Classic Norton Motorcycles

The Norton Manx’s success at the Daytona 200 proved Norton’s excellence.

Alan Cathcart rides Dick Klamfoth’s 1952 Daytona-winning Manx Norton.

Norton Motorcycles (UK) Ltd. announced that it has completed the purchase of historic Donington Hall, which will serve as its new corporate headquarters and manufacturing facilities.

We’ve wanted to check out a Ventura Bike Pack System ever since we first heard about it a few years ago. While the majority of riders do their motorcycle touring on newer machines, there are still plenty of owners and riders of vintage bikes who relish piling on the miles. Editor Backus makes at least one 750-plus-mile run on his Laverda every year, and we have a few close friends who regularly take their Nortons and airhead Beemers for weekend runs to Colorado or Arkansas, where the roads are just a bit curvier than they around here.

Filmmaker James Cutting looks at drag racer T.C. Christenson and John Gregory’s Norton motorcycle in Hogslayer, The Unapproachable Legend. 

We’ve been pretty quiet about developments at the revived Norton Motorcycles in England headed up by businessman Stuart Garner, mostly because there hasn’t been much news coming out of the U.K.-based company. Now word comes that Norton has finally cleared one the biggest hurdles to entering the U.S. market, EPA certification, and is on track to deliver 2013 Commando 961s.

A 1929 Norton Model 18 on display with other classic motorcycles at the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Leeds, Ala.

Michael Bailey finished up this 10-year Norton project bike just in time for his birthday.

A 1975 Norton Commando MK 3 on display with other classic motorcycles at the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Leeds, Ala.

Former Matchless/Norton employee, motocross pioneer, bike restorer extraordinaire and Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum technical director/restoration consultant Brian Slark will be inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame as part of the 2012 AMA Legends Weekend at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, Nev., Nov. 16-17, 2012.

A classic Norton Dominator Model 99 on display with other vintage motorcycles at the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Leeds, Ala.

A vintage 1936 Norton Manx racer (Borro Castellani's race bike) on display with other classic motorcycles at the National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa, Iowa.

Norton Motorcycles has announced the factory’s intent to compete in the 2012 Isle of Man TT Senior race, and the development of their new race bike.

Fernando Vela and his fast-moving 1975 Norton Commando.

The Norton Commando 850 was the last of the line for Norton, but was it the best?

Cam Norris describes a joyful ride on his classic 1969 Norton Commando S.

Two Brits follow Che Guevara’s route on a journey through Latin American each aboard a Norton 500

Clash of the Commandos: Classic Norton Commando 850 vs. a new Norton 961

A brief history of the Featherbed Norton Manx and how the featherbed frame provided durability and superb handling.

Steve Tonkin hand builds a street-legal Norton Manx, the British motorcycle every rider dreams of owning. 

Stan Keyes shares the experience of racking up more than 200,000 miles on a 1973 Norton 850 Commando that he bought new.

Larry Suglia's 1975 Norton Commando 850 MkIII becomes the 55th Colorado Norton Works Commando.

Two of the best representatives of girder-forked 500cc British singles.

Alan Cathcart's road test of the Norton 961 Commando Café Racer verifies that Norton is back.

This photo was taken just a few days after Dad bought a new 1972 Norton Interstate.

It was 1966 when Bob Blair and his mechanic/parts manager Steve Zabaro worked together to blend components from two motorcycles to create the prototype of what would become one of the most legendary classic Norton motorcycles - the 1967 Norton P11.

Bob McKeever is still active in racing classic Norton motorcycles at age 90 with the Norton Champagne classic motorcycle racing team.

Just as the sun was setting on the British Empire, Norton set the racing world on edge with its revolutionary stainless steel-framed racer - the John Player Norton Monocoque.

Go-fast good looks and low production make the John Player Norton Commando a top collectible among classic Norton Commando motorcycle fans.
 

No simple “cut and shut,” this Ariel-Norton hybrid motorcycle could easily pass for a factory-made machine.

Carefully draining fuel from a Manx Norton into a gas can is Clarence Czysz, a top Norton tuner in the years following World War II. The location is Daytona and the Daytona Beach Course, and the year is 1948.

Colorado Norton Works keeps the snarly, but smooths out the gnarly on classic Norton motorcycles

The Norton name is back in the U.K., this time under the sole ownership of a British businessman with passion for motorcycles, Stuart Garner.
 

Exploring Washington's famous volcanoes on one of America's best motorcycle rides.

One part Harley, one part Norton, lightly shaken: Nick Roskelley's Harleyton combines a Norton featherbed frame and Harley flathead engine.

On Sept. 15, 2007, I celebrated 25 years of owning my 1975 Norton Commando. In that time the bike and I rolled through a litany of adventures and misadventures, our relationship sometimes harmonious, sometimes not.

I’d wager many of us daydream about building a special custom motorcycle of some kind, combining bits and pieces of favorite bikes into something uniquely our own. Something like Delfour’s combination of a Norton and a Laverda that he calls a "Norton Ala’Verda."

Most people wouldn’t think of motorcycle touring a 1928 Norton Model 18 — let alone with their 10-year-old son on board. Then again, Phillip Tooth isn’t most people.

The forgotten S, SS, and R Norton Commandos.

The Norton 650SS, though quickly eclipsed by the 745cc Norton Atlas, was a great bike in its day and is a unique classic British motorcycle today.