norton - villiers
norton villiers triumph (nvt) limited... norton villiers triumph (nvt) limited, 1973 - 1987
norton villiers triumph ltd. (finance) (hansard, 5 march 1975 )
1975 manganese bronze holdings wrote off its investment in norton - villiers - triumph [ 13 ] .
norton - villiers developed the p11 from the norton atlas as an export model for the growing sport of desert racing. description from classicandraceb… | pinteres…
now mark all genuine norton factory parts with our good name and andover norton logo .
andover norton has a valid, exclusive license giving andover norton and no other company the right to use the norton trademark for the marketing of genuine norton factory parts for norton commando and dominator type motorcycles built before 2002 .
this company was formed in 1973 by the merger of the birmingham small arms company limited and norton villiers .
unfortunately policing of the norton trademark has been erratic in recent years so andover norton registered the
andover norton
logo to distinguish its genuine norton factory parts from the dubious offerings flooding the market .
this led to the formation of norton villiers triumph manufacturing limited, but the new company got off to a shaky start .
asked the secretary of state for industry if he will make a statement about the future of norton villiers triumph, wolverhampton .
in respect of the business carried on by norton villiers triumph ltd. sums exceeding £5 million but not exceeding £12. 872 million .
norton villiers triumph was a british motorcycle manufacturer, formed by the british government to continue the uk motorcycling industry, but the company eventually failed .
edward turner dies in his sleep at his home, august 15. bsa group merged in july in a government - encouraged
shotgun wedding
with norton - villiers as norton - villiers - triumph - with nv' s chair, dennis poore as new nvt chairman (poore rescued norton from the brink in the 1960s). starts with 10 million - pound capital
today, andover norton is the world' s biggest cache of spare parts for norton motorcycles. andover norton sells more genuine norton factory spare parts for norton commandos, dominators, and other models than anybody else in the world - not only because we manufacture them all and we sell them all, but by absolute turnover .
asked the secretary of state for industry if he has any further proposals for the triumph norton villiers works at meriden; and if he will make a statement .
andover norton was established by norton villiers to continue the manufacture and distribution of genuine norton spare parts when norton motors ltd was liquidated in 1977. andover norton has the original tooling and the original drawings and is continuously getting parts made to original or, where advisable, improved specification by our specialist suppliers - foundries, forges and machine shops most of which are based in the midlands. all parts are being inspected on arrival in our stores. the parts we stock are mainly for norton commandos and earlier models, dominator, atlas, p11 and norton singles. we further own the complete ex - factory stock of norton rotary parts and all the norton rotary technical drawings and historical records. andover norton serves retail customers and supplies selected members of the trade .
andover norton owns the intellectual property, sole copyright, and all other rights on all norton dominator and commando models manufactured before 2002 .
turcon construction, inc. , etc. , cross - complainant and appellant, v. norton–villiers, ltd. , etc. , cross - defendants and respondents .
by the middle of 1972 the bsa - triumph group were in serious financial trouble and the government decided to bail the company out with a financial rescue package, providing it would agree to merge with norton villiers. this led to the formation of norton villiers triumph manufacturing limited, but the new company got off to a shaky start .
andover norton took over when nvt closed down and dennis poore bought the spares operation of norton motors back from the liquidator. in 1977 he set it up in andover as
andover norton international ltd
.
andover norton ltd was founded in 1977 to house all norton commando and dominator models, triumph and bsa spare parts that came from the stores of norton villiers and bsa / triumph. the company was first and foremost the source for all norton spares and, as original stock was sold off, they re - manufactured new norton parts. they are now based in hungerford, berkshire, england. on their website they list norton parts dealers worldwide, so you can easily find a local dealer to go to. urltoken
1965 bought villiers engineering, a motorcycle company chiefly known for its range of engines [ 3 ] .
1965 villiers bought the industrial engines business of bsa located at redditch; this would enable bsa to concentrate on motorcycle production; villiers would fulfil bsa' s commitments from its wolverhampton factory [ 4 ] .
