Engine Punk

Virtually line perfect, Norvins look the part but probably don't offer much over the standard Vincent. Still, wooargh, though, eh? The green shoots of spring are bursting through and nowhere is this more noticeable than in my piles of old photos that not only grow but creep around the house. The date and location of this snap of a Norvin at some show or other have long been lost but the look of the bike was enough to stop me dead in my tracks. For many years, Norvins were my ultimate British bike until I discovered the Egli-Vincent and that's more European than British. The Norvin was a logical extension of the Triton - put the best engine you can find in the best frame you can find. While this worked well for the marriage between Triumph engines and Norton frames, the Norvin didn't make quite so much sense. The standard Vincent frame was more of a small box behind the headstock. The engine didn't really need cradling in tubes. What counted against the Vincent ...