Norton Atlas 750

Norton Atlas 750 is one of the most interesting English motorcycles from the 1960s. It represents a time when British motorcycle manufacturers were competing to make ever bigger and faster motorcycles, especially for the American market. The 750cc big twin measured forces against, among others, Triumph Bonneville , and Harley's big Big Twins.

The Atlas was a powerful, classic road motorcycle with a strong parallel-twin engine, and an important model in the development from Norton Dominator to the later and very popular Norton Commando 750. The reason Norton developed the Atlas 750 was particularly the demand from the USA. American buyers wanted bigger engines, more torque and better long-distance capacity. The Atlas was first launched for the export market in 1962. It later came to the British domestic market in 1964. The model was produced throughout the rest of the 1960s, before Commando took over as Norton's main large sports model towards the end of the 60s.

The 750cc engine had a 360-degree crankshaft. This means that both pistons move up and down at the same time, while combustion takes place alternately. Most importantly, the Atlas engine was designed for powerful midrange and good pulling power, not primarily high revs. A known weakness was the vibrations, especially at higher revs, and this was one of the reasons Norton later developed Commando 750 and 850 with its Isolastic suspension system.

One of the greatest qualities of the Atlas was its chassis, specifically the famous Featherbed frame, originally developed for racing, and the stable Roadholder fork. This combination gave the Atlas very good handling characteristics. The Atlas 750 was known for its good stability at high speeds, and good balance between engine and chassis

• Technical data: Norton Atlas 750, 1966 model:
• Engine: 2-cylinder 4-stroke, OHV
• Displacement: 745 cc
• Power: 49 hp at 6800 rpm.
• Gearbox: 4 speed
• Tank volume:
• Weight: 181 kg
• Top speed: 184 km/h