Norvin Cafe Racer: Norton Featherbed Vincent Rapide

Larry Horn of Huntington Beach, California shows us his Norvin, a Vincent Rapide engined cafe racer built around a Norton Featherbed frame. All riding video shot with the GoPro Hero 3+.

[@frankmummolo7727]

Wow. Wow. And wow! Having rebuilt a (stock) bike or two over the years, I can imagine what dedication, engineering and creativity went into these. Tip of the hat to you, sir! Very, very well done!

[@bykermike1233]

You are one very lucky man ,what a pleasure to view these great bikes....

[@craigkaschan4822]

Thanks heaps for sharing your bikes with us I’m a huge Vincent fan. Such a treat to see your beautiful bikes. 🇦🇺

[@lawrencetu]

What a class act you are. Vintage English beauties both of them. Most people could only dream of a bike like this and you are the designer and caretaker of two of them, fantastic dreamer, good luck my friend.

[@tommiles8982]

Love it.. My mate who sadly passed away last week always wanted one. He would be proud of you because he didn’t want disk brakes. He had a lovely triumph t110. Weirdly has now made me really want to own or build one. So great advice, need to change my bank balance and also get my mhr ducati on the road. I’m hoping that the misses will see it the same! Probably not. But one can only dream. Your earlier Norvin is beautiful and I bet your baby. Very jealous!

[@FCUChicago]

Excellent craftmanship! Thanks a lot for sharing & enjoy the ride!

[@Peasmouldia]

Ogri would be proud of you sir. Sorry I'm a bit late to the party as usual, and you may need to google Ogri, but I can assure you it's the ultimate Norvin complement. Thank you sir.

[@declanian5556]

No words can describe the beauties of the red one....u give a hope for some1 to own a bike like tht one day....god bless u ...& enjoy the ride young men....

[@edwardhyde4861]

TWO Norvins?????? now that is just greedy!! :D you have done a beautiful job on the new one, just had me drooling so thanks for sharing.

[@Impalamark64]

Absolutely beautiful! The green one is my favorite, but I like the genuine Vincent speedometer on the red one. I love the drum brakes! Those four leading shoe brakes are a class act! I have an original '67 Norton Atlas with the Roadholder forks and the featherbed frame. I also have a '74 Honda CB350F, with a retrofitted front drum brake from a '70 CB350K. I changed to the drum brake for a more retro look.

[@kubelwagen516]

The red one is so beautiful specially with the red featherbed frame.

[@BilgemasterBill]

Thanks for taking the time to give us a looksee at those two unique rides.

[@kurtjens]

Beautiful....thanks for sharing all your hard work.

[@shannonwittman950]

Man what a fortunate guy you are, to restore and own and ride so many great marques. You have the knowledge, the work space -- and the funds, I presume -- and you know the right people to be doing it right. All that and you live in beautiful Huntington Beach! If you ever need an assistant who would love to learn and happily do the grunt work, I'm over here in Costa Mesa with lots of free time. Thanks for the great videos! I hope to see some of your bikes at meets around here soon!

[@themotochannel]

Shannon Wittman You should try to show up at the monthly Vintage Bike OC gathering which has been held second Sunday of the month for years in Huntington Beach. Location is about to change so check out vintagebikeoc.com for details on new location. Larry occasionally shows up to that.

[@kirkyandka7712]

Thanks for posting this, you are a talented and inspirational engineer. Well done.

[@MrLipyeart]

TOP CLASS BUILD,well done fine engineering skills

[@themotochannel]

+mr gruff Larry used to run his own motorcycle repair shop back in the day so it's no surprise his restorations come out so well done.

[@mebeasensei]

Fantastic. Lovely bike, great story. I wish I could do something like that. For years I've been dreaming of the ideal tank and wanna make one, but don't know how to fabricate. Maybe get a bit of inspiration here!

[@2Truth2you]

Wow. Thanks for the interesting and in-depth expo of your bikes. Two absolute beauties. Well done. Nice hobby.

[@johnhfish79]

Those are beautiful bikes. Very well done.

[@prodrift101]

What a gorgeous bike.

[@chriscunningham6362]

Was that "I enjoy pain or I enjoy paying? Both are absolutely gorgeous bikes! Great motors and I love the Featherbed frames!

[@ronanrogers4127]

I used to have one of those front brakes, they're brilliant (Fontana, from memory. Mine was off a TZ Yamaha GP bike). Mine was on an AJS 7r, which didn't need anywhere near that braking power, but it looked so cool.

[@smoothlennie]

That's a beautiful bike and a credit to you!

[@Gallows_Motorcycle]

larry you're an artist!! respect

[@rogerbranton1752]

OMG....how do you thumbs-down a video like this?? Wonderful motorcycle. As if a Triton wasn't cool enough - right? Great work!

[@WaveAction777]

2 beautiful bikes !!

[@ibadi45]

Congratulations, both are very beautiful bikes. You have a lot of knowledge and good taste.

[@charlesmintus3063]

Hell of a guy Larry...what a pleasure it is to see such craftsmanship. I want to know how do they ride and corner in comparison to the Norton Fastback as an example?

