How good does that Norton look!!!,especially with the all black leathers and tinted visor,i remember them from when i was young and they were racing in the British Championship,gorgeous bikes,bring them back!!
steve chambers...top class clubman...absolute crime he didnt get a top ride.... the days are long gone when a clubman could get a bike, tune it an put ohlins on and put it up the top teams...that is a shame, its what racing is all about...and we brits love the underdog.....
The japs did everything they could to get the Norton's banned apparently. Especially disputing the equivalent capacity of the rotary bikes against the "traditional" non-rotary japanese machines. Bloody typical that - they knew they were beat and that was with a fraction of the budget the jap teams operate on. Brian Crighton was the Norton rotary engineer largely responsible for the bikes ( along with others of course ), I believe he is also involved in the 2010 Isle of Man TT Norton bid too.
Well, they did have a point. Rotary engines are well known to produce more power per CC than a piston engine. It's easy to see that in the corners they were similar but in the straights they just had WAY more punch.
At the time they probably didn't quite know what to do with the rotaries to class them appropriately.
fishbmw - I have this whole race on VHS and it is Ray Stringer as Trevor Nation was out with a badly broken hand and was watching from the sidelines - what you don't see is that the guy who has a massive slide does it again and they stop the race from the resulting crash and then when they re-start it again the Nortons did the business on the first lap again lol......
remember these heady days even as a 6 yr old. me and my dad were fans of spray on the jps norton. i never realised at the time just how rapid the norton was. essentially a shed built special compared to the might of the japanese. thanks to brian crighton.
Mate i was 9 years old when this was run, i remember these days well, obviously at that age you find it hilarious that Jim Whitham was sponsored by "Durex"...oh well.....good times...
I remember watching JPS Nortons on TV, they always seemed to annihilate everything on the straights and lose it on the corners, although judging from this race my memories are hazy.
je me souviens de ces deux Norton,dans une vhs du tourist trophy,qui étaient pilotées par Trevor Nation,et Robert Dunlop (frére de Joey) superbe !!!!!!!
Would be interesting to see if you could put the "RE5" engine in a racing chassis and see how it does?With a bit of tuning maybe!Always fancied trying that...!Like Wankels for some reason!Peace ye`all!
I havn't seen coverage of of this race in totality, and peraps it might disfavour the Norton/Wankel in the end, but why aren't the anouncers going crazy over that initial "leavem" in this clip? The rotaries both pulled away like it was expected.
this was my favorite track, i used to proddie race at snetterton in 1986-87-88, with bemsee club on an rg500 gamma a gsxr750g and a gsxr1100g, my best lap time was
1min.11sec. on the 1100, these guys are doing 1min six, unbeliavable. top blokes.
Looked through a few old programmes and I raced gainst Brett Wood at Snetterton in Aug 89',1300 proddie class,I was on a CBR6 and he was on a 1100 Suzuki.Not sure of results.Know him?
I was his best man at his wedding. I was also his drinking partner come mechanic at most race meetings, he won the the 1300cc proddie championship that year on a GSXR1100J with the Retford club. Good memories from back then.
2:40"...modern chassis technology just kept him going...". lol, those nortons are sweet pieces. the new 588 is amazing and it still and original case from 94. what if they made one from scratch now on 08?! rotaries are neat, i wonder about the inertial effects?
I remember watching this...my jaw just dropped when i saw those awesome Nortons just breeze past the Jap crap like that. The sound was unreal and they had that "up yours" orange glow in the exhaust as they left you trailing behind. Those really were the days.....
i have an owo1 and i love the fact there is a vid on here....the classics are the best...but what happened to Norton as a company...we are so shit at production and marketing...the norton was a peach...but what happened????
