More on belt drive Nortons

 

-JdK- Martin in the UK read Adam's post on his belt drive Norton and in return provided us with the words below:

"As regular readers of this blog may recall, I have been a fan of these fine machines [belt drive Nortons] for years but have suffered declining health in recent years which frustrated my own project to restore and ride a derelict one acquired whilst working in Australia in the 1990s.

My unfinished project was passed on a few years ago to an enthusiast half my age to complete, but as yet it remains a project.  Meantime I stumbled across a letter (below) from the late 1920s written by a CS1 owner who had bought an old belt driver and rediscovered the pleasure of riding such a simple bike fast.  I sent this article to Adam to ignite his interest knowing he was already a CS1 owner.

He was lucky to find and buy a good early model in a recent auction and I have helped him get it into shape for road use after some years gathering dust in a private collection. Lacking a good exhaust valve to replace the burned original, I machined him a new one (pictured) from a 1909 car valve which has restored the “pep” of the original without risking damage to the relatively fragile valve seat of its antique barrel. Modern valves can easily damage softer cast iron valve seats.

A pair of Continental 22” x 2” wired-on tyres (replacing the tired beaded edge tyres fitted when bought) have given a measure of confidence for modern road use, and Adam is now really enjoying the delights of fast road riding in the manner of Henry Williamson who also loved his own several belt drive Nortons. (See my article on Williamson and his Nortons elsewhere on this blog.)

The belt drive Norton is unquestionably a young rider’s machine which can still deliver performance most modern onlookers can’t believe, as witness his recent experience in Belgium.  Well done that man! Just don’t overdo it!!"

Adam's 1915 Model 9TT

 

-JdK- Adam sent us these pics and words: "I've just done over 100 miles on the bike in Belgium at the 'Where is Anna?' event and then onto the 'Oude Klepper Parade'... it didn't miss a beat all weekend.

I can honestly say a single speed, belt drive Norton is the most fun I've ever experienced on a motorcycle. These bikes are fast and handle beautifully. The lack of clutch, gearbox and working brakes really add to the feeling of 'being connected to the bike' and being completely 'In the presant' whilst riding.

Aesthetically (in my opinion) there are no finer machines, the simplicity of a model 9TT is truly a motorcycle at the pinnacle of automotive design."

More on single gears!

 

-SG- David has scanned a few letters from 'The Motor Cycle' in November 1923 for which thanks!  Apart from those riders greatly in favour of single speeders, it's worth stressing the letter from W J Hassall, on behalf of the company, to the effect that they would still supply a single speeder if desired.

Did any one actually take him up on his offer? I spent half an hour looking at the relevant section of the Despatch Books this morning and finally found one entry for a Model 9 (engine number 8289) in April 1924. The purchaser is shown as  F R Moore. I think this may be the very last Model 9 in the records but if anyone has found a later one, please let us know.

No sooner said than done! David has located a slightly later model 9 with engine number 10565, despatched in June '24 to a dealer called Wise.

1920 Model 9 Norton

 

-SG- David plus Model 9 attended the recent Sunbeam Club gathering at Brooklands. Thanks to him for recent photos of the bike and a few words about it!

"Unrestored 1920 Model 9 TT believed to have been exported to Western Australia early in its life, returning to UK in 1977. Fitted with a Phillipson pulley with a handlebar operated brake which gives more control than the automatic action of the clock type spring in the central drum.

Ratio is normally set at 4 1⁄2 to 1 (O' Donovan recommendation) with a lowest available of about 5 1⁄2. Machine is light and powerful so will climb most hills surprisingly well even with a relatively heavyweight rider. Just visible are Terry spring top links on the Druid forks which allow a slight fore and aft movement, greatly adding to comfort with no effect on handling. Pictured recently at Brooklands."

TT Norton testimonial!

-SG- Just received this message from Martin - the 'TT Norton' would have been a Model 9! "Whilst browsing in The Motor Cycle for 26 January 1922, I came across this rather persuasive testimonial from a lucky man who owned a 'TT Norton' (sic!) I rest my case!!"

1921 Model 9 Norton

-SG- We recently used some photos of John's original Model 9 in our posting about a Model 9 replica. Here's some history of John's bike and further photos. John writes:

"It was bought new in 1922 (possibly old fashioned even then) by Tommy Marshall of Maltby, a small South Yorkshire mining village, from Dan Bradbury of Sheffield. Tommy used it extensively (winning a speed trial at Ollerton north of Nottingham in 1923) up until 1928 when he bought a Rudge. This was soon disposed of and he returned to the Norton until 1934 when he purchased a new Inter Norton. He worked with D. R. O’Donovan at Carlton cycles during the 1930’s and kept both Nortons until he died in the late 1980’s. The Nortons were acquired from Tommy’s nephew by well known Classic Bike dealer George Pollard. George restored the Inter but sold the single speeder to Peter Mather of the M & C museum at Bakewell, Derbyshire. Peter began restoration but realised quite soon he would never be able to ride it so I purchased it from him part restored. After over 20 years of riding it is still my favourite thing on two wheels. It will start by pulling the back wheel round, cruise at 50 mph plus, has the bark of a Manx, and is motorcycling at its most pure and functional."

