Tony's 1927 Model 25 Norton

Tony from the UK sent these photo's of his stunningly beautiful 1927 Model 25 Norton. The M25 ranks amongst the most desirable flat tank Nortons. It has a highly tuned engine and is equipped with a 'semi-dry sump' lubrication. Note the chamber under the timing chest that contains the oilpump.

"I bought the bike in 1969 from its second owner. The bike was supplied new from Freddie Dixon of Middlesbrough. The first owner only used the bike for a fortnight before having a minor accident with a lady crossing the road on the seafront at Redcar. Dixon took the Norton back and the chap I bought it from owned it from then onwards. The outdoor photos were taken in about 1973 just after I'd restored the bike. The other photo was taken around 10 years ago and currently the Norton is in pieces having some work done but I hope to have it reassembled later this year."

1933 Model 18 Norton

A Norton Model 18 road test from a 1933 issue of "Motor Cycling". (thanks Dave)

Tim's 1930 Model 19 Norton

Tim (see this Blog and this Blog) has finished another Norton project:

"Hereby a few shots of my 1930 Model 19, just finished yesterday and started second kick. Messed about with the carb and the tick-over and on retard it is unbelievably low due to new valve guides and a good carb slide. The engine is mechanically quiet as I have had the cams and followers built up and re profiled back to standard. Not too sure about the seat height, I think it could be set a bit lower. Still needs some work on the filler cap for the petrol tank, and the fuel pipe needs plating. I will wait a month before I ride it as we still have all the salt on the roads they put on for the winter. It looks like the magneto chain cover is a earlier one by the raised Norton letters on the casting will have to find the correct one."

When asking about the history of the Norton I got this story from Tim:
 
"A good story behind this bike; it's "Buyer Beware". I brought this bike from a friend who had purchased it from a well known Vintage Motor Cycle Club member who had supposedly restored it. My friend paid good money for this bike and when he got it home he could not start it. I had a look at it at the time and we found lots wrong with it. There was a crack in the back wheel drum and the kickstart had dropped off with all the kicking my mate had done. The gearbox kickstart boss was cracked, so we never got it going. My mate never touched it again for about 8 years and then he offered it to me. As I have a 1929 Model 18, I had a spare gearbox and had a batch of brake drums made and had one in stock. I bought the bike paying good money for it knowing I would find lots wrong.
 
Sure enough it had the wrong piston, a shot big end, worn cams and followers, main bearings shot and an inlet valve completely worn out, but the part of the guide inside the port was not even there, so the valve was only running in about 1/2" of guide. One of the engine pushrods was made from a solid 3/8" bar, ground down at each end to fit. The gearbox was of the pre-1926 fine pitch with a pre-1926 clutch fitted. The forks felt good and looked like they had been re bushed, untill I pulled them apart and found 2 or 3 pieces of steel tape measure rule wrapped round each spindle.
 
Thankfully the engine and frame are the correct numbers (the frame is marked 588, indicating a Model 19). I completely rebuild it, fitting new mudguards and exhaust system and repainted the complete bike. Luckily I can do all the work myself and had the bits in stock so that made it worth while.
 
So beware when buying old bikes off old bodgers as they forget what they have done in the past and want top dollar for them; unfortunately, if you want a Vintage bike you just have to pay as not too many of them are around.

Paul's 1925 M18 Norton

An email sent by Paul from Australia:

"This Model 18 I made up from bits so it is circa 1925, but has various other bits. It will do 79 mph but that's all. It's an exciting ride at 79 mph though. I don't do it often but it's good to see 'what'll she do Mister'. 

I put on a mid thirties inlet stub, turned down to length. It also has a 1 1/16" carb. The books tell me that 1920's M18 inlet stubs are 1 1/16", but all the ones I've seen are 1". I cannot get a conrod with a 7/8" small end, but have a machined 16H piston ready for when I do. I also have it geared very tall so under load I have to be listening for engine knock and adjusting the spark advance and throttle accordingly. But when she gets her head up mate, she really goes. I am running 0.008" clearance in the bore as I seized it twice with .006". I have the correct main bearings but they're unbranded, so I dont know how long they'll last. The front hub is a CSI hub. I was given it when I bought my engine.I think that the fellow I bought my engine off thought he'd stitched me up, so he chucked in the hub and a magneto. I'm lucky to get it,but it still doesn't really work. You have to be careful when you lace the rims, or you easily pull it out of round. I've been told that I need linings to be mounted differently to make the trailing shoe work better, so I'll look into this.

