Charles Burki

Charles Burki was born in Indonesia ("Nederlands Indie"). From a very young age he combined excellent skills as an illustrator with a strong preference for technical subjects. When he settled in Holland in the middle of the 1930s, motorcycles were his favorite subject. He made many illustrations for the Dutch motorcycle magazine "Motor", like the one below (that must be a Norton M20 and a translation is not required!). It will not come as a surprise that he spent his earnings on fast motorcycles and in 1935 he bought an M30 International. Used solo for two years it was then hitched to a Steib sidecar; that's his wife Sophia in the chair.

In 1942 Charles was captured by the the Japanese and he spent three years in prison camps in Indonesia and Japan. Miraculously, he first survived when the boat he was travelling on was sunk by a torpedo. Then, on the 9th of august 1945, he survived the blast of the "Fat Man" atomic bomb that destroyed Nagasaki from a distance of less than 2000 meters.

The drawings below were made in the Fukuoka 14 prison camp in Nagasaki on pieces of scrap paper that he had found. Obvious, they were made from memory.

After the war, Charles continued to make a living drawing illustrations for companies such as Philips, Fokker and DAF, and off course for "Motor" magazine;  read more in the excellent book by Vincent Denters (above).

1928 CS1 Norton

A very tidy and correct looking CS1 Norton, that lives somewhere in South Africa. When asked to identify the year that this bike was built I got the following answer.

How can one can tell 1927/28/29 CS1 from each other, the simple answer is 'with difficulty!' As far as I know no changes were recorded in the write-up of the show models but that does not mean they did not occur, especially internally! For instance the rocker arms were made thicker at some stage, the lower splined end of the vertical shaft was altered and - almost sure - the length of the vertical shaft changed too. Probably there were some detail changes in the finish. Cheers, Simon.

Update on 05 december 2009 when I was contacted by the owner:

Hi, I am the owner of this 1928 CS1 - registration TJ 22. The registration was it's original, dating from 1928 and was a Johannesburg number. I knew the bike from 1973 and always coveted it. The previous owner passed away as quite a young man and the bike was left to his 10 year-old son. It had failed on one of our major rallies and the son, with no mechanical knowledge, did not have the capability or training to fix it. It languished in their garage for 12 years when, in 2000, the widow contacted me and offered the partly stripped bike - which I grabbed! I had to sell a 300cc OK Supreme, fully restored, to buy the Norton but was convinced it was the right thing to do! I completely stripped it and refurbished all aspects and rode it in the Durban to Johannesburg rally the following year. It has completed a great many such rallies here in South Africa and is used frequently. It is officially dated by our Southern African Veteran & Vintage Association as 1928. Many of the castings have 1927 stamped or moulded internally. Regards, Tony.

Discovery of a 1931 Manx Grand Prix winner

Mr Jock Muir (above) was a student at Cambridge University and came from Radlett, a small town close to Luton in Bedfordshire. Jock raced Velocettes with a great deal of success. At one point in the 1930 Junior Manx Grand Prix he was second to Freddie Frith and he settled the fastest lap before retiring due to mechanical problems. In the Senior race he finished 5th, mounted on a 350cc (!) Velocette!

It's a fair bet that agents ‘Dunham and Haines’ supplied Jock’s Velocettes. Dunham and Haines were in Luton, very close to where Jock lived. With Jock’s performance in 1930 they managed to get him a works Norton to ride in the 1931 Manx Grand Prix; the Norton factory supplied their expensive works machines to successful riders only. Sure enough, there is a note in the Norton factory dispatch records that a specially prepared CS1 model with engine number 51750 was delivered to Dunham and Haines on the 26th of August 1931.

Jock did not disappoint Norton and won the 1931 Manx Grand Prix on the CS1; the page above from the 1932 Norton catalogue “That brilliant motorcycle” reports on his victory. The photo at the top of this page probably shows him on his Norton during the race. Happy with the outcome, Dunham and Haines displayed the machine in their shop and the photo below shows the Norton on display, along with Jock’s Grand Prix trophy.

Jock continued to race his Norton and was quite successful and photos of him appeared in the 1934 ‘Roadholder’. One has the caption “J M Muir during his record breaking run of over 101 miles in the hour”. He raced against riders like Frith, Daniell and Crasher White and certainly was no slouch.

Then comes a gap of about 60 years when in 1996 a long standing friend of Alf purchases the remains of a Norton from a farmer in Northern Ireland. The machine was in pieces and in very poor condition. It looked distinctly pre war but it had had a swinging arm conversion and a pair of BSA telescopes replaced the original girders. On his friend’s behalf, Alf sent the engine and frame numbers to the Science Museum in London who at that time held the factory dispatch records and the records stated the magic words; the frame number and the engine number matched and the machine was a works special prepared for the 1931 Manx Grand Prix!

