‘VINTAGE
MOTORCYCLE HOLIDAYS’
all the LATEST
NEWS from Doctor Norton
a sort of BLOG
???
Please scroll down the page……… it is long, but
packed full of good stories!
"We desire to emphasize, as we have done in the past,
that Norton machines are not built to a price. The finest possible materials
procurable and the highest quality workmanship are used throughout in the
manufacture of theses".
A quote from the
1926 catalogue.
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‘Flat Tank’ Norton Book.
NOW
AVAILABLE
260 pages,
600 photographs/illustrations
hardback, £35.
Contains all
my archive material;
95 % of the
pictures and most of the material are previously unpublished.
Many
stories from the likes of Rem Fowler, Dan O’Donovan, Rex Judd, Pat Driscoll,
Dan Bradbury and of course letters and
lectures by James Lansdowne himself.
Limited
edition of 2,000
100 signed
& numbered Leather-bound copies at £100 (80
sold so far, just 20 left, so be quick or they will be all gone!)
REVIEWS
and TESTIMONIALS:
‘an
absolutely stunning book, a definitive masterpiece’. --- Murray Walker.
‘Flat Tank
Norton is arguably the best pre-1930 publication,
about any brand, to date’. --- Mike Jackson
‘fantastic’.
--- Hugo Wilson
To Order a copy:
Post and
pack’: £6 to UK, £10 Europe and £15 to Rest of World. (Book weighs 1.34kg!)
Insurance is £1 extra for UK, £3 for Europe and £5 for rest of the world. I send by the Post Office, which appears to be 99% safe (one book out of about 100 gets lost or is damaged). The insurance is the buyers responsibility.
When requesting a copy of the book, please
title your email as ‘flat tank book’ and please make sure that if you are from
outside the U.K. that all currency exchange fees are made by you.
Payment by :
Personal cheque, payable to Nortongeorge Publishing
PayPal (please add £2 for this
service) or
direct
Bank transfer (I will reply with bank transfer details) to:
Nortongeorge Publishing
Manor
Farm,
Chillington,
Ilminster,
Somerset
TA19 0PU U.K.
No credit cards
Leatherbound is Black Antelope with Silver foil lettering, red ribbon book mark and silver stitched binding.
Just 100 numbered copies and 30 were snapped up in the first three weeks!
click on images for larger pictures
This picture shows my daughter, Camilla and her
friend Mary
at the book
launch in October 2006.
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2008 EVENTS ITINERY
Sensational Somerset Shed Find
Lying in a Farm shed in Somerset for
about 80 years, a unique racing Norton motorcycle has been found. Thought to be
‘Silver-Knob’, this old Flat Tank Norton was once raced at Brooklands by
Baroness Lil Bacey in the late twenties and early thirties.
The
all silver machine glistens with polished steel, aluminium, and nickel plate
and subtle touches of black, brass and copper. The 500 cc OHV engine has
special flywheels, a later type conrod, hot cams, lumpy piston and tuned top
end. A later 4 speed gearbox and minimal components give a top speed of over
100mph.
As with all stories about
pioneer vehicles and despite the evidence that this machine is an old historic
racer, there is a rumour that this motorcycle was built in 2008. From a
collection of NOS (New Old Stock) Vintage Norton parts, newly fabricated bits
and bobs and a lot of hours in the shed, this machine could have been built
at Brrooklands, but in fact was built by me in Somerset!
At Stafford Show, we won
‘Best Display@. Click on picture to see all the detail.
June: 24/25th
Donnington Park; racing or ‘parading’ with some unsilenced garden gate
machines………
July 11,12,13 : at Goodwood Festival of Speed; Silver-Knob display in the
Drivers Club
August: keeping the
kids entertained on the school holidays……..canal boating and camping!
September: Goodwood Revival; 10 years as a grease monkey and
provisionally on the grid this time! Sharing a Garden gate Inter with Glen
English (motorcycle racing super star)
October: Shepton Mallet and Stafford
again………….