1966 manganese bronze holdings ltd bought amc (associated motorcycles) owners of the norton, ajs, matchless, francis - barnett and james motorcycle marques. this, combined with the other motor cycle business, became norton - villiers [ 5 ] .
norman white was formerly norton villiers & john player norton development engineer and chief mechanic honda britain. he is now dedicated to all aspects of motor cycle engineering and fabrication, and operates at the thruxton circuit near andover in hampshire, england. urltoken
late 60 / early 70s norton - villiers was a millstone around the neck of manganese bronze; it took several years to reorganise the company and bring it back towards profitability .
hence the intellectual property on all things norton commando and dominator of the original drawings and tooling cannot be taken from andover norton by license or any other contract by current norton trademark owners. because they do not own it .
another important factor in their success was the villiers flywheel magneto, which was well known all over the world .
norton
blueprint
t - shirt - £15. 99 plus p & p
above: the 1973 norton commando interstate was the long - range touring edition .
by the middle of 1972 the bsa - triumph group was in serious financial trouble and the government decided to bail the company out with a financial rescue package, providing it would agree to merge with norton villiers .
the' combat' engine combined with quality control problems gave the company a bad reputation, which was highly covered in the press. by the middle of 1972 bsa triumph group were in serious financial trouble. the uk government decided to bail the company out with a financial rescue package, providing it would agree to merge with norton villiers. norton villiers triumph was duly formed and the new company got off to a shaky start .
collection of photos of the p86, the quantel, and the john player norton racers .
above: 1973 norton commando 750 roadster was more or less the
standard
commando .
villiers was founded to produce pedals and cycle components for sunbeam cycles, and later manufactured the hub gear, and patented free wheel .
asked the secretary of state for industry what assistance he is going to offer to the meriden workers' co - operative and to norton villiers triumph ltd. under the industry act 1972; and whether he will make a statement .
our sister company in germany, norton motors gmbh, has a large supply of triumph spares. follow link below to access the site and place orders. this link is provided as a shortcut to the norton motors gmbh website. important: triumph spares cannot be ordered and shipped with any orders placed with andover norton, or payments made to andover norton. visit urltoken for genuine triumph spare parts
if something looks like a norton packing card and does not have our name and address on it it has nothing to do with the norton factory tradition and also nothing to do with our quality standards .
after a. m. c.' s collapse and take - over in 1966, a new company called norton villiers was formed, which would produce machines using the norton name. a new flagship machine was needed to replace the current ageing models, and so in 1967 the commando was developed, just in time for the earls court show .
it is because the chairman of norton villiers triumph has informed us today that this money must be forthcoming this week, otherwise there will be redundancies. this is the first that the government have heard of the urgency of the matter .
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in 1966, struggling amc finally bit the bullet and sold out to manganese bronze holdings (mbh), an ambitious outfit (headed by dennis poore) that already owned villiers and had its corporate fingers in more pies than little jack horner. the result was a new firm called norton - villiers that, as part of its restructuring, had very disappointing plans for the other marques in its stable
a. m. c. was formed in 1931 when a. j. s. was purchased by matchless. in 1952 a. m. c. acquired norton motors limited who produced norton motorcycles .
in the early 1960' s the company was taken over by manganese bronze holdings, who also purchased associated motor cycles (a. m. c .) in 1966. a. m. c. was formed in 1931 when a. j. s. was purchased by matchless. in 1952 a. m. c. acquired norton motors limited who produced norton motorbikes. after a. m. c.' s collapse and take - over in 1966, a new company called norton villiers was formed, which would produce machines using the norton name .
villiers, the famous wolverhampton engine manufacturer, was set up by charles marston in 1898. he was the eldest son of john marston, of sunbeam fame .
andover norton international ltd | unit 4 brunel gate portway west business park | andover, hants. sp10 3sl england
international norton owners assoc. (usa) they have a list of about forty chapters all over the usa: urltoken
image source the famous john player norton monocoque chassis, circa 1973, built around the antiquated pre - unit twin .
when norton got into financial difficulties through the machinations of its management team led by philippe le roux, the norton commando and dominator spares stock was sold back to andover norton, then owned by mike jackson and william colquhoun, in 1991. the stock was once more moved down to andover and, when andover norton was acquired by the regal group in 1994, the spares moved to southampton. nothing, however, is more constant than change, so in 2007 norton motors ltd, recreated by said richard negus and joe seifert a decade earlier, re - acquired andover norton and set it up in hungerford near andover, managed by nick hopkins from 1991 till he retired in 2013, and phil albutt, who came to andover norton by way of bsa in blockley, and became our managing director in april, 2013 .
after the ghastly debacle of the highly - tuned self - destructing combat engine, it was obvious to the engineers at norton villiers that if they wanted their venerable air - cooled pushrod twin to supply more torque at rider - rewarding rev levels then there could be no substitute for cubes .
