Beauty and a BEAST
NORTONS ARE IN DERMOT LYNCH’S BLOOD. IT’S no coincidence that he chose a Norton 750 Atlas as the basis of his beautiful cafe racer. Take a look in his compact but well-equipped garage, and you’ll find another Norton Commando 750 up on the bench undergoing improvements. Only a Matchless under a blanket, plus a Ducati 996 hiding elsewhere, take his attention away, sometimes, from his Nortons.
“His name was Bernard Lynch, also known as Benny, and he was the tester of ejector seats for Martin-Baker, who pioneered the technology, which in those days was a load of shotgun cartridges stuck up a drainpipe.”
A black and white wedding photo hanging on the wall in Dermot’s house depicts a young man sporting a fine handlebar moustache, alongside his wife. You might guess that just by appearance he was a pilot, maybe Spitfires or Hurricanes. Not right, but not far off. “That was my dad,” explains Dermot. “His name was Bernard Lynch, also known as Benny. He was the tester of ejector seats for Martin-Baker, which pioneered the technology, and in those days it meant a load of shotgun cartridges stuck up a drainpipe. It was my father who carried out the first live flight test of the Martin-Baker system when he ejected from a Gloster Meteor Mk III.”
Mr Lynch senior rode Nortons, so Dermot’s attachment is understandable, but the choice
