NORTON DOMIRACER 961
BY ALAN CATHCART
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KYOICHI NAKAMURA
S
top wondering, and start be-
lieving. It's taken more than
five years of hard graft com-
prising long hours, a good bit of risk
taking to bring the born-again Norton
Motorcycles Company to where it is
today, but its most definitely back on
the map.
It has necessitated endless meet-
ings with bankers, politicians, ac-
countants, local government func-
tionaries, suppliers, engineers,
importers, dealers and most im-
portantly of all, customers. It's
entailed moving from a compact
8000-square -foot factory and 12
employees into a six times larger
and modern home nestled in the
heart of England, with a major inter-
national airport and Grand Prix race
track right next door. And the work-
force now numbers 45.
It has involved returning to the Isle
of Man two years in a row to race
in the Senior TT, with a third visit
planned this year with a two-time
race winner and former lap record
holder now aboard the bike. Yes,
Norton Motorcycles has finally shift-
ed into top gear, with some 1000
of its Commando 961 models now
constructed since company owner
Stuart Garner acquired the rights to
the historic British marque in Octo-
ber 2008 from its previous American
owners.
These are now being sent to a
growing number of countries around
the globe, with deliveries finally now
beginning in the U.S. to those who
paid their deposits on the bike as
FIRST RIDE
P66
YESTERDAY ONCE MORE
Norton takes us back to the past with its Domiracer