The Manx and the International. . brings back memories of my 500cc Dominator caf'e race trim ... Nottingham to Matlock Bath in the 60s... we where good lads... thanks for the video.
A true thoroughbread. All Norton did was keep shortening the stroke, unusual for a Brit bike. They even tried offsetting the crank by moving it forward in relation to the small end, but they couldn't even measure the difference. I often wonder why Weslake didn't get involved in road racing at the TT. Their 500cc speedway engine puts out more power than the Norton. Maybe it came too late.
Around 130 mph for the 500 and 115 mph for the 350cc. Mike Hailwood win in 1961 where he averaged over 100 mph for the race used a Manx Norton with specially built innards - crank, conrod etc and was timed at 138 mph only 2mph slower than Hocking’s MV 4.
No silencing required on the Isle of Man, the GoPro doesn't pick up the sound too clearly so I've added a remote microphone. First outing is next weekend at the Pre-TT Classic, I'll post the videos, hopefully with better sound quality.
Bril!. Love that these old bits of kit are 'let off the leash!'.. Great sounding bike!. Kudos to the rider, he wasn't holding back!. Nice one!. Nuff said!. 🙂
And all this on a frame made in a blacksmiths shop and an engine with about 3 moving parts. No wonder the Manx Norton was so good. It was still good after the multi's came along. That Featherbed frame was a marvel, and the weight of the engine sat low in the frame, meant the Manx could still out-perform the Gilera's and Guzzi's of the day in the hands of Duke, McKintyre, and later Hailwood. But the writing was on the wall for everyone to see, except Norton. Whilever Nortons were winning races, the "Bracebridge Street bangers" were still being wheeled out the door, senior management seemingly, by 1960-61, oblivious to the storm clouds building on the horizon. Inept management, greed and lack of R&D spelled the doom of this once great marque...
This was on Avon AM21 treaded tyres, basically a road tyre with soft compound rubber. Fastest lap for a Manx Norton (or any single-cylinder bike) is 110.057 mph by Jamie Coward in 2017.
@@mv4ago Thanks. Interesting. About 10 mph quicker than the lap record for a fast Manx in 1961 (Mike Hailwood and Derek Minter). The better tyres (brakes too?) would help, but I would guess most of that 10% increase was down to 59 years of course improvements.
Looks so lovely a nice afternoon ride, taking in the scenary. Then along came the Honda 6.......... . Just a blur and wildlife terrified for generations.
On a 90mm bore 500, which this is, max safe rpm is 8200, a 95mm bore 500 will safely rev to 9000 rpm. More info here :- www.manx.co.uk/products/manx/90bore.html
