Wednesday 17 November 2010

Getting the best out of a side valve engine

A reprint from Motor Cycling, 1936, by Hartley.

A very informative article (contributed by Simon) that describes the forgotten art of side valve engine tuning; the author suggests that your 16H can be as fast as a standard Model 18. Many of the other suggestions are well worth a try when rebuilding your Norton engine, whether it is an SV or OHV.

Simon: "Back in the dim distant past Stan Johnson - vintage Norton tuner par excellence - put a hot 16H engine in his Vintage ES2 (John Wilkinson used to ride for him). It finished third in one of the Vintage races at Brands Hatch beating all sorts of regular front runners as well as the also-rans (like me!!). Stan has been dead for about 20 years and Wilkinson died as a result of a disagreement with a Spanish policeman in Bilbao - the policeman shot him..."

(Click the images for a larger version)