**A Ride Through Time: The Norton Motorcycle**

For me, the Norton motorcycle is more than just a machine – it's a piece of history, a symbol of my youth, and a reminder of the passion that drives us all. I remember seeing it for the first time, its sleek design and powerful engine leaving an indelible mark on my mind. It was 1975, and the Norton 850 was the top-of-the-line model, with a price tag of $3,000 – a small fortune back then.

As I reflect on that moment, I realize how much has changed in the world of motorcycles since then. The Norton's competitors, like Honda, had already begun to gain traction with their more modern designs and technology. But for me, there was something special about this bike – its raw power, its agility, and its connection to the open road.

One of the things that struck me about the Norton is its unique design. With its fairings and bullet mirrors, it stood out from the crowd in a way that few other bikes did back then. And yet, despite its sleek appearance, it's still a bike that feels alive – with a vibration that you can't quite ignore, but somehow makes it feel more connected to the road.

As I took this bike out for a spin, I couldn't help but think about the racing history behind it. Peter Williams, one of the greatest Norton riders of all time, had competed in numerous events, including Daytona and the Isle of Man. His exploits on the track helped cement the Norton's reputation as a formidable competitor.

But what really gets me excited is the bike's performance – its torquey engine and responsive handling make it a joy to ride. And when you get above 55 or 60 mph, the wind begins to take hold, but that's just part of the experience. The mid-range of this bike is where the magic happens, and I can see why it was so popular back in its heyday.

Over the years, the Norton has tried to come back – with various attempts at re-manufacturing or reviving the brand. But it's clear that there's no substitute for authenticity – and that's what this bike represents. Whether you're a seasoned veteran like myself or just starting out on your own riding journey, there's something special about getting behind the handlebars of a classic Norton.

Today, as I look at this bike in my garage, I'm reminded of how much has changed in the world of motorcycles since its heyday. The rise of newer models and more advanced technology has pushed traditional bikes like the Norton to the side of the road – or so it seems. In reality, there's still something special about these old-school machines that refuses to fade away.

For me, this bike represents the best of both worlds: a connection to the past and a passion for the present. Whether I'm taking it out on the 210 freeway or just admiring its sleek design, I know that I'll always treasure this Norton motorcycle as more than just a machine – it's a piece of my history, a symbol of my love affair with the open road, and a reminder of why I fell in love with motorcycles in the first place.

As I look at the bike now, I'm struck by its sheer beauty. The silver bullet mirrors, the fairings, the engine... everything about this machine seems to have been crafted for one purpose – to take me on an unforgettable ride. And when I finally decide to hang up my keys and retire this bike from active duty, I know that it will remain with me forever, a testament to the power of nostalgia and the enduring allure of the classic Norton motorcycle.

The improvements I've made over the years have been significant – disc brakes up front, a kickstarter, and a shifter that makes riding easier for anyone. And while it may be cramped for riders six feet tall or above, there's still something special about leaning into a corner in this bike that just can't be replicated.

I often think back to the improvements that could have been made if only they had been implemented during its heyday. The Norton was a machine of its time – a testament to British ingenuity and craftsmanship. And while it may not have been as efficient or practical as some of its competitors, there's something special about riding a bike that feels truly alive.

As I glance over at the fairings, I notice the tiny details that make this bike so unique. The chrome accents, the subtle curves... everything is designed to create a seamless blend between form and function. And when you get close up, you can see that every component has been meticulously crafted – from the leather-wrapped grips to the intricate patterns on the engine casing.

One of the things I find most fascinating about this bike is its connection to the past. It's like stepping into a different world – one where motorcycles were still a relatively new and exciting phenomenon, but also full of potential and possibility. As I ride along, I can almost hear the roar of the engines, the rumble of the exhaust pipes, and the cheers of the crowds.

In many ways, this bike represents the very best of what motorcycles have to offer: power, speed, style, and a connection to the open road that's hard to match. Whether you're a seasoned enthusiast or just starting out on your own riding journey, there's something special about getting behind the handlebars of a classic Norton motorcycle – an experience that will stay with you forever.

