The Norton Featherbed body and eastern Motorbike engine had been amongst the maximum crucial British motorbike developments of the 20th century – despite the fact that they very hardly ever observed themselves powering the identical bike.
Eastern is an acronym for JA Prestwich Industries – a organization commenced via a certainly gifted English engineer who started out out in a small workshop in the back of his father’s residence in London. Although he initially produced digital camera gadget the entice of racing quickly drew him to broaden his very own massive capability bike engines – and they might be use in a number of the best (and quickest) bikes inside the global at the time.
The Norton Featherbed frame was an innovation via the self-taught engineers Rex and Cromie McCandless – a pair of Irish brothers with a penchant for bike racing. Their preliminary designs had drawn ire from the greater traditional sectors for the motorcycle international however Norton saw ability, and hired the 2 men to increase some gadgets for checking out. The coping with given by means of the new frame was so right that champion Isle of man TT racer Harold Daniell in comparison it to using on a featherbed – and the nickname turned into borne.
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| Vintage And Classic Motorcycles Norton 1959 JAP SPRINTER |
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| Vintage And Classic Motorcycles Norton 1959 JAP SPRINTER |
The hybrid racer you notice here was constructed with the aid of British motorbike racing icon Francis Williams – referred to as the “found out Professor of dash” in 1959 for an attack at the Brighton pace Trials. He chose the 998cc japanese 8/eighty V-twin because it become quite literally one of the first-Class bike engines in the world – and paired it with the solid and predictable Norton Featherbed body.
Over the course of its lifestyles, “Thor” because the bike had grow to be known, could be an critical a part of the British team inside the Transatlantic Drag competition, it'd additionally set the outright quickest time of the day at Brighton – the primary time this had ever been executed through a motorbike. Later in competition it would additionally common over 100mph for the standing-start kilometre (terminal pace of 158mph), it controlled a top speed of 186mph at the Caragrohane instantly in Northern eire, and it broke the report at the Ramsey dash inside the Isle of guy that were set through George Brown aboard his racer “extraordinary Nero”.
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| Vintage And Classic Motorcycles Norton 1959 JAP SPRINTER |
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| Vintage And Classic Motorcycles Norton 1959 JAP SPRINTER |
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| Vintage And Classic Motorcycles Norton 1959 JAP SPRINTER |
The list of smaller hill climb and sprint wins is just too lengthy to listing here, but perhaps as a testament to the best of the construct Francis Williams performed, Thor continues to be jogging these days regardless of by no means having had a recovery. It’s rumoured that the 998cc eastern V-dual is able to close to 100hp at full chat, even though Bonhams do recommend a rebuild before any in addition document runs are attempted.
If you’d like to examine more about Thor or check in to bid, you can click on right here to visit Bonhams.
Images via Bonhams
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