Who is he?

 

-SG- Thanks to Adam for the attached early twenties shot of a 16H in distinctly sporting trim. It appears to have one of the rare racing CS gearboxes as well as a Binks rat-trap carb. It was apparently taken in the IOM but who is the rider in his smart cricket jersey? Anyone got any ideas?

100 years ago ...

 

-SG- Alan has pointed out that another 2022 centenary of importance is the first appearance of an OHV Norton in the TT - ridden by Ralph Cawthorne.  We have had a posting about this before - 3/9/2013 - and Alan has sent a period photo, from the Isle of Man Museum which was tweaked by Martin. Many thanks both!

Rex Judd and a Centenary

-SG- Back in the early sixties, former Brooklands rider and by then, London motor-cycle dealer, Rex Judd held the first of the Brooklands Reunions - not at the track itself but at the Hand and Spear pub, five minutes away on the other side of Weybridge Station.  These were simply social gatherings and a pub lunch but many well known former track competitors attended. I went to one of the meetings myself and had the pleasure of meeting some of these chaps in person including Bert Denly and Rex himself. The attached caricature image of Rex was one of many by Sallon of UK motor-cycle greats.

 

It is perhaps important to remember Rex this year in particular as it was in early March 1922 that he rode one of O'Donovan's machines at the track, gaining a couple of records in the process.  And particularly, this was the first publicly reported appearance of James Norton's OHV engine.  I attach a very grainy copy of a photo taken after these achievements, showing the great man himself, O'Donovan and a very slim and youthful Rex (then aged about 21).  Machine details are none too clear apart from the fact that the engine has been shoe-horned into one of O'Donovan's regular side-valve track machines by use of extended engine plates. It also looks as if one of the push-rods is missing!  The records the team achieved - the British flying start mile and kilometer records at average speeds in the nineties - were short lived as Cyril Pullen achieved better speeds later on the same day, riding a Douglas.

 

Finally let me use this posting to repeat my thanks to my old friend Barry Tyreman, for giving me a printing block of this very photo a couple of years ago.  It has suffered with age over the years but a friend of Peter Thomson here in NZ has managed to generate some prints from it - copy attached. Nice to be able to get an image from a 100 year old printing block!

Terry Grogan

 

-SG- Back in January 2010 we had a couple of postings about Terry Grogan and his Brooklands successes on a Model 18 Norton.  I have recently been sent a photo of him taken in 1922 - with a 16H, on which he won the Two Lap solo handicap at the track in June.  During the thirties, he went on to race Frazer Nashes at Brooklands.

Terry Grogan was a regular in the Royal Navy having joined as a Midshipman in 1917 and served on numerous vessels during the twenties and thirties. Sadly (by then having attained the rank of Commander) he lost his life in the sinking of HMS Hood in 1941 by the Bismarck - itself sunk three days later,  both with enormous casualties. 

 In case anyone is interested, a memorial to the crew of the Hood is to be found in Boldre Church near Lymington in the New Forest.

Vic Horsman at Brooklands

-SG- I recently came across this uncaptioned photo of Vic Horsman mounted on a track Norton with a considerably lengthened frame.  I sent it to Roger for further comment which I give below.  Thanks!

"Vic Horsman rode a Norton until the end of the 1922 season when both he and Rex Judd left the O'Donovan team - he went to Triumph and Rex to Douglas and this paved the way for Bert Denly to join the team. 

The picture was probably taken after the Championship Race event on 21 October 1922 at which he won Classes C and F and was second in Class D. The engine looks tall for the 490 version so it would be the 596 version that he rode in Class F and the sidecar for Class F can be seen on the right of the picture.  The picture was taken in the paddock by the Fork with the 1921 grandstand in the background. There are three Nortons behind Vic (his birth name was Vincent) and Don is working on one of them. There would have been a 490 for Rex, the second Norton for Vic and one for Don in Class F.

The Norton on the left is probably George Tucker's outfit as his race number was 5 in Class F. The V-twin at the back is probably George Brough's Brough Superior on which he competed in Class E for solos up to 1000cc. I don't know who the reporter is!