So what does the future hold for this bike? Will it be preserved as a collector's item, or will it find new life in the hands of someone who can truly appreciate its unique qualities? Whatever happens next, I know one thing for sure – my love affair with the Norton motorcycle will never fade.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: ensomething very romantic about this motorcycle to me i don't know what it is i don't know why it's because it's something i left lusted after in my youth i remember it was three thousand dollars and i was kind of scraping the money together to buy it i thought it was way too expensive at the time but you know it's been worth it welcome to the episode of jay leno's garage the vehicle we're featuring this week my 1974 norton john player special this is a motorcycle i've had for god over 45 years i remember when i walked in and bought this thing it was pretty expensive it was three thousand dollars in 1974 which was a lot of money because most nortons were about 2300 2400 but the john player was the top of the line i thought it was a wildest looking motorcycle ever at the time back in the 70s motorcycles were well fairing they did some did have fairings but not like this but john player was a cigarette brand out of england much like marlborough here they were just starting to ban advertising in television and in films and things like that but you can still do it in motorsports so the john player automobiles and and the john player motorcycles like this became became quite popular i think nowadays people don't even realize it was a cigarette they think it had something to do with a guy named john player it didn't peter williams won all kinds of races in these now this truth be told was just a standard norton with a fairing on it there was nothing trick about it nothing special about it it was strictly a marketing gimmick that one that worked uh a lot of people hated the twin headlights i love the twin headlights because you didn't really see motorcycles with twin headlights other than that brush superior back in 1927 the 680 or maybe the old jd harley from the early 20s i thought the twin headlights was kind of cool it's a classic british twin like all motorcycles of the period this thing vibrated a lot especially the atlas it was just literally you know like driving a bass drum especially the big singles it was just something you accepted on motorcycles you know the speedometer attack would do this and the watch hands would fall off your watch it's just something all motorcycles did some less than others but a guy named bernard hooper and some other guys at norton came up with this isolastic i think that's how they say it frame the engine's still vibrates but it's rubber mounted so it doesn't transfer through to the body into the handlebars and it was a revelation they called it kind of like the featherbed frame and all this kind of stuff but as long as the rubbers were fairly new and you changed them every five years maybe 10 years however long they lasted it was not vibration free but certainly better than anything at the time and this had about they claimed 60 horsepower it was they dined out at about 50 or 51 or 52. it only weighs 435 pounds which is very light but this was the fastest thing you could get back in the day and norton was a real player in the motorcycle business all the other english bikes had kind of bitten the dust by 1974. if you got cycle magazine or motorcyclists back in the day they'd always have the norton ad with the quote norton girl you know standing in some sort of bikini standing next to the bike uh one of which was bo derek actually from the famous movie 10. but it's classic british motorcycle i think it's just a real eye-turning bike it's not especially fast anymore but it's it's on a twisty road it's just a wonderful bike to drive you can lean in it's it's only 435 pounds and pushing 50 horsepower is not bad it was considered really fast in its day now would be equal to probably geez a 400 maybe or maybe a 650 even something like that one of the modern ones has the classic uh instruments here these these smith instruments which i i just love uh you have these little winglets here on all the switch gear but this is the original bike i've done a few things to it and when you come around the other side you'll see how you'll see i put a performance machine disc brake on the front this bike was built before september 1974. on september 1st 1974 all motorcycles sold united states had to have the gear shift on the left side and the brake on the right side this is one of the last english ones they lost a little bit when they had to run the shaft over to the other side but since september 1st you couldn't have this and the thing about riding when i get off one of the other bikes i'm going along let me downshift you know and i wind up thinking i'm downshifting and hitting the brake or vice versa so you have to concentrate you go which one is this oh yeah right the shift's on the right brakes on the left kind of a trick feature that i that i put on this you know these can dry sump uh fairly easily so i put an alarm on it you hear that see then when you turn the oil on it cuts the alarm and now the oil can flow through the engine but this keeps it from something all the way and filling up with oil these are not the standard pipes that were on it the pipes on it were black i like these peashooters better they sound better they look better they're lighter this is not the gas tank just the fiberglass cover that goes over the gas tank there's a metal gas tank underneath it that you access through here as you would on your normal