He went on a seatrip to New York and back which helped him to recover but he suffered ill health all his life which prematurely aged him and led to his nickname 'Pa'.

In 1909 Norton exhibited motorcycles with his own engine design at the Stanley Show,[6] the Big Four side valve single which remained in production until 1954.

[7] A road going motorcycle, the Norton Model 18 was launched in 1923 and became a best seller, as well as establishing many records, including Alec Bennet's Senior TT win.

This journey was a huge success and seen as a great reliability test trial for the Standard Big Four and De Luxe Side car.

[8] Norton was diagnosed with terminal cancer of the bowel in 1922 but remained actively involved with the companies racing programme.

In 1924 he was forced to watch the Isle of Man TT from a chair but was delighted to see Norton motorcycles winning two of the races.