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1952
Daytona Manx
My
latest bike is one of the 3 Works bikes for the 1952 Daytona 200.
Features
a double knocker motor and magnesium bits every where, including a magnesium
NTT1 magneto.
Full
story to come shortly.
I will
be at Donnington Park with this machine and racing it with Glen English at
Goodwood in Sept.
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1939 Norton 30M.
The ‘M’ denotes to “Full Manx specification”. The
differences from a “Standard” International are:
Paired down lugs on frame.Full wrap round oil tank (this one is a new alloy item).Larger petrol tank (this one is new alloy item, and slightly smaller.Magnesium crankcases, cambox, timing chest etc
Different flywheel and conrod.Hotter cams.Manx
clutch.C.R. gearbox ratios.Conical front hub, with magnesium brake plate.Megaphone
exhaust.And probably a few more variations which escape me at present
This bike was bought by Wilfres Caunce in 1939 to
race at the MGP. The 2nd WW stopped all that, but Caunce hid the
bike, to avoid it being commissioned for the war effort. He rode in the Senoir
MGP in 1946 and came 34th and the following year hew was 40th,
but there was a much larger entry in ’47.
The machine ‘lost’ its original engine, sometime in
the past, and when I got it there was a standard 350 motor fitted. I have replaced
this with a 1950 motor which was used at Daytona that year. I think it is a
‘works’ motor, although some were DOHC. More research needed!
Click on images for bigger ones;
In colour the bike as it is now and in black and white,
Wilfred in the Isle of Man.
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This is a picture of me posing with “Rem” in May “007 (photo courtesy Paul
Dickson)
and, this is a picture I
took at Mallory Park on a very wet day in July 2007.
Two Nortons separated by 100 years of
development.
Brian Crighton’s fabulous
rotary machine, funded by Roy Richards and the National Motorcycle Museum,
this rocket has 170 BHP, carbon fibre wheels
and other bits, fly-by-wire everything and more gizmos and electronics than
your average space ship!
Unfortunately it pissed down all day (slicks
on the 2007 bike and ‘sweet fanny adams’ on t’other mount) and when the sun
finally came out at tea time, not had the medical services buggered off but so
had the famous motorcycle riders who were present to test them!
Still, Alan Cathcart and his
intrepid photographer, Naka were present to conduct a photo shoot and the road
test of both machines will have to wait for a drier day!
Isle of Man TT centenary.
3 pictures at the Centenary, click on images for better ones.
First picture is courtesy of Ian Allen and is taken at the Devil’s
elbow.
Second is at the start at St.john’s
Third is finishing line; first machine home just as in 1907!
Celebrating 100 years of TT racing in the Isle of
Man.
On the 28th May 2007, exactly one hundred
years after Rem Fowler sat astride the V twin Norton, waiting to start the
first ever TT race, I was doing the same. Many of the large crowd and the
officials at St.John’s were dressed in Edwardian attire and the atmosphere was
electric. Everyone was excited and I was just a little apprehensive. I had
rebuilt the National Motorcycle Museum machine a few years previously and had
practiced around the narrow and very bumpy lanes of Somerset over the previous
six weeks. I knew the engine was strong and the brakes useless, the handling a
tad wobbly and the throttle response unpredictable, but I was ready for the
‘Race’.
Next
to me on the start line was Mr. Chris Read with his 1907 Vindec, the very
machine which came second to Fowler in the original race and which was piloted
by the American, Billy Wells; he was 30 minutes adrift in 1907! The Vindec used
the same engine as the Norton; a 684cc Peugeot 45 degrees V-twin. Chris had
fitted a later two-speed hub and a clutch mechanism, and this meant he was able
to line up with a running motor. My direct drive mount was to be pushed into
life by Dave Roper (the only American to have ever won a TT race). Behind us,
were 98 other machines, spanning a period from 1908 to 1938; the last away was
to be Manxman, Milky Quale, a multiple TT winner, aboard his George Fornby
‘Shuttleworth Snap’. Pairs were sent off at 30 second intervals. My only
criticism of the whole event was that there were not more Edwardian machines in
keeping with the period of the original TT course (the mountain circuit was
first used in 1911).
