At least the "Norton" script is historical.
"Historical" is exactly right. Here's their current logo:
While here's the one you'll find on the tank of my ratty old '67 Norton "Desert Sled" (note well the double-crossed "t"):
Looks like they "
pulled a Triumph" and made the logo look "better" by going right back to the '20s. Here's the chronological lowdown on the Norton logo until recently:
Not that the ramen-fed thrift store dwelling likes of me would ever be able to indulge in one of these newfangled limited edition series Nortons, even if they did strike my fancy, which these new breed swing kinda low and away from, but at least
someone's keeping the marque alive, and in England at that. I'm even OK with the logo refreshments for both it and the Triumphs. Sure, I
prefer the old Norton logo with the oddball ultra-tilty "o", but that ain't a dealbreaker. On the other hand,
I'm already on record for pointing out how jarring Royal Enfield's own choice in the matter of logo modernization was. One can only surmise that their local
Devangiri or
Tamil scripts may have informed their choice to make the new one as curlicued as a 14 year old girl's Social Studies notebook instead of that good solid surefooted British Imperial Serif, which I'm happy to say my old "iron belly" wears.
Now that I actually dwell on it a bit, I realize that apart from the motorcycle street fauna of '60s Boston, where I grew up, with all that pervasive lovely British iron and scarcely a Harley to be seen, the single greatest influence informing my taste in bikes was the Summer '79 issue of
Classic Bike.
I just happened to pick that issue up at an international newsagent in Downtown D.C. when I knew I'd be going to St Andrews, Scotland on one of those year's study abroad deals, figuring I'd get my first bike over there--something older and more affordable. Amongst other droolworthy old iron, like Triumphs and Matchlesses, that issue featured a Norton Dominator 88 very similar to this one:
To this day,
THIS is what a motorcycle
should look like to me in an almost Platonic "eternal form" sense. And yes, I did get a Norton over there, a fairly worn out but still serviceable '72 Commando Interpol surplus ex-police bike with a handy huge red Interstate 5 imperial gallon fuel tank and fairing, but a Norton all the same. Since then, the aesthetic choices of most all the bikes I've sought and bought has been informed by that overall "look"...even my current Enfield--though she rather found me, I'd say. Still, both marques with roots in Birmingham:
Topic: New Norton (Read 2261 times)