a set of four norton villiers stickers. just web search' i say ding dong' to find us. need your own stickers making? . we can help. machine cut to a round shape. and the. they have black text and green foggging onto a silver colour background .
in 1966 the villiers company bought norton from amc and renamed itself norton - villiers, they hired the engineers dr stefan bauer (formerly of rolls royce), john favill, bernard hooper and bob trigg, then gave them the deadline of the 1967 earls court motor show to have an all - new bike ready to show to the world. this sub - 12 month deadline was extremely tight however the team pulled it together and created the commando – a bike that would go on to win motor cycle news “machine of the year” award for 5 successive years from 1968 to 1972 .
it was and is simply a norton model name. registration of what was undoubtedly a norton model name by anybody but the manufacturer could be seen as an action in bad faith, in full knowledge it was not the registrant' s intellectual property .
associated motor cycles went bust in 1966 and norton villiers (nv, later nvt) inherited the name. for almost a decade, the ajs brand was dormant, and then fluff brown, previously the competitions manager at ajs, bought the name and rights from norton - villliers and began selling spares for the reasonably successful ajs stormer that nv had helped develop. soon, ajs also produced a range of motocross and trail bikes .
good press for cosworth, not much help to norton (who began building wankel - rotary powered motorcycles from 1983 onward) .
in case hon. gentlemen opposite should be tempted to suggest that this was done by the conservative government, my hon. friend will recall that the existing ecgd finance which norton villiers triumph has already got and which has just run out was export credit properly obtained in the normal way through ecgd under section 1 .
not only that but the old standbys continued :
in fifty - eight years [ villiers ] have sent nearly seventy millions [ bicycle free wheels ] to all parts of the world
.
after the war demand continued to be very strong and the company was almost constantly expanding and re - organizing. in 1956 villiers produced its two millionth engine and duly presented it to the science museum .
this was continued until 1982, when mike jackson, with the help of dennis poore, bought the company and continued the general parts and accessories distribution. the norton commando and dominator spare parts operation went back to norton motors (1978) ltd in shenstone for a few years. it was managed for most of its time there by richard negus. richard had worked as draughtsman at norton in commando production times, and a lot of our original drawings of commando parts were drawn by him. from spares manager he went on to become
chief of motorcycles
at norton motors ltd / shenstone. a few years later he became the (now retired) managing director of our sister company norton motors ltd .
my hon. friend has the description. another part of the
blue book
is worth looking at regarding the concern that was voiced by norton villiers prior to the public disclosures the second paragraph in page 3 reads: concern was expressed by norton villiers that the investment by government in a plan involving the closure of a factory might give rise to adverse public comment and might not be seen in its intended light… the department was, however, able to confirm that there were no political objections to this course since the factory was in an area where labour was scarce and surplus labour generated by the closure could be readily absorbed. that shows how little is known about the problems of the west midlands .
1973 also saw the start of development on a new machine with a monocoque pressed steel frame, that also included a 500 cc twin, stepped piston engine called the' wulf'. however, as the norton villiers triumph company was again in serious financial problems, development of the' wulf' was dropped in favour of the rotary wankel type engine inherited from bsa .
1974 saw the introduction of the race - spec john player norton as a regular production motorcycle, the fully faired racer picked up a huge amount of positive press which was much needed by norton during an era when the purchase of triumph and bsa were straining the company’s resources and quality was beginning to suffer .
plaintiff filed an action for personal injuries naming turner and appellant as defendants. in addition, norton - villiers, ltd. and berliner motor corporation (hereinafter referred to as respondents) were joined as defendants who were alleged to be liable for the defective manufacture and design of the motorcycle and its gas tank. appellant cross - complained for indemnity and / or contribution from respondents .
norton motors ltd, under its md dennis austin, started a
brand awareness
programme in 1985, using the
norton genuine factory parts
logo, thereby distinguishing the genuine parts made to original or improved specification from the pirate parts of poor quality that are flooding the market from all over the globe .
our (now retired) managing director, nick hopkins, can just be seen in a picture in the 1978 prospectus, studying a parts list. yes, he stayed with the company for a while - in fact from day1 until his retirement in march, 2013! he was probably looking for the parts required by a german customer, who called frequently, coming up from southampton university, where he studied at the time, on his john player norton replica or his 1956 norton es2. mr. j. seifert was buying norton parts for himself and friends in hamburg - today, he is a director of andover norton .
however, i cannot finish without saying one word about the workers at meriden who have now been on the picket lines since 14th september 1973, in my judgment victims of a foolish decision taken by the previous government at the time they launched norton villiers triumph. they have waited for many months and have worked out their scheme and come forward with a scheme that the government can support .
