Dominator

In April 1947, Norton Motors engaged the services of Bert Hopwood to design a multicylinder engine, preferably a twin, to meet the public’s growing interest in multicylinder machines.

But six months before its launch at the Earl’s Court Motor Show, he was acrimoniously dismissed for having the temerity to question the business logic of their budgetary arrangements; which allocated 90% to the Race Department and just 10% to the Production Department. Then as now, race wins translate to motorcycle sales; but just four years later, a near bankrupt Norton Motors was rescued by Associated Motorcycles Limited (AMC) and Norton’s Race Department (NRD) closed its doors for the very last time – no more Norton Works Teams and no more Norton Factory Racers. Subsequently, longtime Race Department Manager Joe Craig, retired and shortly thereafter a motor vehicle accident in Austria ushered decades of NRD secrets to the grave. What happened behind those doors in the intervening period has been the source of much conjecture and heated debate. This article is unlikely to change that climate; but this is what we do know… In the depressed, post-war economic climate, Norton Motors took more than a passing interest in the burgeoning American export market; and for a number of years entered works teams of American and Canadian riders in the prestigious Daytona and other major race meetings across the USA. In just five race seasons, the American Motorcycle Association (AMA) regulated against non-production machines, OHC engines, “featherbed” frames and riders who had friends that might have been an acquaintance of a communist sympathizer. These and other annual regulation changes all impacted on Norton’s potential competitiveness. Many have previously stated that these changes were to the advantage of the rigid-framed, low compression, 750cc, side valve, ‘V’ twin machines available to the USA home teams. Fast forward some fifty years to the early ‘90s, and a number of rigid-framed Norton Dominators began appearing at swap meetings along the east coast of Australia. Originally presumed (by some), to be just aftermarket specials; probably just a Model 7 engine in a