Norton is a British motorcycle marque from Birmingham, founded in 1898. By 1902 they had begun 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 cylinder motorcycles. They were one of the great names of the British motorcycle industry, producing machines which for decades dominated racing with highly tuned single cylinder engines under the Race Shop supremo Joe Craig.
Postwar a twin cylinder model was added to the range for 1949, and this evolved into the 1970s through 500 cc to 600 cc to 650 cc to 750 cc to 850 cc models with the Dominator, 650, Atlas and Commando, all highly regarded road motorcycles of their time.
The 1962 500 cc Manx Nortons produced 47 bhp at 6500 rpm, weighed 142 kg, and had a top speed of 209 km/h. It used a dry sump 499 cc single cylinder motor, with two valves operated by bevel drive, shaft driven twin overhead camshafts. The Short Stroke model (1953-1962) had bore and stroke of 86 mm x 85.6 mm. The 1946-1953 Long Stroke was 79.6 x 100 mm. Compression ratio was 11:1. It had an Amal GP carburettor, and a Lucas racing magneto.