If only Norton had kept developing it and they had the money!Saying that the FIM would have banned it as it kept beating the Japanese,bitter and twisted?
the norton 558 was awsome. its problem was no engine braking , imagine going in to a corner in neutral thats why the 4/ were better in to the corners and under braking
Agreed,much the same as riding a two stroke,but the problem has always been getting a big four stroke into a corner without backing it in and going off line,so it has always been a bit of a compromise I suppose!
brilliant video.....check out my video...you will like it if you are a fan of SNETTERTON....by the way, i think my dad was at that, a year before i was born though lol....good stuff...post some more
does no one no one know what happened to Norton? they stole a shit load of money from the government and the investors
conanhayle 1 month ago
How good does that Norton look!!!,especially with the all black leathers and tinted visor,i remember them from when i was young and they were racing in the British Championship,gorgeous bikes,bring them back!!
craig50 7 months ago
The Durex-sponsored bike broke...
*snickers*
deepmelody1991 8 months ago
@deepmelody1991 It's number was 69 too.
coffeewithsoup 8 months ago
Norton power!!
dnlguzzi 1 year ago
Fantastic memories, a golden revival in british motorcycles, sadly missed today
goff8128 1 year ago
steve chambers...top class clubman...absolute crime he didnt get a top ride.... the days are long gone when a clubman could get a bike, tune it an put ohlins on and put it up the top teams...that is a shame, its what racing is all about...and we brits love the underdog.....
pmay222 1 year ago
Who is commentating besides Keith Huewan?
EJ25RUN 2 years ago
The japs did everything they could to get the Norton's banned apparently. Especially disputing the equivalent capacity of the rotary bikes against the "traditional" non-rotary japanese machines. Bloody typical that - they knew they were beat and that was with a fraction of the budget the jap teams operate on. Brian Crighton was the Norton rotary engineer largely responsible for the bikes ( along with others of course ), I believe he is also involved in the 2010 Isle of Man TT Norton bid too.
593OLYMPUS 2 years ago
Well, they did have a point. Rotary engines are well known to produce more power per CC than a piston engine. It's easy to see that in the corners they were similar but in the straights they just had WAY more punch.
At the time they probably didn't quite know what to do with the rotaries to class them appropriately.
atsernov 2 years ago
fishbmw - I have this whole race on VHS and it is Ray Stringer as Trevor Nation was out with a badly broken hand and was watching from the sidelines - what you don't see is that the guy who has a massive slide does it again and they stop the race from the resulting crash and then when they re-start it again the Nortons did the business on the first lap again lol......
pnicho1980 2 years ago
remember these heady days even as a 6 yr old. me and my dad were fans of spray on the jps norton. i never realised at the time just how rapid the norton was. essentially a shed built special compared to the might of the japanese. thanks to brian crighton.
mgtkr1 2 years ago 2
Mate i was 9 years old when this was run, i remember these days well, obviously at that age you find it hilarious that Jim Whitham was sponsored by "Durex"...oh well.....good times...
stuYZFR1 1 year ago
The Japanese "didn't like it up 'em!" lol
cokker 2 years ago
is it 20 yrs ago dont the years go quick ;D
madbiker53 2 years ago
I remember watching JPS Nortons on TV, they always seemed to annihilate everything on the straights and lose it on the corners, although judging from this race my memories are hazy.
Kinc34 2 years ago
excellent race look at that black bike go
:)
DarthHoll77 2 years ago
je me souviens de ces deux Norton,dans une vhs du tourist trophy,qui étaient pilotées par Trevor Nation,et Robert Dunlop (frére de Joey) superbe !!!!!!!
612175 2 years ago
wow i never seen a norton like them
pooper7x 2 years ago
The commentator is talking crap. Ray stringer is'nt riding the number 5 jps Norton its Trevor Nation.
fishbmw 3 years ago
He was riding the number 5 Trevor Nation had broken his wrist so he could not ride! I was there so it is a fact.
xoxAntxox 3 years ago
bit young to have been there arnt you?