Geoff
Duke dropped the starting flag and we were away! The Vindec sped off in front
of me and I followed well behind. As the engine chimed in and I adjusted the
twin handlebar levers to give the carburettor its optimum setting, I slowly
caught the Vindec by Ballacraine corner, a 90 degree left on this course. I was
in front and round the sweeping bends of Laurel Bank and Glen Helen, the long
wheel base of the Norton provided me with a surprisingly stable ride. I soon
realised that the smooth road surface compared with my local Somerset lanes was
extremely significant and my initial apprehension was replaced by a growing
confidence. I approached the sweeping uphill left hander at the bottom of Creg
Whilys Hill with the thought that many of the pioneer riders had to resort to
‘LPA’, Light Pedal Assistance or dismount here and run along side their
machines to climb the steep gradient. Apparently Fowler had climbed the hill
easily, but this motorcycle was 100 years old. I need not have worried, because
I roared up past Sarah’s Cottage and onto the long Cronky Voddy straight , where I had time to play with the
twin levers to give me maximum performance. Approaching the end of the
straight, I looked over my shoulder to establish where the others were; not a
soul in sight!
Now was the time to give the
engine some oil; about 60 cc delivered by a petrol tank mounted ‘syringe’ which
needed to be slowly pushed in by the right hand. Along the bumpy lanes of my
practising in Somerset, I had either stopped or performed this operation with
my foot. Taking a hand off the handlebar was certainly not an option because of
the tendency for the machine to either violently wobble or ‘tank slap’. I tried
removing my right hand away from the handlebar grip by an inch, then two and
finally well away and enough to give the spectators a wave. I could ride this
one handed! So there was plenty of time to plunge the plunger and give the
engine its ‘life blood’. I also recollected the story of how James Lansdowne
Norton, himself, had shown a board to Fowler at the end of the first lap with the word’
OIL’ scribbled on it. This is the first report of the ubiquitous ‘pit signal.
Through
Handley’s Bend, the top of Barregow and down the fast hill to the bottom…….
Would I make it with out throttling back and pulling on the valve lifter? My
mind was in perfect harmony with Rem, the machine running like a thoroughbred
and we sped through like a true racer. Tearing into Kirkmichael at well above
the 30 mph speed limit, I throttled back and pulled in the valve lifter for the
very sharp downhill left-hander. As I zoomed around the corner, I caught
glimpses of the crowd waving as we sped out of the village. Along the next
straight I was passed by a speeding Triumph Speed Twin; “who was that”, I
thought. With the rich blue sea to my
right and the grassy banks to my left, I tore along the narrow coast road
towards the ‘Devils Elbow’, a sharp left-right-left bend, akin to the numerous
chicanes on modern race circuits. With a reduced throttle, the left peddle in
the ‘UP’ position, I negotiated the first left hander, forgetting to rotate the
pedals by 180 degrees, meant that the right pedal grounded the tarmac as I made
the right but I was sailing again for the next left! Phew!
The
adrenaline was coming on strong now, my confidence in the machine and my riding
technique growing, and the sheer thrill of what was happening was close to
nirvana. Into Peel, I came down the hill to the acute left hander at the chip
shop. The crowds were waving manically and I caught the moment with a period
foot down and banked slide to round the corner in just the style they used to
do it! Another right, then out of the village and back towards the end of the lap
and as I rounded the next corner I could see a Marshal frantically waving a Red
Flag. Fortunately I had ample time to close the throttle, lift the valve
decompressor and slide to a halt with two large leather boots on the tarmac.
Next to me was waiting, Guy Martin (later to lap in the proper races at a
129mph average speed!); I had no idea why we were being stopped.