description: between 1976 and 1978, workers at norton villiers and other companies, became the subjects of nick hedges' photographic observation of working life. the photographs were published in' born to work' (pluto press, 1982) and depict stark images of factory life. this image depicts one of the closed factory gates at the marston road site after the company had closed down .
if the secretary of state had his discussion with the chairman of norton villiers triumph last thursday, why was it not until monday that he had his conversation with the leader of the house? we know that many members of the cabinet are not on speaking terms with one another, but one would have thought that it would be possible to deal with the matter earlier if it was of such urgency, between last thursday and monday .
before you lay out any hard earned cash on a commando i’d recommend getting a copy of the peter henshaw book “norton commando (the essential buyer’s guide) ” and also picking up a copy of “norton commando (haynes great bikes) ” by mick duckworth. the more reading you do now, the less tears, shouting and blood there’ll be later on .
▲ above: manganese bronze holdings' and norton villiers chairman, dennis poore, lets loose on a triumph t150 trident. poore (1916 - 1987) was an grand prix racing driver and a a highly active entrepreneur. charged with the onerous task of saving what was salvageable in the ailing british motorcycling industry, he made tough decisions and upset a lot of people. but should history remember him a little more generously? we think so .
the quadrant is shown to the nvt on october 29; dennis poore was amazed by it. tiger 100 road model dropped. the newly - elected labour government announces the formation of the meriden motorcycle cooperative under the supervision of tony benn, and gives the group a 5 million pound grant. however, norton - villiers retained the rights to the name, and to market and sell the motorcycles. this resulted in constant fighting between the cooperative and nvt .
norton’s last - ditch effort was the remarkable, but virtually forgotten, p86 “challenge” prototype built around a liquid - cooled, double overhead cam twin designed in partnership with famed engine builder cosworth. it would prove to be too little, too late, and the entire project would become mired by traditional british engineering conservatism and a general lack of funding as the venerated norton brand wheezed its final breaths .
to give an impression of how widely used villiers engines were here is a list, names only, of motorbikes which had villiers engines in some or all of their models in the post world war ii period alone: aberdale, abj, ajs, ajw, ambassador, bac, bond, bown, butler, commander, corgi, cotton, cyc - auto, dmw, dot, excelsior, francis - burnett, greeves, hjh, james, mercury, new hudson, norman, oec, panther, radco, rainbow, scorpion, sprite, sun, tandon .
way” attitudes and a severe lack of cash flow. thus the british industry collapsed under its own hubris, norton was broken up, and the p86 became a dusty relic of “what could have been” .
the motion was tabled on 4th november and it was done because, at that time, agreements between norton villiers 1670 triumph and the co - operative were nearing completion, but there was anxiety among the workers at small heath which led to delay. that delay was cleared by discussions which i shall deal with in the main body of my speech, but as we moved into the new year, nvt appeared to be nearing the limit which would be required to maintain its production for export .
by 1930 the firm held over 100 world records but like so many others was experiencing financial hardship. in 1931 the colliers group bought ajs, and in 1938 amc took over and badge engineered numerous matchless - based models. postwar ajs racing machines included the wonderul 350cc 7r (the orginal boy racer) and the porcupine parallel twin. when amalgamated motorcycles failed in 1966 the marque was bought by manganese bronze holdings who formed the norton villiers group. nv introduced two - stroke competition ajs machines powered by
lord hesketh tries to launch his own motorcycle company with a v - twin that had promise, but the company was underfunded and died shortly after, in 1982. norton motors makes its rotary - engined bike, the mark ii, later called the interpol ii, sold mostly to police forces and the british armed forces. civilian version (p43) is called the norton classic, and is made until 1988 .
while sonorous and torquey, and potentially reliable if setup and maintained correctly, the norton pre - unit twin was a dinosaur that was far from the cutting edge of motorcycle design. it was particularly disadvantaged in racing by the 1970s. japanese competition was becoming fierce in production classes. norton racers were down on power and had significant reliability problems. their chassis designs were reasonably competitive and sometimes quite innovative - the famous
right at the root of the norton villiers triumph shambles was the accountants' decision that they did not want three factories any more. they needed only two, and one was to be shut and, in the time - honoured word, rationalisation brought in and the meriden men thrown out of work. while hon. members opposite are considering the financial aspects, it would do them some good now and again to think about the human beings who lie behind the balance sheets about which they are so concerned .
