Monday 26 October 2009

1931 Model CS1 Norton










Rob recently bought a pile of bits that may one day make a fine Norton.

The engine comes from an early 1931 CS1 that was despatched on the 13th of October 1930 to the famous Liverpool dealer and tuner Victor Horsman. This early engine lacks the oilfilter bolt 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 at the bottom only as on later models. The exhaust pipe still sits at the left hand side of the machine.

It was originally fitted with an MDB1 Lucas Magdyno and Norton (not Webb) forks. Gearbox was the old type Sturmey Archer LS box (not the new type III).

This bike uses the Enfield rear hub in combination with a 2-stay frame. 1930 CS1s typically have 3-stay frames and we've got only one example of what could be a 1930 2-stay Works CS1 so it's hard to say whether this frame and engine are a matched pair. 1931 CS1 Works racers did have 2-stay frames while other 1931 CS1 still used the 3-stay frames. CJ models always used 2-stay frames, and in combination with Enfield hubs pre-1932.