With 100 riders leaving in
pairs at 30 second intervals, this meant that it took 25 minutes to start the
event and Guy and I were only a mile from the finish of the 16 mile course. For
what seemed like an eternity, and with a couple of other riders arriving at the
stoppage point, I was eventually allowed to proceed. With a slight uphill
gradient, I demanded the assistance of a push from a bewildered Marshall and I
was away at full pace.
I swept into St.John’s and
with the huge crowd waving enthusiastically and the V-twin engine spinning like
a turbine, I crossed the line. First away and first home, what a thrill, what a
race…………… I was ready for the second lap, but to my horror another red flag!
With 50 mph on the go, no brakes and this crazy Marshall waving his flag at me I gesticulated for them to get
out of the way. I eventually stopped some yards past them to learn that our
second circuit had been cancelled due to a technicality relating to the closed
roads permit.
It was great fun and a
privilege to be involved and I thank Roy Richards for lending me his very
precious motorcycle.
P.S. Fowlers fastest lap in
1907 was 21 minutes; average speed of almost 43 mph. I was about the same. In
1907 the roads were terrible, loose stones, horse shoe nails every where and
even acid sprayed on them to curb the dust!
George Cohen. 12th
June 2007
The c1903 Energette, Norton’s first motorcycle.
Click on the thumbnails to see the latest restoration.
The story of this machine and others are to be found in my book.
WANTED
My next
book will be about Cammy Nortons from 1927 to 1939.
I need
unpublished photographs, stories and any relevant literature and information
pertaining to this subject. In ‘Flat Tank Norton’ I collected, over many years,
enough photos, stories and pictures to give the reader new material
In the workshop,
I am setting up an engine dynamometer, which
means that all engines built from now will be
fully tuned and sorted before fitting to the bike……………hours to be spent being
deafened in the pursuit of those precious few horses! NOW
RUNNING!
click on
images for a larger one.
See the Engineering page for more
pictures and details…..
National
Motorcycle Museum Tragedy
Click here to Download Video of the Rem Fowler
Norton at the post-TT meeting at Mallory Park in June 2005. I am in the leathers
with no head and ex-sidecar world champion, Stan Dibben, is helping.
Roy
click on the thumb nails
Progress at 22.4.2004:
My first impression, when seeing these burnt wrecks was of sadness and despair; it looked as if nothing could be saved. A few months down the road and my initial attitude has dramatically changed. With the help of a few friends who are experts with welding torches, hammers and dollies, wire brushes, polishing mops, and magic wands, we have managed to salvage parts which looked as if they were only fit for the scrap yard. All three frames are now straight and I reckon the Fowler frame now has more straight tubes and perpendicular alignments than it ever had!
When the motorcycles arrived, they were covered in ash and
the tool I used most frequently in the first few days was the vacuum cleaner!
Everything was dismantled and methodically put into dozens of labelled boxes.
So far I have taken over 100 photographs, which has proved invaluable now that
I have started to re-assemble, and I have also made a research of the relevant
literature at the Beaulieu Museum Library.
One of the most remarkable findings was related to the
nickel plated parts. It appears that the shiny nickel had ‘reflected’ the heat
away and both the underlying metal and the plate are preserved, although it has
taken a lot of ‘elbow grease’ to return them to their former glory. I tried
various methods of cleaning; vapour blasting, with and without different types
of ‘grit’, different solvents, different cleaners, different polishing mops and
their complimentary ‘pastes’. Eventually the best result achieved was using a
combination of well used ‘scotch bright’, a small amount of ‘Solvol Autosol’
and a considerable amount of the afore mentioned elbow grease. Components such
as girder fork links which looked like barbecued ribs have not only come up
like new, but the old nickel has retained a beautiful patina of age; they look
superb.
The Fowler machine, as most of you surely must know is
powered by a Peugeot V twin engine and is, fortunately, not too badly damaged.
