Brit bikes were relatively rare in the U. What they wanted was an easy to start twin, with enough zip to run up to the semi-magical mph mark. The cc Dominator 88 did not quite have the punch needed, but when it was bored and stroked to cc actually cc , that stoked some serious interest.
Some people, both industry and consumers, were a little surprised that Norton had not gone to the popular size, which Triumph had done in with the Thunderbird, and BSA a year later with the Golden Flash. Nortons began to be imported in , and had six U.
Norton was an old company, with James Lansdowne Norton founding the Norton Manufacturing Company at the age of 29, back in , when it started manufacturing chains for the burgeoning bicycle market. But motorized bicycles were the coming thing, and JLN got right on it. His cc Peugeot-powered V-twin, a touring model, won the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy in ; success was clearly in the stars. Norton began building its own engines and prospered. Triumph was hitting the advertising pages big time, promoting its sleek T Tiger cc twin, and that was getting a lot of attention.
So Norton did the logical thing and hired a designer named Bert Hopwood, who had worked at Triumph before the war when the T first came to light. He joined Norton in , improved the singles, and then worked on developing a parallel twin. Unfortunately, at pounds it was 75 pounds heavier than the Triumph. Previous frames had been complicated and heavy, whereas the Featherbed was essentially two one-piece loops that was both lighter and stronger, using expensive Reynolds manganese-molybdenum, mild-carbon steel tubing.
Since everything passes through the steering head, the backbone tubes were welded to the bottom of the head, while the downtubes actually ran between the backbone tubes and then welded to the top of the head. All suitably braced. Norton then went about making a roadster edition of the frame, using less expensive steel. Initially the saddle-supporting rear section was bolted on, but soon was welded, as that was a lighter approach.
Norton also saw fit to give the frame its own name, plus a secondary description, which began with Wideline, and then Slimline , referring to the width of the frame beneath the forward part of the saddle. The 99 used an oil-damped Roadholder fork and a swingarm rear end with a pair of Girling shock absorbers. When the Domi 7 twin got the Featherbed, the bike received new numeration: Domi Move forward to , and we find Mr. Hopwood being invited to rejoin the Norton Company.
And soon the cc 88 had a larger sibling, the cc 99, the cc gained by using an even longer stroke…the 88 having a 66 x Nothing exceptional about the dry-sump engine.
The crankcase was split vertically, the cylinders were iron, the head aluminum alloy. The camshaft was up at the front of the engine with four light-alloy pushrods operating the four valves. Close this module. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.
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You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Necessary Necessary. However, the single cylinder bike that Norton borrowed the frame from was the ES2, which was essentially a low-volume, hand-built bike. At least it had long Roadholder telescopic forks with 7-inch brakes.
Interestingly, this stone-age frame survived the introduction of the revolutionary, trend-setting Featherbed frame with swing arm rear suspension on the new Dominator 88 until it was replaced on the Dominator Model 7 line in At the time, it was believed that the Featherbed was unsuitable for sidecar duty, where the old plunger frame was actually preferred.
The Featherbed was indeed one of the finest racing chassis in the world at that time, truly in a class to itself. By the relentless quest for more power led to the first step in a litany of boost in displacement.
The Norton Dominator 99 was the cc version of the old Model 7. It was called a , of course. The Norton Dominator really started the Norton twin legacy that ended with the legendary Norton Commando, one of the greatest Classic British Motorcycle ever built, a span of over a quarter of a century.
While the humble Dominator Model 7 never got the Featherbed Frame, it did receive a new rear frame section with swing arm suspension in , along with a new inch front wheel.
One chain-driven camshaft sat high in the crankcase just ahead of the cylinder block. The pushrods passed through a tunnel between the cylinders, operating rocker arms.
Early dynamo-equipped bikes had a gear on the cam driving the dynamo which sat in the traditional position, in front of the engine. On early bikes, a magneto living behind the cylinders provided ignition.
It was driven by a chain that ran forward to the same intermediate gear that drove the cam chain. The Norton Dominator 88 is what you get when you drop a Norton cc vertical twin engine from a Dominator Model 7 into a Featherbed Frame.
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