1930 M18 Norton

I've been exchanging emails with Alf for a while now and yesterday he sent me some photographs of his brilliant 1930 M18 Norton. Alf is holding the coffee cup in the picture below. The mayor of Sittingbourne in Kent is watching.

At the end of the 1920s - beginning of the 1930s, Norton motorcycles went through a rapid series of changes which makes the bikes from these era so very interesting. Norton had updated the range with saddle tanks and the frames were modified in the process. Parts like the rear brake plate anchor, fitting of the brake pedal and the steering damper were redesigned; the saddle construction was changed and the seat height became lower. An aluminium primary cover was installed. The pushrods and part of the rockers became enclosed. On the other hand, total-loss lubrication was still being used, Royal Enfield and Horton would supply hubs and brakes and the Sturmey Archer 'box with handshift was still fitted.

All of this made them into bikes with a 'split personality', having most of the desirable features of the flat tank Nortons - except for the flat tank! Many consider the flat tank models to be prettier but be assured that Norton knew exactly what they were doing when they updated their motorcycles. My 1929 M18 is more comfortable and handles better than it's flat tank predecessor of one year earlier.

Back to Alf's1930 M18. Alf has had it for 40 years and when you have a look at the 'before' photograph you may appreciate all the hard work that went into it's restoration.  Many parts were missing and Alf went as far as to import an original Horton front hub all the way from Australia. As a jeweller, Alf was skilled enough to make many of the other missing parts himself and the result is impressive; and earned him a bike that must be close to original specification. In his own words "The M18 is just big jewellery, it runs like oiled silk!"

1925 Model 2 Norton

Bert from Limburg sent me pics of the 1925 Model 2 Norton that he has just bought from George Cohen (that's George riding the Model 2, not Bert).

The Model 2 may be considered as a 16H with touring handlebars, balloon tyres and footboards. It was probably aimed at customers who liked to sit back and relax while the sportier gents would buy a 16H. A comparable model in the range was the 633cc "Big Four", often hitched to a sidecar. Still another model was the 17c "Colonial" which also resembled the 16H but which had a larger fuel tank and more ground clearance. The M2 looks somewhat outdated for 1925 with the combined oil/petrol tank, lack of automatic oilpump and the Druid forks.

The drawing above was taken from my 1925 Norton factory brochure. All in all, Bert's bike looks very much in original trim to me; a few differences compared to the brochure are the valanced mudguards and the drum rear brake of Bert's bike. Both items were fitted to other bikes in the 1925 range and may have been ordered from the factory when this M2 was aquired new. Or Bert's M2 may have been produced late in 1925 as the 1926 M2 models did have a drum rear break.

1920 Model 9 Norton

A very nice picture of a Norton with direct belt drive transmission from the engine crankshaft to the rear wheel. No clutch or gears were fitted; push-starting the engine resulted in direct forward motion and stopping would be done by pulling the valve lifter and stalling the engine. Some were fitted with a Phillipson pulley to the engine shaft. This pulley automatically varied the 'gear' under influence of speed and torque.

Direct belt drive machines were favoured by speed merchants as these motorcycles were lighter than models fitted with a clutch and gearbox. Famous names for these machines are the Brooklands Track Special and the Brooklands Road Special, the latter being fitted with mudguards etc. like the Norton in the picture. These machines were guaranteed to do respectively 70 and 75 MPH over the flying kilometre; very respectable figures for a 500cc sidevalve machine.

Mystery Norton part 2

A few blogs ago we discussed Rob's recent purchase, a Norton that had a few surprising features such as a two-stay frame combined with an Enfield rear hub and a 500cc Carroll cammy engine that seems to have an additional oil return line from the cambox fitted. Untill now no-one could shed light on it's history but Rob himself found a picture of a bike that shares some of the features. The pic comes from the 1930 issue of The Motorcycle. Though there are many differences, frame, tanks and the engine look remarkably similar.

Interestingly, the photo depicts the works bike on which Stanley Woods had won the 1930 Ulster Grand Prix. To be used on the road it had been kitted with outdated gaslights, which were probably easier to fit than a magdyno in place of the racing magneto. Arthur Bourne, better known as "Torrens", in his function as the editor of The Motorcycle was then allowed to test the factory bike and promptly crashed it into a delivery van!

Not suggesting that Rob's bike is the actual bike on which Woods won the GP, it may have been built to the same specification; and looking at the condition of Rob's bike I would not be surprised if it also crashed into something heavy at one time!

1927 16H Norton

This 16H used to belong to me and featured in other blogs; looking back I found I did not include too many photo's which is a shame because it is a highly original bike.

It's a 1927 model, despatched the 8th of March 1927. Typical features include the Druid forks and the square oiltank. The carb is an Amac controlled by levers, the magneto ML and it still uses beaded edge tyres.

