Norton George… what a great name! Evocative and intriguing at the same time. And it rang a distant bell, though I’m still not sure from where.
Probably my mate Miles McCallum, with whom I shared a mad house in the early 1980s in south London, and whose name is listed in the archive of Norton George’s blog in relation to Miles’s Butterworth Special classic motorcycle.
These days Miles lives in Somerset, as did Norton George up until his death in 2016. ‘Norton George’ is not his real name, of course. He’s really Dr George Cohen who described himself as ‘VMCC Norton Specialist, Bonhams Motoring Consultant, Doctor of Reason, Soldier of Fortune [with] Machines for Display, Film & TV and Parties!”
George was besotted with Nortons and built up an esoteric collection. He was also a skilled engineer, occasional racer and, from all reports a flamboyant, larger-than-life character. The Vintagent website writes about Norton George here and Vintage Norton here.
The archive of Norton George’s slight haphazard website is here, and well worth a read through.
He wrote, “I have been riding, racing, repairing and playing with these unapproachable machines [Nortons] for the past thirty years, while practising as a trick-cyclist [psychiatrist], and I am now available to provide a service to genuine enthusiasts who share my passion. My main interest is with racing machines:
- Flat Tank Racers of the Twenties
- Internationals from the Thirties
- Manx from the fifties and early sixties
- Edwardian mounts
- Bespoke Specials and ‘Bobbers’.”
The three motorcycles coming up for sale at the Charterhouse specialist auction of classic and vintage motorcycles on Thursday, 29 June at the Haynes Motor Museum are:
The auctioneeer said, “From the Norton George Collection there is a 1907 Norton Model T12 Rem Fowler Replica. This is a replica of Rem Fowler’s 1907 Isle of man TT bike which was the winner of the first Isle of Man TT race for a twin cylinder machine and is estimated at £15,000-18,000.
“The 1934 Norton International Model 30, which Norton George bought as a project in 2003, is estimated at £10,000-12,000. Having owned the bike for a few years he undertook a full restoration of this International in 2012/13.
“Lastly from the collection, which also includes a vast number of Norton and other motorcycle parts and spares – all being sold without reserve, is a 1959 Lowboy SOHC Norton Manx 500 at £15,000-18,000. Built by Norton George in his shed in 2015, he rode this bike at both The Goodwood Festival of Speed and on the Isle of Man.”
To give a flavour of Norton George, here’s his account of taking part in the 2007 Isle of Man TT centenary:
On the 28 May 2007, exactly one hundred years after Rem Fowler sat astride the V twin Norton, waiting to start the first ever TT race, I was doing the same. Many of the large crowd and the officials at St. John’s were dressed in Edwardian attire and the atmosphere was electric.
Everyone was excited and I was just a little apprehensive. I had rebuilt the National Motorcycle Museum machine a few years previously and had practiced around the narrow and very bumpy lanes of Somerset over the previous six weeks. I knew the engine was strong and the brakes useless, the handling a tad wobbly and the throttle response unpredictable, but I was ready for the ‘Race’.
Next to me on the start line was Mr Chris Read with his 1907 Vindec, the very machine which came second to Fowler in the original race and which was piloted by the American, Billy Wells; he was 30 minutes adrift in 1907!
The Vindec used the same engine as the Norton; a 684cc Peugeot 45 degrees V-twin. Chris had fitted a later two-speed hub and a clutch mechanism, and this meant he was able to line up with a running motor. My direct drive mount was to be pushed into life by Dave Roper (the only American to have ever won a TT race).
Behind us, were 98 other machines, spanning a period from 1908 to 1938; the last away was to be Manxman, Richard ‘Milky’ Quayle, a multiple TT winner, aboard his George Formby ‘ Shuttleworth Snap’. Pairs were sent off at 30 second intervals. My only criticism of the whole event was that there were not more Edwardian machines in keeping with the period of the original TT course (the mountain circuit was first used in 1911).
Geoff Duke dropped the starting flag and we were away! The Vindec sped off in front of me and I followed well behind. As the engine chimed in and I adjusted the twin handlebar levers to give the carburettor its optimum setting, I slowly caught the Vindec by Ballacraine corner, a 90 degree left on this course. I was in front and round the sweeping bends of Laurel Bank and Glen Helen, the long wheel base of the Norton provided me with a surprisingly stable ride.
