The Wisconsin Norton Owners are a Chapter of the International Norton Owners Association.
We feature a newsletter of current events, several enjoyable meetings annually and a network of members who hold a vast knowledge of the British Motorcycle and Norton Motorcycles in particular. Please feel free to join us and see what we are about!
For Additional Information on Events and Membership Please Contact
President Anthony Albano
2025 Waukesha Road, Caledonia, WI 53108, (262)835-9052
Membership is only $10. all that is required to join is an interest in Norton Motorcycles (you do not have to own a Norton or reside in Wisconsin to support this fine organization.) Send your annual dues to the address above and you will receive our newsletter - with calendar & a Norton network of contacts. Plus invitation to membership meetings and parties.
INOA'S 2005 NEWSLETTER OF THE YEAR!
HISTORY OF THE
NORTON MOTORCYCLE
Norton was founded as a
bicycle components company in 1898 by James
Landsdowne Norton, who first manufactured a powered bike in 1901 (1902?)
using his own frame and a French Clement engine. Norton's reputation as a
superior machine was gained through its early successes on the race track. A
Norton powered by a V-twin Peugot engine won the very first TT race in 1907.
In 1908, Norton started making its own engines (a 4bhp 633c side-valve
single called the Big Four) and made its first ohv singles in 1922, starting
with the Model 18 which proved a successful race winner. Norton made its
first parallel twin in 1948.
James Norton raced in the TT himself, unsuccessfully on his new 494cc model,
in 1909, 10 and 11. Norton went into liquidation in 1913 while its owner
recovered from an illness contracted on the Isle of Man, but a new company,
Norton Motors Ltd. was formed shortly after with Norton and Bob Shelley,
using the services of Dan "Wizard" O'Donovan, racer and master tuner. They
soon built the world's first production racing bike, the BRS, or Brooklands
Racing Special, as well as a slightly slower BS, Brooklands Special. Not
large enough for wartime production levels, Norton managed to obtain a small
contract to provides bikes for the Russian army in WW1.
After WW1, the company returned to civilian production, and Norton developed
a number of innovations, including a desmodromic valve system, although he
opted for another design using overhead valves for production. Norton bikes
were entered in several TT races in this time, with some successes in 1923,
24. Norton died in 1925 at only 56 years old. By then he had built a
reputation for fast, reliable bikes. Walter Moore, its other major designer,
left for NSU in 1929 after designing the CS1 (Cam Shaft 1), which won the TT
race.
The 1930s were the glory days, when Norton was winning many races, including
all but two Senior and Junior TT races between 1931 and 1938. The most
successful Norton racer was the 499cc single Model 30 International, first
released in 1932 and made until 1958. International was used for Norton's
top line of sports-roadsters, originally intended for racing but sold until
1939 in road guise to the public..
Prototype telescopic forks were introduced in 1939, but were not brought
into production until 1948. During WW2, the company produced bikes for the
Allies, including the venerable 16H, developed from the Model 16 around the
turn of the century (dropped only in 1954).
From 1949 to 51, Norton won at Daytona, but the company withdrew official
support for racing in 1955.
Norton released its first parallel twin in 1949, the Dominator, designed by
Bert Hopwood. They would later put the engine in a featherbed frame (1951)
and release it as the Dominator 88, in 1952. In 1955, a 600cc Dominator 99
was added. But the really fine version was the 1962 Dominator 650SS with its
upgraded engine, and a challenge to Triumph's sports models. In 1963,
production was moved to AMC's factory in south London.
The most famous and most popular Norton was the parallel-twin 750cc
Commando, released in 1968 designed by a team led by Dr. Stefan Bauer. It
was upgraded with electric start and 850cc in 1974. The last Commandos were
the Mk3 built in 1977. The last production Norton was a 50cc moped using
Italian-made components offered in 1977.
After World War 2, Norton was controlled by several companies. The company
faced financial problems when smaller models failed to sell, and was bought
by Associated Motor Cycles (AMC, a combination of Matchless and AJS) in
1951. Then after AMC collapsed in 1966, Manganese Bronze Holdings took over
AMC in 1966-67 and promoted Norton's name under Norton-Villiers. Finally,
the company became part of the Norton-Villiers-Triumph group, which went
bankrupt in 1977.
A small number of Nortons using Wankel rotary engines were made from 1977 to
1987. In 1998, a new group offered motorcycles under the Norton name emerged
with promises of big, powerful and heavy V-eight bikes, but so far only
sketches have emerged.
Stolen from Ian Chadwick's informational site
http://www.ianchadwick.com/motorcycles/britbikes/
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Last Revised 04/02/2008 by Naomi's Web Designs