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.
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…
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History has a strange habit of repeating itself. Exactly ten years ago, give or take a few days, we featured a twin-engined Norton called ‘Double Trouble.’ And now we have an even more incredible Norton, following the same format, called ‘Double H.’ It looks vintage but it’s a recent build, and uses mostly Commando rather…
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The Commando is one of the all-time greats of the motorcycle industry. In Britain, its status is iconic: even people with no interest in motorcycling know of it, or know someone who used to own one. Seventies-era Nortons can be temperamental though—troublesome to own and expensive to repair. So we’re always pleased to see one…
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Like most folks with even a passing interest in motorcycling, we’re suckers for a good Norton. And they don’t come much better than this beauty—a 1971 Commando restomod built by Retrospeed, a workshop in the Great Lakes area. Retrospeed has four employees and is headquartered in in the oddly named town of Belgium, near the…
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…
Read more »Few custom motorcycles have the cachet of the legendary Triton. The mash-up of a Norton featherbed frame and Triumph twin motor has…
Read more »A delicately massaged Norton Dominator, a Honda CB500 with Panigale suspension, a board track racer over a century old, and a Honda…
Read more »I’m sure most folks have a ‘lottery list’ of bikes they’d put in their garage if they won big. And on my…
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