1928 Model CS1 Norton

-JdK- Mathias sent us two photos of his finished CS1 – 1928 – according to the engine and chassis numbers, as well as the VMCC.

1928 Model CS1 Norton

 

-JdK- Johan and Meindert in The Netherlands recently bought this CS1. According to the works records it went to Maudes in London on the 28th of January 1928; further to this it was purchased in the UK and exported to the Netherlands about 20 years ago. The current owners would like to know more about the history of the machine so if the bike looks familiar then please let us know!

Moore CS1 Norton

 

-JdK- Klaus was clearing out old paperwork when he came across a pile of VMCC magazine from the 1980/90s. Inside one of them he found this little article containing workshop pictures of (probably) Mr Moore and his CS1 engine.

1928 Model CS1 engine - For sale

 

-JdK- Kyle in Australia is looking selling his 1928 CS1 engine, in his own words: "It has all the main components but would need a complete rebuild. This engine was delivered to New Zealand, dispatched 9 February 1928. It was a spare engine for a Mr Syd Ayling of Invercargill,  he had a CS1 he raced and was an acquaintance of Burt Munro. My father purchased the engine off the family in 2013. It is in very nice condition, it will need a repair on a lug casting. Located in Brisbane Australia. $ 11,000 AUD or best offer." 

Use 'em! The long ride 2024

 

-JdK- Each summer Rob and I take a longer ride on our Nortons, We've been to the UK, Scotland, Ireland, Central Europe. This year we joined the BOM rally in the west of Belgium but when all the others returned to the Antwerp region we headed for the Alps. 

In the past years we took our side valve Nortons, this year it would be different as we prepared our cammy Nortons, a 1931 CS1 and a 1932 M30. We've had these bikes for many years, they've seen a lot of work and modifications and we agree these are not the most practical bikes to take on a tour like this, most notably, it's more difficult to take luggage or spare parts, they can be pretty nervous in the unavoidable cities and the gearing is just not correct for climbing steep mountain passes. 

Anyway, it was a lot of fun. We spent a few hours in Belgium fixing a positive stop mechanism and the M30 burned through six liters of oil but for the rest they needed no more attention than some light fettling. We did around 2500 km in eight days riding from the Netherlands into Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria and Italy; the map above was recorded by my Beeline SatNav. In case you are wondering, we did use the night train from Innsbruck to Dusseldorf for the ride home.

Stamps with a difference

 

-SG- I recently bought a second hand motorcycle book from a helpful chap in Dunedin (New Zealand) and it arrived this morning. Imagine my perhaps childish pleasure when I found that several of the postage stamps depicted motorcycles and one in particular showed a 1927 CS1!

Curiouser and curiouser ...

-SG- Back in April 2018 we had a brief posting about Don Morley's vintage CS1 - which he had said, slightly optimistically in my view, he thought was Stanley Woods' 1927 TT machine. He no longer had the machine at the time and was thus unable to provide useful detail like engine and frame numbers.  

However, many thanks are due to Martin, who has recently done a bit of research for me into the bike's apparent registration number JO 8834. And what did he find? That this number was first allocated by Oxford County Council, on 24th April 1934, to a Mr J C Bowman living in Downham Market. And the machine it related to is shown as a Model 30 Norton International. So quite how JO 8834 finished up on a standard looking Moore CS1 is anyone's guess! A scan is attached of the entry in the Oxford records.

1929 Model CS1 Norton

 

-SG- Many thanks to Mirek for the photos of his very presentable 1929 CS1 in action at recent events.

1929 CS1 - SOLD.

 

-SG- An email from Alan: "In advance of advertising elsewhere, a rare opportunity to purchase a very tidy, fully equipped and original machine, refurbished to a high standard. 

Matching frame and engine numbers. Engine rebuild by OHC Norton expert, Geoff Bain. Details of the work undertaken can be supplied, together with a video of the bike running. The sale includes a copy handbook, parts list and period accessory literature. A speedo set is also included but not currently fitted and needs a new cable (can be sourced from JJ Cables).

Sale due to changed personal circumstances and too many other calls on my time. SOLD

Looking for Moore CS1 parts

 

-JdK- Heiner in Germany contacted us for spares for his 1928 CS1 Norton; please let us know when you can help. Heiner: "My CS1 has the frame number 418xx and engine number CS149xx and should be from 1928. I've owned it for twelve years now. The bike came from a Scottish racer who often competed in hill climbs in Switzerland. He apparently had a lot of Norton spare parts and therefore was constantly tuning his bikes. The bike has later girders and uses a dollshead gearbox though I still have the correct Sturmey Archer stored somewhere. At the moment the engine is in bits and I need a few parts like the oilpump drive and lower bevel for the vertical shaft. Please contact the website when you can help."

