Roys Paul Dunstall- Norton
For Roy Fosslie from Ski, classic motorcycles have been a part of his everyday life since he was young, and in his garage there are a dozen machines of fine vintage. Several of these he has dismantled down to the smallest screw, then rebuilt them to a standard that is on par with when they left the assembly line, and perhaps better. The bike that Roy brought when I met him, a Paul Dunstall- Norton , is no exception.
The latest two-wheeler that Roy has built, a blood-soaked cafe racer, inspired by Paul Dunstall- Norton , started with an old front wheel from a Suzuki GT750 that he had lying around in the attic.
Roy really likes all types of motorcycles, and this time he decided that the time was right to build a cafe racer. Roy says that he spent a lot of time at the Motorsenteret at Hvervenbukta in Oslo when he was young, and the first two-wheeler he had was a 50cc Suzuki M12.
When he turned 18 in 1972, he took up heavy motorcycling, and the first heavy motorcycle he bought was a Suzuki T-350. 'This was a fast and easy-to-ride 2-stroke that I enjoyed a lot while reading motorcycle magazines and dreaming of an English cafe racer,' says Roy.
The late 1960s and early 1970s were the heyday of cafe racers, and brands such as BSA , Triumph and Norton were popular bikes that could be easily modified with parts from manufacturers such as Dresda, Rickman and Dunstall. For Roy, Paul Dunstall's bikes were his dream, but it would be many years before the dream came true. When a project appeared on finn.no in January 2025, Roy realized that there was now an opportunity to realize the dream back from the 70s. It turned out that many people had been in contact with the seller, but withdrew when they learned that the project had been dismantled and was in boxes.
For Roy, this was no obstacle, and since the project consisted of a 1955 Featherbed frame and a Norton engine, he was well on his way to finally being able to build a Dunstall-style cafe racer.
So a deal was struck, and the boxes of parts were brought back to the garage in Ski. “Since Dunstall is long gone, it’s been difficult to get hold of parts, but via addresses in England and ads on Ebay I was able to get both a Dunstall front fender and exhaust system,” says Roy.
At Classic Motorcycles in Sandefjord he also found parts for the bike, and he made some himself, such as the saddle and the clip-on handlebars. He specially adapted the gas tank to fit the bike. “I had to split it and then put it back together with a new profile on the underside to make room for the frame tubes,” says Roy.
This requires special skills, but with many years of experience in building and restoring classic machines, Roy solved the challenge with the gas tank.
Paul Dunstall's motorcycles often had large 2-cylinder Norton engines. Legendary twins such as the 88, 99, Atlas and Commando were often found in Dunstall frames, and Roy has mixed the best of several of these.
The basis is a 750cc Atlas, which he has optimized with parts from a Commando engine. “I have made various adjustments to the cylinder head, and have an engine that runs well,” says Roy.
The result of all the work must be said to be the perfect cafe racer. In addition to being polished down to the smallest detail, the "stuck" on the bike is race-inspired and essentially minimalist, just the way a cafe racer should be.
Roy smiles a little as he puts on his helmet, steps on the kick and lets the 750cc engine spin. The sound from the twin is deep and the pull impeccable. No wonder the man is smiling, the dream from the 70s has become reality, and that's largely thanks to a front wheel from a Japanese 2-stroke.
0/0