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Racing 2014
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Racing 2014

Racing 2014

Barber Motorsports Park in October is the pinnacle of any classic motorcyclist's schedule and the highlight of the US vintage racing calendar, but in turn feels a little bittersweet, simply because it punctuates the end of each racing season. The event itself is huge, with 65,000 spectators visiting over the weekend, each year growing more and more. And just when you think it can't get bigger, it does. NYC Norton's representation has also expanded over the years and this year we had 11 bikes under the NYC Norton canopy. And with all that's going on, we rarely get a chance to leave our compound and see all the sights. It's a black hole of laughing, swearing, and sweating. This year was no different. And the intensity that Barber brings started in the shop right after we got home from Miller. Three NYC Norton G50s up on the lifts getting [...]

Norton2024-02-25T17:56:32-05:00January 17th, 2015|nycNorton|

Racing 2014
Gallery
Racing 2014

Racing 2014

For years our closest race on the AHRMA calendar was Grattan, MI, clocking in at 750 miles from NYC. So when the announcement came in last year that we would be racing in New Jersey we couldn't believe what we heard. The notion of being able to load up and get to a track in 2 hours (125 miles), spend a weekend chasing the racing jones, and make it home to our own beds by Sunday evening was such an alien concept. Because the track is centrally located to NYC, Philly, Baltimore, DC, the organizers have worked hard to target the eastern seaboard motorcycle world (not just racers) and make it a cornerstone event smack-dab in the middle of our racing season, picking up where Mid Ohio left off. There are vendors, a swap meet, bike shows, bands, etc. and each year it grows in stature. Plus, the Thunderbolt track [...]

Norton2024-02-25T17:56:32-05:00December 31st, 2014|commando, G50, nycNorton, racing|

Racing 2014
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Racing 2014

Racing 2014

Charging down Thunder Alley at Road America at top speed has to be one of the greatest experiences one can ever have on a motorcycle. Doing it on a revving British Single or Twin is even better. This 4.05 mile long course has everything for the bikes the NYC Norton team races – very fast sections, some wavy twisties, and tight little moments. It is without question a top-3 favorite track for all of us. We loaded up the Sprinter and began the drive to the land of cheese curds and brats - Wisconsin! Road America, Elkart Lake, WI, June 06, 2014: This year we brought 4 bikes – Helmut’s G50, Kenny’s G50, Jon’s Atlas, and Magyar’s NRE (again, Kenny riding the NRE on loan while new pistons were being manufactured for his Seeley Norton). Kenny was to run the NRE in Formula 750 and his G50 in 500 Premier. [...]

Norton2024-02-25T17:56:33-05:00December 30th, 2014|commando, G50, nycNorton, racing|

Racing 2014
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Racing 2014

Racing 2014

The American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association, or AHRMA, has lumped a lot of their racing weekends into back-to-back events. There are mixed feelings about this as 50% believe it's impossible to take that much time off from work, and the other 50% like the fact they can get more bang for their travel buck. For our East Coast-based racing operation, the back-to-backs weekends of Willow Springs and Sonoma Raceway in Southern and Northern California, respectively, made for easy planning and logistics. So the Sprinter was loaded with a Seeley 750, A Norton Atlas, and a Seeley G50, topped off with diesel, and away we went. Willow Springs Raceway, Rosemond, CA, April 25, 2014 We'd all heard so much about how Willow is a locals track, it's fast, it's hot, it's cold, and it's windy, then it's really windy, all of which became perfectly clear very quickly. We arrived Thursday [...]

Norton2024-02-25T17:56:33-05:00December 29th, 2014|commando, G50, nycNorton, racing|

Racing 2014
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Racing 2014

Racing 2014

Over the last few years NYC Norton has grown quite a bit as a thriving business rebuilding classics and a successful racing team. In 2013 we completed a Seeley G50 build for our client Helmut Niederer and delivered it to him at Barber. Knowing little about Helmut's racing skills (other than rumors he'd taken Kevin Schwantz's racing school at least 30 times), our mission for the weekend was simply to help him get started with his new possession. By the end of the Barber event Helmut's lap times put him within the top 5 riders of the 500 Premier class. We were pleasantly surprised and knew we had a good one here. After Kenny returned from his sojourn to Australia in January, a meeting was held and the 2014 season became perfectly clear - Jon Thorndike, Helmut, and Kenny would do all 10 rounds of AHRMA in the US. [...]

Norton2024-02-25T17:56:33-05:00December 26th, 2014|builds, commando, G50, nycNorton, racing|

We are working like madmen!
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We are working like madmen!

We are working like madmen!

Several folks have emailed or called wondering why we've been so quiet... why the blog hasn't been updated. The simple fact is, we're busy! We've had an immense amount of orders for bikes over the past months, and our racing schedule is the busiest it's ever been. So far this year NYC Norton has been to every event on the AHRMA 2014 national schedule, with only Barber and Daytona remaining (which we will be at in a very big way). Please stand by... full race reports are coming... ... as well as updates on all the new bikes we've been building for customers all over the world. In the meantime, please visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/nycnorton for shorter but more frequent updates. Good stuff! Shop photo courtesy of Simon Ingall

Norton2024-02-25T17:56:34-05:00September 13th, 2014|nycNorton|