New 2016 Norton Dominator 2017 Classic Sport Release
New 2016 Norton Dominator 2017 Classic Sport Release :
Ride past the grand Norton sign, and down the long driveway of the Norton factory at Donington and you step into their world.
A world of design, metal and love for the Norton brand that goes way beyond a badge on the tank of a motorcycle.
The factory at Donington Hall is always buzzing. It’s the home of the historic British brand and just walking in brings the Norton name to life.
In reception sits a Norton trials bike and a timeline of their history from 1898, to more recent events like in 2008 when new owner Stuart Garner bought the name.
From that humble beginning of a reborn brand, Norton is now selling motorcycles to Japan, America and Australia once again. And they’re all built here in the heart of England.
The factory’s spares department looks over the work benches where the bikes are assembled. Engineers in black Norton racing shirts pulling together the new bikes before they’re boxed, shipped and sent round the world.
Behind a closed door in the corner of the factory is the race department. It’s where all the TT magic happens and where the latest development of the Norton TT bike is being rebuilt ready for a shakedown test at Mallory Park with two-times TT winner Cameron Donald on board.
The room is where the Isle of Man TT team spend 12 hour days trying to perfect the V4-powered TT racer and their ambitions of one day winning the prestigious Isle of Man TT race are born.
And then, round the corner is the ultra-rare Domiracer. It’s Number 1 of 50 and the exact bike we rode last year, and ran up the hill at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The Goodwood scrutineering stickers still telling the story of the weekend, where burnouts in front of the main grandstand where the order of the day.
Our man Potter fluffing his lines as he attempts to make a video about the Dominator.
But we’re not here to ride this bike today. We’re here to ride Number 1 in the production of the new Norton Dominator SS, the latest bike in a run of 50 for the UK, and a total of 200 SS versions to be built worldwide.
It’s a more production-ised version of the Domiracer sold last year. Though the basic silhouette is the same, dig deeper and the level of detail is not quite to the same level as the ornate brackets and finishing on the Domiracer, the spec is a bit lower. But it’s still a stunning motorcycle and £24,000 as it sits in front of me.
Domiracers which were bought new for £24,000 (plus £2000 for a road homologation kit) and just one year on are already fetching between £38,000 and £44,000 in the used market. That’s some investment.
The lads are attaching to the trade plate to the Dominator, then run it up on the dyno to check everything is in order before parking it outside and chucking me the keys.
If you were at Motorcycle Live last year then you’ll already know what an uncorked Norton 961cc motor through straight-through handmade pipes sounds like. It’s a noise your hearing will ever forget. Pardon?
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