Attached is a photo of the Model 18. Not parked. Waiting."

John's 1929 Model 19 Norton

John from Canada sent these photo's of a very nice M19 Norton: "This is my 1929 Model 19 Norton, owned previously by both my father and grandfather before him. The black and white pic shows my grandfather on the bike in circa 1946. The lower pic was taken when it arrived in Canada in 1984, in the middle of the winter.

The Norton has not been in running order for a while, looking at about 15 years at least. I am trying to find out as much history of this model along with any photos and manuals that give precise care instructions before I even think of starting; cleaning the years of dust is my first step."

The engine has enclosed pushrod tubes and an aluminium rocker cover and would have been produced very late in the 1929 season. Further, note the position of the oilpump on the timing chest (as opposed to on the magneto chain cover), typical for the 1929-1930 models. Looking at the CONTENTS list on the right, not that many Model 19s are around these days.

Stephen's 1910 Model 3 1/2 HP Norton

Stephen (from the Bracebridge Street Norton Register) sent a photo of his 1910 Model 3 1/2 HP Norton:

"This was a trip down to Brighton with a load of other veteran bikes on the Pioneer Run. It was not an easy ride as she is very high geared for speed and not for going through congested towns. A hundred year old Norton and still going strong, here is to the next hundred."

Howard's 1929 ES2 Norton

Another photo from Howard in Australia: "I sold this bike's motor some time ago to a chap in the UK who had been trying to obtain one for many years. I had a complete 1929 ES2 "Special" (see the photo) and very foolishly took the original engine out and fitted a CS1 motor in its place thinking it was a better bike.....sold it and slowly realised how stupid I had been in doing that!"

Interesting picture; note the grey brakeplates; were these plated? The original Sturmey Archer gearbox has been replaced by a later Norton dollshead 'box.

1923 Model Big Four Norton

An email from the USA:

"Hello, I'm hoping that one of your Norton aficionados might be able to help me with the attached photos. The gent driving the outfit is my great grandfather William Gegg, and I do know that the picture was taken in 1923 or earlier. I think it may be a Norton, but I would love to be able to confirm this, as the photo is posted on my family's Ancestry.com page and we're trying to identify all of the machinery. If it's any help, the photo was taken in North Yorkshire, near Scarborough.

Thanks in advance for any help!
Gordon
Wisconsin, USA"

The picture above was copied from a brochure front cover for 1923 and it looks very similar to me; the shape of the tank at front identifies the machine as a Big Four. Noteworthy accessories are the electric lights and does the bike have a front drum brake? The photo below may be from the same 1923 brochure.

...and Gordon's reply:

"The younger lady in the photographs was my grandmother, who passed away in 1923 after giving birth to my father; we now know that these may be the last photographs taken of her and that she could have been pregnant with my father at the time. The gentleman, William Gegg owned a popular confectionary and restaurant in Scarborough, the older passenger is his wife Margo, and the younger is my grandmother, named Eveline."


...and from Roger:

The pictures of the Big 4 are intriguing. Although they may have been taken in 1923 I am not so sure that the machine was new at that time. The North Yorkshire registration is a lot earlier that 1923 as by the middle of the year then next letters were being used. As the series started in 1904 and went up to 9999 the registration date is likely to be around 1920; this could date the outfit to around 1920 which may be right for the motorcycle and sidecar. The electric lighting set would have been available by that date but we need to check whether Norton made it an option as this may be the best dating evidence available. The outfit looks well used so this would support the date.


I think that I can see the rod for the rim brakes in the side on picture. In addition the tax disc for 1923 should show a vertical green stripe. The disc is either not there or is of the 1921/2 type with no stripe.

Pat's tank

"Hey John,
here is a brief report on some work I had carried out on my 1930 M18 Norton. You know, when you buy a nice old bike there is always lots of work to be done. You start out with the mechanical bits; "It should be good enough to take me all the way to the Isle of Man and back . . while carrying luggage !" and in the end it did!. As a Norton should! Hmmm, new piston, bore, valves & seats, new bearings everywhere, incuding the bigend, the gearbox rebuilt... (thanks Simon!) - the lot.


Then you start wondering about the originality of minor parts; you fit inverted levers, a straight pull twistgrip, have the dynamo done and fit lights. Yes, I am one of those guys in need for illumination after having been told at the traffic lights at dusk; "Your lights don't work", "Yeah I know - it's standard - 1930 equipment"; replied by "Aha, where do you live I'll take you there". Afterwards I realized I had been escorted by a motorcycle policeman returning home after his shift; lucky me!