There are a couple of cracks on the D/S flywheel and the T/S crank case half is
also cracked. These faults are not as a consequence of the fire, but are as a
consequence of hard use in the past. Rem gave this machine a jolly good
thrashing, both in the 1907 TT race and other competitive events in 1907 and
1908. The flywheels are very heavy, the main shafts tiny in diameter (running
in main bearings which are just bronze bushes) and the crankcase walls are
unbelievably thin. Remember this is very early automotive engineering and they
were yet to comprehend the forces involved in anything rotating faster than a
stationery engine! Apparently Rem was revving this engine to 4,000 rpm! No
wonder it is cracked. I hope to repair both the cases and the flywheels, but if
any ones knows of a spare set then please let me or Roy know.
Some parts on the Model 21 and Brooklands racer are well
beyond repair, Best and Lloyd oil pumps have melted away, alloy gearbox casings
disappeared, and petrol tanks vanished! I have been able to find some
replacements at autojumbles, but I am looking for some real ‘rocking horse
manure’ in the form of dry sump crank cases, gearbox shells and petrol tanks.
The Rem Fowler machine,
click on thumbnail for pictured
at the post TT meeting, Mallory Park, June 2005.
in background to the right is
Stan Dibbens, world side car champion with Eric Oliver in 1953
Update at on August 8th
FINISHED!!
Made up some new parts for the Brown & Barlow Carb and fitted it to the
machine. To my utter amazement not only did it fire up first pedal with this
old carb on but it ran more sweetly than with the Amal and even had a tick
over!
This
machine is now back at the museum.
Update at July 27th The video clip, shows the engine running. There are air leaks on the rear
pot inlet manifold which means she alternates between a single and a twin!
I have now repaired these and the bike
runs superbly. Very fast and with no brakes it is quite a challenge! To be
returned to the museum on August 10th.
Update at 7th May 2005 FIRED UP & RUNNING TODAY!!!
I have temporally given up with
trying to fix the circa 1907 Brown & Barlow carb’ and have fitted an Amal
276……….
Primed the crank cases with Castrol ‘R’ and with a help of a couple of
friends to spin the rear wheel………..dropped the valve lifter and the engine
fired up immediately and on both cylinders. Despite fitting a much larger
crankcase breather the pressure in the cases builds up and oil was spurting
from everywhere! I need to make a few adjustments. I took her for a small jaunt
down the lane but the engine was missing on the rear pot.
Update at 8th April: the hardest part, the engine is
almost finished and with a bit of luck should be running by the Stafford show.
There was very little fire damage, but the engine was in bad shape and John
Griffiths never got it to run. If he had it would have gone with a big bang!
Both flywheels were cracked where the main shafts located and on one side the
big end pin location was also cracked. Consequently the main shafts were well
out of true. This meant that the crankcases were subjected to, when it last
ran, to massive stresses and were seriously cracked.
Although, my overall philosophy was to retain as
much of the components as possible, in accordance with ‘conservative repair’
ideal and the concept of originality, I decided that I wanted to make the
machine a runner. Hopefully, if I can persuade a few bods, I will demonstrate
the machine at the Post TT Mallory Park meeting at the beginning of June.
New cases have been cast, using the originals as
patterns and machine by the Wizard of the Bridgeport mill, Denny Able, who has
also made new flywheels from En 8 billet and shafts from En24. We have replaced
the phos’ bronze main bearings with new ball bearing races, made new big end
bushes while retaining the original pin, which was round, true and hard!a few
other bits have been machined to fit perfectly. The con-rods, pistons and
barrels have not been replaced.
More news
soon.
Click on the thumb nails….
This is what
it looked like after the fire
…..and this
is what it looks like now.
Not
Rem Fowler, but your scribe at the re-opening of the NMM…….
click on the thumb nails
I have learnt a considerable amount about Edwardian Nortons in
the last six months and I am now beginning to piece the story together. This
machine (with two other veterans) was discovered in
Rem’s 1907 TT machine is not entirely the
motorcycle in my work shop, but what racing machine retains its components?
