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Furious pace
How long does it take to restore a motorcycle, asks Tim Britton? Decades in some cases, merely years in others but a matter of months for this 650SS.
There’s no doubt about it, a well sorted Featherbed Norton can really hold the road and inspire confidence in a rider. This is as it should be really as the legendary frame was bred for the racetrack and gave Norton Motors Ltd’s racing Manx models a new lease of life in the early 50s. When it eventually made the roadster range with the 500cc ‘88’ Dominator Norton had at last the basis of their sports roadster series that would culminate in this 1968 650SS model.
All this and more is bouncing around in my mind as I heel into bends, power through curves and generally enjoy the sort of handling Nortons are famed for. The problem is, as a 1968 model, it feels and looks like a throwback to an earlier time.
Don’t get me wrong, this is a great motorcycle but by 1968 the world it had to live in was changing rapidly and the motorcycle market with it. Take the road system in the UK for instance, when the 650SS was launched in the early part of the decade, the M1 was a mere proposal and Norton’s range would have to deal with A-roads where its legendary handling would come to the fore. With the wide open, three lane motorways being built where high speeds could be maintained for mile after mile on straightish highways its Featherbed chassis was of less importance than of a few years earlier. Norton recognised that their once sporting model was out of its time and would soon replace it with the Commando which, if not vibration free, certainly insulated the rider from its effects.
All this is a shame as the 650SS as seen here had proved its worth on the arduous production racing circuit – albeit after being prepared in the workshops of former racer turned dealer Syd Lawton – winning the Thruxton 500 three times in a row. As an experiment Lawton had taken the big three – Triumph, Norton and BSA – sporting models off his showroom floor and subjected them to a test. He did what the average buyer would do to them and found that the Dommie stood up best, being by far the fastest standard roadster. Further careful preparation meant his bikes would stand up to the rigours of a production race and ensured that they got good publicity with their wins.
But by 1968 the Nortons were an old motorcycle in a new world. Their competitors’ twins had gone to unit construction years before and then laid down plans for a triple rather than a twin as their performance bike. The Japanese were just round the corner with the Honda CB750 and even the 650SS home performance model – the Commando was launched that year and it was to be the end of the line for the Dommie.
Luckily for me and I suppose, this particular 650SS, the twins didn’t suffer the fate of Norton’s pushrod singles. Many of them had their low powered engines ripped out to be replaced by Triumph pre-unit twins, their tinware scrapped for alloy guards and clip-on ’bars as the Triton building craze swept the country. Given Syd Lawton’s successes the 650SS was seen a fairly hot machine anyway and there were a lot of parts available to make it go even quicker. Not that this prevented the café racering of this bike as Ray Cochran told me after I’d ridden round the highways and byways of north Wales.
“When I got it, it was in a terrible state,” he says. “I had to source footrests, a rear mudguard, a seat and loads of other parts had to be made.” So, how long did all of this sourcing and rebuilding take then Ray? “Oh, I had it on the road after four months,” he says after a bit of thought. Sorry Ray, I misheard you there, I thought you said four months from wreck to road. “Yes, that’s right, four months.” I must have looked a bit shocked as he felt the need to add that he can do most of the work needed during a restoration in his own workshop. “The only things I don’t do are chroming and baking the final two pack paint, but I’ve got very good contacts for both those tasks.” Hmmm, four months eh, that’s not a bad timescale.
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