Norton has just acquired a jaw-dropping collection of 55 rare classics from a single source. We also profile a custom Ducati Scrambler 1100, a classy BMW R80 café racer, a Royal Enfield Himalayan, and a Honda CB50 that was built in a spare bedroom.

Norton’s heritage collection It’s only been two years since India’s third-largest motorcycle manufacturer, TVS Motor Company, purchased the storied British marque, Norton Motorcycles. But while the future of the brand slowly unfolds, one thing is abundantly clear: its new owners are big on its heritage. They still build Nortons in the UK, and, as if to drive the point home, they’ve just acquired a collection of 55 classic Norton motorcycles.

Spanning from 1916 to 1992, these bikes are the opening salvo in Norton’s heritage collection. Remarkably, they were all purchased from a single collector?his name is Ian Loram, and he’s been buying up classic Nortons since the 90s. A true enthusiast, he admits that he would never pass up on the opportunity to buy a rare Norton that’s gone on sale. The collection is not only impressive in size, but it boasts some pretty special bikes too. There’s a 1921 Model 1 ‘Big Four’ in the set [below], which was said to be founder James Norton?s favorite bike. (He actually rode a sidecar-equipped Big Four 3,000 miles across Africa to visit his brother in South Africa in 1921.)

Then there’s the extremely rare 1930 DT speedway bike...