From 1907 to the current day, racing motorcycles get crashed, thrashed and
bashed. Engines blow up and are replaced by updated units, frames break and are
also replaced, leaky petrol tanks get replaced by new ones and so on. Rem,
himself , told John Griffiths in 1957 (reference: Motor Cycling 16.5.57) that
the frames used to break on the 1907 models at the steering head, and were
often replaced by the stronger 1908 types which had extra bracing around the
steering head. Rem recognised the engine as being from his 1907 mount and both
Griffiths and myself have spotted the “07” on the fork crown lug.
I
have recently spoken with Titch Allen about the machine and he agrees with me
that there are very many stories about this famous machine: “it was run over by
a bus”, “it was sold to Australia”, “it was run over and then burnt”, “it was a
fake by Bill Fruin”, “it was broken up at the factory”, “it was a replica……..”.
Rem is no longer with us, but he told Titch and he has told me!
As I repair and fettle every single component in my workshop, research
the literature in the motoring libraries, and listen to more stories, I am
getting to know the ‘Rem Fowler Norton’ very well. I feel quite honoured to be
involved with its history and I am very excited about the fact that I will be riding it this year!
Fired up the Brooklands machine three times now and all
appears to be well; staccato, staccato, staccato……blat-blat-blat…..and a good
waft of Castrol ‘R’!!! Need to do some carburettor/float tuning and then a test
run this weekend. I have returned the OHV machine and the Brooklands to the
Museum.
click on the thumbnail
Testing the carb, float, tap and piping for leaks prior to final fitting on the Brooklands bike. The carb is a TT Amac and is entirely the one rescued from the fire. The solder had melted from the float bowl, which was consequently in two pieces and the body of the carb was bent, bashed and distorted. Inevitably the slide was well stuck and the top ring threads on the piss! I have managed to repair it and the photo shows the final test. I like to use ‘Old Virginia’ rather than petrol for this operation. More often than not the system usually dribbles from somewhere and instead of getting smelly petrol all over your hands, you can just lick those fingers and slurp down the spills! In this case, I only needed to ‘lap in’ (using solvol autosol) the bottom of the float bowl union to ‘carb jet holder bolt’.
click on the thumbnail
Close detail of the Brooklands machine, compare with the ‘burnt out wreck’ photo lower down the page.
click on the thumbnail
The engine fired up after a good flooding on the float, but died after a few seconds; repeated the scenario again, so I guess I need to look out the float height. This is now sorted.
click on the thumbnail
OHV
and SV at the recent Stafford Show
click on the thumbnail
Brooklands
machine being bench tested
click on the thumbnail
Finished!!!!
All six wheels have now been
completed and this has been one of the hardest jobs. The rim supplier, a chap to
drill the holes in the correct place, to the nickel platers, to the paintman
for striping, to the wheelbuilder, to the tool maker, to the tyre man and back
to me! I have retained the original rim, belt rim and spokes from Rem’s rear
and even retained the spindle, cup and cones. Just some new balls, a splash of
paint and a true up! The other five have new rims, spokes, spindles and a
update on the bearings.
The
Brooklands machine will be the first finished. All the parts for the engine
have been done and it looks like new inside! A new big end from EN36, has been
machined, then sent for carburising, then thread cutting, then heat treatment,
then grinding………..all work is perfect (the heat treatment done thru’ the ‘back
door’ by the chaps who do Formular One cam shaft heat
treatment!!!!)..........only the best! Also a new small end, pin and piston.
This engine is to total Dan O’Donovan specification! and I will assemble it
soon. Next main job is to make/buy/borrow/steal all the various nuts, bolts,
washers, fasteners, do-das and little bits which I have been unable to retain
from the machines and send them off for nickel plating.
I have made it my philosophy to
retain as much as I can and have only replaced parts which were either worn out
from previous use or too badly fire damaged.
I hope to have this machine running at the Stafford Bike show in
October.
The Model 21 has become a Model
18, because I was unable to find a replacement for the dry sump cases. This was
by far the most fire damaged machine of the three and is consequently proving
to be the most difficult.
Please click on the thumbnails
to see the progress…………..sorry they takes so long to down load
Brooklands rod and new ends…..
