This is a list of Norton branded motorcycles over all periods of the marque from 1908 to the present day.
This is a list of Norton branded motorcycles over all periods of the marque from 1908 to the present day.
| Model | Engine | Years | Notes |
| Big Four (Model 1) | 633cc single | 1907–1954 | A 475cc model was also made at some point |
| Model 7 (BS) | 490cc sv | 1914–1922 | Brooklands Special |
| Model 8 (BRS) | 490cc | 1914–1922 | Brooklands Road Special |
| Model 9(TT) | 490cc | 1912–1923 | Belt-drive |
| Model 3½ | 490cc sv | 1911–1918 | Side-valve, became the Model 16 in 1919 |
| Model 16 | 490cc sv | 1919–1920 | Chain drive |
| Norton 16H | 490cc sv | 1921–1954 | |
| Model 18 | 490cc ohv | 1922–1954 | Roadster |
| Model 19 | 588cc ohv | 1926–1939 | Increased to 596cc in 1933 |
| CS1 | 490cc ohc | 1928–1939 | CS stands for camshaft. 1928–1930 were the Cricket Bat Motors. 1930s models were the Arthur Carroll designed motors. |
| ES2 | 490cc ohv | 1928–1939 | |
| CJ | 348cc ohc | 1929–1939 | Junior version of the CS1 |
| JE | 348cc ohv | 1929–1939 | Junior version of the ES2 |
| Model 20 | 490cc | 1930–1939 | Two-port ohv version of the Model 18 |
| Model 21 | 490cc | 1927–1927 | Semi dry sump version of the Model 18 |
| Model 22 | 490cc | 1930–1931 | Two-port ohv version of the model ES2 |
| Norton International Model 30 | 490cc ohc | 1932–1939 | |
| International Model 40 | 348cc ohc | 1932–1939 | |
| Model 50 OHV | 348cc ohv | 1933–1939 | |
| Model 55 | 348cc ohv | 1933–1939 | Twin port version of model 50 |
| Model | Engine | Years | Notes |
| WD 16H | 490cc sv | ||
| WD Big Four | 633cc sv | Sidecar Outfit | |
| Model | Engine | Years | Notes |
| 16H | 490cc sv | 1946–1954 | |
| Model 18 | 490cc single | 1946–1954 | |
| Model 19S | 596cc single | 1955–1958 | Model 19R only 1955 |
| Model 19s | 600cc Single | 1957 | Big Four |
| 633cc sv | 1947–1954 | 596cc as from 1948 | |
| Model 500T | 500cc | 1949–1954 | Could also be supplied with a 350cc engine |
| ES2 | 490cc single | 1947–1964 | |
| ES2 MK 2 | 490cc single | 1964–1966 | |
| Model 50 OHV | 348cc | 1955–1958 | Popular single with featherbed frame from 1959 popular for Triton conversion |
| Model 50 OHV MK 2 | 348cc | 1964–1966 | |
| International Model 30 | 490cc | 1947–1958 | |
| International Model 40 | 348cc | 1947–1958 | |
| Manx Model 30 | 498cc ohc | 1946–1963 | |
| Manx Model 40 | 348cc ohc | 1946–1963 | |
| Model 7 | 497cc twin | 1949–1956 | First Norton Twin Motorcycle, designed by Bert Hopwood |
| Model 77 | 497cc | 1950–1952 | A rigid framed version of the Model 7, supplied only to the Australian market. |
| Model 77 | 596cc | 1957–1958 | Built mainly for sidecar use |
| Dominator 88 | 497cc | 1952–1966 | Same engine as a model 7 but in a featherbed frame |
| Dominator 99 | 596cc | 1956–1962 | |
| Nomad | 497cc & 596cc | 1958–1960 | US on/off road model |
| Norton Jubilee | 250cc | 1958–1966 | |
| Navigator | 350cc | 1960–1965 | |
| Electra ES400 | 400cc | 1963–1965 | Enlarged Navigator with electric start |
| Atlas | 745cc | 1962–1968 | Norton Atlas Scrambler was an off-road variation |
| Norton Manxman | 650cc | Nov 1960 – Sep 61 | Export Only First 650cc machines |
| 650 Sports Special | 650cc | 1961–1968 | Became the Mercury in 1968 (then equipped with only one carburettor) |
| Mercury | 650cc | 1968–1970 | |
| P11A | 750cc | 1967–1968 | Atlas engine in a scrambles frame, became the Ranger in 1968 |
| Ranger | 750cc | 1968- | |
| N15 | 750cc | 1967–1968 | The N15 was a Norton engine in a Matchless frame; the Matchless G15 was essentially the same motorcycle. |
Norton Commando models used "Isolastic" engine mounts (rubber mounted) and had 745 cc ("750") engines up to 1973 when the 828 cc ("850") engine came into use.