or normal uh motorcycle disc brake was a huge deal in 1974. notice it just has one uh i took off the the uh i think it was a lockheed is that what it was uh on here originally just a big dumb thing and i put on this performance machine just to make it a bit sharper uh added these mirrors here uh what else do we have here uh that's about it oh you know what i did uh because these are really uncomfortable if you're over a certain height we heated the levers and bent them a bit so the shifting was a bit easier it's kickstart only no electric start it's so funny when you read uh the road tests of the period you know they call the electric start effete you know just like you're not a real man unless you have to kick-start it the key is down here well let me start it up for you okay i got it thank you there you go but you know something as annoying as that alarm is it saves your life when you're going down the road did i turn the oh and then it seizes and you're screwed okay let's uh been riding this bike for a long time kind of open the you know modern motorcyclists think all this stuff is just the biggest pain in the neck that you could possibly imagine but then you have to tickle it a little bit let me do that not too much let's take glory on this side here that fills the float poles and it holds an idol which not many of them did i'm gonna put my jacket and helmet on and we'll uh take it for a ride you always crush your hands under this bearing there's something very romantic about this motorcycle to me i don't know what it is i don't know why it's because it's something i left lusted after in my youth i remember it was three thousand dollars and i was kind of scraping the money together to buy it i thought it was way too expensive at the time but you know it's been worth it all the tracks and tension they didn't build a whole lot of these this was the top of the line for norton you know they made a lot of silly bikes in the 70s the high rider remember that was their chopper i love the interstate with a big six gallon tank so something sexy about those smith instruments i gotta remember the shifters on the right side oh sure the honda 750 was the one to beat in the early 70s but these still had a bit of life in them they were still winning the races and ai lemon and daytona peter williams and all those guys peter just passed away earlier this year very nice man i spoke to him a number of times quite a history quite a life norton has tried to come back a number of times kenny drew did it uh re-manufacturing his own and uh it was not totally successful well the mid-range of this is a lot of fun once you get above 55 or 60 then the wind holds you up but it takes all the all the strain out of your arms hopefully you get the faster they've seen i think these motors are sweetest in the 700 range this was taken i call it an 850 it's 828 cc it still vibrates but luckily all the rubber bushings take all that uh take it out it doesn't reach us god it's hard to believe it had his mother cycle well not quite 50 years but pretty close to it the improvements i've made would have made a difference and as i said that performance machine uh disc brake up front and bending the lever the uh kickstarter and the uh shifter to make it easier because if you're six feet tall this gets a bit cramped but it's so nice to lean into a corner in this thing little bullet mirrors on the bearing are kind of fun just doesn't look like anything else on the road other than touring bikes you didn't really see a lot of motorcycles in the 70s with these kind of fairings maybe the villa sent thruxton and a few others but for the most part not much but it's torquey tires on this thing looks so skinny now but at the time that was the widest rear tire you could get i wonder if it looks as good to new motorcycles as it does to us old guys but you know when i look at it i'm not looking at the bike i'm also looking at the heritage and thinking all the races i saw one and seeing it in magazines and you wonder how much of that plays well because 50 horsepower really isn't much for you like today me some ferraris from the 1960s are sexier and look better than modern ferraris i wonder if it's the same thing with motorcycles i mean it is for me but i don't know how that is i had this out on the 210 freeway the other day i hit a swarm of bees and i went oh that wasn't too bad and then i failed ow when something that wow that could just feel me and i couldn't take my hands off these bars because they because it's uh with this fairing you know it won't it won't track unless you hold on to it it'll start to start to get a little bit of fun wobble you look at this motorcycle it's realized it's just about dead center in the middle of old motorcycles and new motorcycles this is the last days of the old school old technology you know britain uh british bikes ruling the the two two-world motorcycle world that was just about over the japanese invasion was about to begin you went from two cylinders to four cylinders i got six silver to motorcycles goose even made a v8 but this is just about the middle point everything below this was old and everything above it was new and uh this is one of those bikes i'll have a cell you know it just because when i can't ride it anymore it feels like it's coming up pretty soon i'm gonna always want to look at it i just think it's one of the most beautiful bikes ever and it's just sort of at the top of the norton this has ammo carburetors on it and they work quite well this has been sitting in the back of the motorcycle closet for a few months hadn't had that in quite a while i thought hey we should do something