[@RonnieTheFish]

Great bikes Larry .. And Great work

[@someonebald2022]

HRD-Vincent: The best thing to come out of Stevenage until Fields of the Nephilim! :)

[@DonMacAllister]

Hi Larry, interesting in that received this from a good friend who lives in Scotland and a norton collector. i live downtown HB. Don MacAllister

[@enriquezambrano1]

Excellent job Larry, one of the kind bike, I would like to ask you what is the brand name of those clip on handlebars, they look real good on the bike. Thank you for the video, I love that bike. Take care...EZ

[@helmutscheinert]

Very very welldone bikes!

[@beb5816]

love your red Norvin mate. Good camera and commentary on the video. At present working on a '49 Shadow but no contender for your Norvin.

[@soldtobediers]

Red frame was the right way to go. The feather bed frame is highly deserved of the defining details normally obscured by the mundane black frame. -gilpin 3-9-16

[@gmatty2975]

Beautiful job....thanks for sharing. ;0)

[@craiggebauer7519]

Great video ! got some idea's for my simple Brit Bike build

[@MrSkunk1964]

magic absolute magic ...

[@dvamateur]

I find it more than amazing for an American to wear a Jawa sweatshirt.

[@derekheuring4646]

Andrew: You may not know this but Sears sold re-badged Jawa motorcycles through their stores in North America. Jawa is a well known and respected name in motorcycles.

[@franciscomelendez3894]

Great machine Larry Where did the brakes come from? Featherbed is custom made for Vincent engine?

[@johngreenwood1972]

Magnificent.

[@SmellyEllie2]

Superb British bike.

[@seivaDsugnA]

The Vincent complements the featherbed lines so well. Thanks for explaining the tank. What swing-arm bearing mods, if any?

[@jarnosaarinen4583]

Very nice!

[@norvinmorrow6938]

wish I could find one to own for obvious reasons! Norvin from Colorado

[@Rahul-tc1nx]

That jawa sweater😍

[@kvvaghul6735]

Sighhh.. I would kill for that motorcycle..

[@JavierBonillaC]

I used to ride with no protection on my ankles and now I have a muscle from my back and skin from my hip instead of my right ankle skin... The bike is fantastic though. Congrats.

[@minoosethna4615]

Change of silencer from fishtail to round muffler?

[@MrDaiseymay]

EXCELLENT--SUPER JOB.

[@norvinp]

This bike is up for auction in January 2020 in Las Vegas at Mecum"s Auction

[@johnanthony5393]

Antone know who makes the front brake lever, I have one similar but too far from bars!

[@fisselfritz]

Do those enormous front brake drums hide discs? I have seen that conversion.

[@EngineTuning]

Excellent job, but the damper control appears dangerously high.

[@bikerbisht110]

Love it

[@johnfalkenstine8377]

Very nice motorcyles. Where did you get the Jawa shirt

[@themotochannel]

John Falkenstine We couldn't ask Larry personally, but we're pretty sure he bought it from Metro Racing. Just Google "metro racing vintage motorcycle t-shirt". They sell online from their website. If you are in Los Angeles, Garage Company stocks them so you can see them before buying. If not, check their dealer locater on their site to find the dealer nearest you. Hope that helps! Thanks for watching our videos!

[@johnfalkenstine8377]

The Moto Channel you are right! thank you very much.

[@polskich]

magic

[@phonicwheel933]

Awesome!

[@wormytom]

top episode

[@charliebrown4624]

Is the engine a Vincent, or a HRD???

[@michaelhayward7572]

Nice guy. Great bikes. Subscribed. Regards, one owner from new 79 T140, nickel plated, stroked Weslake crank, Hunt mag etc etc. Also have a very non stock 89 Guzzi Cali mk lll. And some Yamaha trials bikes...

[@fisselfritz]

Sorry. I hear that it isn't. Beautiful conversion. I've had Three Nortons. See my You Tube piece on the British Motorcycle Museum before the fire!

[@olivercromwell3763]

I'm building one with a yam TR1 engine and Monoshock with Fireblade USD front end, Wish Me Luck.

[@danamuise4117]

how many freakin bikes does this guy own??

[@b.r.buckeyeman460]

Why do the wheels appear to revolve backwards.??

[@seivaDsugnA]

Norvins do that. It's normal. Also, time passes slower when you're riding one, making it virtually impossible to arrive anywhere on time.

[@crobulari2328]

If you fit blue bulbs for night riding this speeds things up as blue light travels faster than white pulling you along a little faster. Some would say.

[@tryarunm]

Because the engine runs backwards. However, the jet blast from the exhaust forces the machine forward, skids it along, as it were.

[@RoverWaters]

nice

[@stevepearce1913]

Great bikes - but you must be a safe and slow rider to go out on them without even a pair of gloves let alone leathers and boots. Or are the roads made of rubber in California - i remember ride safe at all times!

[@normanhumphries3580]

Beautiful bike, but never, ever ride without gloves Larry.

[@johnspencer8038]

Do you know if Bill Bibiani believed in Jesus or not ? I had that '01 Hinckley Bonnie in Monrovia. I've always wondered that about Bib. .... Whether or not he believed in Jesus. Do you ? I'm going to my first wife's funeral tomorrow. She died a week ago, from cancer. Cathy Spencer believed. "Absent from the Body, present with the Lord." John Spencer

[@declanian5556]

...

[@JackF99]

Lovely bikes and great narration but get out of your pajamas if yer riding on KZbin.