Cycle News

Cycle News 2013 Issue 24 June 18

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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RACER TEST P84 NORTON MANX 500 DAYTONA BY ALAN CATHCART PHOTOGRAPHY BY KYOICHI NAKAMURA B LAST LAUG THE rit George Cohen is globally recognized as the ultimate authority on Norton singles, and although a qualified doctor before taking early retirement to concentrate full time on restoring Nortons and racing them, he's been a hands-on engineer since a very early age. Put it this way: By the age of 11 he had his own lathe. Cohen has worked down the years on an unrivalled roster of iconic Nortons, including reconstructing Rem Fowler's 1907 winner of the very first Isle of Man TT race after it was destroyed in the 2003 National Motorcycle Museum (NMM) fire, then riding it in the Centenary TT parade held in 2007 over the original St. Johns Course. He's at pains to point out he was first away of the 90-odd Veteran bikes taking part, and was never headed over the entire 15-mile lap! As part of the Cohen collection of historic Norton racers, he has tracked down an array of genuine works Daytona Nortons, proved as such by their matching engine and frame numbers – the entire Manx Norton production records have fortunately been saved for posterity. He now owns a pair of them, one from 1948 and another from 1952 – but, how come? "It was very fortuitous," says Cohen with a satisfied smile at the happy hand that fate has dealt him. "I found a 1949 Daytona Nor-

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