John Tickle is a legendary name in the world of Norton, not least because it was he who – whisper it low – improved the Manx Norton.
When he had bought the contents of the AMC race shop in 1966, Colin Seeley also acquired all the Manx Norton rights and parts. He decided to concentrate on the AMC products and so he sold the Manx Norton side of the business to former fellow sidecar competitor John Tickle in November 1969. John and his wife Cathy were already well-known as a sidecar race team, while John was already producing bolt-on accessories for café racers.
At first John concentrated on providing spares to racers who wanted to keep their Manx Nortons not only on the road, but competitive on the racetrack, thus ensuring that many machines continued to race. But he was also engaged on a bigger project – redesigning the Manx. In 1971 he unveiled a heavily redesigned, upgraded and developed machine that he called the T5. A completely new ‘low-line’ frame housed a short-stroke engine and either a five or six-speed gearbox.
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Moreover, the T5 weighed 284lbs, a remarkable 46lbs less than a standard Manx Norton, meaning that the now elderly Manx Nortons would remain competitive until Yamaha’s two-stroke twins became popular. A 650cc T6 followed the T5, again lighter and faster than the original, and the Tickle Nortons remain in production until 1973.
In 1978 John Tickle sold the rights to the Manx name to Unity Equipe who would sell those rights to Andy Molnar in 1994. John retired to the west coast of Wales where he lived until his death.
