72 I AUGUST 2019 More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk
B
ack when dinosaursroamed
the earth,vertical twins of 600
/650ccwereregarded asvery
large.They had,after all ,evolved
from smaller 500ccmachines, and forawhile
it looked as if those earlier designs had been
stretchedto the max.That wasuntil Royal
Enfield skipped straightthrough the 600s and
broughtout the then massiveMeteor 700,
kicking offanothercapacitycompetition.
Nortoneventuallyreplied with the 750Atlas,
our bike on the bench this time around.
My fatherownedacouple of 650SS
Nortons fr om the mid-1970s onwards. One,
aDunstallvariantwith clip-ons,fairing and
rearsets,was movedonquite quic klybut
the other,amoretraditional, nakedcafé
race rstayedwithusfor afew years.While
dad wasworking awayforthreemonthsat
atime, it wasmyjob to startthe remaining
650SS occasionallyto keep the dreadedwet-
sumpingat bay. Fora14/15year-old it was
no meanfeat getting thatbrutefiredup. I
quicklyreasoned thatmyefforts deserved
somereward and itwasonlyfairtol et the old
girl stretch her legsabit.My illici trides didn’t go unnoticed; indeed,
Iwas stoppedby the policeonmyfirstlegal
trip onmy 50cc BSA Brigand whenI’djust
turned 16.‘Where’s your dad’s Norton650
tonigh t, then, sonny?’Iwas asked!‘Weknow
what you’re doing –just keep offthe main
roads and keepyour mate offthe back of it!’
Differen ttimes,indeed.
The750 NortonAtlas wasprettysimilar
to the 650SS but with morecubesto satisfy
riders in the US of A.Ibelievethe original
Atlas wasinasofterstate of tune than
the 650SS;certainly,there wasonlyone,Norton’s 750 twinwas c diblechallengerfor
exampe adgonet