Norton at the 1914 Isle of Man TT

Norton at the 1914 Isle of Man TT

This photo was taken on Ramsey Promenade during the 1914 TT races on the Isle of Man. From left to right: Dan O'Donovan, the Braid Brothers, James Norton and his father sitting inside the sidecar combination. The motorcycles would be TT Model 9's or 3 1/2 HP models while Pa Norton brought his Big Four. This is another pic of Ossie Braid on this very machine.

...same day, same people, except for James' father.

...and looking at the rider's number (59), this must be Dan at the 1914 TT.

1928 Norton 490cc Model 18. Registration no. VW 4704. Frame no. 29074. Engine no. 36093. This matching-numbers Model 18 was sent to a dealer in Leytonstone on 18th November 1927 and sold new to a Mr Cox of Chigwell. Sold for £16,100 on the 24th of april 2011.

In my Memories

"It is difficult to understand why AMC bothered to expand and absorb Norton, James and Francis Barnett, for the new empire seemed to be far too much of a nuisance in a somnolent organization which took exception to, and vetoed any form of planning which was likely to further the business interests of any of the companies which had been absorbed."

Memo

"Indeed, in the early 1960s, the Chief Executive of a world famous group of management consultants tried hard to convince me that it is ideal that top level management executives should have as little knowledge as possible relative to the product...

"...BSA, the early 1960s,... was embarking on  a madness of management consultancy, rather than getting on with the real job of work. It was the disaster of academic business thinking that finally crucified  British industry which was respected throughout the world...

"Far from getting to grips with the realities of life and absorbing a little of our customer attitudes, several of the top brass, in the last two decades of the BSA saga, disliked, if not openly hated, motorcycles.
One of these gentlemen made some very disparaging comments about the two-wheeled world a short time before he graduated to the hot seat...."

Norton Motorcycle

"Most motorcyclists love to spend their Sunday mornings taking off the cylinder head and re-seating the valves."
Donald Heather, director of Norton, 1957.

Quoted by Bert Hopwood in 
Whatever Happened to the British Motorcycle Industry? 

Hopwood was chastised by the director for designing an advanced 250cc engine with one-piece cylinder .