I soon realised that the smooth road surface compared with my local Somerset lanes was extremely significant and my initial apprehension was replaced by a growing confidence.
I approached the sweeping uphill left hander at the bottom of Creg Willey’s Hill with the thought that many of the pioneer riders had to resort to ‘LPA’, Light Pedal Assistance, or dismount here and run alongside their machines to climb the steep gradient. Apparently Fowler had climbed the hill easily, but this motorcycle was 100 years old. I need not have worried, because I roared up past Sarah’s Cottage and onto the long Cronk-y- Voddy straight, where I had time to play with the twin levers to give me maximum performance. Approaching the end of the straight, I looked over my shoulder to establish where the others were; not a soul in sight!
Now was the time to give the engine some oil; about 60 cc delivered by a petrol tank mounted ‘syringe’ which needed to be slowly pushed in by the right hand. Along the bumpy lanes of my practising in Somerset, I had either stopped or performed this operation with my foot. Taking a hand off the handlebar was certainly not an option because of the tendency for the machine to either violently wobble or ‘tank slap’.
I tried removing my right hand away from the handlebar grip by an inch, then two and finally well away and enough to give the spectators a wave. I could ride this one handed! So there was plenty of time to plunge the plunger and give the engine its ‘life blood’.
I also recollected the story of how James Lansdowne Norton, himself, had shown a board to Fowler at the end of the first lap with the word ‘OIL’ scribbled on it. This is the first report of the ubiquitous pit signal.
Through Handley’s Bend, the top of Barregow and down the fast hill to the bottom…. Would I make it without throttling back and pulling on the valve lifter? My mind was in perfect harmony with Rem, the machine running like a thoroughbred and we sped through like a true racer.
Tearing into Kirkmichael at well above the 30 mph speed limit, I throttled back and pulled in the valve lifter for the very sharp downhill left-hander. As I zoomed around the corner, I caught glimpses of the crowd waving as we sped out of the village.
Along the next straight I was passed by a speeding Triumph Speed Twin; “who was that”, I thought. With the rich blue sea to my right and the grassy banks to my left, I tore along the narrow coast road towards the ‘Devils Elbow’, a sharp left-right-left bend, akin to the numerous chicanes on modern race circuits. With a reduced throttle, the left peddle in the ‘UP’ position, I negotiated the first left hander, forgetting to rotate the pedals by 180 degrees, meant that the right pedal grounded the tarmac as I made the right but I was sailing again for the next left! Phew!
The adrenaline was coming on strong now, my confidence in the machine and my riding technique growing, and the sheer thrill of what was happening was close to nirvana. Into Peel, I came down the hill to the acute left hander at the chip shop. The crowds were waving manically and I caught the moment with a period foot down and banked slide to round the corner in just the style they used to do it!
Another right, then out of the village and back towards the end of the lap and as I rounded the next corner I could see a marshal frantically waving a red flag. Fortunately I had ample time to close the throttle, lift the valve decompressor and slide to a halt with two large leather boots on the tarmac. Next to me was waiting Guy Martin (later to lap in the proper races at a 129mph average speed!); I had no idea why we were being stopped.
With 100 riders leaving in pairs at 30 second intervals, this meant that it took 25 minutes to start the event and Guy and I were only a mile from the finish of the 16 mile course. For what seemed like an eternity, and with a couple of other riders arriving at the stoppage point, I was eventually allowed to proceed. With a slight uphill gradient, I demanded the assistance of a push from a bewildered marshal and I was away at full pace.
I swept into St. John’s and with the huge crowd waving enthusiastically and the V-twin engine spinning like a turbine, I crossed the line. First away and first home, what a thrill, what a race…
I was ready for the second lap, but to my horror another red flag! With 50 mph on the go, no brakes and this crazy marshal waving his flag at me I gesticulated for them to get out of the way. I eventually stopped some yards past them to learn that our second circuit had been cancelled due to a technicality relating to the closed roads permit.
It was great fun and a privilege to be involved and I thank Roy Richards for lending me his very precious motorcycle.
P.S. Fowlers fastest lap in 1907 was 21 minutes; average speed of almost 43 mph. I was about the same. In 1907 the roads were terrible, loose stones, horse shoe nails everywhere and even acid sprayed on them to curb the dust!
George Cohen. 12th June 2007
