Back in the day I wanted a Norton Dominator 88 0r 99, never got it though. At that time the bike to have in some circles was the Norton with the featherbead frame with a Triumph engine and clip on bars. Heaven to some.

 

I don't get it.
I was a Triumph guy for many years back in the 60's, owned 8 different ones :
Bonnevilles, TR6 and T-Bird.
Back then they were all 500's or 650's, and the 'Snortin Norton' was a 750.
Why the heck would anyone want to swap a 750 for a 650 ??
Was the Triumph considered more powerful/reliable than the Norton ?
Both leaked oil at a prestigious rate ......

 

That one baffles me too. Why would anyone put a Triumph engine in a feather bed frame is beyond me. Unless of course they wanted a better handling Triumph. A Vincent engine, yeh I get that one (Norvin) but a Triumph?

 

Back in 75, I traded my 64 sportster for a 74 Norton 850 Commando, Hi rider. I owned it for the next 31 years. I finally got tired of being a M/C mechanic. I sold it to a collector, and bought a 2000 Kawasaki Concours, and had $ left over. NOW, I'm a M/C Rider. Now, I'm a Crossfire owner too. Life is good.

 

Lots of Norton people here. Not surprising.

 

When I say back in the day I mean the 50's, my teens.
At that time the Triumphs were faster or so it was deemed.
Dominators came first in 500's then 600's.
The plan was to take a 500 or 600 with twin front brakes and fit the best Triumph engine you could lay your hands on. Simple and you stood out at the local cafe on the motorway.
Norton Dominator - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 650 was built for the US market.

 

Seems a little extreme to get 50 more cc's. My friend had a 600 Norton, he just built the engine. I went and looked at an AJS popper that was out to 710. When the guy walked out of the house with a cast on his kicking leg, my dad said "no way".

 

Sometimes logic is ignored and things are done just because they can be done, like (maybe ) fitting a turbo in an NA instead of buying an SRT.

When asking someone why they did something like that they'll just shrug and say "because ....."

 

Good point 180

 

Gotcha. Makes sense now.
You older guys had all the fun in the 50's ........

 

My Dad had a Bonneville...beautiful bike. I was racing one of the first Kaw's imported into the US, having just got off a Honda. He bought me a BSA Victor to ride on the road at 16 yrs old. That big *** one lunger was hard to start, but had a lot of torgue. It kicked me as much as I kicked it...I only weighed 130lbs back then....lol. Norton's were huge back then, but I would say they were equal to that of the Triumphs and BSA's.... And, they all leaked as much as the sportster my uncle had...lol...

 

I don't know if it is even made anymore, but I will always associate the smell of "Cycle Bath" with Triumphs.
Maybe it was just the local dealer ( WWII B17 waist gunner, he fell in love with Triumphs in England ) that used it.


YES !!! - here it is : http://www.flickr.com/photos/larrymooody/4802931719/

 

The smell I associate with motorcycles is Torko (sp?) gear oil. However, racing is of course, castor oil. My dad took me to sports car races in the fifty's and everyone was burning the beans. I liked it so much that I burned it on the stove to make the house smell like a race track. My parents were not happy with me.

 

I used to go to Brands Hatch in England to watch club races with a work mate who raced a bike he had purchased from John Surtees. I loved the smell of R (Castrol R) in the air. He had raced for the MV Augusta team a few years earlier, he said it was not fun at all. On a works team there was only one way to keep your seat and that was full throttle all the way, rain or shine. MV came up with their world beaters a few years later, 500cc bikes ridden by Surtees, Hailwood and Read to championships.

I rapidly lost interest in bikes when a car drove into the side of me when I was 22 and bent the frame of the bike, I escaped injury but decided the car was safer. Nothing like the open road on a bike though, especially at night on the twistees, with Lucas headlights - I must have been mad.

 

Lucas headlights HAHAHA. Marelli weren't much better. My Alfa was done over with Bosch. What's really scary is Lucas aircraft stuff. Lucas, the prince of darkness.

 

From age 18 to 20, I rode the '62 Triumph Bonneville to work and back 16 miles each way, rain or shine, hot or cold, night or day. I can't count the number of times the Lucas headlight entertained me by going out on the trip home at night .....
( That was the model with the magneto ignition and the separate transmission )

 

I rode a lot of old Hondas...a Super Hawk, Dream 125, TL125...had a garage full of bikes at one point, with my late dad...

 

Roberta & I are both 61 with B'days 9 days apart. We've had our 2007 Machine Gray Limited Coupe for 4 years last month. And put 11,000 on the XFire since we purchased it (had only 1500 miles on it back then).