It took Alf another five years to persuade his friend to part with the Norton. As the owner, Alf continued his search and wrote to Old bike Mart who published a photo and description of the bike. There were many replies from Luton residents and a note turned up from a Mr Peter Roydhouse stating that a Norton with engine number 51750 had been supplied to Mr J M Muir in 1931. We can only conclude that Alf most probably owns the remains of the genuine 1931 Manx Grand Prix winning Norton!

The engine of Alf’s bike is of a later type than 1931 as it has the timing side rib in the later position and the filter bolt under the bevel housing that was introduced after 1932. It also has a more modern bronze head and a magnesium cam box with a central oil feed fitted. The engine is stamped as per the original number and there are no signs of another number that has been erased. There seems no doubt however that favored customers could and did return their bikes to the factory for up-dating and the fitting of such things as new crankcases, bronze heads etc. so all of these changes may have been made in the machine’s active life as a racer. Jock retired in the 1933 Senior TT so perhaps he wrecked his engine?

Alf started the restoration in 2003. Engine and gearbox (still containing the original close ratio gears) have been rebuilt by now but Alf intends to leave the frame as it is; all part of the bikes incredible history! (Story by Alf)

c1938 Model 20 Norton

Martin from the USA sent me this postcard. The photo must have been made in Holland, suggested by the Dutch licence plates, the bicycles in the background and even the man's haircut. On the back of the unused postcard it reads: Reportage, A v Beurden, Hof fotograaf, Tilburg. Tilburg is a town in the south of The Netherlands and mr van Beurden must have been a professional photographer by approval of the Queen herself.

The bike on the left is a DKW RT, a 98cc two-stroke. Many were built, for the only reason that they were very cheap to buy and run I guess. The bike on the right is a 600cc side valve BMW; strikingly, it seems to be almost completely covered in chrome. The BMW is a type R6 or R61, depending on whether it has rear suspension or not, which is not clear from the picture. Both BMW types were produced after 1937.

The Norton is a brand new Model 20. The M20 has the 500cc engine from the M18 but with a twin port head fitted. It's a trials version. In the 1930s, any model could be ordered in trials trim for a few pounds extra. These extra's included things like more ground clearance, a sump plate, high level exhausts, wider front mudguard, foldable kickstart and competition tyres. A very luxurious bike, with the tank panel and all that chrome.

The pushrod tubes still run parallel to each other and the headlight is the 8" Lucas. All of this suggests a 1935-1938 model to me. (Thanks  Martin and Chris!)

Jimmy Guthrie

The pictures above show Jimmy Guthrie; famous for 19 motorcycle Grand Prix wins and 6 victories at the Isle of Man TT races. Most victories were on Norton motorcycles. Sadly, he was killed on august the 8th 1937 riding in the German Grand Prix. Stanley Woods, an eye withness to the crash, is adamant that a German rider "took Guthrie out". According to him, Jimmy crashed as he was forced into a gutter by Kurt Mansfeld on his DKW. Mansfield was one lap behind when this happened; he reputedly was an emotional man, perhaps trying to show he was just as fast as Jimmy. Though Stanley suggests he did it on purpose as the Nazi regime was unhappy at the English riders being so successful.

Dennis, who has an excellent website on Velocette motorcycles, is the custodian of Australian Allan Schafer's motorcycle literature collection. Allan was a prolific letter writer in mid 1930s to many of the worlds top riders. This photo above and the letters below come from Allan's collection; the pic is a sad shot of Jimmy (in the middle) in the pits just prior to that fateful crash. Mildred Woods (Stanley's wife) sits on the pit counter, team mate Freddie Frith is on the right.

Less well known, Jimmy had a motor-repair business together with his brother Archie and was a technically minded man; see his comments in the letter below on the plunger rear suspension used for the first time in 1936.

For a short film on Jimmy's life, click this link.

1928 CS1 Norton

A CS1 Norton as we like to see them - being used as the maker intended! Most photos were made at a stop during the 2008 West Kent Run.

The Binks carburetter with the twin float bowls is a very nice detail. A rusty tank may be the reason for the petrol filter below the saddle. The clutch looks a bit modern to me and the 'box has a positive stop mechanism fitted.

1927 ES2 racer

From Simon's archives: This reputedly is an ex-works 1927 ES2 racer (except that Norton did not use the ''ES2" type number as early as June 1927) that was restored by the late Wilf Green - a Yorkshire character if ever there was one.

