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The Norton ES2 is a
It was a long stroke single, always 79mm x 100mm bore and stroke, originally launched as a sports motorcycle but throughout its long life it was gradually overtaken by more powerful models.
It remained popular due to its reliability and ease of maintenance, as well as the traditional design. From 1947 the ES2 had an innovative hydraulically damped telescopic front fork and race developed rear plunger suspension. From 1953 it had a single downtube swinging-arm frame.
The last ES2 was introduced in late 1964. A Matchless-based machine with Norton badges, it was produced for two years before final discontinuation, coincident with the commercial failure of the
Norton Norton may refer to:
Places
Norton, meaning 'north settlement' in Old English, is a common place name. Places named Norton include: Canada
* Rural Municipality of Norton No. 69, Saskatchewan
*Norton Parish, New Brunswick
**Norton, New Brunswick, a ...
motorcycle
A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...
produced from 1927 until 1964. From 1965, a different machine was produced for a short time by parent manufacturer AMC, based on a Matchless
Matchless is one of the oldest marques of British motorcycles, manufactured in Plumstead, London, between 1899 and 1966. A wide range of models were produced under the Matchless name, ranging from small two-strokes to 750 cc Four-stroke cy ...
but badged as Norton ES2 Mk2.
Development
It was a long stroke single, always 79mm x 100mm bore and stroke, originally launched as a sports motorcycle but throughout its long life it was gradually overtaken by more powerful models.
It remained popular due to its reliability and ease of maintenance, as well as the traditional design. From 1947 the ES2 had an innovative hydraulically damped telescopic front fork and race developed rear plunger suspension. From 1953 it had a single downtube swinging-arm frame.
Featherbed frame
From 1959 it used the Rex McCandless designedFeatherbed frame
The featherbed frame was a motorcycle frame invented by the McCandless brothers and offered to the British Norton motorcycle company to improve the performance of their racing motorcycles in 1950. It was considered revolutionary at the time,"' ...
, with upgrades featuring an improved AMC gearbox, revised cylinder head, crankshaft-mounted Lucas RM15 60-watt alternator with coil ignition and an 8-inch front brake with full width hubs front and rear.The Motor Cycle, Road Test, 4 June 1959 The wideline Featherbed-framed bike was road tested in ''The Motor Cycle
''The Motor Cycle'' was one of the first British magazines about motorcycles. Launched by Iliffe and Sons Ltd in 1903, its blue cover led to it being called "The Blue 'un" to help distinguish it from its rival publication ''Motor Cycling (maga ...
'' 4 June 1959 issue and was reported to have a mean top speed of 82 mph with petrol consumption of 56 mpg at 60 mph.
Slimline featherbed frame
For 1961, in common with other large-engined Nortons, the bike was further improved with the ''Slimline'' frame with upper frame rails narrowed and a restyled slimmer fuel tank.Finale
The last ES2 was introduced in late 1964. A Matchless-based machine with Norton badges, it was produced for two years before final discontinuation, coincident with the commercial failure of the AMC
AMC may refer to:
Film and television
* AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain
* AMC Networks, an American entertainment company
** AMC (TV channel)
** AMC+, streaming service
** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company
*** ...
Group. ''Motorcycle Mechanics'', December 1964, editorial p.3 "(Earls Court) Show - not much new." "Two Matchless singles christened the Mark II versions of famous and former Norton models by virtue of a Norton badge". Accessed and added 2015-01-21 ''Motorcycle Mechanics'', December 1964, pp.29-31 "What's new? Bill Lawless takes a look at the 1965 models." "Messrs AMC reintroduce the once popular Model 50 and ES2 Nortons by calling them the Mark II models and sticking Norton badges on Matchless G3 and G80 machines". Accessed and added 2015-01-22
A report in a 1980 UK magazine stated:''Classic Bike
''Classic Bike'' is a UK motorcycle
A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a ra ...
'', February/March 1980, pp.56-60, AMC's heavyweight singles Accessed 31 December 2017The slow but immensely likeable Featherbed-framed 350 Model 50 and 500 ES2 Norton ohv singles were dropped and in their place appeared the Model 50 MkII and ES2 MkII, or, with Norton badges hastily tacked on the side, the Matchless G3 and G80. They failed to fool anyone, let alone the buying public. In 1966 the heavyweight singles were all but a memory...
References
* Bacon, R, Norton Singles, Osprey Publishing, 1983 Power Output: 21 hp Fuel capacity: 2.75 Imp gal (1947–58), 3.5 Imp gal (1958-63)See also
*Norton Model 50
The Model 50 was a touring motorcycle built by Norton between 1933 and 1963. A further Model 50 was briefly produced by Norton parent-company AMC during 1965 and 1966 using a re-badged Matchless. ''Motorcycle Mechanics'', December 1964, edito ...
*List of motorcycles of the 1920s
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
{{Norton motorcycles
ES2
Motorcycles introduced in the 1920s