With that under way there still is this nasty dent in the tank. Some may say "Yeah, it's patina", and then I would reply "No, it was not on the accessories list for 1930". So you try to find a chap willing to, and able to fix the dent without coming up with a repair that is so nice and shiny that it no longer fits in with the rest of the bike. Like a "rustoration".

All of us with old bikes know that it takes years before you have a network of people who understand what you are talking about and at the end of a nice restoration I decided to jump in. A colleague at work tipped me off "Go and see this guy, he is a real crafts man and really into details". Knowing my colleague, who is exceptionally fussy about details, this friend of his should be someone special. And this is the result. The tank "rustored" to the condition it looked like when the M18 came into my possesion - but now without the dent! 

The dent was pulled out with a nail puller - a nail welded to the tank and given a hefty pull with an impact puller. The bottom wasn't even opened up. I like it like this!

Thanks Peter - and Frank!

Cheers, Pat"

Amal type 6 carburetter

This is the Amal type 6/012 carburetter fitted to my 1927 Model 18 Norton; the M18 would have been equipped with an Amac or a B and B carburetter when it left the Works.  This Amal is a few years younger but it looks brilliant without the throttle-stop and twin float chambers.

Viktor's 1925 Model 18 Norton

This is Viktor's bike; Viktor lives in the Czech Republic. "I´m a designer by profession and renovating broken parts is my hobby. When I bought my Norton twenty years ago it was the terrrible wreck - see the two pictures above. After years of collecting missing parts and rebuilding many of the components my motorcycle starts to look like a proper flat tank Norton - see the two pics below. I´m still looking for other parts : a chain cover, rear stand and double silencer. The frame- and engine number suggest that the year of production is 1925."

V-twin Norton

This photo was sent by Howard from Australia: "I have attached a very early photo of a dealers showroom here in Hobart, Tasmania. Smack bang in the middle is a V-twin Norton.....rare bird indeed. Alas it does not still exist as far as I know. Interesting photo.....I wonder how many V-twin Nortons do still exist?"

The picture must have been taken a 100 years ago and the V-twin Norton should be similar to the one used by Rem Fowler to win the 1907 TT races (below).

David's 1929 M18 Norton

David from Canada sent these pics of the 1929 M18 he purchased a while ago. He is still scratching his head about how to rebuild the petrol tank. A proper valve lifter will be fitted to replace the decompressor in the plug hole and a more suitable carburetter will be sourced to replace that Monobloc.

1930 CS1 Norton

This is a 1930 CS1 Norton that was entered for the 1930 TT races; the rider is Mr Tim Hunt. Obviously, the Norton has a Carroll engine in a three stay frame. The high resolution picture was copied from the April 2010 issue of "The Classic Motorcycle" and shows a few remarkable details I had not noticed before.

Both tanks are polished and plated in chrome or nickel as are the handlebars and clamps. It has inverted levers and a drum type twist grip throttle - a design that was finally catching on despite being introduced several years previously. Enfield rear brake plate appears to be plated and the front (Horton) is cast alloy. Spokes and rims are black and nipples plated. Rear wheel is 20" and front 21". The forks are Webb 650 - which in 1930 replaced the earlier TT forks used on Moore CS1s/ES2s. Note the rubber 'bump stops' fitted below the lower rear spindle - another Webb accessory.  The André steering damper is anchored to the top of the petrol tank. The engine appears to have an oil return pipe from cam-box to crank-case. The petrol pipe is 'Petroflex' - a rubber/fabric pipe with a spiral steel winding round it, much used for racing at the time. The magneto is a square body ML (Lucas were obviously out of favour with Joe Craig in 1930). The metal box in front of the cylinder contains oil to lubricate the primary chain. The racing gearbox - as we know now - is a three speed Sturmey Archer type N fitted with a positive stop gear change. Hunt's trouser is in the way of the rather strange foot-rest arrangement used on the 1930 works bikes.

Valve guides

This is the inlet valve guide of my 1927 OHV flat tank Norton and it should win me the award for "Most Worn Valve Guide Ever". The previous owner told me it was difficult to start the engine; I'm not surprised, it must have sucked more air via the valve guide than via the carb!

