The Norton 650SS was produced between 1962 and 1967 and despite the fact that it was never as famous as the next Norton, the Commando, this bike had a lot more to do with the Café Racer culture of the 60s. The 649cc twin produces 49hp and in February 1962 Motor Cycling Magazine took one up to a top speed of 119.5mph at the former RAF Lindley airfield (MIRA), that’s 10mph faster than the quickest Triumph, Norton’s nemesis in the 1960s.
This particular example is for sale via eBay in the UK, the seller says it runs but needs the same TLC you would expect to need to give to any 45 year old motorcycle. Bidding is currently at £2,500.00 with the reserve not met. Check out the listing here.
Ben Branch has had his work featured on CNN, Popular Mechanics, the official Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with millions of readers around the world and hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
The BMW Volkswagen Fikobike is a one-off custom motorcycle built by Dallas oilman Lee Fikes in the autumn of 1967. He had a BMW R60 but its 600cc horizontally opposed twin wasn’t producing as much power as he wanted, so he embarked on a project to install a modified 1500cc Volkswagen flat-4. Fikes had bought…
The Davida Koura is a full face motorcycle helmet designed by engineers with experience developing helmets for both MotoGP and Formula 1. Although the shell design of the Koura is retro, the the engineering that went into it is entirely modern. The Koura has been safety certified by the ECE R22-05 (EU), DOT FMVS 281…
This MV Agusta Mini Bike Racing was an official model offered by the Italian motorcycle manufacturer in the mid-1970s. As the story goes, a one-off special was made for Phil Read’s son in 1973 to celebrate his 500cc World Championship victory riding for MV Agusta. The mini bike was intended as a miniature replica of…
This custom Ducati Monster from the workshop of XTR Pepo is so wildly different to the bike it started out as it’s almost unrecognisable. Pepo Rosell has become a very well-known in the global custom motorcycle community for his work with Ducatis – he does work on other makes too of course, but Ducatis have…
This article was written by Walt Siegl of Walt Siegl Motorcycles – when possible we like to bring you the story of a motorcycle in the words of the person who built it to cut out the middleman, giving you unfettered access to their thought process and methods. It was a natural progression from building…
The Triumph Trident and its BSA Rocket 3 sibling were, in a way, a last hurrah for the previously globally dominant British motorcycle industry. The Rob North Triumph Tridents A racing effort funded on a shoelace budget was launched in 1970 to promote the 750cc triple being used by both Triumph and BSA. Frame construction was…
The Norton 650SS was produced between 1962 and 1967 and despite the fact that it was never as famous as the next Norton, the Commando, this bike had a lot more to do with the Café Racer culture of the 60s. The 649cc twin produces 49hp and in February 1962 Motor Cycling Magazine took one up to a top speed of 119.5mph at the former RAF Lindley airfield (MIRA), that’s 10mph faster than the quickest Triumph, Norton’s nemesis in the 1960s.