to achieve this small miracle, the factory brought in four hired guns that included dr stefan g bauer (from rolls royce), development engineers bob trigg (late of austin) and bernard hooper, and john favill (from villiers who later worked for harley - davidson on the evo engine) .
after months of labour difficulties and slumping sales, parent company norton villiers triumph was split up in 1976. the main factories were closed and production of spare parts was taken over by an offshoot company dubbed nvt engineering, who would also continue production of the commando using the existing parts stock in 1977 - 78. the racing and test departments were disbanded, the prototypes gathering dust were sold off. the p86 was no more, and the existing bikes and spare engines (about 30 in total) disappeared into the ether .
at the end of the day, when you arrive anywhere on a norton commando you’ll find that everyone wants to talk to you, ask you questions and share stories about the old british bike they owned once too .
when the 1973 norton commando lineup was announced, the commando fastback & fastback lr had been dropped. the 1973 norton commando roadster, interstate & hi - rider continued on in mkv form, now with optional turn signals, which had only been listed for the first time as an option on the 1972 norton commando interstate. all engines now had the 32mm amal 932 concentric carbs & intake tracts from the combat engine, but with reduced compression ratio & higher gearing. only the hi - rider soldiered on with the old 8 - inch tls front brake, all others now had a single front disk brake on the right & the old drum out back .
i hope that in his winding - up speech the minister of state will be much more candid than was the secretary of state in explaining the reasons for bringing this order under section 8 of the industry act 1972. the secretary of state gave no explanation for it. he tried to suggest that the reason was that he wished the house to have a debate on the meriden norton villiers triumph situation, but he must not be that disingenous with the opposition, for it is clearly open to the government at any time to debate that subject .
norton wasn’t the only one complicating the process - cosworth made things difficult as well. as per their practice with their f1 engines, norton engineers and mechanics were forbidden from opening or adjusting anything inside the motor. any repairs, maintenance or modifications were to be carried out by cosworth techs alone. having two sets of engineers, who don’t share information, working on a single project is a sure fire way to get stymied in a real hurry .
i beg to move, that this house authorises the secretary of state to pay or undertake to pay by way of financial assistance under section 8 of the industry act 1972 in respect of the business carried on by norton villiers triumph ltd. sums exceeding £5 million but not exceeding £12. 872 million. first i will deal, as a courtesy to the house, with some points raised on points of order over the last day or two by the hon. member for henley (mr. heseltine), in order to put them entirely out of mind .
commando specialties provide quality, replacement or custom parts for 1968 to 1976 norton commandos. they have 1000' s of new and used parts in inventory. they also rebuild commandos at their facility in plymouth, massachusetts, usa. urltoken
of course, i only have to remind the house that the support for nvt was made available not by the present government but by the previous conservative government, when under the same section of the industry act they made available, and announced nearly two years ago, £4. 872 million for the merger of norton villiers with part of bsa to produce nvt. one of the intentions behind that merger was to push up production and exportst, and it is these exports that i a mahking the house to support with this motion tonight. that should be made absolutely clear .
old britts is a mail order shop in the seattle (usa) area providing parts, manuals, rebuilding and upgrade services to norton motorcycles owners. they mainly deal in commando parts and services and will ship anywhere in the world. urltoken
the hot new john player norton took the norton commando production racer & did it one better. its stunning red, white & blue paint scheme & unique classic cafe - style fairing, tank, seat & tail section made this one of the most eye - catching motorcycles of all time. it came standard with low clip - on handlebars & rearset footpegs & foot controls. the fairing had 2 side - by - side headlights flared in, along with standard turn signals .
exactly how much each member of the team contributed to this new “isolastic” design isn’t clear. suffice to say that between these highly talented engineers came the norton commando 750, claimed by some to be the finest british parallel twin ever, bar none .
check out our old bike market and treat yourself to a new ajs, ariel, bsa, greeves, matchless, norton, velocette, vincent or whatever. you' re a long time dead. live a little while you can ...
have been invaluable in the preparation of this series of articles, but special mention must be made of those titles by roy bacon, bob holliday and steve wilson. i recommend them to all those in need of further enlightenment into the history of norton .