Two 16H Nortons

Two 16H Nortons; the one in the lower picture is a 1946 model, one of the last Nortons to be equipped with girder forks. The other 16H is a late 1930s model and at least younger than 1935 as the lock on the toolbox is on top; compare this to this 1935 model. Note the many other differences; the older model has an 8" headlight, paneltank, front brake on the left hand side, dolls head gearbox, oilpressure tell-tale...

The photo's look like factory shots to me; the white sheet was used to provide an even background. Does anyone know who the three gents are?

Roger's & Tim's comments:

"The top picture shows the registration COV169 which is a Birmingham registration dating to January 1937."


"I think the date will be 1936 or 1937, because it is fitted with the 2 brush dynamo system and regulator box fitted above the toolbox this first came out in 1936 and took over from the 3 brush type which had the half charge resistor in the switch and no regulator/cutout box. The engine is the redesigned type as it has the 2 small oil drain pipes in the timing chest. The flywheels are also thinner than the 1935 model and the valve cover has provision for greasing the valve guides. Cannot think the panel tank would have gone on longer than 1937"

A Glimpse of the Vintage Years of Motorcycling at Brooklands

Roger Bird is a volunteer at the Brooklands Museum where one day he was allowed to to ride the Norton sidecar outfit LPD1; this made such an impression that he ended up owning the machine and researching it's history. In the process he collected a wealth of information on 1920s flat tank Nortons and the people involved with these motorcycles and as Roger likes to share his knowledge he wrote this book on the subject.

The book covers the careers of four of the most successful Norton tuners and riders at Brooklands and continues with a detailed description of their machines. Most interesting, some of the tricks used by Pat Driscoll to tune an M18 engine to produce twice the power output of a standard machine are discussed in detail. Briefly, find yourself a steel crankshaft, an 8,5" conrod, 9-1 compression ratio Martlet piston, IT cams, an M19 cylinder, an early ES2 cylinderhead and an Amac 25 TT carburetter; and make sure assembly is absolutely spot on. Be careful though, the photo above shows what happens when it all goes wrong.

The book is illustrated by numerous pictures of 1920s Norton racers, many of which I had not seen before. All in all a very recommendable book and the title could have been "Norton at Brooklands in the 1920s".

Information on how to obtain your copy of this book can be found via this link.

Lovetts Motorcycle Catalogue for 1928

These are a few pages from a 1928 catalogue from a London motorcycle dealer, sent to me by John in Canada.

Dan O'Donovan and Bert Denly

Dan and Bert in a sidecar racer;  it looks like a 588cc Model 19 and the lack of friction dampers on the Druids may date it as a 1923 machine. Note the skid under the sidecar body that was used at Brooklands to prevent a catastrophe if the sidecar wheel failed.

Martin's comments: "The front and rear wheel rims are Westwood section beaded edge rims while the sidecar wheel is a flat center beaded edge rim, all of which date from perhaps 1923-1924, but the MkII Druid forks may be 1925 or later (see below). They have also fitted a wire device taped across the front tyre called a "Carlton Tyre Saver" which skims the tread as you ride and knocks flints out before they cause a puncture. The sidecar body looks to be skinned in doped canvas and flimsy is too strong a word for it! Denly must have been a brave chap to ride in such a thing..."

Roger in his book also discussed this loop of wire fitted to the front forks with insulating tape. During one of his runs, Bert's back tyre picked up a coil spring from a roller blind which embedded itself in the tread and as the wheel went round the spring lashed Bert's backside. After that incident, these "nail catchers" were fitted to all of his Nortons. The characteristic Denly nail catcher can even be used to identify Bert's bikes, like this one.

...and more comments from Roger: "The sidecars' rims were of the flat beaded edge type right the way up to 1932. Bert used the Westwood section until he joined AJS in 1929 but Pat changed to well based rims in 1927 (see the pictures in Doctor Bayley's book "The Vintage Years at Brooklands"). The picture could have been taken before 1924 which is when silencers were made mandatory at the Brooklands track (the Norton is running the standard length open pipe) and Bert didn't join the team until 1923. I am not sure about the Druids but George Cohen states that the Mk II's were introduced in 1922. The sidecar in the picture may be constructed from strip of wood which can just be made out.  Bert would lay face down and feet forward in the chair for the duration of an outer circuit race.  