1920 Model 9 Norton ?

Above; the Vintage and Veteran Norton

-SG- My attention has recently been drawn to a supposed Model 9 for sale at Veteran and Vintage for a little matter of £22500 (above). Looks quite tidy although a bit strange and short and there seem to be quite a few differences to other Model 9s (like forks, frame and frame number stamping, for starters) but as this is not a period I'm that strong on, I sought advice elsewhere!  Mike writes:

"I am pretty sure I remember this bike back in the 1980s. Michael Freeman Motors had it for sale, but    withdrew it after some research. It was auctioned off after Mr Freeman died. In my view, the frame is a 16H 1924, with a belt drive back end; forks are 1922; and  engine 1921. It's quite a nice bike, very convincing, Mr Freeman bought three Nortons from the widow of a Norton enthusiast from the Devon area, this one, and the other two were no better as I recall. One was a Big Four with final drive by belt, supposed 1924. It was bought by a certain Mr G Cohen!"

To double check, I have asked for some photos of an authentic Model 9 and these are provided below. A quick comparison between it and the 'Vintage and Veteran' example shows up the various differences. All in all the V and V bike seems like a good looking if expensive bitza ...

Below; a genuine 1921 Model 9 Norton

c1916 Model 9 Norton

-JdK- Martin sent these pics of what probably is a c1916 Model 9 Norton. Martin: "I have today been sent some nice original pics of an early belt drive Norton. These were given to a friend of mine by a lady who lives nearby and should therefore now be referred to as being part of the Roger Harrison Collection . 

The registration DP1577 is a Reading number issued around 1908, quite a long time before the Norton was made. The machine has rather snazzy wheel discs, a fad for a very short time.  I have no other information on the machine at this point and comments are therefore welcome."

Mike: "It has the early and very narrow petrol tank and the pre-1918 pattern cylinder. The 1915 Norton tank had a cutout for valve replacement, so not from that year while 1917 was military only, so also unlikely. That makes it 1916 and very desirable it would be too!"

Another three from France ...

M. Barthelemy and his Model 9 Norton

-SG- Here in the UK there have recently been a few articles about Despatch Riders in WW1 in various motor cycling publications and we tend to overlook that the French army also had DRs. The first of the photos attached from the Bibliothèque nationale de France shows M. Barthelemy aboard his single gear Norton (is that a Philipson pulley on the mainshaft?) at Auxerre in May 1920, at a meeting of the Association des Anciens Motocyclistes Militaires (former military motorcyclists' association).

1921 Model 16H and Big Four Norton motorcycles

And the second one shows the French Norton team for the Paris - Nice event in February 1921 at the 'weigh-in' at Neuillly-sur-Seine.  M. Barthelemy is in this photo too, although by now, he has a smart new 16H! To his right, on another 16H, is M. Bastide, who features in the third and final photo in his riding gear - probably at the same event.

M. Bastide and his 1921 Model 16H Norton

Blocks from down under ... 1921/22 Norton Models

-SG- 'Down under' as we say in the UK rather sweepingly to describe Australasia, many houses and commercial properties were - and for that matter still are - built of wood, on substantial wooden piles.  There are various reasons for this which no doubt informed residents of New Zealand and Australia could expound on but perhaps this would be of only passing interest to site visitors! However, a result of this trend is that there is often a large space beneath the ground floor which is an admirable place to store things which are too good to chuck out but no longer needed for day-to-day activities. Needless to say, complete bikes have been resurrected from below-floor storage areas and indeed, a friend of mine in Auckland has an ex-John Hempleman head on his early sixties Manx Norton which came from just such a resting place.

Peter Thompson (Thompson's Motor Cycle Museum, Palmerston North) is well known in the area but it came as a pleasant surprise when he was given some early twenties printing blocks depicting most of the Norton range of 1921 or 1922, by a builder who was working on a local commercial property. At one stage, this had apparently housed a printing firm but this had long since been replaced by other tenants. And the blocks - they were found, with a lot of other miscellaneous stuff, below the floor! Many thanks to Peter for the resultant images attached.

Norton at the 1914 Isle of Man TT

This photo was taken on Ramsey Promenade during the 1914 TT races on the Isle of Man. From left to right: Dan O'Donovan, the Braid Brothers, James Norton and his father sitting inside the sidecar combination. The motorcycles would be TT Model 9's or 3 1/2 HP models while Pa Norton brought his Big Four. This is another pic of Ossie Braid on this very machine.

...same day, same people, except for James' father.

...and looking at the rider's number (59), this must be Dan at the 1914 TT.

1912 Model 9 Norton

Sent by Alf. From an article in Classic Motorcycling Legends No. 5

Tony's 1921 Model 9 Norton

Sent by Martin

1922 Model 9 Norton

This 1922 Model 9, fitted with the optional Philipson's pulley, was spotted at Brooklands last April.

Martin: "Simon and I both think this Norton is 1922, not 1921, particularly if that's its original engine, as engine 4200 dates from November 1922 when the surviving records start. Also the Philipson pulley has a visible date of 1922, and the frame has sidecar lugs and the final pattern of belt drive footrests with a wiggle to miss the brake rod."