most likely much stronger. As for sillyness, sure, but build a bike like that with a motor other than a HD (or a HD clone) and it will not sell, these guys build things they can sell, when the chopper builders are lost in a sea of OCC look alikes, a different approach can bring the exclusive customers with cash in hand. The only guy I know that cans ask good money for a Norton is Matt Rambow of CNW and even then it is probably half of what the local chop shop will ask for a rolling sculpture.

Jean

It wasn't the lugs which were moving in the old triumph frames, it was the seat bar twisting. As far as selling a design is concerned, something which is functional will always sell better than something which is decorated. A BSA Gold Star 350 will always sell better than a Norton Jubilee. Going down the staid commuter road will always be wrong, and the Britsh motorcycle industry failed because they build that sort of bike - bathtub triumphs were rubbish. Aerial Leaders, unit construction BSAs - all designed with space ships in mind - rubbish ! The old fifties motorcycle magazines are full of the uninspiring crap, along with motor scooters. It was a mindset going nowhere. The reason we ride motorcycles is to het the adrenalin rush - when you even look at a motorcycle, you should get it. Have a look at a Ducati Desmosedici, or an MV Agusta and you will get the feeling that you really want to ride it. That picture I posted of the Harley cafe racer induces that feeling in me, and I don't even believe in Harleys.

I suggest that a motorcycle should evoke an emotional response. The Japanese racing bikes do that:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPBVRR2DHr0