Norton rocks the Thundersprint

The Thundersprint is a free motorbike show and classic motorcycle sprint event, where the entire town of Northwich in Cheshire is taken over by two-wheeled fans, reports Alastair Walker. The stars of this year’s event included former GP star Steve Parrish, 60s GP legend Jim Redman, current 125 MotoGP rider Danny Webb and Chris Walker, BSB racer for the last decade and now sales manager for Norton Motorcycles. Chris was in action on the short sprint course, giving the new 961cc Norton Commando twin a real workout for the crowd. The old Norton motorcycle company stopped making the Commando twins back in the late 70s and after a troubled attempt at selling rotary powered bikes in the 90s, went bust and the assets were sold off. Now the rights to use the Norton name have been acquired by Stu Garmer, a Midlands-based businessman, with a passion for two wheels. The new Norton bikes proved very popular at the Thundersprint and Andie Waite from the revived Norton company told insidebikes that they were `overwhelmed by the support from bikers old and new, we’ve also had five deposits placed on new machines today, which is brilliant.’ The demand for the new Commando is impressive; everyone insidebikes spoke to admired the styling, classy components and the styling of the Commando. In a recession, selling a hand-built motorcycle, at between £16,000-£18,000 is a tough proposition, but a strong debut looks likely from the small manufacturer when Norton twins go on sale later in 2010. Let’s hope Norton can build on the tremendous interest and get a viable manufacturing business going right here in the UK which might be as successful as Hinckley Triumph one day. On track, riders from the UK, France and elsewhere all battled to set the fastest time around the car park sprint course, with Jason Caunce, organiser Frank Melling and Alain Marie on his 1972 BMW 750 proddie racer all setting impressive times. Motorcycles from the 1920s to the 1990s, plus sidecars and a George Formby `Shuttleworth Snap’ replica, offered a diverse display for the huge crowd at this free biking festival. Other interesting bikes on show at the Thundersprint Motorcycle Show on the Saturday included a Honda RC181 racer from Sammy Miller’s museum, Keith Williams’ Difazio Ducati 750 - the only one in the UK - and a fantastic collection of 1970s Fizzy mopeds, RD250s and 350LC models from Yamaha club members. For many bikers seeing those on display at the Saturday motorcycle show was a real trip down memory lane. The Thundersprint cavalcade through town and the Spitfire fly-past give the event a real friendly feel and it looks set to grow in 2011 with continued support from Cheshire West Council and many local motorcycle dealers. More at; www.thundersprint.com Read article

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