Vic liked the very long wheelbase machines for Brooklands as they gave extra stability in a straight line which was the purpose of the banking although the Fork was a sharp kink. He continued with the same type of frame when he switched to Triumph. From experience I can say that even the slightly extended frame on LPD1 is great for a straight line but truly awful on the Mercedes Benz track (the short present track at Brooklands) where I was overtaken by a 50cc racer on the bends! The Model 18 used for Mountain Races is so much easier to handle."

The 1922 Maintenance Instructions

-SG- The earliest Maintenance Instructions in Ian's collection are contained in a small booklet, covering the 16H, Big Four and Model 9.  It also incorporates  SV tuning instructions by D R O'Donovan. I initially though this dated from 1921 but reading the text with more care, I see it states: 'Our Liverpool agent, Victor Horsman ... finished  1st in the 500cc class in the 500 mile race at Brooklands last year.' The event referred to was actually held in July 1921, so this booklet must date from 1922. Thanks as always to Ian for the loan!

1922 Brooklands photo

-SG- I was recently given a half tone printing block of Judd, O'Donovan and J L Norton at Brooklands with the prototype OHV Norton. The photo has appeared numerous times over the years in - it seems - almost every Norton related history but this does not mean it would not be nice to get some prints from the block. Steps are being taken to organise this and hopefully the results will be better than the scan attached (from a truly gruesome  book entitled the Ultimate Motorcycle Encyclopedia, which I picked up recently in a charity shop for a couple of pounds!).

Watch this space!

The long arm of co-incidence strikes again!

-SG- Richard - plus very smart 1928 Model 18 - has been in the Isle of Man during the past week for the Classic TT events and other motorcycle-related activities. While there, he was approached by a chap who introduced himself as Mr. Edwards, admired the Norton and then, to Richard's surprise, gave him a couple of copy photos. These show his father or  perhaps grandfather, C J Edwards, on an early twenties 16H and also a 1927 Model 25 he owned later on. As if that was not enough, the engine and frame number of the 16H were written on the back of the photo and the engine number only of the Model 25 (registration number YE1064). Thanks to Richard, scans of the photos are reproduced above.

Armed with this information I have had a look at the records;  the 16H, with engine number 4249 and frame number 6529S dates from around November 1922.  No dealer or end-user details are shown.  But the Model 25, with engine 33383 had frame number 25351 and was unusually fitted with a TT Amac carb.  It is shown as 'specially tuned.' Other variations from standard were the fitting of a Terry saddle, standard carrier and tool bags.  The despatch date is not that clear other than December 1926 and the dealer's name was The Service Co. Ltd, Holborn.  But here we come to the interesting bit - the customer is shown as none other than F Lutyens Beart who took delivery in January 1927.

Let me add an aside here - Roger (thanks!) has uncovered that Beart's full Christian names were actually Herbert Maynard Francis Lutyens. No wonder he just used F. L.  in later life! There may perhaps have been family connection to Sir Edwin Lutyens, the famous architect (1869 -1944).

My small collection of Norton related books includes Clew's biography of Francis Beart, entitled 'A Single Purpose.'  In it, he mentions that Francis obtained and raced a Model 25 in 1927 and better still, a snap of him on the bike at a Crystal Palace event shows the same registration number YE1064 as Mr. Edwards' bike (directly above).

Little did Mr Edwards know that his father's/grandfather's bike was formerly owned by someone as illustrious in Norton racing circles as Francis Beart! Mr. Edwards has no idea of what happened to these machines but if either still exists, Richard has his address and can send on the details.

c1922 Model 16H Norton

-JdK- Contributed by Gilbert in France; what appears to be a c1922 Model 16H Norton.

The Jubilee came later ...

-SG- ... Despite the  publicity given briefly to a new 250cc Norton in September 1922, the project does not seem to have got off the ground. But the write-up in The Motor Cycle seems to indicate that some preliminary steps had been taken. Indeed this is confirmed by Arthur Bourne is his memoirs, who was given a secret night time ride on the prototype by J L Norton.  Arthur does not mention a precise date but it must have been several years before he became editor of the magazine. Any more input on this machine would be of interest!

More from 1922 ...

-SG- The Motor Cycle for November 2nd carried a press release (above) about changes to the OHV engine amongst other things. Reference is made to lowering the over-all height of the engine and in all probability this was achieved simply by fitting a 7" con rod rather than the 8" version used on the prototypes and the one OHV machine entered in the '22 TT. A shorter barrel would of course also have been needed.

