Bought a Dominator

Hi Richard,  Looks like you have a very good bike.  I very much doubt its 100% orriginal or that you won't be sorting out some issue  sooner or later but  you have done very well, and I for one am very envious. Side stand looks a bit  over the usefull angle , a bit of weld sorted mine out. Or a wedge of steel between clamp and engineplate. ( jealousy ensures i have to find something wrong !). In over 60 years of biking I have only met 3  restorers who could turn a pile of scrap into a fully functional beautifull bike . All the rest just thought they could. Unfortunately they did the bikes I bought !! .  I am keeping my fingers crossed for you.

Do you have Bacon's "Norton Twins"?

He lists an export option in 1952 of chrome tank with blue panels.  In 1953 he lists chrome with grey panels.  Yours looks like pale blue with grey panels perhaps?  Chrome plating old tanks is a risky business as the polishing can make them too thin.

Yours looks like a very attractive alternative.

Are you worried about the colour/originality? it looks very nice as is.  You will find this to be one of the  nicest Dominators to ride,   From what I can make out you have the slow bend bolt up frame as  per production Manx and uprated front brake with flangeless alloy rims?  a perfect mix to ride in the environment I see in the background.

Original no, beautiful Yes, even more envious than Robert! 

Jon

Hello Richard,

As the others have said, welcome!

Next thing, if there is a section close(ish) to where you live,  is to go along and say hello! Always a good excuse to ride the bike and chat to like minded people. 

As the others have said, don't worry if your bike isn't 100% as it left the factory (mine certainly isn't!)- it is yours so enjoy it, and from my experience  and what I've seen, you are much more likely to use the bike if it isn't 'perfect'.

Regards.,

George 

My bike is a 1955 model-year Dominator 88 made in October 1954.  It was sold new in Auckland, New Zealand.  I have no trace of the original paint colour, but have evidence that it is an original poly blue bike, in a letter from the second owner who bought it two years old with 17k miles on it.

I know someone who has a couple of poly blue 1955 Nortons, one with some original paint.  He says it matches VolksWagen A6z paint. I think it's called Monsoon. Mine was completely refinished in the early 1980s with a New Zealand-assembly Honda car paint which is a fraction too blue to be correct. A photo of it was on this forum for a couple of months recently, taken at the rally in August.

My bike is a very standard 1955 model year bike, with the welded-on rear subframe, wide rear mudguard, full width hubs and alloy head with Monobloc carburettor.  I think yours has the 1955-7 half alloy, half iron full width front hub as on mine, instead of the 8" 'half width' iron item it should have.  At least, it is the right brake plate.

Personally I like the style of the bolt-up bikes with the short, narrow rear guard and iron hubs better than mine.

Paul

Having a passing interest in Norton blues (no that's not a new sickness!) I picked up on Pauls above comment.

Sadly he has it seems been given some duff info re the VW paint. That code number is for a green, Calypso Grun Metallic.

https://www.paintcolourchart.com/cars/c/088/088vwla6z.html

There's a VW/Audi "Monsoon Grey LX7R" listed elsewhere, but this is the basecoat, not a finish colour. It could have been this being referred to, as that A6Z requires a grey basecoat.

Apologies for the rivet counting.

A retired Bodyshop Manager.

Dear Richard,

I don't know whether the colours of your machine are correct but it looks superb!  You would be very welcome at our Open Day - see the Events listings - we had no Dominator models in 2022.

Good luck, Colin Cheney.