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. Currently it is owned by Indian motorcycle giant TVS Motor Company
BMW's motorcycle history began in 1921 when the company commenced manufacturing engines for other companies. BMW's own motorcycles—sold under the BMW Motorrad brand—began in 1923 with the BMW R 32, which was powered by a flat-twin engine. Production of motorcycles with flat-twin engines continues to this day, however BMW has also produced many models with other types of engines.
Berkeley Cars Ltd was a British car manufacturer based in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire. The company produced economical sporting microcars with motorcycle-derived engines from 322 cc to 692 cc and front wheel drive between 1956 and 1960. About 4,100 cars had been sold before bankruptcy in 1960.
Brough Superior motorcycles, sidecars, and motor cars were made by George Brough in his Brough Superior works on Haydn Road in Nottingham, England, from 1919 to 1940. The motorcycles were dubbed the "Rolls-Royce of Motorcycles" by H. D. Teague of The Motor Cycle newspaper. Approximately 3048 motorcycles were made in the 21 years of production; around a third of that production still exists. T. E. Lawrence owned eight of these motorcycles and died from injuries sustained when he crashed number seven; the eighth was on order. Moving forward to 2008, vintage motorcycle enthusiast Mark Upham acquired the rights to the Brough Superior name. In 2013 he met motorcycle designer Thierry Henriette and asked him to design a new Brough Superior motorcycle. Three months later a prototype of a new SS100 was shown in Milan.
Phelon & Moore manufactured motorcycles in Cleckheaton, Yorkshire, England from 1904 to 1967, particularly those under the Panther marque. They became identified with a design of motorcycle which had a large sloping 40-degree single-cylinder engine as a stressed member of the frame. This design spanned the entire history of the company, starting with a 500 cc model and ending with a 645 cc model.
The BSA Gold Star is a motorcycle made by BSA from 1938 to 1963. They were 350 cc and 500 cc single-cylinder four-stroke production motorcycles known for being among the fastest bikes of the 1950s. Being hand-built and with many optional performance modifications available, each motorcycle came from the factory with documented dynamometer test results, allowing the new owner to see the horsepower (bhp) produced.
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.
The R60 and R60/2 are 600 cc boxer-twin that were manufactured from 1956 to 1969 in Munich, Germany, by BMW.
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.
Velorex was a manufacturing cooperative in Solnice, Czechoslovakia. Notable products included a small three-wheeled car, produced from the 1950s until 1971, and the Type 562 sidecar. The sidecar is still manufactured in the Czechia by Velorexport, the successor to Velorex.
The Phelon & Rayner 1.75 hp was a British motorcycle made by Phelon and Rayner (P&R). There was only one P&R model which had a 1.75 h.p., 260 cc. engine with 66 x 76 mm bore and stroke fitted in a standard bicycle type 28" frame. It was fitted with a surface carburettor, single speed friction disc transmission, a 9 pint combined oil and fuel tank, bicycle pattern front forks and 28 in × 2 in wheels. The colour scheme was black frame and mudguards with an aluminium enameled fuel tank with coach lining.
The Panther Model 100 was a British motorcycle. It had a 598 cc, 6.5:1 compression ratio, 87 mm × 100 mm, OHV sloper engine in a frame where the engine replaces the front down-tube. Panthers were manufactured in Cleckheaton, Yorkshire from 1900 to 1967. Launched in 1932, the Model 100 continued through to 1963. While the engine and overall layout stayed essentially the same, the specifications steadily evolved over these thirty or so years.
The Panther TT Entrant was a British motorcycle made in 1924 by Phelon & Moore and was the first to carry the name "Panther". With a number of wins in other races and trials, it was decided to enter the new machine into the Isle of Man TT. Whilst originally intended to be stock, these models were modified for the purpose and in later years TT Replica machines were catalogued, however there is no record of any machines being sold to the public. The TT Entrant machines had a 25 bhp 498cc, 6.5:1 compression ratio, 84 x 90 mm, ohv sloper engine. Launched in 1924, TT Entrants were made through to 1928.
The Matchless G50 is an historic racing British motorcycle made by Associated Motorcycles (AMC) at the former Matchless works in Plumstead, London. Developed in 1958 from the 350 cc AJS 7R, but with the engine capacity increased to 500 cc, 180 G50s were built in the next four years. Although less powerful than its main competitor the Norton Manx the G50 proved highly competitive at three hundred pounds and was faster round bends. If success is measured by longevity then this is the most successful Matchless motorcycle, and high specification replicas are still being produced to this day, although financial problems at AMC ended production in 1963.
The Dominator is a twin cylinder motorcycle developed by Norton to compete against the Triumph Speed Twin. The original Dominator was designed in 1947 and 1948 by Bert Hopwood, who had been on the Speed Twin design team at Triumph. Available for sale from mid 1949, this design set the pattern for Norton twins for the next 30 years.
The BSA A7 was a 500cc motorcycle model range made by Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) at its factory in Armoury Road, Small Heath, Birmingham. The range was launched in 1946 using a 495 cc (30.2 cu in) long stroke engine. An improved 497 cc (30.3 cu in) version based on the BSA A10 engine was launched in 1950. The various A7 models continued in production with minor modifications until 1961/2 when they were superseded by the unit-construction A50 model.
The Jubilee is a Norton motorcycle made from 1958 to 1966. Named to commemorate Norton's Diamond Jubilee, the 249 cc Jubilee was a break with Norton tradition designed in response to UK legislation introduced in 1960 limiting learner riders to motorcycles of under 250 cc. It had the smallest engine ever made by Norton, and was the first Norton with a unit construction engine and gearbox.
The BSA C15 was a 250 cc single-cylinder ohv motorcycle manufactured by the British company BSA from September 1958 until 1967, and was BSA's first four-stroke unit-construction bike. For most of that period, after the introduction of 'Learner Laws' in 1961, a 250 cc was the largest capacity solo machine that a learner could ride unaccompanied when displaying L-plates in the United Kingdom. A road-going Sports derivative was added in 1961, and off-road versions, for Trials and Scrambles, were also available in the range.
The BSA A10 series was a range of 646 cc (39.4 cu in) air-cooled parallel twin motorcycles designed by Bert Hopwood and produced by Birmingham Small Arms Company at Small Heath, Birmingham from 1950 to 1963. The series was succeeded by the A65 unit construction models.
The MV Agusta 50 Liberty was a light motorcycle built in the MV Agusta factory in Cascina Costa di Samarate, Italy from 1962 to 1969.
