RealClassic riders have been bounding around, bagging 'Nortons' across the UK. Some rode Nortons, others rode BMWs and one brave soul took a Triumph to Norton Honda...

PECKHAM'S APOSTROPHES

Bob Peckham has been out on his 1972 Commando Interstate on the byways of Suffolk, where he discovered a mysterious thing about the village of Blo' Norton. It has one of those apostrophes which comes and goes. 'Naturally the council left the apostrophe off the road sign, the locals got it right on the village sign. Let's hope they don't all ride lesser makes of machine there!'

NORTON CAREFULLY

There must be an awful lot of places called 'Norton Carefully' because we kept getting photos of them… Graham Wood browsed the Welsh-Herefordshire border on his Beemer to locate Carefully, Canon ('has yours gone off bang recently?' he asks) and Burley.

'It was a lovely ride, 280 miles in all. Sorry about the bad taste colour scheme - I'll try and do better another time. I've two perfectly decent Nortons and neither of them actually work at the moment!'

COBWEBS GONE

Meanwhile MPW (who are you? We lost the rest of your name…) has been blowing the cobwebs out of his silencers. And what a fine set of silencers they are, too! He ended up at Norton on the A2 near Sittingbourne, Kent.

KEVIN'S NORTON

Another BMW - this time Kevin went a-trekking. On a BMW. To somewhere called Norton. We happen to know that this is one of those mysterious Nortons which appears on very few maps but lots of people know about it. It's just off the A303 if you want to go looking for it yourself…

ECO UNFRIENDLY?

'The sun was out' says Martin Lane 'so I took the Dommie for its first bimble of the year, to Kings Norton in Leicestershire. There is a bit of a protest going on round here, The government want to build an Eco Town all over our green and pleasant countryside. At the moment, Kings Norton is an idyllic peaceful village… except when people ride noisy Nortons through it!'

A TRIUMPH AT NORTON HONDA… Dennis P scored something of a coup with his selection of photos from Letchworth, which included his Triumph parked outside Norton Honda. This means he's definitely on for a special prize at the end of the season, especially as the day didn't go exactly smoothly… 'I hope you appreciate these as they have proved to be the most costly photographs I have taken. Ignoring fuel cost (a minor factor) I lost three engine studs and a copy of a 1960 tax disc, complete with holder. Presumably they were persuaded to make a break for freedom due to the mild vibration experienced from the mighty 500cc engine. I am assured "they all do that sir" but find it of no comfort as I desperately try to source replacements!'

'Classic' Triumphs on eBay.co.uk

TWO COMMANDOS

Martin Pratt and Jos Helwig made most of the early spring sunshine to take their pair of Commandos to that Norton village in Hampshire just off the A303 after Micheldever (the one Kevin discovered, too.

See: told you lots of people have found this one). The red bike belongs to Martin (with the cap) and the black bike belongs to Jos. Very handsome. (The bikes, we mean. Of course!).

50 NOT OUT

John Conway took his 50 year old Dommi 99 to the village of Norton near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. Better yet - he managed to find a passer-by to take a photo of himself with the bike!

IT'S THAT NORTON AGAIN…

Dick Richardson bagged the Norton off the A303 once more, but he gets extra kudos for doing it on his 1931 CS1. In fact we think this is the oldest bike to bag a Norton so far, which means Dick is the front runner for one of the end of season awards.* We should also mention that Dick organises the excellent Popham Megameet each summer, so you could probably collect a couple of Nortons en route to it on August 23rd…

WHAT'S SLOW AND GREEN?

Mad Mike has been out bagging appropriate Nortons on his Norton Model 50. The first photo shows a Norton going slowly (well, at a standstill in fact) and thus obeying the instruction on the signpost.

It's even more obedient in the second photo, which demonstrates a green Norton at Green's Norton. Just as well Mike didn't take his red Fastback or the whole plot would have unravelled on the spot!

AND FINALLY…

Bill Nelson gets several points for 'tries hard' with his selection of photos, all of which showed his Honda next to (sigh) a sign which didn't say 'Norton'. Instead, Bill took his own 'Norton' sign with him. That just isn't cricket, Bill…

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Join The Norton Challenge: you can do it on your own or you can do it with a chum. You can do it on an old bike, big bike, little bike or even a new bike. Just quit sitting at your desk all day and get some miles under your wheels. Stop at anywhere called Norton, take a photo of your bike next to the sign, and send it to rchq @ realclassic.net

Then wait - your Norton could appear here or in the magazine!

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*Don't ask us what the awards are. We haven't a clue as yet. We're making this up as we go along. It'll be great, whatever it is…