| Model | Years | Notes |
| Commando Fastback | 1967–1973 | Just called "Norton Commando" until 1969 |
| Commando Roadster | 1970–1975 | 750cc 1970-73, 850cc 1973–1975. Targeted for the American market |
| Commando Interpol | 1970–1976 | Produced for police force use |
| Commando Hi-rider | 1971–1975 | Targeted for American market |
| Commando Production Racer | 1971- | Special high-compression engine |
| Commando Interstate | 1972–1975 | 750cc 1972-73, 850cc 1973-75 |
| Commando Combat | 1972 | Came with "2S" cam, shaved head to increase the compression, and was made in both Roadster and Interstate form. Early on there were engine failures which quickly gave the Combat a bad name. Even though those problems were rectified, the press was so bad that the name was discontinued later in the year. [1] |
| Commando "Combat" | 1973 | Officially, there was no 1973 Combat, but the engine was still available. This is still confusing today as some parts manufacturers list a 73 Combat, meaning the high compression engine. [1] |
| Commando "John Player Special" | 1974 | Limited production 850 styled on the John Player racers |
| Model | Years | Notes |
| Interpol 2 | P41 | |
| Classic | P43 | |
| Commander | P52 police model, P53 civilian model | |
| F1 | P55 | |
| F1 Sport | P55B | |
| RC588 | ||
| RCW588 | ||
| NRS588 | ||
| Model | Years | Notes |
| Norton Dominator | ||
| Norton Commando 961 SF MkII | 2015–present | |
| Norton Commando 961 Cafe Racer MkII | ||
| Norton Commando 961 Sport MkII | ||
The Norton Motorcycle Company is a brand of motorcycles, originally based in Birmingham, England. For some years around 1990, the rights to use the name on motorcycles was owned by North American financiers.
Norton-Villiers was a British motorcycle manufacturer formed in the 1960s following the collapse of AMC. With the general decline of the British motorcycle industry, under a British Government initiative it was later combined with the remnants of BSA Triumph to form Norton-Villiers-Triumph.
Norton Villiers Triumph (NVT) was a British motorcycle manufacturer, formed by the British government to continue the UK motorcycling industry, until the company's ultimate demise.
Pre-unit construction, also called separate construction, is a motorcycle engine architecture where the engine and gearbox are separate components with their own oil reservoirs, linked by a driving chain within a primary chaincase. Mounting plates are usually attached to the frame allowing for chain adjustment by gearbox fore-and-aft movement and via screw adjusters and elongated mounting holes. Even though Singer offered an integrated engine and gearbox in a single casing in 1911, it was not until the 1950s that technical advances meant it was possible to reliably construct engines with integral gearboxes in a single unit, known as unit construction.
The Norton Commando is a British Norton-Villiers motorcycle with an OHV pre-unit parallel-twin engine, produced by the Norton Motorcycle company from 1967 until 1977. Initially having a nominal 750 cc displacement, actually 745 cc (45.5 cu in), in 1973 it became an 850 cc, actually 828 cc (50.5 cu in). It had a hemi-type head, similar to all OHV Norton engines since the early 1920s.
The Norton 961/SS Commando is a motorcycle that was produced by Norton Motorcycles, the Oregon based company that bought the rights to the Norton brand name. Owner Kenny Dreer progressed from restoring and upgrading Norton Commandos to producing whole machines. He modernised the design and in the early 2000s went into production of the VR880. This machine was built on the basis of the original Commando, with upgraded components and a significantly modified engine.
The Norton Atlas was a Norton motorcycle made between 1962 and 1968, until it was replaced by the Norton Commando.
The featherbed frame was a motorcycle frame invented by the McCandless brothers and offered to the British Norton motorcycle company to improve the performance of their racing motorcycles in 1950. It was considered revolutionary at the time, and the best handling frame that a racer could have. Later adopted for Norton production motorcycles, it was also widely used by builders of custom hybrids such as the Triton, becoming legendary and remaining influential to this day.
The Dunstall Norton was a Norton motorcycle made by Paul Dunstall, a specialist tuner of the 1960s and early 1970s twins originally using some parts from Norton's Domiracer project when the Birmingham factory was closed in 1963. In 1966 Dunstall Motorcycles became a motorcycle manufacturer in its own right so that Dunstalls could compete in production races, and set a number of world records before sales of the Dunstall Nortons declined in the 1970s consistent with the demise of the British motor cycle industry and a corresponding rise in Japanese imports.