The first OHC CS1 racers designed by Walter Moore were put into competition in 1927. Norton was being cautious to have an OHV version of the racer available as a backup.

c1931 Model CS1 Norton

These pictures are not very clear and the bike has been raced so many parts may have been discarded and replaced by whatever was available at the time, but... this clearly is a two stay frame designed to accomodate a Royal Enfield rear hub while the gearbox is a Sturmey Archer, identifying the Norton as a c1931 Model CS1.

Ordering an Inter

Someone ordering an M30 International in 1934. I'm surprised by the tone of the letter; they can't tell mr. Burnett when his very expensive motorcycle will be delivered. Do they ask him beforehand not to complain when this takes longer than anticipated? Demand for these machines must have been high. (from Alf's archives)

1928 M18 Norton

Another 1928 M18, found on Photobucket. Both the round oiltank and engine number indicate that it is a 1928 model; as it uses the MkIV B&L oilpump, driven from the inlet cam and without the external oil lines it must have been built late in the 1928 season (compare this M18 to the early-1928 model in the previous blog).

It looks like a bike that may have been raced. The luggage rack was replaced by sporty looking flat strips to hold the rear mudguard.The petroltank may have been fitted to carry more petrol; or it may have been fitted in an attempt to give the bike a more modern appearance. Look carefully and you'll see it has the flat tank frame. I've seen saddletanks fitted to flat tank models before but this one looks much younger than the rest of the bike; very nicely made but it seems to employ the 'modern' type of fuel cap. The magdyno and headlight look a bit out of place. The overall condition is brilliant, let's hope it stays like this.

Follow this link and this link for slideshows on this Norton. (Thanks Martin!)

1928 M18 Norton

This is my Model 18 Norton. It's a 1928 model, easily identified by the round oiltank. The original B&B carburetter has been replaced by an Amac and the Lucas KS1 magneto should be an ML; for the rest it's  quite original, and frame-, engine- and gearbox numbers match. It's one of the last M18s to use the external oil pipes from the MkIII B&L pump to the crankcase

I bought it at Verralls and have had it for three years now. It was in pretty good condition when I bought it but still needed a lot of attention. Most of the bearings in engine and gearbox have been replaced and the cam followers have been resurfaced.

The 1928 M18 is light, it has decent brakes, a perfect gearbox and is still fast enough to use in modern traffic. It feels very 'vintage' with the long frame and the flat tank which makes it great fun to ride. The noise from that open pipe is glorious!

The Norton was despatched on the 26th of September 1927 to the Crow Brothers Garage, Upper High Street in Guildford, to be sold on the 23th of March 1928. The picture below shows  the Crow Brothers Garage in around 1926. Just imagine, more than 80 years ago someone took my M18 in brand new condition from that very shop!

1929 CS1 Norton

Alf inherited this Norton from a friend who had a collection of motorcycles that had not seen the light of day for over half a century. The collection included a pre-war Vincent HRD, an SS100 Brough Superior and this 1929 CS1 Norton.

The CS1 was designed by Walter Moore. The bike was very competitive in the 1927 season but troubled by reliability issues in later years, resulting in Moore leaving for NSU, taking the design of his engine with him. The “Moore-CS1” was thus produced for three years only and few examples survive. This CS1 is in touring spec with a speedometer in the petrol tank, a full electric lighting set and ‘’D-section” mudguards.

What makes this CS1 special is that it has hardly been touched. The foot pad on the rear brake pedal is unworn, the sprockets look factory fresh and the speedo is showing just over 6000 miles. Further, there is a road tax disc holder on the machine containing four discs; two for 1929, one for 1931 and another one for 1931 for the Isle of Man. What happened to this bike is anyone’s guess but the valves are missing from the engine so it may have suffered a serious mechanical breakdown early in life and ended up in the back of a shed to be forgotten and ignored for almost 80 years.

The CS1 is almost complete with just the saddle springs, carb and the footrest tubes missing. It still has the original exhaust pipe, twin barrel silencer and fishtail. The rotted tires are as hard as iron and the wheels are very rusty and unsafe for further use. There are severe rust patches on the mudguards, frame and tanks but the oil tank is still filled with Castrol R.

Very few photographs are available from when these machines were new, and no one knows what they looked like exactly when they left the factory. Few CS1s have survived and invariably they have been rebuilt, based on whatever parts were available and the owner’s ideas about what they should look like. Alf’s bike provides a unique opportunity to finally decide on issues such as which parts should be painted, plated or chemically blackened. One issue has been solved already; for decades people have been arguing about whether the silencer ends should be in steel or aluminium and current reproduction ones are in aluminium. The rust on the silencer ends indicates that they should be in iron.

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 had the skills 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!"