Root Arcana

After a chequered history, Norton motorcycles move
into a new era.

James Lansdowne Norton, the father of the company, began the story in 1898 with a factory that made cycle chains in Birmingham, UK, but by 1902 he was importing engines from Switzerland and France to create his own motorcycles, and success followed quickly with a Norton ridden by Rem Fowler winning the twin-cylinder class at the first Isle of Man TT race. This was the start of Norton's long lasting love affair with racing, which didn't end until the 1960's. The prize that everyone coveted was the 'Isle of Man Senior TT''; a race that Norton's went on to win ever year from 1947 to 1954 to add to their ten titles claimed between the wars. Norton built their own side-valve, single engine in 1908, which served them well until the 1950's.  Read more...

The
speed and manoeuvrability of motorbikes has been a huge asset to armed forces
throughout the world, with Harley-Davidson, Triumph and BMW all playing their
part. 

The other day, I took the chance to watch again that
fantastic movie 'The Great Escape'. As I watched Bud Ekins take the place of
Steve McQueen, to jump the wire fence on his Triumph, I began to wonder about
the role of the motorcycle during wartime, so I did a little reading and was
surprised to find that motorcycles have played a huge part in military history.
Being able to go where other vehicles couldn't, they became the modern day
horses, with one great advantage; some bikes, such as the Enfield 'Flying Flea' or 'Airborne' as it was
also known, could be parachuted from an aeroplane along with troops.