I got a call from my friend Lloyd last weekend. He had his hands on the only prototype of a Norton trike, and wanted to know if I was interested in doing some testing. Never being one to pass up a free ride, I grabbed my gear and headed over.

When I got to Lloyd's shop, the Norton was sitting out front in the sun. He had just washed and waxed it after a thorough tuneup, and the trike really shined. The frame was painted a nice, muted red, the rims were bright white with fresh rubber mounted, and the seat was the obligatory vinyl-covered oak plank. To make the trike more comfortable for me and my 6'3" frame, Lloyd replaced the stock handle bars with a set of Clubman bars. The trike came stock without rear view mirrors, and even though Lloyd would change the bars (which he thought was OK because they were still a "period" style), he refused to put even one mirror on. More on this later.

The Norton was much smaller than I'm used to, so it took some doing to sort out a comfortable riding position, but within ten minutes I was right at home on it. I found it best to wrap my legs over the handle bars and then grab the ends of the bars for support so I wouldn't slide off the back.

At first I rode around on the streets around Lloyd's shop. The trike handled great on the straights - no wobble at all, even going flat-out. The lack of shock absorbers made for a rather harsh ride, like a hardtail with a welded-up front end, but this also gave me the most feedback - very handy at this time of year with all the gravel and mud on the roads here in the Northwet. The use of permanently lubricated bearings makes for almost no maintenance.

The trike took some getting used to in the turns - the inner rear wheel would keep coming up. Kind of like riding a sidecar rig, but more evenly balanced. Once I got the hang of it though, the Norton was as predictable and smooth as anyone could ask for. I could take a line through a turn and the trike would, to use an old saying, "hold the road like it was on rails."

Acceleration was surprisingly good, although, with my legs directly over the pedals, I found that I didn't have enough leverage to smoke the front tire. This probably saved me a a bit of cash though. I was heading back to the shop and had started slowing down. As the wind noise subsided, I could hear the wail of the siren behind me. Yep - I got popped for not maintaining at least the minimum speed in a residential area. The officer let me off with just a warning though. It seems he had fond memories of a similar trike, a long, warm summer, and the girl next door. He did, however, suggest that with a proper mirror, I would have seen him when he turned on the disco lights three blocks earlier, and that I should stay off the street until I had one.

After getting chased off the street, we headed out to the track. The plan was to take a few runs down the drag strip and then a few laps around the road course. That little trike felt like a completely different machine on the track, especially after we added the number plate. It was designed as a racer, so the airfoil effect from the number plate reduced my 1/4 mile times by 5 minutes. I also noticed a distinct drop in wind noise and buffeting.

Our testing efforts had drawn a crowd, including my good buddie Dave Roper (Well, acquaintance. OK, I've talked to him once, all right?). He was intrigued by the trike and wanted to accept our offer to head out for a spin, but was on a tight training and had to decline.

Other folks in the crowd seemed more interested in discarded tires than anything else. I guess used race tires are still good for something. Or maybe they thought they could get Dave to autograph one of his used tires?

Lloyd was anxious to see how the trike did on the road course. After making some final adjustments and checking the tires, he sent me out. As pleased as I was with the trike on the street, I was downright impressed with it's track manners. Smooth acceleration, a broad power band (none of that two-stroke, razor-thin stuff), and truly stable handling. The frame is as stiff as any modern, high-buck, computer-designed space frame from Italy or Japan.

The neat thing about the trike is that you can take turns traditionally, by hanging off, or dirt track style by sliding the rear end out. In fact, the best line through a turn usually involves an even mix of the two styles. It's pretty hard on the tires, though.

My lap times were, well, not my best. I'm used to turning 1:35's at PIR, and that's far from the track record. On the trike I managed to get around in about a half hour, only stopping a few times to catch my breath. Maybe next time I'll insist on taller gearing (i.e. a larger front wheel). Or maybe I should take up the 'E' word - exercise.

We managed to get in a couple more laps before our time at the track ran out. The tires got fairly ragged there near the end, but were still nice and solid feeling. All in all, I'd rate this Norton as a "fun to have" addition to anyone's garage. In fact, this one is up for grabs, so if anyone has a burning desire to own a one-off Norton trike, let me know.

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