industry motorcycles founded 1898 ; relaunched 2008 headquarters donington park united kingdom key people stuart garner website www.nortonmotorcycles.com the norton motorcycle company formerly norton motors ltd. is a british motorcycle marque originally from birmingham uk . it was founded in 1898 as a manufacturer of fittings and parts for the two wheel trade . 1 by 1902 the company began manufacturing motorcycles with bought in engines . in 1908 a norton built engine was added to the range . this began a long series of production of single and eventually twin cylinder motorcycles and a long history of racing involvement . production of the military model 16 h and big 4 sidevalve motorcycles was norton s contribution to the wwii war effort almost 100 000 being manufactured . when major shareholders started to leave norton in 1953 the company declined and associated motor cycles bought the shares . 2 although motorcycle sales went through a recession in the 1950s and norton motors ltd was only a small manufacturer norton sales flourished . a series of norton dominator twins of 500 cc then 600 cc then 650 cc and then the 750 cc norton atlas kept sales buoyant especially with sales to the usa . in 1968 the new 750 cc norton commando model appeared with the engine gearbox swingarm unit isolastically insulated from the frame with a series of rubber mountings . this kept the vibrations from the rider giving a smooth comfortable ride . the commando was a best seller and voted 1 motorcycle of the year a number of times in britain . 850 cc models appeared for 1973 giving more torque . for 1975 an electric start arrived in the 850 mk3 . the largest uk motorcycle manufacturer at the time was bsa triumph comprising birmingham small arms company in birmingham and triumph motorcycles in meriden . bsa triumph faced difficulties caused by poor management outdated union practices old fashioned motorcycle designs and antiquated factory conditions . a merger with norton motorcycles was proposed ; but although dennis poore s norton motorcycles was by far the smaller partner poore effectively secured a take over of bsa triumph forming norton villiers triumph nvt . the triumph factory meriden was the least modern ; but workers engaged in a sit in forming a workers co operative . poore was ceo of manganese bronze holdings a company apparently more concerned with asset stripping than with motorcycle production . subsequent political manoeuvrings led to the downfall of nvt as taxpayer assisted wranglings over amalgamations and sell offs all but killed the once extensive uk motorcycle industry . in late 2008 stuart garner a uk businessman bought the rights to norton from some us concerns and relaunched norton in its midlands home at donington park where it will develop the 961cc norton commando 3 and a new range of norton motorcycles . contents 1 early history 2 first world war 3 inter war years 4 second world war 5 post war 6 amc 7 norton villiers 8 norton villiers triumph 9 wankel engine 10 the donington park revival 11 donington hall 12 see also 13 references 14 external links early history edit 1907 norton the original company was formed by james lansdowne norton known as pa at 320 bradford street birmingham in 1898 . 1 in 1902 norton began building motorcycles with french and swiss engines . in 1907 a norton ridden by rem fowler won the twin cylinder class in the first isle of man tt race beginning a sporting tradition that went on until the 1960s . the first norton engines were made in 1907 with production models available from 1908 . these were the 3.5 hp 490 cc and the big 4 633cc beginning a line of side valve single cylinder engines which continued with few changes until the late 1950s . 2 the first norton logo was a fairly simple art nouveau design with the name spelled in capitals . 4 however a new logo appeared on the front of the catalogue for 1914 which was a joint effort by james lansdowne norton and his daughter ethel . it became known as the curly n logo with only the initial letter as a capital and was used by the company thereafter first appearing on actual motorcycles in 1915 . 5 ethel norton also did some testing of her father s motorcycles . citation needed in 1913 the business declined and r.t. shelley & co. the main creditors intervened and saved it . norton motors ltd was formed shortly afterwards under joint directorship of james norton and bob shelley . shelley s brother in law was tuner dan o donovan and he managed to set a significant number of records on the norton by 1914 when the war broke out and as competition motorcycling was largely suspended during the hosilities these records still stood when production restarted after the war . 6 1914 dan o donovan records set in april 1914 under 500 cc flying km 81.06 mph flying mile 78.60 mph 490 cc norton under 750 cc flying km and flying mile see above under 500 cc with sidecar flying km 65.65 mph flying mile 62.07 mph 490 cc norton under 750 cc with sidecar flying km and flying mile see above on 17 july 1914 o donovan also took the flying 5 mile record at 75.88 mph and the standing start 10 mile record at 73.29 mph again on the 490 cc norton . first world war edit norton continued production of their 3.5 hp and big 4 singles well into the war period though in november 1916 the ministry of munitions issued an order that no further work on motor cycles or cars would be allowed from november 15 1916 without a permit . 