Sammy Miller’s Norton Kneeler to star at Stafford

Thisyear multiple world champ and museum owner Sammy Miller is bringing his 1953 350cc Norton ‘Kneeler’, also known as the ‘Silver Fish’.

Pulled out of Sammy’s Norton collection at his museum in Hampshire, this bike is, well, unique!

The ‘Kneeler’ was Norton’s experimental attempt to improve the outdated Manx Norton’s performance, and where better to start than the aerodynamics. Sheet aluminium was hammered into fairings and mounted around a racer that was lying practically flat, the theory being that bike and rider will cut through the air with reduced drag and improve the mph.

The project made its debut at the 1953 North West 200 race, where works rider Ray Amm set a lap record before retiring with fuel pump problems. The ‘Silver Fish’ (as it was nicknamed for obvious reasons) was never seriously raced again, mainly because of issues with stability, as the bike was slender and fast in a straight line but prone to buffeting laterally.

Ray Amm and Eric Oliver used this bike to set numerous speed records at Montlhery, achieving 60 world records. You can find the ‘Kneeler’ on Mortons’ magazine stand M1a in the main hall.