Engine should be a flyer!!!!!!!
Just some of
the Cammy engines currently in my workshop. CJ. Model 30s and 40s. a 40M and a
30M. Every time I rebuild an engine I
learn something new. It is amazing how many variations appear on the common
theme, a consequence of both factory specifications changes and years of abuse from mechanics who know how to
bodge things!
Beware to
those who are trying an OHC rebuild for the first time……….. there are many
traps!
The crash
helmet is important workshop safety equipment used to avoid injury from
falling spare parts.
click on the thumb nail
Click on thumb nail to see the fabulous “Easy
Two” Special
on show at dunhill’s,
This page contains photographs and text about various adventures and
preposterous tales about the strange breed of Motorcycle Enthusiasts and their
old Nortons
My long time friend, Dickeo Mileo de
Raceo, ( alias Dick Miles ) is featured on this page. Dick lives in Coatesville , PA. U.S.A.
click on thumb-nail to see how Dick
takes
at the Isle of Man on his 1932 Norton in
1998!!!
ULSTER GRAND PRIX 2001 ( click thumb nail )
The three Nortons
in this picture:
No.26 is a 90
bore Molnar Manx, kindly loaned to us by Andy Molnar of "Stainless Eng.
Co."( see links page to get to his web site where
you can buy everything for a Manx Norton; from a single nut to a complete
machine ). This machine is the ultimate development of the Manx and was
ridden by my friend John Leigh-Pemberton. He was 3rd fastest in practice but
unfortunately the race was cancelled, for various reasons. No.30 is my
long-stroke Manx and I rode it in the parade laps. The third machine is the
Steve Spray championship winning rotary The chap in the hat is me!!!!
I was kindly invited, by Mike
Jackson (new president of the NOC), to the Louis Vitton classic on 3rd June
2000. This is me pretending to be Tazio Nulvolari with my 1926 TT Norton. Click
on image for larger picture!
BARRY SHEENE MBE 1950 - 2003
Motorcycling has lost one of
the all time great British sporting heroes, with the passing of Barry Sheene
MBE, on the 10th of March 2003, following a 12 month illness of
cancer of the stomach. Although, associated with Suzukis during his all
conquering years, Barry rode Manx Norton’s for the past four seasons and he
rode them very fast and with great style. As a very young motorcyclist, Sheene
was my hero and I used to read about his early racing successes every Wednesday
in the motorcycling papers. I watched him during the seventies, when he had his
epic battles with Kenny Roberts in the world championship races and when he won
most of the transatlantic match races. As a track side Medical Officer, I would
see him flash by, just a few feet a way, and I recall our horror when he had
his big Silverstone crash in 1982. Barry was a frequent visitor to the orthopaedic
(bone-man) departments, at hospitals all over the world. He must have been
close to death on at least two occasions. Barry told me, last September, that
his body was so full of metal bits that that the diagnosis of cancer, should be
changed to ‘rust’!
About five years ago, Barry returned to his ‘nadir’ and
started competing in a few Classic races on a Manx Norton, a type of machine he
had never ridden before; four stroke and one pot, vis a vis, two stroke and a
lots of pots! Watching him lean a Manx over on the approach to Woodcote, at
Goodwood last year, was breath taking. Barry won his last race on a Norton,
just six months ago, at the famous Sussex circuit. I knew he was ill and I
guess Barry did as well, but nobody would have guessed he was so close to
death. He was laughing, joking, the very personification of the ‘cheeky
Cockney’, and signing autographs by the thousand. Barry was the BIG attraction
at a meeting which was swarming with famous motor racing stars. Most famous
people are distant; success and all its trappings move them onto a different
wave length from ‘Joe Public’. Barry remained on the same ‘channel’ from his
first motorcycling days to his last; he entertained the crowds on the track and
in the paddock.
A top man in every way, Barry we will miss you very much.
Click on
the thumbnails…
Barry and Me! At Goodwood 2002
My Engine in Barry’s bike.
