Image above is of James Lansdowne Norton circa 1909 Birmingham, England. ©Norton Motors archives
During this time, Norton was already winning races, including the first ever Isle of Man TT in 1907 with Rem Fowler on a 5HP Peugeot engined Norton motorcycle in the twin-cylinder class.
This is not a history lesson on Norton Motorcycles, a brief recap is that Norton were very successful at racing but with a few financial difficulties in between with different owners throughout its history as a motorcycle manufacturer. In most recent times in the Stuart Garner era there were high hopes for the brand but that as we all know fell into a deep hole where Garner was convicted of tax fraud, relating to pensions. (Garner has since been convicted and has no links with the current Norton company).
With the acquisition of Norton by TVS Motor Company in 2020, a huge multi billion dollar company in India was a lifeline for the company and the building of the new factory in the West Midlands in Monkspath, Solihull has solidified their investment to Norton and its dedicated staff. With the foundation from TVS and the drive from what I’ve seen with speaking with the Norton representatives and their almost blanket coverage of the brand at various events like the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Malle Mile, and Silverstone Classics to name a few. It really is a new beginning.
This brings us bang up to date with my ride on the new Norton Commando 961SP, thanks to Norton and Judd Racing, the new dealer in Nottingham, I attended the test day. This is my short review, no specs here, theres plenty of information out there on the 961 if you want it!
I’ve never ever ridden a Norton, I’ve seen and sat on and taken images of various historic ones with my role as one of the organisers of a small vintage bike event in my village -> Facebook Link – All very familiar but just no ridden one!
On arrival I was greeted by the Norton and Judd Racing staff, with coffee and croissants and with all the paper work done I was given the registration of ‘my’ bike that I will be riding, I got one of the staff to wheel the bike to a better location just for a few images you see here.
I was a little nervous to be honest, as never ridden a Norton, I’ve ridden what you may class as the Commandos opposition, obviously the offerings from Triumph such as the Bonneville T120, Speed twin, Thruxton, and Moto Guzzi V7 so popping the cherry on a Norton was quite a big deal for me!!
I really had nothing to worry about, I was on a ride with 8 other riders and we all instantaneously started our engines and was greeted with a raw, kinetic, mechanical, and thunderous cacophony of booms and clatter, many described at agricultural but in a good way.
So as we pulled out of Judd Racing HQ, within 30 seconds I instantly felt at ease, the chassis paired with the oh so recognisable front and rear fully adjustable Öhlins suspension was so smooth, as we had a set route already planned and with the engine now running to temperature there was an opportunity to wind the throttle and my word it was as though you had Thors Mjölnir hammer in your right hand.
The engine noise paired with the hand welded stainless steel exhaust was just incredible, I almost hit the 7500rpm redline but ran out of road, it’s not what you class as super bike fast but it just stirs your soul into wanting to hit the sweet spot of flowing through the bends and dropping a gear and wind on the power, it’s very hard to describe. It’s just heavenly.
The ride as mentioned before was very smooth, as we all know the roads around us especially in England is a joke, the road is littered with pot holes and so uneven from past work that’s been done on them it really is like riding through a minefield, with that said I purposely rode on some hideous uneven roads and as expected the Öhlins soaked it all up very well.
At one point I was tested with the braking, the rider in front of me loss a fraction of concentration as we all do but was saved when he hit the brakes, in turn I pulled and pushed the pedal to the all Brembo set up, this was a great test. It felt firm and safe, did not quite activate the ABS, the only driver aid on the bike but it gave me confidence that the system is well suited to the Commando.
There was more opportunity to wind on the power, we did but with so many restrictions on out scared and horrible roads it was all over too soon and we headed back to Judd HQ.
In summery – It’s very good to see that this bike exists today, a largely hand-built bike in the UK, with backing from a billion-dollar company it’s should be a success, and I’m sure it will be, will it convert a Triumph owner to jump ship and buy one, I’m not sure, for me I love how raw it is, no riding aids to flick through (just ABS), It takes you back to the days of pure motorcycles, we all get use to everything to make you feel and ride safer. I’m for one hankers for the less is more.
Not many negatives I can find on this bike, the turn signals I did find myself pressing the horn a few times by mistake and also I did not like the brake pedal, its slightly curved as when I braked I felt I was using the bend of the pedal and my boots not even touched the rubber peg, I would prefer a straight pedal and that’s about it for the negatives.
How I would love to have more time to ride the Commando, ideally on one of my favourite road, the A87 in the Highlands of Scotland heading to the Isle of Skye – Norton can you make that dream come true??!!
A Norton Commando 961 will make you feel the past glory days of British Motorcycling.
It really is a true modern classic.
Aki
To book a test ride visit NortonMotorcycles.com
#InNotAJournalist – I write what I feel! This review is not sponsored in any way by Norton Motorcycles
All images by BeFormless Photography
