Norm Fraser
“I want to live to 100,” NORM FRASER told the editor in an interview conducted in 2016 (see OBA 65). Unfortunately, he didn’t quite achieve that, passing away after a stroke in December 2021, aged 92. But Norm Fraser nevertheless enjoyed a full and quite remarkable life; as a successful racer and consummate businessman.
Born and raised in Newcastle, Norm became the man to beat on the Dirt tracks that abounded in the Hunter Valley and around New South Wales. Norm was not just fast, but tough and fiercely determined – a competitor who never gave an inch. His usual mount was a 500cc JAP engine shoehorned into a Triumph 3T frame, running on sky-high compression and the fastest thing on the track. Unlike many of his rivals, Norm avoided the spectacular broadsiding in favour of a point – squirt – brake style that was unquestionably effective. In 1956 alone, he contested 87 races, won 80 and finished second five times. The other two starts ended with broken chains. In 1959 he was seriously injured at Tamworth, nearly losing a leg in a crash that claimed the life of Rex Hammond. Although this marked the end of his serious racing, it was also the point where Norm became serious about business. After working in various shops in Newcastle, Norm began buying and selling motorcycles, including ex-police bikes, as well as trading in BSA spare parts. He soon outgrew his backyard business and purchased premises at Lambton Road, Broadmeadow, which became the hub for the industry and made Norm a lot of money. He secured agencies for Bultaco and Ducati and became, for a time, the biggest Honda dealer in Australia. There was also a highly successful offshoot importing and distributing accessories.
As his son Warren assumed more of the responsibility for running the family empire, Norm eased out of the business and eventually retired to the NSW Central Coast. ■