Sunday 19 February 2023

Few and far between - Vintage Four Speeders ...

 


-SG- Vintage period machines fitted with Norton's own cross-over gear box were never big sellers and this is reflected  in the very few postings we have had over the years for the relevant models - 14, 24, 34 and 44.  Ron recently sent me photos of his nicely restored 1930 Model 24 - attached and thanks, Ron! This particular machine started life as a rather special example, as it was powered by a dry sump 588 engine, and had what is described  in the records as a TT footchange with neutral. This would have been a modified version of the Sturmey positive stop footchange fitted to some of the 1929 racing specification CS1s - and not one of their best efforts. 

Ron asked if I knew how many of the four speed bikes were produced and the short answer was 'no!'  But it set me on a little time waster to have a look at the despatch records. As Ron's bike is a saddle tanker I decided to check from early 1929 to Autumn 1930 (by which time 1931 models appear in the records in profusion) This is what I found:

1929     Model 14 :   21

             Model 24 :   19

             Model 34 :   4

             Model 44 :  NIL

1930     Model 24 :   6

             All the rest: NIL

 Based on these figures, no wonder survivors are few and far between!