RED is the colour

Ask any driver of an enthusiast’s sports car, be it a classic MG or a modern Ferrari, why red is the only suitable colour for their macho wheels. ‘Exciting, thrilling and stirs the blood’, might be the-off-cuff reply. Believe what you will, but the wisdom of expert psychologists informs us that the colour red is associated with energy, war, strength, power and determination as well as passion, desire, love and success. The colour red is also supposed to enhance human metabolism, increase respiration rate, and raise our blood pressure. Another understanding is that red attracts attention more than any other colour and is therefore often used to signify danger.

Small wonder then, that the presence of a red motorcycle can cause an otherwise disinterested biker to come across all hot and bothered. Would it be far-fetched or fanciful to deduce that several popular Italian thoroughbreds such as MV Agusta, Ducati and Moto Guzzi exploited red as a cunning ploy to win sales? Small wonder, then, that we all get excited about Italian motorcycles.

The same could be said of the flamboyant red Norton Dominator 99 that poses seductively throughout these pages. According to owner Sandy Bloy, red is the only colour for this popular 1950s twin – definitely not dull polychromatic grey or boring, bland and passé black! Sandy, as we can see, is passionate about red Norton Dominators, and who can blame him?

Back in his teenage phase, Sandy’s first encounter with a red Dominator occurred when his friend Jim ordered a brand new, 1956 Model 99 from Pride & Clarke in London. The bike was delivered by British Rail, and Sandy vividly recalls the impression the Norton had on him when they went to collect Jim’s new bike at Perth station. The Dominator was double-wrapped in corrugated cardboard held by string and sticky tape, but hints of glinting chrome and gloss red paintwork