The Norton P11 was a 745 cc (45.5 cu in) air-cooled OHV parallel twin motorcycle made by Norton-Villiers from 1967 to 1969. Designed as an extremely light high power-to-weight ratio desert racer, P11 was revised in 1968 to the P11A and marketed as the Norton Ranger, a road legal version of the P11 with a more comfortable seat to make it suitable for normal road use. The Norton P11 gained a reputation as a 'desert racer' in the late 1960s but by 1969 lighter two stroke desert racers began to dominate the sport and the Norton had begun Commando production and it was selling well. Norton ended production of the P11 series to concentrate on the Commando, which used a number of ideas developed on the P11 series.
The isolastic frame, designated by Norton as GlideRide, used a system of engine-to-frame mountings incorporating rubber bushes to isolate the vibration of the vertical twin engine from the frame and rider. The isolastic frame was developed for use with the Commando inclined engine, whilst the Featherbed frame continued in production for the Mercury with a softer-specification 650 cc vertical-engine until 1970.
BSA Company Limited is a motorcycle manufacturer which purchased rights to the BSA name from Birmingham Small Arms Company's successor, Dennis Poore's Manganese Bronze Holdings, upon the liquidation of Norton Villiers Triumph in 1978.
BSA motorcycles were made by the Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited (BSA), which was a major British industrial combine, a group of businesses manufacturing military and sporting firearms; bicycles; motorcycles; cars; buses and bodies; steel; iron castings; hand, power, and machine tools; coal cleaning and handling plants; sintered metals; and hard chrome process.
The Norton Commando Production Racer was a hand built production racer produced by Norton-Villiers from 1970 - 1972. It was based on the road-going Norton Commando, and although fitted with lights it was never intended as a road bike. The model was commonly known as the Yellow Peril.
The John Player Norton, also referred to as JPN and JPS Norton, were a series of Formula 750 racers manufactured by Norton Motorcycle Company from 1972 to 1974 and sponsored by cigarette manufacturer John Player. The engine for these machines was derived from the unit used in the Norton Commando, which was a development of the 1948 Bert Hopwood designed 500 cc Dominator. The lack of power from the engine, compared with other manufacturers, led designer and rider Peter Williams to a adopt a radical approach to chassis design. Riders of the bikes included Williams, Phil Read, Tony Rutter, Mick Grant, John Cooper, Dave Aldana and Dave Croxford.
The Norton Commando John Player Special was a 1974 limited edition version of the Norton Commando that was fitted with bodywork styled to reproduce the successful Formula 750 works racers that were sponsored by cigarette manufacturers John Player & Sons. The machine was based on the Mk2A 850 Commando. Around 200 of these machines were made, of which about 120 were exported to the US. The bike was expensive, selling for around $3,000 in the US, $500 more than a standard Commando.
The Norton Interpol was a police motorcycle produced by the British manufacturer Norton between 1969 and 1976. The Interpol was based on the company's Commando model. The 'Interpol' name was retained for Norton's later Norton Interpol 2 rotary engined police motorcycle.
The Norton Model 99 Dominator was a 600 cc vertical twin motorcycle manufactured by the British Norton Motorcycle Company at their Bracebridge St, Birmingham factory from 1956 to 1962. The 99 was based on the 500 cc Model 88 Dominator with an enlarged engine. The model was superseded by the 650SS.
The Norton Mercury was a 646 cc (39.4 cu in) air-cooled OHV parallel twin motorcycle made by Norton-Villiers from 1968 to 1970. It was the last Norton model to use the 'featherbed' frame. Following the collapse of AMC and the subsequent formation of Norton Villiers, the company's focus had been on the new Norton Commando. There was a large inventory of parts from previous models that would not be used on the Commando, and to use up this stock the Mercury was conceived. The Mercury was introduced in October 1968 and around 750 machines were produced, most of the production going to the US. The model was also used by the Nigerian Police.
The Norton P10 was a prototype motorcycle designed by AMC in the 1960s. It used a unit construction 800 cc DOHC parallel twin engine. The model suffered from oil leaks and severe vibration during testing and was never put into production. Following the collapse of AMC in 1966 and the subsequent takeover by Manganese Bronze Holdings to form Norton-Villiers, the prototype was used as a starting point of the Z26, which was intended as a replacement for the Norton Atlas.