2018 Norton 961 Cafe Racer

A historically important European motorcycle brand that has survived into 2018 is Norton. These motorcycles are hard to find as they don’t have many distributers in Australia or any other country for that matter. Nonetheless the rarity is part of the desire and what the brand represents.

The Norton Commando Cafe Racer is arguably the best model of the range as it is stylistically a retro remake and stereotypically what most would image a Norton motorcycle to look like. In terms of looks it’s arguably the best in real life than in pictures.  All the features from the engine covers to the strategically chrome and exposed rear springs, exhaust pipes and so forth work really well in 2018.

The engine is a climbed in-house design in a parallel configuration and uses push-road for the total 2 valves for each cylinder. This is not a modern engine in terms for design but it works for a high torque retro sounding motorcycle. For course there are modern parts such as the USD front suspension all by Brembo, EFI, brakes and ABS the usual features you’d expect in a modern motorcycle.

Being hand built there are few concrete specifications and a price tag to go with it. The price for the Norton 961 Cafe Racer starts from around $36,000 which quite expensive. But if you really want a real Norton then this is the motorcycle to buy.