Road Apples: easy rider

January 08, 2006

easy rider

Before Kawawsaki there was BSA. Before Yamaha there was Triumph. And before Honda there was Norton. From the early fifties to the late sixties, sales of lightweight bikes smaller than 700 cc in the US was dominated by the Brits. The motorcycle you see in the photo above is a 1962 snortin' Norton. In 1970. a young fellow with meager resources could purchase a used one in fairly good condition for about five hundred dollars.

Of course, living in Wisconsin does not allow for riding year around. Winter time required one to drive the beater with one broken windshild wiper and a door that wouldn't open on the drivers side. Talk about living dangerously.

Being from Brittan, the Norton had metric size bolt heads and nuts. So the shade tree mechanic in the photo did not have the proper tools to help his nephew (the doofus sitting on the ground with the shit eating grin on his face) get his bike back on the road. The back tire was flat, the headlamp was out, it badly needed a tuneup, and the rods were knocking. Ok, ok, maybe it wasn't in fairly good condition like the newspaper ad said. But when it was running, that bike was more fun than you could imagine.

Posted by roadapples at January 8, 2006 04:50 AM

Great post. I'm not allowed to ride motorcycles; The Missus would kill me. Since she always knows when I'm lying, I wouldn't dare get on one.

Posted by: Fred at January 8, 2006 11:45 AM

Fred: Thanks and I know what you mean. I have long since given up riding at least on lightweight. Living in the hometown of Harley, I have often fanatized about owning a hog. Then price tag jolts me back to realty.

Posted by: road apples at January 8, 2006 07:41 PM

I only ride 50cc beasts.

Posted by: Paul at January 8, 2006 08:58 PM

Imagine.
A Norton.
I wonder if it was more fun than we could imagine, there are memories here of a Norton and the memories are fond. Imagine, a kid on a Norton. I love the ol' black and whites, wondering what finally happened to that bike. What a story it could tell. Thanks for the trip back through memory lane...

Posted by: meg at January 9, 2006 11:50 AM

Meg: A story you say. I got time. Thanks for sharing.

Posted by: road apples at January 9, 2006 12:17 PM

Paul: Yeah I know and I am tempted to post a photo of it too.

Posted by: road apples at January 9, 2006 12:19 PM

Hi there, roadapples,
I'm coming here via Mandarin Meg, a good friend.

IMHO that is not a Commando in the photo.
The Commando came in 1968 if I remember correctly.
So if it's a 1962 photo, and given that tank and those mufflers, my guess is that it's an Atlas
(750cc Engine in the featherbed frame).
1962 saw the introduction of the slimline featherbed, but you probably still had the wideline on US models. The front mudguard is of a 650SS by the looks of it. And those bars! Where are they from?

So what are you riding these days? Me, I'm riding an FJR1300 year-round, here in Germany :-)

Posted by: Stu Savory at January 10, 2006 01:22 PM

Stu: I was wondering when some one would challange the details which are fuzzy after almost forty years of trials and tribulations.

The photo was taken in 1970. The bike was bought well used - yes I got took but I was young and stupid. It was probably a featherbed frame with after market bars. Although a featherbed it was not. The engine was a 650 not a 750 so it was not a Commando as you sugested - good eye by the way. Now that you mention it, the name Atlas does ring a bell. Thank you for stopping by Stu and setting us all straight.

What do I ride now? See my post of the day. A harley would be a nice Christmas present for next year if you are interested in making this guy a real happy camper.

Posted by: road apples at January 10, 2006 01:40 PM

Ah, old bikes and old guys. I only ever had one bike - a DKW 250. I was happier when it was pulled to bits and I was unable to ride it. I found riding a bike scary stuff. Too close to the ground I guess, for much later in life I learned to fly gliders and was quite happy by myself at 10,000 feet.

Posted by: Tjilpi at January 10, 2006 07:22 PM

The wife says no bikes for me, also Fred. A former boyfriend was a biker, I guess that brings back bad memories.

I need to content myself with a bicycle. Better for the heart anyhow.

Posted by: Euclid at January 11, 2006 01:47 AM