Home Manufacturer Contact

Classic Bikes Custom Bikes Designs Individual Racing Bikes Technical Twitter Video 
AC Schnitzer Adler AJP AJS Aprilia Ariel Arlen Ness ATK Avinton / Wakan Bajaj Bakker Barigo Benelli Beta Big Bear Big Dog Bimota BMS Choppers BMW Borile Boss Hoss Boxer Brammo Britten BRP Cam-Am BSA Buell / EBR Bultago Cagiva Campagna CCM CF Moto Confederate CR&S Daelim Derbi Deus DP Customs Ducati Excelsior GASGAS Ghezzi Brian Gilera GIMA Harley-Davidson Harris Hartford HDT USA Hesketh Hero Highland Honda Horex HPN Husaberg Husqvarna Hyosung Indian Jawa Junak Kawasaki KTM KYMCO Laverda Lazareth Lehman Trikes LIFAN Magni Maico Mash Matchless Matt Hotch Megelli Midual Mission Molot Mondial Moto Guzzi Moto Morini Mr Martini MTT Münch MV Agusta MZ / MuZ NCR Norton NSU OCC Paton Paul Jr. Designs Peugeot Piaggio Revival Cycles Rickman Roehr Roland Sands Royal Enfield Sachs Shaw Speed Sherco Sunbeam Suzuki SYM SWM TM Racing Triumph Ural Velocette Vespa Victory Vilner Vincent VOR Voxan Vyrus Walt Siegl Walz Wrenchmonkees Wunderlich XTR / Radical Yamaha Zero

Norton Dunstall

   

Make Model.

Norton Dunstall

Year

1966 - 75

Engine

Parallel twin, OHV

Capacity

745 cc / 45.5 cu in
Cooling System Ari cooled
Starting Kick

Transmission 

4-Speed
Final Drive Chain
Wheelbase 1410 mm / 55.5 in
Seat Height 800 mm / 31.5 in
Source Wikipedia

Paul Dunstall was a specialist tuner of Norton twins in the 1960s and early 1970s. He started modifying Nortons in 1957, at the age of 18, when he converted a Norton Dominator into a competitive racing motorcycle. As well as fitting a Norton Manx gearbox and wheels, Dunstall balanced the crankshaft and installed the Dominator engine into a Manx Norton frame. With places and two outright wins at Brands Hatch in his first season, after graduating to a higher level with places in his second season at other circuits, Dunstall retired from racing to work in his family's scooter shop and develop performance motorcycle parts

Initially Dunstall conceived simple 'bolt on' modifications such as 'Goldie' pattern straight-through replacement silencers which he called 'Hi-Tune' and exhaust pipes, creating his first catalogue in 1961 and gradually growing the business.

Dunstall built engines for other racers and purchased parts left over from Norton's Domiracer project when the factory closed in 1963, using his know-how to further develop high performance motorcycles built to order.

From 1966, Dunstall's customers could choose from a standard catalogue offering a range of speed parts, race-styled accessories and complete ready-modified bikes[4] from Norton, BSA, and Triumph in capacities from 500cc upwards.

In 1966 Dunstall Motorcycles became a motorcycle manufacturer in its own right, so that Dunstalls could compete in production races and the Auto-Cycle Union, which is the governing body for motorcycle racing in Britain, approved Dunstall Dominators as a marque for the production race in the 1967 Isle of Man TT.

The last bikes from the featherbed-based machines in the 1969 catalogue were stated as Dunstall Norton Sprint and Export 750 together with the newest bike in the range the isolastic-framed Dunstall Norton Commando.

By the late 1960s, Dunstall had sold to celebrity customers including film star Steve McQueen and Keith Emerson, of progressive rock band Emerson Lake & Palmer.

After the 1968 race season successes, development of the late-1940s designed parallel twin engine was nearing its zenith for the technology of the time with power outputs of 73 horsepower for the race-spec 745cc Atlas-based engine.

For the 1969 season, Dunstall created a new machine with a lower frontal area, the inclined engine being 'underslung' from a large-diameter steel tubing spine frame (nicknamed The Drainpipe) designed by Eddie Robinson The main frame component ran front to back with a second large-diameter vertical tube at rear of the power plant carrying the engine oil, avoiding the need for the traditional separate oil tank. The filler was conventionally placed ahead of the seat nose.

Although Dunstall's open-class racers (non production-race category) were equipped with lowboy frames based on the works design which Dunstall had acquired during the Norton factory race-shop closure, this re-design was based on an established concept not yet applied to the Norton twin for road racing. With no front downtube(s) hence no conventional engine mountings, the spine frame needed substantial cantilever bracing from the central-point of the frame forwards under the gearbox and engine to control the torque reaction

The original 'drainpipe' configuration included aluminium dual 'pannier' fuel tanks inside the top-half fairing sides to lower the centre of gravity and improve handling but following fuel starvation problems a conventional fuel tank was fitted.

 

 

 

 

 

 







Motorcyclespecs.co.za Terms of Use:    All original, copyrighted material like all specification sheets and some of the articles may not be copied, cut and pasted, published or otherwise reproduced in any way in any medium, which means, don’t post this on another website.   If you want somebody else to see this, send, share or tweet a link or post a link to this page.   Some country's motorcycle specifications can be different to motorcyclespecs.co.za. Confirm with your motorcycle dealer before ordering any parts or spares.    Any correction or more information on these motorcycles will kindly be appreciated.    Any objections to sourced articles or photos placed on motorcyclespecs.co.za will be removed upon request.     Contact      Policy    Links