Original 1907 TT-winning bike to lead Norton celebration at Classic TT

Norton are set to play a key role in the 2015 Isle of Man Classic TT, as the classic racing festival harks back to the golden age of the British manufacturer in the rocker years of the late fifties and early sixties.

The celebration of Norton motorcycles will start at the very beginning, including Rem Fowler’s 1907 inaugural TT winning machine, which will return to the Island as the centrepiece of a collection of machines leading right up to the present day.

Eighteen original factory Rotary Nortons, including Steve Hislop’s 1992 TT Race winning ABUS sponsored machine, a large number of the iconic JPS liveried machines and the Duckham’s sponsored bikes from the latter part of the Rotary era will all feature in the paddock display which will run from Friday 28th August to Tuesday 1st September 2015.

The Classic TT Parade lap -titled ‘Norton; the Rotary Years’ – will run on Monday 31st August. It’ll tell the story of the Rotary Norton during the 1980s and 1990s and will feature original bikes and riders from that era, including the likes of Trevor Nation, Ian Simpson and Steve Cull. John McGuinness, one of Steve Hislop’s biggest fans, will ride the 1992 ABUS in the parade.

The cultural focus for this year’s Classic TT meeting will be centred around the late 1950’s and early 1960’s rocker years with music, fashion and other activities the backdrop of an era when the Norton brand was achieving iconic status away from racing. A large scale Café Race Concourse D’elégance will add to the hive of activity in the paddock with Ace Cafe, a driving force of the period, bringing the evocative era back to live behind the grandstand in 2015.