The toolboxes were replacements for missing parts and I have to admit that I exchanged the original saddle for the one now fitted; but for the rest there should be little wrong with this bike.

I did take off the gaslights; they distract from the elegant lines of the machine

1930 ES2 Norton

Cees Kloosterhof from Medemblik in the Netherlands, in the pics, was a keen motorcyclist. One of his bikes must have been a brand new ES2 Norton as the bike looks factory fresh.

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It's a 1930 ES2, identified by the three stay frame, the B&L oilpump on the timing cover, alloy chain case, forward mounted dynamo and Enfield 8" front hub. Exceptionally, the forks are Druids with enclosed central spring. These forks -the ES type- were standard wear for vintage CJs and JEs and it is Simon's guess that this bike is fitted with the next size up as those for the 350s would have been a bit light for a 500. Not many people fitted the ES Druids and Norton probably fitted them on request. In the light of front forks you may enjoy the anecdote from Simon below;

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"A close friend of mine - who toppled off the perch some years ago, aged 90 plus - bought a new ES2 in 1931 and wrote to Nortons complaining at the poor (compared to Webbs) damper adjustment facilities on their own forks. He got a polite note back saying they were excellent and - more or less- stop bothering us and p*ss off! He did - he sold the Norton which he said was heavy and sluggish and bought a 1931 ex TT OK Supreme JAP which was miles faster than the over the counter 1933 International belonging to a friend of his.....they used to have burn-ups on the then new Watford by-pass - the 30s equivalent of the 60s Rockers! Enough sentimental drivel - cheers S"

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(The pics were taken from the october 2009 issue of the Dutch VMC journal)

Paul's CS1

Paul's Moore-engined CS1; a very fine example of the breed. Impressively, Paul doesn't use kickstart levers and doesn't bother about retarding the ignition. Pushing the bike for a few meters and dropping the clutch while jumping in the saddle invariably starts his Nortons. 

Andrew's CS1 Norton

This is Andrew's 1928 CS1 Norton. He bought it 7 years ago and it took him 6 years to restore; it had been raced in the early 60s and had had a hard life, losing many of the original bits. Fortunately it retained it's original frame, engine and gearbox.

Andrew fabricated most of the missing parts himself, including the handle bars, leavers, foot brake, rockers, positive stop gear change mechanism, foot rests, stand, tank caps, mudguard stays, saddle frame, the twin float bowls, Brooklands can and all nuts and bolts. More to follow!

ES2 Norton

Another old photo of a Norton from Simon's archives. The photo dates from '29-'30 and depicts Ewart John (Tug) Wilson of Nottingham. The bike is an ES2 and except for the engine itself was exactly the same as the CS1. Still using gaslights and the original double barrel silencer.

Mystery Norton

Rob recently bought yet another pile of bits that will one day make a Norton; he had a few already but this one appeared to be so special that he could not let it go.

The Norton is an OHC model using a Carroll engine. The engine and frame numbers (respectively CS49056 and 42864) match and identify the bike as a 1931 CS1 that was despatched on the 13th of October 1930 to the famous Liverpool dealer and tuner Victor Horsman.

Remarkably, the bike uses the Enfield rear hub but in combination with a two stay frame construction. This is rather exceptional; typical 1931 CS1 Nortons use the Enfield rear hub but in combination with a three stay frame. (The 350cc CJ models did already use a two stay frame in combination with the Enfield hub in those years.)

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The engine has a few remarkable features too; it is an early engine, as identified by the lack of the oilfilterbolt in the crankcase timing case. Further, the cambox has a provision to drain excess oil via an external oil line fitted to the right side of the cambox. There are adjusters for the felts that seal the rockers on top of the cambox; not only at the bottom as on later models. The engine uses coil valve springs and the inspection cover looks different. The exhaust pipe still sits at the left side of the engine.

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In that light have a look at the text below that I copied from Paul Norman's website:

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"The new model was offered to the public late in 1930 (although still being advertised as the earlier CS1 and CJ model types) and also boasted a modified and updated chassis. The earliest of the Carroll engines had a slightly different cylinder stud spacing to later engines, and did not have an oil pressure indicator or oil filter in the crankcase timing case. Also apparent in the earliest photos of the racing model in 1930 was an additional oil pipe running from the right side of the front cambox, down to the corresponding area of the timing case. I assume this was to assist oil drainage, although it was removed by the time the 1931 model range was introduced. This earliest of models also looked to have a top bevel inspection cover with a slightly different curve to later models. Another interesting point with the early versions of the engine is that they were fitted with standard coil valve springs. This is surprising really, when one of the International and Manx engines most well known and refining features was its later use of exposed hairpin valve springs, with associated oil loss! Hairpin springs were not introduced until 1934."