TEAM NORTON MANX GRAND PRIX 1989
Guss Buttler,Guss Cohen,Geo Cohen,Dick Miles,Flash Gordon
A LINE UP OF CAMMY NORTONS AFTER THE 1997 TT IOM PARADE LAP; IT COULD ALMOST BE FORTY YEARS AGO.......IF YOU WANT TO JOIN IN THE FUN THEN PLEASE LET ME KNOW!
NOC team of pre-war cammies win Moto Challenge of GB Classic
trophy
Norton Owners Club
‘pre-war cammy’ team win
Moto Challenge Trophy
Glorious weather greeted the entrants to
Nick Saunder’s ‘Moto Challenge of Great Britain’ arriving at Santa Pod Raceway,
near Bedford, for a series of timed quarter mile sprints. 61 modern ‘bikes’ and
three REAL MOTORCYCLES.
Myself,
1937 Norton CS1; Simon ‘Kipper’ Fisher, 1933 Model 30 and Miles ‘Slapper’
Robinson, 1934 Model 30, had entered this gruelling challenge aboard a trio of
Bracebridge Streets finest sporting mounts. These were basically the same
machines which the likes of Woods and Guthrie were winning all the TT and GP
races of the era. Lovingly prepared and after weeks of intensive practicing and
training, the NOC team repeatedly thrashed their machines down the black strip
at the ‘Pod’. All the modern bikes looked a lot faster, but we were the centre
of interest. After the ‘racing’, we
topped up the oil and petrol tanks and consumed vast quantities of IPA and look
forward to the following day.
Up
at the crack of dawn, we left the Pod at 7am and 170 miles and four hours later
we were at the Bryn Bach Parc Hill Climb, near Merthyr Tydfil. We would have
done it in three, but there were numerous breaks to replenish Nicotine levels
and my gear box change return spring had to be replaced; fortunately we had a
spare and the job took as long as brewing up a cuppa! We then each made four
runs up the hill and after lunch took the machines back to the public roads. An
outstanding route, with all three ‘Cammies’ on full chat, took us through mid
Wales to the Bwych-y-Groes Pass, which is the highest road pass in Wales. With
an average gradient of 1 in 7 and a maximum of 1 in 5, and 1 ½ miles in length,
it remains a Challenge to this day, just as it was to the competitors of the
Maudes trophy and the pioneer motorcyclists. A few runs up the pass, one of
which was filmed by Mr. Saunders, riding pillion ‘back to front’, the scenery
was outstanding and our machines ran perfectly. Over 300 road miles, and two
events in one day was a good challenge and we completed it without mishap. The
three OHC Nortons were well and truly thrashed and at the end of the day our
efforts were rewarded by winning the BIG trophy, presented by Holden’s! The 61
riders of modern machines were amazed at both the speed and reliability of
machines, which to the majority of them were looked upon as museum pieces. We
were noisy, we polluted the air with Castrol ‘R’ fumes and we had a great time!
Dr.
‘Norton’ George Cohen.
click on thumb nail to see big picture of the
winning team
Four photographs of 1926 model 44, which was the OHV, 588cc, four speed mount used to pull a chair; in this case a Norton Sports Special. The outfit is built as a Tourist Trophy Replica and the action shots are taken during the VMCC closed roads run at the Manx Grand Prix in 1994
George Cohen with Sarah Pearce in the hot seat at Ballaugh Bridge and the approach to Braddan Bridge.
This web-site has been fired up since November 1997 and I
have already made many new friends from all over the globe.......and we share
an enthusiasm for noisy, oily and old Nortons. They are, quite simply, one of
the best ways to have a good time. All the best friends that I have made in the
last thirty years have been via a motorcycle connection...........howdy to you
all!!!!
PLEASE can I remind you be specific about your email
enquiries; no more questions about Commandos (they have TWO cylinders and my
area of knowledge is about SINGLES). It is also
useful to know from what part of the universe you are calling from and if you
have the time, to let me know how you located my site. Thank you.