LPD1

A few weeks ago I got into contact with Roger Bird, volunteer at the Brooklands Museum, writer of the very recommendable book "A Glimpse of the Vintage Years of Motorcycling at Brooklands" and the current custodian of one of the most famous Nortons ever, LPD1. Roger is rebuilding  LPD1 and needs your help, please read his story below:

"LPD1 is well known as one of the most original Brooklands racers to have survived although the name "LPD1" really only applies to the engine as it was the first one that L. P. "Pat" Driscoll produced for the Brooklands Norton works team in 1927. The engine powered the first 500cc motorcycle to achieve more than 100 miles in an hour at Montlhery in June 1927. Pat Driscoll subsequently raced it in both solo and sidecar form with some success including 18 long distance records with Bert Denly in 1928. In its final form it is reputed to have lapped Brooklands at 111mph but was stored in Pat's shed at the Track when he was forced to give up motorcycle racing in 1932 as he was the team leader for the Works Austin racers.

It remained in the shed until the war when at some point it was liberated by an apprentice who constructed a road going version using parts from the shed. The picture taken in 1946 (above) was soon after another two apprentices, Colin and Martin Peal recognised it as a former racer and bought it for £15. They rode it on the road until 1963 when it was bought by Charlie Knight and went on display in Mike Lane's motorcycle shop where it was confirmed by Pat as being the one that had taken the Class F sidecar records.

 When Charlie died it went to Ken Boulter who had discussed its restoration with Pat Driscoll who had asked that it should not be restored to better than new condition as a museum exhibit. Ken interpreted this as meaning that it should had the well used look of Nortons of the O'Donovan era and the 2006 picture (above) illustrates this nicely as it does look as though it has finished an arduous season at Brooklands.

Research for my book led me to question the authenticity of its appearance as 1927 pictures from Pats album showed an immaculately prepared machine with lots of bright parts including the petrol and oil tanks. These were newly tinned so that had the appearance of bright plating and the black enamel was pristine. Discussion with Pat's son confirmed that his father would completely strip all of his machines at the end of the season and have the frames annealed and repainted. He readily agreed that after nearly 20 years LPD1 should have a makeover to take it back to its original 1920s condition and Ken also accepted that this is the right approach.

The 1946 picture shows that there was a lot of bright metal including the exhaust system and rear brake backplate. The oil tank was a dull solder finish as was the large capacity tank although the tank shown in the pictures seems to be painted silver but unlined. Progress is being made at the museum by removing the black paint on the exhaust and generally cleaning up the rest of the machine. For demonstration runs the front and rear brakes will be kept as they are - slowing a sidecar outfit with two large men requires better brakes than it has! However, for the 75th anniversary of the hour record, we are trying to get it back to how it looked in 1927. For this we need two more wheels with rims for the beaded edge tyres favoured by Bert (but not by Pat) with plain hubs so that the front can be unbraked and the rear fitted with a dummy rim for the V-block brake. Does anyone have suitable components for this?"

Roger would like to add that he has a genuine ex-Bert Denly Amac TT25 body, choke and slide available for anyone who can help him with the wheels.

Overhead Sidevalve Norton - SOLD

This Norton is SOLD for sale at Yesterdays. At first glance a normal sidevalve 16H Norton but when you look more carefully you'll note that the inlet stub and the exhaust pipe are not where they ought to be. Some clever modifications went into this engine, apparently in the way the valves are situated.

The engine was discussed in several issue of Old Bike Mart and above is one of the suggestions as to how it could work. In this setup, the valves are opened by the valve springs and closed by the cams. A flaw in this design is that tappet clearance is still required (metal expands when it gets hot) and as the valve springs open the valves, the valves will not close completely unless forced to do so by the cylinder pressure of a running engine. 

This very nice drawing (above) is another suggestion as to how it could work and frankly, I don't get it; there is still a provision for tappet clearance but now the valve springs close the valves; I don't understand what opens the valves unless these "yokes" could pull the valves open in the presence of tappet adjusters.

The photos above show how it actually works in this Norton's engine; the valve springs close the valves as in a normal engine but the modified cam followers pull the valves from their seats. The valve seats are in the cylinder head now and the valve heads are reversed, as predicted.

So what problem has been solved? In my opinion no more than a slightly more efficient gas flow; less bends to take and perhaps a little bit more performance! On the downside, there is a lot of ''play'' in all the parts that move the valves around and it is hard to envision that this engine will be either very quiet or rev like a proper OHV machine.

Thijs of Yesterdays assures that the machine runs very well, and it looks looks like a lot of love and care went into it's construction. A real opportunity to buy a truly unique part of motoring history!