CN
III IN THE PADDOCK
P146
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
D
oes anyone out there
remember what UJM
stands for? Back in the
1970s and the dying days of
the old Norton factory—a last
bastion of a once-great British
motorcycle industry—the sales
staff was desperately trying
to flog an outdated and leaky
vibrator in an Earl's Court show
hall filled with a new generation
of multi-cylinder overhead cam-
shaft high performers from the
land of the rising horsepower.
Norton got hold of one of
them (I think it was a Kawasaki
Z1), painted it matte black, and
presented it sneeringly as the
Universal Japanese Motor-
cycle—UJM.
Norton staggered on a short
while longer with an interest-
ing Wankel rotary, snuffed
it, and the great name has
now returned with a retroland
simulation of the terminal twin-
cylinder Commando, but with
indicators that don't fall off as
soon as you go above 4,500
rpm. Not every time, anyway.
The UJM invasion was mir-
rored in grand prix racing. As
the booming Manx Nortons
echoed into extinction, the
Eastern invasion began in
earnest. And after a time of
marvelous technical adventure
and innovation—Hondas with
four, five and then six cylinders,
UJM, AND THE WINGS THAT WON'T FLY