Hurried drawings made for the 1929 Olympia show are probably not correct but some features, like the oil return line from the cambox are clearly visible.
It's tempting to speculate that Rob has one of these rare and early models as described by Paul. Of course we would like to know more and we hope that anyone reading this story may recognize the bike by the pictures or numbers. Do contact your host or Rob directly (at rob@freshflex.com) when you can tell us more about this special Norton. (To contine follow this link )

Lex's 1926 M18 Norton

This is Lex's 1926 M18; bought one and a half year ago from Ron Farthing. It has needed some work since, new main bearings and bigend and some attention to the gearbox. The engine, or at least the cases, are somewhat newer than the rest; the engine number suggests 1928-1929. The carb is a later Amal 289. The mudguards are very sporty, resembling those fitted to the racers. A very nice and fast bike!

c1938 16H Norton

Wim from Belgium sent me pics of the c1938 16H Norton he rebuilt together with his father. Wim's father had known the bike for decades before he could persuade the owner to part with it. The previous owner had used the Norton to power a woodsaw; the rear wheel had been removed and the rear chain connected to the sawing table. A hole had been chopped in the primary chain case to run a ventilator, via a belt, to supply the engine with cold air. Restoration was still quite straighforward. Nice one, Wim!

1937 CS1 Norton

This is the 1937 CS1 Norton that I could have bought from George Cohen early in 2002; which I didn't for all sorts of reasons. The bike had matching engine, frame, gearbox and forks numbers and was described to be very close to original specification.

It's the tamed version of the cammy models as produced by Norton at the end of the thirties. Distinguishing features, engine-wise, are the horizontal inlet stub and coil springs. The frame has a distinct bend just above the cylinder head; for the rest the frame, wheels and tinware look very similar to those of my 1935 ES2 model.

In 2002 the asking price was a lot of money, today I wouldn't think twice about buying it!

Pat's M18 Norton

The picture on top depicts Patrick in Belgium, on the 11th of April 2008, sitting on the M18 Norton he had bought half an hour earlier. Close to Brugge we had stopped for French fries before taking the long way home again.

It's a 1930 model, the first year that enclosed pushrods were used. It's got the somewhat higher frame that was also used on the 600cc M19 Nortons. Despite the saddle tank it has a truly vintage feel to it, with the Enfield rear hub and the Sturmey Archer gearbox.

The bike has been carefully rebuilt since; bearings in engine, gearbox and wheels were replaced, gearbox and clutch needed attention, brakes were relined and the magneto rewound. The carb is a new Amal 276. For the rest it was just a matter of very careful reassembly.

Pat took it to the Isle of Man this year and apart from a few teething troubles it proved utterly reliable and a joy to ride; a very nice bike!

Girder forked Norton Twin

The bike that was never made. This is Rotte (with a '/' through the 'o') from Danmark and his very special Norton twin. We briefly met in Castletown, at the Isle of Man. My guess is that it uses an ES2 frame, a lot of WD16H parts and the engine from a Dominator. It looks good and I'm sure it will kick the ass of any pre war Speed Twin. Follow this link for more pics from the Southsiders MC blog.

Binks carburetters

From Simon's archives: all you would like to know about Binks 2-jet carburetters like the ones fitted to Moore CS1 Nortons

Spark plugs

Rob made a study of which types of 18mm spark plugs work best in his 1928 Model 18 Norton. I would like to add that in my experience a somewhat hotter plug (usually identified by a lower number) works better if you still run a piston without an oil control ring. Here we go:

NKG A-6, A-7 and AB-7

Champion D9, D10, UK10, 6-COM

Bosch M175 T1, M-7A

KLG M60

AC 83 COM

Lodge HBV

For Sale or Swap: Norton 16H Flat Tank frame and forks

Too many projects on my hands too; therefore this approx. 1923 16H flat tank frame may find a new owner.

The frame has met with some serious challenges, like a Blitzkrieg and a few decades in all kinds of weather so it can not be described as "being in perfect shape". There has been -and still is- serious rust in many places. It did however get professional attention and some tubes have been replaced on frame and forks. I think it needs more work but it will be very usable in the end.

The frame has been in dr. George's workshop (though he is not the one who did the repairs) and he may be able to tell you more about it; contact him for a second opinion.

Flat tank frames do not come up for sale very often; don't ask for a price but make me a serious offer that I cannot refuse. Or even better, suggest vintage motorcycle parts to swap the frame against. I'm looking for Webb forks, Sturmey-Archer gearboxes, Horton front hubs, Royal Enfield hubs, Moore OHC engine parts, Amal type 6 carbs, vintage magneto's etc.

1928 CS1 Norton

Another toy in the shed; the previous owner had too many projects on his hands and could be persuaded to part with this one. Most of the work seems to have been done, and quite well too!

1929 M18 Norton

Paul from Indonesia sent me a few pics of his 1929 M18 Norton.