▲ if you think building a motorcycle in tough, take a look at neil hudson' s beautiful 1971 norton commando roadster and read about the problems that some owner' s face. it' ll help you put your life in a fresh perspective .
i have now found that my right hon. friend the secretary of state for industry met mr. poore, the chairman of norton villiers triumph ltd. , on thursday of last week. my right hon. friend telephoned me yesterday from bristol, and said that this matter must be dealt with this week, otherwise there would be great difficulties in the firm. i pointed out to him the great inconvenience to the house in debating the matter this week. however, he insisted that the matter must be dealt with this week, otherwise there was a danger of redundancies. therefore, i announced the matter last night .
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you’d also be well advised to introduce yourself to the men and women over on the access norton forums, they’re good people who’ll offer you brilliant and insightful advice – not to mention the fact that it’s a great place to make friends with like - minded nortonophiles .
john player norton (jpn) replica commandos are too rarely seen on the market to give an accurate guide, but expect to pay around £6, 000 - £8, 000 for a sorted example, with asking prices closer to £9, 000 - £10, 000 .
the experimental team was transferred to kitts green, birmingham, where they continued working on the t160 and the norton wankel engine. tr5mx avenger, a 499cc motocross single, is built. really it' s a bsa b50m with triumph badges. last year for the tr6 .
after the dismal finish of the 1972 model year, thanks to the combat engine, 1973 was a good year for norton motorcycles. the entire model line had benefited from the engine fixes developed to counter the combat' s tendency to break pistons & eat main bearings. the new superblend main bearings were now standard on all models. while the combat engine continued to appear in the catalog briefly, it had been canceled in 1972 because the problems were just too great & norton' s scarce resources needed to be directed into its mainstream line of engines .
not only did the company produce engines but, as they said in 1962 :
the villiers group offers an extensive service to industry in the supply of drop forgings, castings, pressings and metal fabrications, spur, bevel and helical gears, and in the design and manufacture of viltool special - purpose machine tools, using the viltool unit heads and the' building block' system of tooling .
the dreaded electrical systems used on british motorcycles throughout the 1970s have become famous and sadly, norton didn’t escape unscathed. make sure all the lights on the bike work and check the electric starter (if it has one of course). a non - functioning electrical system isn’t necessarily a red light when it comes to old nortons, you can actually buy an all new, modern wiring harness for them which will save you headaches down the road – in fact many norton experts will recommend you remove and replace the old wiring harness even if it is working .
norton, being norton, wouldn’t leave the cosworth team to its own devices and stipulated several anachronistic design features that would prove to hamper the design significantly. one such requirement was that the twin must be capable of running through a single source of carburetion to make passing emissions testing easier, which necessitated the “traditional” firing sequence. that meant a time - honoured 360 - degree interval, with the pistons rising and falling as a pair like god, the queen and bert hopwood intended. which meant the usual stupendous amount of vibration you get from a big british twin shaking itself to pieces .
no matter where you go in the world the community of men and women that surround the commando are genuinely fantastic people, parts are often sold at very low “friends” prices and there are a series of websites like the access norton forums full of kind hearted souls who’ll offer tips, tricks and advice .
the norton commando model range grew to 6 bikes, a hi - rider was added to try to appeal to the burgeoning ‘easy rider’ chopper market, the mkiii fastback, mkii roadster, street scrambler, fastback lr (long range) and the production racer were also offered – with varying degrees of popularity .
things went well that year for the norton racing team. peter williams won the 1973 formula 750 t. t. and mick grant came in second. unfortunately the company itself was in deep financial trouble and redundancy notices were issued at andover, which was followed by a sit - in at the works .
the 750 & 850 were both produced throughout most of 1973 & were available in all models. in october 1973, the last 750 rolled off the assembly line. well, that' s not exactly correct. because a new short - stroke 750 was briefly offered as an option on the john player norton & the commando roadster. by shortening the stroke to 80. 4mm while retaining the 77mm bore from the 850, the new displacement was 749cc (the old 750 was actually 745cc), with a less undersquare engine geometry. this engine was an offshoot from the works experience norton gained in production racing .
we were faced with a situation in which this money was given to norton villiers triumph by the previous administration without any kind of guarantees from mr. poore. the only condition imposed on the grant of that money was that mr. poore was to remain the chairman. there was no consultation with the unions. there was no debate in this house. there was no participation by anybody else involved with the company. the government were not prepared to put any kind of government appointee on the board of nvt. above all, it was all done under exactly the same legislation as that under which we are discussing the matter tonight. what humbug, what hypocrisy, when everything we have been discussing tonight is being done under the legislation and under safeguards which the conservative party introduced .