The 1922 Norton brochure

-SG- Here's another brochure from Ian's collection - this time for 1922 - many thanks!

The Mile Eater

Looks like a c1922 Model 16H Norton

-JdK- Roland Grossbichler of the NOC Austria sent the following text, pics and link to a Youtube film. Roland: "I think I have a very interesting silent movie (produced 1923/24) for you. The name of the movie is "The Mile Eater“. The story is about a bet between the sportsman Ernest and his colleagues. Ernest, a sort of a modern Phileas Fogg on a Norton, has to do 6000 kilometers through five countries within 15 days – or some 80 minutes of screen time. The subtitels are in English and in Italian. You can obtain a copy of the DVD for 25€ at http://www.seeberfilm.com/"

Mario Cavedini, 1922 Model 16H Norton

-JdK- Tino in Italy sent this cover photo from the March 1922 issue of "Lo Sport Illustrato". The rider (on the left) is Mario Cavedini, the Norton is a model 16H. Note the position of the oiltank, on top of the fueltank.

-SG- Mike has been in touch re the oil tank on this 1922 racing 16H.  He writes: 'Some years ago, when visiting Eric Biddle at the Squirrel Hotel in Bolton (Eric was an avid Norton collector), there was an example of a seemingly identical tank on a shelf above the bar, with a note on it, asking if anyone knew what it was off. A long time waiting for an answer!'

This leads me to the view that these were perhaps special tanks made for the works and the Italian Norton agents were able to obtain one. I don't recall what happened to Eric's collection - perhaps someone will tell us - but the Squirrel Hotel was demolished around 2010 and new houses built on the site.

Willing William it ain't! 'tis George!

Read the whole story by following this link

-SG- Back in May 2015 we posted a photo of what I misguidedly thought was Arthur Bourne's bike, referred to by him as 'Willing William.'  Roger has uncovered the fact that, while Bourne certainly had a later 16H with this nick-name, the bike we showed (now above) was another sporting 16H belonging to yet another of the journalists writing for 'The Motorcycle' in the twenties, who used the pen-name Neon. Neon's bike - just to confuse matters - was christened 'George' and started life as a 1922 TT spec. 16H. Read all about it and the numerous mods. fitted to it, in the February 1925 edition, scans available via this link.

1922 Norton advert

-SG- Here's a scan from Alan of the November 1922 Norton advert from  Motor Cycle - the first year that the 490cc OHV model was exhibited. Although the image is very small, note the tiny front brake and the kick-starter-less CS racing gear box on this model.

Willing William

-SG- 'Willing William' was the nick-name given by 'Torrens' (aka Arthur Bourne) of 'The Motor Cycle' to his early twenties 16H Norton. He wrote various articles about the bike, which he was more than happy to modify to improve its performance and which was in a decidedly sporting trim. I don't have easy access to the back numbers of the magazine so am not sure what ultimately became of it - if indeed he ever told his readers. Perhaps when he became Editor of the Motor Cycle later in the twenties, he felt he should have some mount more suited to his position! One of his modifications was the fitting of the Research Association brake to the rear wheel - see scan from Harwood's 'Speed and how to obtain it' below - which he would probably have done after Sheard's 1923  Senior TT win with the RA braked Douglas.

c1922 Model 16H Norton

-JdK- From the archives of the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Taken on the 18th of June 1922 it depicts the arrival of a rider in Paris who apparently competed in a rally that took the participants from Paris to the Pyrénées and back. The motorcycle looks like a c1922 Model 16H Norton.

1922 Grand Prix des motocyclettes de Strasbourg

-JdK- And another one from the archives of the Bibliothèque nationale de France. This line up - from left to right - shows, according to the caption:  (19) Hassall, (23) Hollowell, (14) G. Walker, (6) Shaw and (22) Francisquet. The photo was taken on the 11th of July 1922 at the Grand Prix des motocyclettes de Strasbourg.

The four guys on the left have a Model 18; Francisquet got a 16H. James Norton is seen with his hand on Hollowell's shoulder. Walker did not like bar-end levers.

Billy Hollowell, 1922 Model 18 Norton

-JdK- Another great photo from the archives of the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Taken on the 11th of July 1922 it depicts Hollowell at the Grand Prix des motocyclettes de Strasbourg on his Model 18 Norton. We have seen Billy before on a similar machine.