Artie's Model 22 Norton

-SG- My good friend Artie has been involved in Classic Racing in NZ for the last forty years or thereabouts. For several years he was using a 1951 Manx powered by an Inter engine of the same age which he had acquired in 1969.  He used this machine as a road burner for a while in the seventies but returned it to track trim when Classic Racing started in 1979.  A few years back he obtained and fitted the original DOHC engine to the Manx - which had been modified to the short stroke spec. in 1954.

More recently he has been riding a Model 22 built up in 2005 from random parts collected over the years - in his own words 'a real bitza!'  The engine is 1931, the cradle frame probably mid-  to late-thirties, thirties doll's head gearbox and forks, and - a recent improvement - an 8 inch front brake from a fifties Norton tweaked to fit the girders.  While it is not in the same league as the - now very few - pre-war OHC Nortons being raced in NZ it has given Artie many enjoyable rides over the years and another outing to the Covid-delayed Pukekohe meeting is planned for the end of April. Good luck!

1930 Models 20 and 22

Click this link for the folder

-SG- Thanks again to Ian, here's a scan of the small fold out leaflet specifically covering the twin port Models 20 and 22. The Model 20 looks like a twin port version of the Model 18 but isn't! The frame is different, the primary chain case and drive side footrest mounting are different and in the engine department, the big end has a direct oil feed via a spring loaded quill in the timing cover. And just to cap it off, the gearbox differs slightly in that it has a longer kick start axle to provide clearance for the right hand exhaust pipe. As for the Model 22, it looks like a twin port version of the ES2 - and essentially is just that! Apart from the head of course, all that I am aware of by way of a possible difference is the length of the kick start axle.

VMCC Founder's Day‏

1930 Model 22 Norton

-SG- The VMCC's Founder's Day event took place last weekend. Not a lot to report on the pre-war Norton front although I spotted a restored 1930 Model 22 - which had, I think, been brought all the way from Cornwall. Apart from a doll's head box and later Norton forks with rebound springs, it looks pretty good and considerable care has been taken over the tank restoration.

One of the stall holders had a replica mid twenties Big Four tank - not cheap at £450 but it looks to be well made.  Not sure why it has large sized filler necks rather than what I think were the usual 1 13/16" size.  If anyone is interested in this, I have a phone number to call. A couple more stall holders had circa 1920 Sturmey Archer CS chain cum belt gearboxes - both with clutches.  One had decades of accumulated filth on it - and appeared not to have been opened. At £600 I feel a bit pricey! The other was pristine by comparison although what the internals are like I know not.  That one was £1000 which I think is way too much especially as the end cover had serious and quite deep corrosion on the lower face.

And another optimist was selling small photographs. I asked about one - a print of 'Blackie' Blacknell, the side-car manufacturer, as a young man, astride a prototype Norton speedway bike in 1929. It has appeared before, I think in the VMCC magazine in the late nineties, and I was not willing to part with £45 to buy it!  Had it been a tenner, I might have fallen for it and it would have been shown it right here!

Early thirties Model 22

-SG- Artie has been competing at the NZCMRR race meetings for more years than he probably cares to remember and in recent events, one of his mounts has been a Model 22. This has been assembled out of parts gathered along the way over time but the power unit is basically 1931 and the frame mid thirties ES2. The frame in particular has a history attached to it. It belonged to the late Len Perry - one of New Zealand's racing greats - and was used for dirt racing in the fifties and sixties with a sidecar attached. The modified and extended  forks - as Artie said "a bit crude but effective" - date from Len's period of ownership, when it was powered by a Speedway JAP engine and was called 'Buster.' Putting the front wheel spindle way ahead of its usual position improved handling with a chair attached and Len won many races in his time with it.

Geoff's 1930 Model 22

Geoff in the US sent these pics: "I have a 1930 Norton with Milford sidecar. It has a single exhaust port head and 1 3/8" brass TT carb. I don't know what else has been done but it goes like stink! It came from Paul d'Orleans."

-SG- Have looked up this bike in the records. The engine and frame number both come from the same machine - a 1930 Model 22. This was the twin exhaust port version of the ES2 so it had the cradle frame and TT forks as well as the LS gear box! The original gearbox number was 150520. This particular bike was shipped out fitted with an MDB1 Lucas magdyno and lights and had the non positive stop disc type gear change. It was despatched on 8 July 1930 to a dealer in Wales called Jones in Llangefni.

Niles, Geoff and the Norton

1930 Model 22 Norton

-SG- The recent Founder's Day event of the VMCC had a few Vintage Norton items in the autojumble. One stand had a slightly battered but otherwise complete 1930 Model 18 engine on offer at £2000 while the same seller also had a 1930 tank change CS S-A box complete with clutch at £500, which I think sold. Judging by the state of the final drive sprocket it had done a high milage and was probably from the same bike as the engine.

Elsewhere was a 1930 Model 22 project - see photos. This looks superficially to be quite a good bet though not cheap at £7500 (dropped to £6500 by the time it was shown at Netley Marsh on Friday last). The forks are standard rather than correct TT type for this model. The front wheel is correct although with signs of a bodged up spindle. The engine no longer has a twin port head and matching barrel but has a Model 18/ES2 top half. The gear box is a four speed type IV from about 1932. The rear wheel has correct brake drum and incorrect final drive sprocket. The rear brake plate is incorrect. The tank appears to be standard Model 18, has no gear change gate (usually Model 22s had tank change) and has wrong filler cap. All in all, a lot of work needed but opportunities like this are, I guess, few and far between... Incidentally, the engine number is 2 different to the c/case/flywheel assembly I have owned since 1956.

1930 Model 22 Norton

Sent by Pa

"A pic of a nice 1930 Model 22 out at the recent Golden Vale Rally in Co. Tipperary Ireland." JdK: Front wheel and forks come from a later model.