Re: 100+ horsepower Norton 750???
I think that Japanese bikes played a really important part in motorcycle racing in the 1960's, odd to disallow it, it is history.
My fantasy list of vintage racing rules has very impractical and unenforceable parts. But it was just spit-balling off the top of my head and an idea.
The Clubmans class that Johnm describes above looks interesting for those who like the old bikes and history. Premium pump gas here in the USA is usually around 93 octane, and a lot of power can be squeezed out of it.
Real vintage motorcycles, racers and their history is only a personal interest of mine, which of course not everyone will share. I grew up with the bikes and riders of the 60's and earlier and for me it is sad to see them all disappearing and being replaced with other things. So I am just making noise about my feelings again.
As DWS talks about, the original spec. parts on some of the current "Norton" racers can be fit into a women's handbag. I think that is an important thing to notice.
Racing a 100hp motorcycle like the one at the thread start with modern brakes, tires etc. is not really Vintage or historical racing to me, but that is what it is to most these days apparently.
To show how out of touch Giannini Racing is with history, just look at their quote below the photo of the bike; "VBNR of Australia has created the most exciting British contender for the Vintage 750 cc Class since the Norton factory race works closed in the early sixties."
Saying what they are doing trumps the entire history of motorcycle tuning from 1963 onwards makes it look like they hired a U.S. politician to write their web-page.
That is what is making "good press" and is fashionable and trendy though. As history shows, once the people following current fashion trends don't feel "special" enough being a part of it, then they throw it away and skip over to another trend. Maybe at one point in the future the fashionable trend will be actual history.
