RACER TEST
P86
NORTON MANX 500 DAYTONA
ton for sale on the internet, back
when the late Roy Richards [the
NMM's founder] was still alive. I'd
been restoring bikes for him after
the tragic fire there, so although I
didn't have the money to buy this
bike, Roy did, and it turned out to
be [Dick] Klamfoth's race winner
that year, which is now on display at the museum. Then about
nine months later, in 2006, the
same chap in Florida I'd bought
that bike from for Roy came up
with four other Daytona Nortons
– yes, four of them! One was
[Billy] Mathews' 1948 bike he finished second on - or should have
won on, depending on who you
believe - there was another 1949
bike, a 1950 with a works engine
in a road frame, and this 1952
bike you've just ridden, which
it turned out from having the
matching numbers G11M42792,
is Klamfoth's last Daytona 200
winner! I ended up going over
to Florida and buying all four of
them when the dollar exchange
rate was very attractive. I subsequently sold the '49 bike to a
friend, and kept the 1950 engine.
But I've now restored the other
two bikes to authentic race-worthy condition, rather than exhibition standard, which would mean
you'd be reluctant to use them in
anything approaching anger."
Which Cohen indeed does
do, especially the 1952 Klamfoth
bike, which he's most notably
The bike was discovered in Florida
and is now owned by George
Cohen, England's foremost
authority on the Norton singles.
ridden in the three prestigious
Goodwood Revival races held so
far for pre-'53 bikes.
I had the chance to help Cohen shake down the Norton at
Mallory Park prior to its return
to Goodwood, and in doing so
enjoyed a personal ride down
memory lane. For I myself raced
an almost identical Daytona
Manx many years ago. One of
the reasons I parted with it was
that I found the vibration of that
first-series long-stroke (79 x 100
mm) 499cc double-knocker en-
