THE WAY WE WERE
Ladies in leopardskin trousers and kinky boots... on bikes
These are pictures that belonged to my fatherin-law, Malcolm James Crouch, who was born and raised in Bristol. The Norton Dominator 88, registration number HFK 752, was his first Norton which he bought in 1960. He bought it to replace his previous girder-forked motorcycle, which used to throw him off on a regular basis; he saw the Dominator for sale and loved the look of the low headstock and sweeping lines of the fuel tank. It served as his only mode of transport for getting him to work as an electrician.
In 1960, when he was 21, he used it to take his girlfriend Janet on a trip to Scotland along with two other couples. As you can from the picture on the right, the bike was fully loaded with luggage (and Janet). At one point it all started falling off the bike – although luckily they were just setting off from a layby at the time, so they just strapped it back on. One day Malcolm let Janet ride the Norton down a country lane, as she also had a full motorcycle licence – she was gone for so long (looking for somewhere to turn round) that Malcolm walked down the lane trying to find her, dressed in full motorcycle gear and carrying Janet’s handbag, much to the amusement of passing car drivers.
Malcolm told his son Mark a tale of racing another biker on a Triumph on a road in Somerset – the Triumph was in front of him when he saw him hit a bit of rough road and the motorcycle developed a tank slapper. Malcolm braced himself for the same to happen to him – but the Norton 88 didn’t flinch, it just rode straight on through. He always said it was down to the brilliant Featherbed frame and Roadholder forks.
He owned the 88 for several years, then eventually fell in love with an original, bright red Dominator 99 (391 CHU) he saw in Fowlers Motorcycles, Bristol. He bought it without telling Janet (who was, by then, his wife and expecting their first child). She wasn’t too happy... but in the course of time, the 99 was fitted with a big sidecar for his expanding family to travel in.
Malcolm’s son Mark inherited his love of motorcycles, but sadly Malcolm passed away in July 2019 at the age of 80. We discovered that his old Dominator 88 is still around and currently taxed, although the Norton Owners Club have no record of it amongst their members. We understand the Dominator 99 he owned has also currently on SORN. Maybe a reader of Classic Bike owns or knows of the whereabouts of these bikes? It would be very special for Malcolm’s wife and son to see pictures of them or maybe even see for their own eyes the bikes that were Malcolm’s pride and joy. It means so much... I just hope we might be able to locate one of them.