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- Jun 30, 2012
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You need to consider the times in which the Honda 4 and the Combat were current. In those days motor scooters, duffle coats and desert boots were the go. A Combat was a real motorcycle. That is not what was wanted. Most people could not ride a Norton 650ss or Triumph Bonneville 650 in the way in which God intended.The strange thing is that the standard issue 750 Commando was quicker than the Honda 750 four.
It was likely the Kawasaki H2 Triple that Norton was chasing. That came out in 71. Then in 72 Kawasaki brought out the Z1. 82 reliable horses there vs 65 very unreliable horses with the Combat. No chance of winning that fight.
Glen
Norton's primary interest was racing, road bikes were secondary. Most race bikes do not make good road bikes, but something which resembles a race bike can feed a fantasy.
I have both raced and ridden road bikes. It is pretty much impossible to get fair dinkum on a road bike. You simply cannot use a road bike on public roads, in the same way as a race bike on a race circuit.
I think a Suzuki GSXR750 might be as close as anyone can get to having a thrill and staying sane. But even that might be too quick. One thing I would never do is road-race a modern motorcycle. The old ones are fast enough.
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