Late twenties Norton tank colours

-SG- I recently got a request from Bruno regarding the colour of the tanks of his late twenties CS1 Norton; my reply is reproduced below. 

The question of tank painting is not one which we have discussed much in the past.  However it  never ceases to amaze me how many of the professionals, however good their actual skills, manage to do a very poor job of painting Norton tanks. It seems as if they copy other modern inaccurate restorations and do not bother to even look at the numerous ORIGINAL photos which exist of, for instance, late twenties CS1s or other Nortons of the same period.  Unless one is lucky enough to have one of the large racing tanks used on the works machines at the end of the twenties, then it appears to me that those used on 1928/9 CS1s and ES2s and on virtually all the 1929 models had the same lining. At the time it is likely that the lining was all applied by brush and by hand and there may well have been small differences between one painter's work and that of one of his colleagues.  I attach (above) a couple of photos of a tank from 1929 which was original (I no longer have it) and also part of a letter (below) I sent in 2007 giving some dimensions and also comments about oil tank lining. I recommend you take a careful look at the various photos of original and unrestored machines on the web site - ignoring the works bikes - and use them and my photos/dimensions as guidance. 

I do not personally know the specific colour codes for the red lining (perhaps RUBY RED is a correct description) or the silver for that matter but the general opinion these days is that the silver used by Ford Motor company - their spec. FORD SILVER FOX - is very close to the original Norton shade. 

PS. Andrew, whose CS1 has been on the site before, has done some checking on the paint shades he has used on  Vintage Norton tanks over the past twenty years or so.  I have also sent him a paint sample taken from the area under the knee grip of my former tank (see posting of 5/12/22).  Here are his comments:

 

"Originally I used Opel Silver Mist code 17u which matched the paint on the CS1 tank when I bought the bike in the first place.  And of the colours I have used, the closest to your sample happens to be the same - Opel Silver Mist code 17u! But of course, with all paints, the final shade relies on the undercoat colour and silver metallic top coats benefit from a light grey undercoat.

 

George Cohen wrote in his blog back in 2002: Norton Silver can be replicated by using: 1974 VW Beetle Silver or Vauxhall Star Silver Mist, or, for the greeny patina, use Vauxhall Platinum Starfire Metallic or VW  Audi Platinum (ICI:L98G 9305B).

 

I have since re-sprayed my CS1 tank with BMW Lachssilber 203, which is a little darker and which I prefer."

 

Thanks for your input, Andrew!

 

A desirable CS1?

 

-SG- Thanks to Frank who recently sent me the attached photo of a restored, UK-registered CS1. He knows that I deplore the tendency - which seems to be on the decline - of over-restoration and thought this one would produce some appropriate comments from me!  How right he is! Even show models in the twenties did not sparkle like this one - in general there is an excess of plating and polishing and a further cosmetic rebuild would be needed to get back to anything like its original state.  I have to say I am unsure if the plating is nickel, as it should be, or chrome ...

John Lane

 

-SG- Saddened to learn of the death of my good friend John Lane on 25 November. I first met John at the Crystal Palace circuit in about 1959. He was entered on a late twenties CS1 – actually a hybrid with a CS1 engine fitted to a same period CJ frame. A crash during the Saturday practise period did not deter him. Over the weekend he transferred all the essential racing components to a 1928 CS1 rolling chassis and, mounted thereon, finished third in the actual race on Bank Holiday Monday!  This typified his determined approach to Vintage speed events – resulting in many wins over the next fifteen years or so. On one occasion, when John was unable to compete himself, he was kind enough to let me have a ride on the CS1 at Crystal Palace. A memorable experience that I’ve never forgotten. I finished in third place and we shared the massive prize of £12! I did succeed in beating him once – at Snetterton Circuit – but as I was riding an ex-Brooklands 1000cc Coventry Eagle, I did have an unfair capacity advantage!

Chris Streather, of the Norton Owners’ Club, bought his racing CS1 back in 2012. The bike was featured on the website in September of that year – and I am sure John would be pleased to know it is still used from time to time. Chris has kindly sent the attached photo of John and the CS1, taken on the day he collected it.

John was a life-long Norton enthusiast. As a friend he was indeed “unapproachable!”