Electrifying?
Berliner Motor Corporation was the US distributor for all but a handful of European motorcycle marques from the 1950s right through to the 1980s. To the motorcycle companies they bought bikes from – Ducati, Matchless, Moto Guzzi, Norton to name but a few – they were the portal to, and voice of, the incredibly lucrative US market, and as a result, had to be listened to.
Berliner Corp’s wishes, suggestions and often demands influenced the development, production or discontinuation of many European models, so when straight-talking founder Joseph Berliner told Norton he needed an electric-start lightweight with indicators to compete with the Japanese, that’s what they’d have to give him.
It wasn’t a huge leap for the Norton engineers, as they already had a lightweight machine on which to base it.
Launched at Earls Court in November I958 to celebrate Norton’s 60th anniversary, the 250cc twin-cylinder Jubilee was billed as ‘