▲ above: the norton commando h - rider. this chopperised variant caught a lot of attention, but not all of it favourable. with its ape - hanger handlebars and banana seat (a la raleigh chopper bicycle), the traditional marque customer blushed and avoided it. today, good genuine examples are sought after .
on the race track, peter williams won the 1973 formula 750 tt with team mate mick grant in second place. this was to prove norton' s last tt success with a reciprocating engine, sixty six years after their first. in september the plan to use a cosworth designed engine in the works racers was announced, with eventual road going versions as well. also in the same year a prototype 500cc twin with stepped piston engine was built at wolverhampton, this was known as the wulf and featured a monocoque pressed steel frame. both these projects were eventually dropped in favour of developing the rotary design, though the cosworth did eventually get onto the race track, but with little success in spite of the spirited efforts of dave croxford. cosworth were very big in the formula 1 car engine business at the time and it was hoped that their expertise could provide norton with a world beater, but problems arose with the engines supplied to norton and it all came to nought .
▲ the 750cc fastback. these first - of - type models are probably the best choice for investment bikes. but we prefer to ride' em rather than store' em. meanwhile, if you' re looking for a norton commando for sale, follow the link and see what we' ve got in the bag .
personally, this is my favorite year for the commando, it still retained the spirit of the original 1968 model but the teething issues had been (mostly) worked out. the scrambler styled ‘s type’ commando with high exhaust pipes on the left hand side was designed largely for the us market and remains one of the most collectible models, this was accompanied by the fastback, both of which proved to be hugely popular in britain the the united states. even though norton wasn’t officially supporting a race team some dealers began entering races, the 1969 isle of man tt had a norton commando finish in 2nd (paul smart) and 4th (mick andrews) .
1697 what has not been referred to tonight is that even after the original closure was announced, the constituents of my hon. friends and of myself were willing to make any kind of financial sacrifice just to keep the meriden factory going. they were prepared to agree to a plan of voluntary redundancy. they were willing to agree to a plan for short - time working. they were willing to agree to a plan for work sharing. they were willing to agree to a reduction in the rates they were paid for waiting time when there was nothing to do. our constituents were willing to make all these sacrifices to keep the industry in being. what sacrifices have mr. dennis poore or the norton villiers triumph management, or hon. members opposite, been prepared to make to keep the industry in being ?
oil leakage is a major concern with many older british bikes, the commando can be almost drip free though if you take the time fit proper gaskets, then maintain them. you norton will probably never be entirely devoid of a slight drip, but most british bike enthusiasts will just tell you that this is how the bikes mark their territory .
this year, enfield bullets made in india since 1955 go on sale in the uk. norton p41 project moved to birmingham. tt loses its status as a world championship race. nvt makes easy rider moped, builds its last commando. yamaha and nvt cooperate to make 750cc triple for police use. british gp race gets full world championship status .
as we never tire of telling you, the norton commando was awarded the uk’s ‘machine of the year’ accolade five times on the trot, from 1968 to 1972. which was great news for the beleaguered british bike industry, but it posed a pretty problem. just what do you do for an encore, when your next generation sportsbike is resolutely welded to the drawing board ?
british leyland makes its triumph car division part of the specialty group, jaguar - rover - triumph ltd. scott motorcycles cease production. norton motorcycles ltd. formed as a motorcycle division, makes several wankel - engined prototypes. nvt only making mopeds and yamaha - engined motorcycles now. nvt drops agreement to market meriden products. don and derek rickman have now become second largest uk motorcycle manufacturers .
mk1 750 cc. the norton commando was introduced in 1967 at the earls court show. the first production machines completed in april 1968 had bending frame problems, removed with the introduction of a new frame in january 1969. the original model, called the' fastback' was joined by the production racer' s type' which had a high level left - side exhaust and a 2. 5 gallon petrol tank .
over the years i' d owned a number of motorcycles, mostly bsa, norton, bmw as well some japanese models, but i never had one that made the impression on me that the ajs did! thank you so very much for allowing me to relive that special time of my youth, if only in photographs! sincerely yours, guy d. ogan, major, usaf (retired) fort worth, tx
plaintiff below, robert christie, was operating a 1969 norton 750 cc motorcycle when he collided with a car which had been proceeding in the opposite direction and turned left in front of him. the car was driven by russell turner and was owned by turcon construction, inc. (hereinafter referred to as appellant). as a result of the collision, plaintiff suffered severe injuries, including burns caused by a fire after the motorcycle' s gas tank ruptured .
the norton commando was a desperate bike for desperate times, a machine that came into existence largely through the efforts of a handful of very resourceful engineers who pulled a very shrewd rabbit from a very unexpected hat. if it sounds like a fairy tale, that’s because when this one came off the drawing board there was certainly plenty of fairy dust being sprinkled around plumstead, south london—the new home of the firm which had vacated its historic bracebridge street site in 1962 / 3 .