on this bike i hope you enjoyed it as much as i enjoyed taking them out and showing anyway i'm gonna keep riding and uh i'll see you guys next week thanks for watching foreignsomething very romantic about this motorcycle to me i don't know what it is i don't know why it's because it's something i left lusted after in my youth i remember it was three thousand dollars and i was kind of scraping the money together to buy it i thought it was way too expensive at the time but you know it's been worth it welcome to the episode of jay leno's garage the vehicle we're featuring this week my 1974 norton john player special this is a motorcycle i've had for god over 45 years i remember when i walked in and bought this thing it was pretty expensive it was three thousand dollars in 1974 which was a lot of money because most nortons were about 2300 2400 but the john player was the top of the line i thought it was a wildest looking motorcycle ever at the time back in the 70s motorcycles were well fairing they did some did have fairings but not like this but john player was a cigarette brand out of england much like marlborough here they were just starting to ban advertising in television and in films and things like that but you can still do it in motorsports so the john player automobiles and and the john player motorcycles like this became became quite popular i think nowadays people don't even realize it was a cigarette they think it had something to do with a guy named john player it didn't peter williams won all kinds of races in these now this truth be told was just a standard norton with a fairing on it there was nothing trick about it nothing special about it it was strictly a marketing gimmick that one that worked uh a lot of people hated the twin headlights i love the twin headlights because you didn't really see motorcycles with twin headlights other than that brush superior back in 1927 the 680 or maybe the old jd harley from the early 20s i thought the twin headlights was kind of cool it's a classic british twin like all motorcycles of the period this thing vibrated a lot especially the atlas it was just literally you know like driving a bass drum especially the big singles it was just something you accepted on motorcycles you know the speedometer attack would do this and the watch hands would fall off your watch it's just something all motorcycles did some less than others but a guy named bernard hooper and some other guys at norton came up with this isolastic i think that's how they say it frame the engine's still vibrates but it's rubber mounted so it doesn't transfer through to the body into the handlebars and it was a revelation they called it kind of like the featherbed frame and all this kind of stuff but as long as the rubbers were fairly new and you changed them every five years maybe 10 years however long they lasted it was not vibration free but certainly better than anything at the time and this had about they claimed 60 horsepower it was they dined out at about 50 or 51 or 52. it only weighs 435 pounds which is very light but this was the fastest thing you could get back in the day and norton was a real player in the motorcycle business all the other english bikes had kind of bitten the dust by 1974. if you got cycle magazine or motorcyclists back in the day they'd always have the norton ad with the quote norton girl you know standing in some sort of bikini standing next to the bike uh one of which was bo derek actually from the famous movie 10. but it's classic british motorcycle i think it's just a real eye-turning bike it's not especially fast anymore but it's it's on a twisty road it's just a wonderful bike to drive you can lean in it's it's only 435 pounds and pushing 50 horsepower is not bad it was considered really fast in its day now would be equal to probably geez a 400 maybe or maybe a 650 even something like that one of the modern ones has the classic uh instruments here these these smith instruments which i i just love uh you have these little winglets here on all the switch gear but this is the original bike i've done a few things to it and when you come around the other side you'll see how you'll see i put a performance machine disc brake on the front this bike was built before september 1974. on september 1st 1974 all motorcycles sold united states had to have the gear shift on the left side and the brake on the right side this is one of the last english ones they lost a little bit when they had to run the shaft over to the other side but since september 1st you couldn't have this and the thing about riding when i get off one of the other bikes i'm going along let me downshift you know and i wind up thinking i'm downshifting and hitting the brake or vice versa so you have to concentrate you go which one is this oh yeah right the shift's on the right brakes on the left kind of a trick feature that i that i put on this you know these can dry sump uh fairly easily so i put an alarm on it you hear that see then when you turn the oil on it cuts the alarm and now the oil can flow through the engine but this keeps it from something all the way and filling up with oil these are not the standard pipes that were on it the pipes on it were black i like these peashooters better they sound better they look better they're lighter this is not the gas tank just the fiberglass cover that goes over the gas tank there's a metal gas tank underneath it that you access through here as you would on your normal or normal uh motorcycle disc brake was a huge deal in 1974. notice it just has one uh i took off the the uh i think it was a lockheed is that what it was uh on here originally