Zeebo1uk 3 years ago
fucking hell them nortons r fucking brilliant 8) and ther back
Sainty105 3 years ago
nortons are british again :)
Sainty105 3 years ago
Suzuki made a rotary but it was crap
kn1ghtstemplar 3 years ago
Would be interesting to see if you could put the "RE5" engine in a racing chassis and see how it does?With a bit of tuning maybe!Always fancied trying that...!Like Wankels for some reason!Peace ye`all!
auto4union 3 years ago
Nortons were unbeatable
kn1ghtstemplar 3 years ago
Nortons sound awesome
sjr999r 3 years ago
Those Nortons were kicking ass
zx12ryder 3 years ago
I havn't seen coverage of of this race in totality, and peraps it might disfavour the Norton/Wankel in the end, but why aren't the anouncers going crazy over that initial "leavem" in this clip? The rotaries both pulled away like it was expected.
waspfarmer 3 years ago
this was my favorite track, i used to proddie race at snetterton in 1986-87-88, with bemsee club on an rg500 gamma a gsxr750g and a gsxr1100g, my best lap time was
1min.11sec. on the 1100, these guys are doing 1min six, unbeliavable. top blokes.
hitler777 3 years ago
did you ever race against a guy called Brett Wood and Mark White in the 1300 proddie class?
r1wantone 3 years ago
Looked through a few old programmes and I raced gainst Brett Wood at Snetterton in Aug 89',1300 proddie class,I was on a CBR6 and he was on a 1100 Suzuki.Not sure of results.Know him?
snetterton88 3 years ago
I was his best man at his wedding. I was also his drinking partner come mechanic at most race meetings, he won the the 1300cc proddie championship that year on a GSXR1100J with the Retford club. Good memories from back then.
r1wantone 3 years ago
2:40"...modern chassis technology just kept him going...". lol, those nortons are sweet pieces. the new 588 is amazing and it still and original case from 94. what if they made one from scratch now on 08?! rotaries are neat, i wonder about the inertial effects?
oldgreenmachine 4 years ago
I remember watching this...my jaw just dropped when i saw those awesome Nortons just breeze past the Jap crap like that. The sound was unreal and they had that "up yours" orange glow in the exhaust as they left you trailing behind. Those really were the days.....
ispitanfart 4 years ago
i have an owo1 and i love the fact there is a vid on here....the classics are the best...but what happened to Norton as a company...we are so shit at production and marketing...the norton was a peach...but what happened????
BartStacey 4 years ago
If only Norton had kept developing it and they had the money!Saying that the FIM would have banned it as it kept beating the Japanese,bitter and twisted?
snetterton88 4 years ago
Trouble was, they couldn't agree with how they measured the capacity of a multi-rotor motor........brilliant bikes though.:-)
Factnotfictionpeople 4 years ago
Can't agree more. Glorious sound and I love the way the just powered past there!!!
British Bike industry management? A contradiction in terms!!!!
LotusSevenMan 4 years ago
was the hew still racing coz this is early comms from keith?
SLPamv 4 years ago
the norton 558 was awsome. its problem was no engine braking , imagine going in to a corner in neutral thats why the 4/ were better in to the corners and under braking
cronauer1985 4 years ago
Agreed,much the same as riding a two stroke,but the problem has always been getting a big four stroke into a corner without backing it in and going off line,so it has always been a bit of a compromise I suppose!
snetterton88 4 years ago
Plus the fact it used more fecking oil than petrol.
tgs01 4 years ago
Now come on! You can't have everything! LOL
Factnotfictionpeople 4 years ago
brilliant video.....check out my video...you will like it if you are a fan of SNETTERTON....by the way, i think my dad was at that, a year before i was born though lol....good stuff...post some more
ByronJenness 4 years ago
superb
FM77 4 years ago
Shame on you Norton management for fucking the company up, fantastic sounds, i was there.
r1wantone 4 years ago
Fantastic! Thanx for posting this!
Do you have anymore racing footage of the Nortons?
Sapet0ku 4 years ago
Yeah got some more Norton footage,will post more action from this era as time permits.
Anything in particular?
snetterton88 4 years ago
Oh, whatever you have! Do you have some more of this Race of Aces perhaps?
It's just that the sight and sound of these Nortons being raced in anger is superb!
Thanx in advance!
Sapet0ku 4 years ago