1972 wasn’t a good year for the commando, what should have been an improved bike with the upgraded, optional combat engine and new, faster performance figures quickly descended into a nightmare as engines began internally disintegrating due to overloaded main bearings and pistons that were prone to fail in a catastrophic fashion – immediately turning the engine into a large, oily paperweight. this issue was resolved by detuning the engine and adding new bearings by 1973 but significant damage to norton’s reputation has already been done .
on any old norton commando, you’re probably going to want to replace the main bearings as soon as you can – this is utterly vital if the bike you buy is a 1972 model and it’s compulsory if the commando has the higher - performance combat engine. failing main bearings after as little as 5, 000 miles were common in the early 70s, making sure you’re running new, more modern bearings is one of the most vital things you’ll do when you take delivery of your bike .
things went well that year for the norton racing team. peter williams won the 1973 formula 750 t. t. and mick grant came in second. unfortunately the company itself was in deep financial trouble and redundancy notices were issued at andover, which was followed by a sit - in at the works. the situation continued to deteriorate in 1974 and came to a head in june when the government withdrew its subsidy. there was a general election and luckily the incoming labour government restored the subsidy .
without warning, in september poore announces the closure of meriden works effective february, 1974. of 4, 500 employees, 3, 000 are to be let go. faced with unemployment and having their products handed over to a rival firm, the workers rose up. this immediately starts an 18 - month employee' sit - in' and the closure of the meriden plant. by late 1973, all models except the t120 are discontinued. poore considers using the triumph name on cheaper norton models .
the bsa name was abandoned this year, the inglorious end of one of britain' s greatest - and largest - motorcycle companies. trading in bsa is halted on the london stock exchange and the remaining assets were passed to nvt. nvt makes prototype wankel - engined norton in triumph frame, using t140 / t150 parts. nvt continues to market 850cc commando. kawasaki introduces 900cc z1. simonini (italy) founded. bmw releases r90 / 6 and r90 / s, at 900cc their largest displacement models to date .
steve maney of middlestown engineering has been racing 750cc nortons since 1975. as he extracted more and more power from his engines, and the original cylinders, crankcases, cranks etc started to break, he designed and made his own. he would make small batches, use a few in his own engines and sell the rest to other racers. this soon expanded and became the mainstay of his business, and since 1992 he has concentrated solely on his up - rated norton parts. the business is in wakefield, england. urltoken
the dfv was a fuel - injected design, and had downdraught ports that took advantage of the perfectly metered flow that fuel injection offers. the p86 had a similar port design, but it was fed by antiquated amal carburettors – the ports needed to be level at their entry to keep the carburettor floats on an even keel, and then turned down sharply to meet the valves. both the port design and the odd angle conspired against power and hampered the fuel delivery. and norton wanted to stick a single carb on the street version !
▲ above: isolastic construction? today we' d call it a usp (a unique selling point), and the firm banged that drum over and over in an effort to woo customers. but it' s easy to forget that the norton atlas - derived parallel twin engine was one of the world' s most powerful production power plants and capable of propelling this bike to 120mph, and beyond. the unlikely combination of the frame and the motor was the key to success, and the marriage proved that all power doesn' t always corrupt .
in july 1975 the industry minister refused to renew nvt' s export credits and furthermore recalled a £4m loan, effectively pushing the company over the edge and into the clutches of the receiver, though in the opinion of some well placed people the policies of the directorate may have led the firm there anyway. mass redundancies were announced at the various nvt sites, an action committee was formed at wolverhampton with the aim of continuing production of the commando and developing the wulf project. a prototype named the norton 76 was produced with su carburettor and italian forks and brakes .
this was the first year of construction for the norton commando and so as you might imagine, there were some teething issues. the most significant of which was that the frame was prone to bend under certain conditions. all bikes from 1969 onwards had slightly modified frames to alleviate this risk, however if you have a ’68 model you should know that an additional top tube was added in ’69 as the area around the headstock actually broke on some bikes. it is possible to get bracing added to a ’68 model but you’ll be hard pressed to find one that survived to the modern day without it’s frame already being strengthened.
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 . 
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.
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.