- Stunning creation

- Engine with two carburettors

- True model of its kind

- No reserve

Dominator: With this name that speaks for itself, this model was Norton’s response to the success of the Triumph Speed Twin. The Model 7 Dominator was launched at the 1948 London Motor Show and was fitted with a 500 cc vertical twin-cylinder engine designed by Bert Hopwood, an engineer who had previously worked at Triumph. In 1951, it was succeeded by the Model 88, which benefited from the well-designed “Featherbed” frame, giving the motorcycle excellent road handling.

Around the same time, the “cafe-racer” trend emerged: machines born from the rebellious culture of young “rockers” in leather jackets, in love with speed and freedom, who gathered in cafes along the English roads. The Norton, Triumph or Vincent bikes they rode embodied the cult of minimalism with a single seat, clip-on handlebars and rearsets.

This particular Dominator perfectly embodies the spirit, with its seat which includes a backrest, its tapered aluminium tank, its polished aluminium oil tank and its small mudguards. A true model of its kind, it is equipped with a twin-cylinder engine fed by two carburettors and therefore combines elegance with performance. As such, it is as much an object to admire as it is to ride wide open once it’s been serviced.

Photos © Alexis Ruben