Raul's Report from ringside…..

5 pictures -- the interesting ones: 3/4 side view, back view, front view,

and two detail views displaying the fact that we have a cast case and cast

oil pan. One is from the left side of the machine the other is looking in

from the right side over the rear wheel and displays your casting number.

Sorry the quality is so poor but I didn't realize until later that the

camera had a macro switch which would have made the pictures a little

sharper. Still, the graininess gives it that "spy photo" look.

As a design piece, it's beautiful. Does it hark back to the days of racing

Nortons? No. The Norton script is the only thing tying this bike to the

old ones. It's obvious to even the casual observer that this never has and

never will run. No controls are hooked up. The brake, clutch, and throttle

cables aren't there. The calipers are empty of fluid and pistons. There

are no brake pads and the disks are imitation. The pictures I sent show as

much of the motor as you can see. A radiator hides all evidence of the

front of it. Most of the frame is hidden as well. This bike is the next

step up from a clay model and it would surprise me if the running one shared

one real part with this example. The age old question of "Where's the

beef?" nags at you as you realize more and more that this is more of a

concept than a prototype. Certainly I am not a fan of these guys. None of

them that I've met know anything about real Nortons. In fact, nobody I've

met so far from the new Norton even knows much about motorcycles in general.

Whether I want to ride a new American cruiser or not (I don't) I still have

a strong respect for what Victory (Polaris) and Excelsior Henderson have

done. You can not consider Norton to be in the same league yet and this

bike does little to advance their position.