The Norton Motorcycle Company is a brand of motorcycles headquartered in Solihull, West Midlands,, England. For some years around 1990, the rights to use the name on motorcycles were owned by North American financiers.
Matchless is one of the oldest marques of British motorcycles, manufactured in Plumstead, London, between 1899 and 1966. A wide range of models were produced under the Matchless name, ranging from small two-strokes to 750 cc four-stroke twins. Matchless had a long history of racing success; a Matchless ridden by Charlie Collier won the first single-cylinder race in the first Isle of Man TT in 1907.
Triton motorcycles were hybrid motor cycles built from the 1950s to the 1970s that involved fitting Triumph engines into Norton frames. Because no factory offered Triton motorcycles, they were typically privately built. However, some UK dealers offered complete bikes. The aim was to combine the best elements of each marque and thus gain a bike superior to either. The name 'Triton' is a contraction of Triumph and Norton; 'Triton' was the name of an ancient Greek god.
Douglas Lionel Hele was a pioneering British motorcycle engineer with Triumph and other firms: BSA, Douglas and Norton. He was born in Birmingham in 1919 and died in Hagley, Worcestershire on 2 November 2001.
The Model 50 was a touring motorcycle built by Norton between 1933 and 1963. A further Model 50 was briefly produced by Norton parent-company AMC during 1965 and 1966 using a re-badged Matchless.
The Norton ES2 is a Norton motorcycle produced from 1927 until 1964. From 1965, a different machine was produced for a short time by parent manufacturer AMC, based on a Matchless but badged as Norton ES2 Mk2.
The Norton Manx or Manx Norton is a British racing motorcycle that was made from 1947 to 1962 by Norton Motors Ltd. Norton had contested every Isle of Man TT race from the inaugural 1907 event through into the 1970s, a feat unrivalled by any other manufacturer, and the development and honing of the Manx racing motorcycle was another step in this racing achievement.
The Norton Atlas was a Norton motorcycle made between 1962 and 1968, until it was replaced by the Norton Commando.
The Norton 650SS is a 650 cc (40 cu in) vertical twin motorcycle made by Norton Motorcycle Company from 1962 to 1967. The 650SS was based on the Norton Manxman.
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 BSA B50 was a single-cylinder 499 cc (30.5 cu in) ohv motorcycle, produced by BSA at their factory in Small Heath, Birmingham. The last of the big capacity unit-construction singles from the Birmingham Small Arms company, it had an alloy engine with a bore of 84 mm (3.3 in) and a stroke of 90 mm (3.5 in). As well as the road version, special models were produced for off-road competition use.
Colin Jordan Seeley was a British motorcycle retailer who later became a motorcycle sidecar racer, motorcycle designer, constructor and retailer of accessories. In 1992 he was involved in running the Norton Rotary race team.
The Norton Model 7 Dominator was a 500 cc vertical twin motorcycle manufactured by the Norton Motorcycle Company from 1949 to 1955. It was the first of Norton's Dominator range of motorcycles. The engine was designed by Bert Hopwood and was a departure from Norton's previous practice of producing single-cylinder machines. The Model 7 was used in Japan as a police motorcycle.
The 1st Norton Model 77 Dominator was a 500 cc all iron vertical twin rigid framed Norton motorcycle manufactured by Norton Motors Ltd from 1950 to 1952. All 237 examples were exported to Australia. Very little publicity surrounded this model - so much so that it was denied that they existed for some decades. It is possible that they were intended to be sidecar haulers, but the stock Model 7 - with the identical all iron engine- was equipped with sidecar mounting points, so this aspect is still a matter of discussion.
The Norton Model 88 Dominator, also originally known as the Dominator De Luxe was a 500 cc vertical twin motorcycle manufactured by the British Norton Motorcycle Company from 1952 to 1966. It was the first of Norton's motorcycles to use the featherbed frame, which established Norton's reputation of producing fine handling machines. The 88 used the Bert Hopwood designed engine that was first fitted to the Model 7 and was initially for export only. It became available on the home market in 1953. Norton were a small manufacturer at the time and without the economies of scale the model was expensive compared to other manufacturer's equivalent machines. The 88 retailed for 20% more than the contemporary Triumph Speed Twin and was dearer than the 650 cc Triumph Thunderbird.
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 Manxman was a 650 cc vertical twin motorcycle manufactured by the British Norton Motorcycle Company at their Bracebridge St, Birmingham factory for export. The engine was an enlargement of the 600 cc engine used in the Model 99 Dominator. The Manxman was first shown at the November 1960 Earls Court Motorcycle Show and listed by the American importer, Berliner, in their catalogue from 1961 to October 1962 Berliner had asked for the model to be named Manxman although the twin had never been raced at the Isle of Man.
The Norton 650 Dominator was a 650 cc vertical twin motorcycle manufactured by the British Norton Motorcycle Company from 1962 to 1967. Initially production was at Norton's Bracebridge St, Birmingham factory, but following the factory's closure in 1963, production was transferred to parent company AMC's works in Plumstead, London. Initially produced in single and twin carburettor versions, the single carb version was soon discontinued. The twin carb version, the 650SS, was described as the 'Best of the Dominators'.
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.