just a big dumb thing and i put on this performance machine just to make it a bit sharper uh added these mirrors here uh what else do we have here uh that's about it oh you know what i did uh because these are really uncomfortable if you're over a certain height we heated the levers and bent them a bit so the shifting was a bit easier it's kickstart only no electric start it's so funny when you read uh the road tests of the period you know they call the electric start effete you know just like you're not a real man unless you have to kick-start it the key is down here well let me start it up for you okay i got it thank you there you go but you know something as annoying as that alarm is it saves your life when you're going down the road did i turn the oh and then it seizes and you're screwed okay let's uh been riding this bike for a long time kind of open the you know modern motorcyclists think all this stuff is just the biggest pain in the neck that you could possibly imagine but then you have to tickle it a little bit let me do that not too much let's take glory on this side here that fills the float poles and it holds an idol which not many of them did i'm gonna put my jacket and helmet on and we'll uh take it for a ride you always crush your hands under this bearing there's something very romantic about this motorcycle to me i don't know what it is i don't know why it's because it's something i left lusted after in my youth i remember it was three thousand dollars and i was kind of scraping the money together to buy it i thought it was way too expensive at the time but you know it's been worth it all the tracks and tension they didn't build a whole lot of these this was the top of the line for norton you know they made a lot of silly bikes in the 70s the high rider remember that was their chopper i love the interstate with a big six gallon tank so something sexy about those smith instruments i gotta remember the shifters on the right side oh sure the honda 750 was the one to beat in the early 70s but these still had a bit of life in them they were still winning the races and ai lemon and daytona peter williams and all those guys peter just passed away earlier this year very nice man i spoke to him a number of times quite a history quite a life norton has tried to come back a number of times kenny drew did it uh re-manufacturing his own and uh it was not totally successful well the mid-range of this is a lot of fun once you get above 55 or 60 then the wind holds you up but it takes all the all the strain out of your arms hopefully you get the faster they've seen i think these motors are sweetest in the 700 range this was taken i call it an 850 it's 828 cc it still vibrates but luckily all the rubber bushings take all that uh take it out it doesn't reach us god it's hard to believe it had his mother cycle well not quite 50 years but pretty close to it the improvements i've made would have made a difference and as i said that performance machine uh disc brake up front and bending the lever the uh kickstarter and the uh shifter to make it easier because if you're six feet tall this gets a bit cramped but it's so nice to lean into a corner in this thing little bullet mirrors on the bearing are kind of fun just doesn't look like anything else on the road other than touring bikes you didn't really see a lot of motorcycles in the 70s with these kind of fairings maybe the villa sent thruxton and a few others but for the most part not much but it's torquey tires on this thing looks so skinny now but at the time that was the widest rear tire you could get i wonder if it looks as good to new motorcycles as it does to us old guys but you know when i look at it i'm not looking at the bike i'm also looking at the heritage and thinking all the races i saw one and seeing it in magazines and you wonder how much of that plays well because 50 horsepower really isn't much for you like today me some ferraris from the 1960s are sexier and look better than modern ferraris i wonder if it's the same thing with motorcycles i mean it is for me but i don't know how that is i had this out on the 210 freeway the other day i hit a swarm of bees and i went oh that wasn't too bad and then i failed ow when something that wow that could just feel me and i couldn't take my hands off these bars because they because it's uh with this fairing you know it won't it won't track unless you hold on to it it'll start to start to get a little bit of fun wobble you look at this motorcycle it's realized it's just about dead center in the middle of old motorcycles and new motorcycles this is the last days of the old school old technology you know britain uh british bikes ruling the the two two-world motorcycle world that was just about over the japanese invasion was about to begin you went from two cylinders to four cylinders i got six silver to motorcycles goose even made a v8 but this is just about the middle point everything below this was old and everything above it was new and uh this is one of those bikes i'll have a cell you know it just because when i can't ride it anymore it feels like it's coming up pretty soon i'm gonna always want to look at it i just think it's one of the most beautiful bikes ever and it's just sort of at the top of the norton this has ammo carburetors on it and they work quite well this has been sitting in the back of the motorcycle closet for a few months hadn't had that in quite a while i thought hey we should do something on this bike i hope you enjoyed it as much as i enjoyed taking them out and showing anyway i'm gonna keep riding and uh i'll see you guys next week thanks for watching foreign\n"