7 by this time most motor cycle companies were already either producing munitions or aircraft parts or devoted to the export trade . norton were involved in exporting and earlier that year had announced 8 a new colonial model of their 633cc big 4 . this featured an increase in ground clearance from 4.25 to 6.5 by altering the frame larger tank greater clearance on mudguards and a sturdy rear carrier . the engine was unaltered and transmission was via a sturmey archer 3 speed gearbox . in february 1918 motor cycle reported 9 on a visit to norton motors . mr norton had stated that he expected three post war models the 3.5 hp 490 cc tt with belt drive for the speed merchant and two utility mounts one with detuned tt engine and the other being the big four for very heavy solo or sidecar work both of these with three speed sturmey archer countershaft gearbox and all chain drive . it was also stated that he had been experimenting with aluminium pistons and that norton had produced a book of driving hints which also contained details of their military and empire models . in may 1918 norton stated in one of their adverts 10 that the ministry are taking the whole of our present output but we have a waiting list this advert also uses the unapproachable norton phrase . few norton wd models appear in the for sale column of the motor cycle after the war suggesting they were shipped abroad apparently one order going to the russian army 1 . the 1913 1917 red book 11 listing uk motor marine and aircraft production shows norton dropped from a full range in 1916 to only the military big four in 1917 . inter war years edit norton resumed deliveries of civilian motorcycles in april 1919 with models aimed at motorcyclists who enjoyed the reliability and performance offered by long stroke single cylinder engines with separate gearboxes . norton also resumed racing and in 1924 the isle of man senior tt was the first win with a race average speed over 60 mph rider alec bennett . norton won this event ten times until they withdrew from racing in 1938 . j.l. norton died in 1925 aged only 56 but he saw his motorcycles win the senior and sidecar tts in 1924 12 specifically with the 500 cc model 18 norton s first overhead valve single . 13 designed by walter moore the norton cs1 engine appeared in 1927 based closely on the es2 pushrod engine and using many of its parts . moore was hired away to nsu in 1930 after which arthur carroll designed an entirely new ohc engine destined to become the basis for all later ohc and dohc norton singles . moore s move to nsu prompted his former staff to quip nsu stood for norton spares used the norton racing legend began in the thirties of the nine isle of man senior tts 500 cc between 1931 and 1939 norton won seven . 14 until 1934 norton bought sturmey archer gearboxes and clutches . when sturmey discontinued production norton bought the design rights and had them made by burman a manufacturer of proprietary gearboxes . 1921 norton 16 h 490 cc norton international m30 500 cc ohc racer 1937 1939 norton es2 norton big four 1952 model second world war edit a british army norton and sidecar in belgium may 1940 norton started making military motorcycles again in 1936 after a tender process in 1935 where a modified norton 16h beat contenders . from 900 in 1936 to 2000 in 1937 norton were ahead of the game as war loomed and there was good reason in terms of spares and maintenance for the military to keep to the same model . between 1937 and 1945 nearly a quarter over 100 000 of all british military motorcycles were nortons basically the wd 16h solo and wd big four outfit with driven sidecar wheel . 2 post war edit norton big four 1952 model the isle of man senior tt successes continued after the war with nortons winning every year from 1947 to 1954 . after the second world war norton reverted to civilian motorcycle production gradually increasing its range . a major addition in 1949 was the twin cylinder model 7 known as the norton dominator a pushrod 500 cc twin cylinder machine designed by bert hopwood . its chassis was derived from the es2 single with telescopic front and plunger rear suspension and an updated version of the gearbox known as the lay down box . more shapely mudguards and tanks completed the more modern styling to nortons new premium model twin . norton struggled to reclaim its pre wwii racing dominance as the single cylinder machine faced fierce competition from the multi cylinder italian machines and ajs from the uk . in the 1949 grand prix motorcycle racing season the first year of the world championship norton made only fifth place and ajs won . that was before the featherbed frame appeared developed for norton by the mccandless brothers of belfast in january 1950 used in the legendary manx norton and raced by riders including geoff duke john surtees and derek minter . very quickly the featherbed frame a design that allowed the construction of a motorcycle with good mass stiffness distribution 15 became a benchmark by which all other frames were judged . 14 norton also experimented with engine placement and discovered that moving the engine slightly up down forward back or even right left could deliver a sweet spot in terms of handling . motorcycle designers still use this method to fine tune motorcycle handling . 16 in 1951 the norton dominator was made available to export markets as the model 88 with the featherbed frame . later as production of this frame increased it became a regular production model and was made in variants for other models including the ohv single cylinder machines . manx nortons also played a significant role in the development of post war car racing . at the end of 1950 the english national 500 cc