Norton has been causing riders to drool for well over a century now. Launching in 1902 and winning the inaugural Isle of Mann TT race in 1907, the Norton serves as the other half of the iconic ‘Triton‘ (a Norton featherbed frame combined with a Triumph Bonneville engine).
The company’s Dominator and Commando models, in particular, are the stuff of design and pop culture legend. The Commando even made an appearance in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. After a brief restart for the brand in the early 2000s, new ownership has reintroduced these legendary roadsters with a new line built in Leicestershire.
Modern race bikes are shiny, perfect things: they have the air of being extruded from 3D printers in a hermetically sealed laboratory. But in days of yore, the typical racer was usually a little battered and bruised, with unique welding marks and bodged-up brackets and bodywork. We have to admit to preferring them that way,…
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There are a few builders we watch like a hawk, because everything they touch turns to gold. One of them is NYC Norton, run by the affable Kenny Cummings. He’s one of the top Brit bike specialists in the States, but he doesn’t build a bike up from scratch every week. When he finishes one,…
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In today’s digitally saturated world, communication is seamless, relentless and overwhelming. But Vic Matthews is part of a generation that didn’t grow up on the internet—his digital footprint is no larger than a seldom-updated Facebook profile. So I only found out about his painstakingly restored Norton 16H via a succinct text message from my father;…
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Welcome to the second edition of Speed Read—our new weekend roundup that covers not just custom bikes, but also motorcycle news, gear, and sometimes even art. Today, we’ve gathered together an adorable MZ ETZ 250 bobber, a Yamaha RD350 from the eccentric Blechmann, and a Norton Commando that’s never left its crate. Plus we look…
Read more »History has a strange habit of repeating itself. Exactly ten years ago, give or take a few days, we featured a twin-engined…
Read more »The Commando is one of the all-time greats of the motorcycle industry. In Britain, its status is iconic: even people with no…
Read more »Like most folks with even a passing interest in motorcycling, we’re suckers for a good Norton. And they don’t come much better…
Read more »At some point in their career, every good custom motorcycle builder sees a client point at a bike in their portfolio and…
Read more »Each week, we scour the internet to bring you the juiciest five motorcycles that we haven’t already featured. Today we’ve got a…
Read more »An incredible Norton sidecar racer from Australia, a tribute to NCR co-founder Rino Caracchi from Italy, and a chunky go-anywhere BMW R100GS…
Read more »We’re going from the sublime to the ridiculous this week, kicking off with a stunning Triton from Italy. We’ve also got a…
Read more »Some builders pick a formula and repeat it. Others reinvent the wheel every time and stick to one-offs. Auto Fabrica‘s methodology lands…
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