Spectre: 2014 Norton Domiracer in the UK

This is only the second “new” Norton motorcycle to be posted here on RSBFS and it seems somewhat overpriced but it is one of the rare Domiracer units of which only 50 were built so I figured it was worth a post.

Note:  Photo above is of Domiracer #1, the unit for sale is actually #35

Norton is one of the oldest motorcycle brands, having built its first motorcycle in 1902 but suffering through lean times and more than a few shutdowns and subsequent revival attempts, including a rotary racer effort.  Fortunately the most recent relaunch seems to be fairly stable, having begun in 2009 with a 961cc parallel twin powered standard known as the Commando model, followed by a 961 SE.  Overall Norton seems to have found a bit of a niche, currently producing about 1000 hand assembled motorcycles a year out of its castle-like Donington Hall facility in the UK (ext to the famous Donington Park racetrack and park).

Norton seems to be following a production plan similar to fellow UK relaunch success Triumph Motorcycles.  This strategy involves initially focusing on iterations of the same basic configuration/power plant numerous models.  For Norton this means the launch in 2009 of the 961 Commando, followed by the SE version several years later.  In 2014 internal design teams were allowed to submit their own ideas of what the next generation Norton platform might be and while this exercise in corporate team building was originally intended to result in just a one-off showbike, when the result was displayed the response was overwhelming and a decision was made to build 50 examples as a limited edition.   The result was the Domiracer, a polished tank and chrome dripped tracker that was barely street legal.  In an almost Ducati MH900E type reaction, within 14 days all were sold despite a hefty price tag of over 20,000 GBP per unit.

2014 Norton Domiracer #35 on ebay uk

Was the Domiracer any good?  Or was it just a few bits of chrome on top of a standard 961 Commando?   Well MCN titled its review of the Domiracer as “A sensory overload- better than sex!” and Cyclenews was nearly as enthusiastic.  Private reviews from actual riders stated that while the café racer stance/lower bars and adjusted footpegs initially appeared fairly extreme, the riding position wasn’t really an issue.  Some riders noted that power was still a somewhat low 80-ish bhp so the Domiracerwasn’t superbike fast but cafe racer’s are typically more about the experience than warp speed anyway and fit and finish  were reported as being the best produced to date by the reborn Norton concern.

The unit for sale on ebay has a low 282 miles and seems to be being offered by a UK dealer.   But before you start looking up shipping companies, there is one major issue- the seller has listed the price at an astonishing 39,500 GBP.  Yes you read that right.  That price is nearly double the original asking price and SE and Commando versions seem to be available for about half that price.

Perhaps the seller is trying to take advantage of the fact that a Norton Dominator (the model after the Domiracer) is rumored to appear in the new James Bond Spectre film, or perhaps the seller is merely using the bike as a sort of stalking horse with no real intention to sell it…I can’t honestly say if this price is reasonable or ridiculous…perhaps some of our RSBFS readers in the UK will chime in within the comments section and let us folks here in the states know.

-Marty/Dallaslavowner