New to Norton's..2 x ES2 race bikes.

Sorry I can't help with identifying the bikes, but I am slightly jealous! Anyway welcome to the world of Nortons!

Ah man after my heart! I'm familiar with Japanese two strokes too, I race one in classic scrambles yz250h along with a Spanish one - Montesa Capra. My ES2 is in trials trim at the moment, and it is an easy engine to work on. Having said that I'm still trying to stop mine smoking. If you need any engineering or advice, Mike Pemberton is the man, although if you're not oop north you'll have to ship it to him!

AMC clutch bits are all available, Norton bits a a bit harder to find, but some are interchangeable. Have a look here for some lovely bikes and hits and tips, sadly the owner has recently passed away, his bikes were/are something to behold.

http://www.norton.uk.com/

dan

Hi Bob,

Alan and Denys Wright raced these bikes in the 1980s in VMCC race meetings and possibly Classic Club meetings as well. I think they were brothers and came from the Preston area, but you might want to double check this. I remember Alan in particular being a very quick rider and race winner especially on a pre-war Ariel Red Hunter in the older classes. The engines of these bikes are probably modified internally possibly to the extent that they won't be suitable for road use. I haven't heard anything of them in racing for a number years and I think they will be of pension age now.

Regards, Richard.

If they are from Preston, it's likely that Mike Pemberton will know them or the bikes, give him a ring at Pushrod Performance. My guess is that the engines will have a 350 bottom end and running goldstar pistons. Prob ran on methanol, if the jets are humongous that will be the case!

Hi again,

I believe Mike Pemberton is relatively new to converting and preparing Norton singles and I think the Wrights proximity and racing success in doing the same were Mike's inspiration to start his own business and most likely he gleaned a good deal of information from them.

Regards, Richard.

I remember watching with amazement, the 'Wright family' being very competitive in the late 70's and early 80's on their racing Norton's at various race circuits in the North West. There was Alan on his ES2/mod50 based machines, his brother Rodney who seemed to prefer the twins and their dad Denys, who I remember racing a very quick Inter. There was also a very keen rival, called Colin Daly who also lived in the Preston area, who developed the Norton pushrod single to it's maximum potential, with home made cams, bore/stoke combinations and crank assemblies. The ingenuity of all these guys was truly remarkable in order to gain any competitive edge over their rivals. I believe it was Colin, who now works for a chap in the north west, knocking out new Manx Nortons and now races one himself, who did a deal with MP and transferred all his development work to him.

Hi Jim,

Thank-you for putting the record straight, re- "The Preston Triangle". I remember there were the 2 brothers but forgot it was Rodney, mind you itwas 25+ years ago. One of Colin Daly's old bikes now lives in Somerset and can be seen here....

http://theclubman.com/blog/

Regards, Richard.