1928 Model ES2 engine - For sale

 -JdK- Phil in the UK has this 1928 ES2 Norton engine for sale. Included in the deal is another half of an engine, see the photo. Phil is asking £1275 and is willing to split the sale of the complete / half engine. Contact him on 07811165320/01691 650137.

November 1928 Olympia Motorcycle Show

-SG- John has kindly sent this interesting scan from 'Motor Cycling' 7th November 1928. The text as published contains a blatant error - to the effect that the  ES2s would be fitted with Druid  ES forks. As  far as I have been able to find out, it was only the 350s - CJ and JE - which used these forks, while the ES2s and CS1s were fitted with the TT Webbs. We have just ONE posting on the site (November 2009) of a new 1930 ES2 in the Netherlands fitted with Druids! 

1938 Model ES2 Norton

 

-SG- Thanks to Adam who has drawn my attention to this very presentable ES2 which is for sale in Scotland. It apparently spent 25 years in a glass case in Hawick Museum, which, as we have mentioned before, has sundry exhibits linked to local TT hero Jimmie Guthrie. The current seller says it is 1938 and if this is the case, then surely it would not have been actually owned by Jimmie G himself, who was killed in the 1937 German Grand Prix.

The surviving ES2/ESII

-SG- The very first ES2s listed in the despatch records are shown as ESIIs and they include one despatched to H Matthews with engine 35580, who rode it in the 1927 Amateur.  He was, I believe, involved in a collision with another rider and retired.  His machine was restored by the late Wilf Green - see our earlier posting of 18 Nov 2009 - and over thirty years ago was sold to Arthur Skinner of Buntingford, with whom I was on good terms.  Arthur died a couple of years back in his mid-nineties and the ESII now has a new owner.  For reasons which are not clear the bike had been partly dismantled and the new owner tells me that the cast alloy primary chain case is missing and so is the gear-change assembly for the LS Sturmey Archer gear-box.  If anyone can help with the supply of these items, please contact Derek direct at derek_fox@btinternet.com

Donald Ham's Nortons

-Philip- Here are a couple of photos of my father, Donald Sevier Ham on his trials machines. The girder fork machine above is an ES2 that he was riding in the Land's End Trial in 1948 and about to tackle the Beggar's Roost hill; look where his eyes are focused to see how steep the hill was!  This was 100% concentration.

The second photo shows the ES2 just starting the climb at Blue Hills Mines, near St Agnes in Cornwall; again on the Land's End Trial.

The last picture shows his 500T getting the better of him and he referred to it as "Waltzing Matilda".

1928-1929 Norton ES2 cylinder head - SOLD

 

-JdK- Leon has a 1928-1929 ES2 cylinder head he SOLD wishes to sell and has provided a few photo’s. It is said to be in good condition with some welding repairs. 

Classic Bike Guide ...

-SG- ... is another publication by the Morton Group, which is also responsible for The Classic Motor Cycle amongst other magazines. My attention was recently drawn to the January 2020 edition which contains an article about a couple of post war ES2 engined machines, written by the Editor, Matt Hull, and the machines' owner. One of the illustrations is an image not much larger than a postage stamp taken from the 1929 catalogue showing the incorrect oil pump and original rear frame-bending brake anchor set-up. Another - alongside a rambling and partially accurate section entitled 'A lesson in history' - shows Walter Moore with Tommy Bullus seated on a racing NSU from the early thirties, despite the fact that Moore's move to NSU in 1929 goes unmentioned! All in all not a wonderful piece of journalism ...

1939 Model ES2 Norton

-JdK- John in Australia sent a couple of shots of his recently restored 39 ES2. It has the optional larger petrol tank.

Mid-thirties norton model ES2

-JdK- From the Red Devil Motors blog; a picture of what appears to be a mid-1930s ES2.

Free publicity

-SG- Many manufacturers availed themselves of free publicity arising from  road tests, interviews etc. and who can blame them for that! The Norton publicity department re-issued copies of road tests and a 'future plans' article in the late thirties, and thanks again to Ian, we are able to provide scans. Click this link for the road test of the 1939 Model ES2

1929 Norton TT machine

-SG- We recently posted 'then and now' photos of the special dry sump ES2 used by Harvey Pilling in the 1929 TT.  Paul, the present owner, has decided to retain the four speed SA box which has been fitted to the bike for many years but is missing some of the positive stop footchange parts. Photos attached show the parts he is seeking - if anyone has any spares, please get in touch with us and we will put Paul in touch.

Another point of interest - Paul has recently obtained a twin float Binks to suit the machine - singularly hard to find these days and almost certainly the right one for this machine.  Photos attached for information!

1939 Model ES2 Norton

-JdK- John in Australia sent these pics of his 1939 Model ES2 Norton. It sports the earlier girders and in other aspects looks original.

1929 Model ES2 Norton

-JdK- Phil contributed this photo he got from his late great grandad. It's a lucky chap on an apparently brand new 1929 Model ES2 Norton.

1939 Model ES2 Norton

-JdK- John in Australia sent these pic and words: "Jack Walters on a 1939 ES2 he raced for a while here in Victoria Australia.  He bought the bike new with the optional large capacity petrol tank and 2 1/2" filler oil tank. I acquired the bike and have nearly completed restoration."

Ride 'em - a 1930 ES2

-SG- Greg from Western Australia has a few Nortons, including a mid-twenties Model 18 and a late-twenties CS1. He also has a 1930 ES2 which he uses regularly. Not only does he use it but he has recently brought it over to UK so that he and his wife could ride it on their visit to the IOM for the Classic  TT and other recent Manx events.

 

It's in very presentable shape and Alan took several photos of it - thanks! - which are attached. Greg has fitted an early '30s four speed Sturmey box, which he says makes it easier to ride two up, but other wise it looks very standard. Not sure about the plated brake arms - a boring bug-bear of mine, I freely admit - but otherwise, a good looker and according to Alan, a good goer too!.  Incidentally, it was sent out to Australia in February 1930, through the usual Export House, Tozer Kemsley and Millbourn.

Simon's Norton ...

-SG- I was recently attempting to tidy my disordered files when I came across this photo of FDF869 which has all the appearance of a 1939 ES2. It is and it isn't! The registration number kings will identify FDF869 as dating from 1946. And when I bought it in 1959, complete with child/adult sidecar on the side, that's what it said in the log book. I think it cost me £40.  I used it as regular transport for a year when foolishness and disaster struck!

I took off the sidecar body as I had arranged with a friend to fit a channel to the chassis on which to mount my Vintage Model 18, to go to race meetings.  I set off: without the sidecar body the bike was very lively on left handers and rounding one quite close to home at my usual speed, the wheel came up and - an automatic reaction I suppose -  I straightened up a bit to get the chair wheel down, which of course took me onto the wrong side of the road. And who should be coming the other way at that precise moment but a nice 'ex-pat.' Pole driving an A35 Austin van. I went straight into him, landing on the bonnet and when I opened my eyes a couple of seconds later, I saw him looking out at me in considerable astonishment through what was left of the windscreen! The boring aftermath of visits to hospital etc. do not need repeating but in due course I got the outfit back home. The forks were entirely knackered as were the front wheel, mudguard and the front of the sidecar chassis. There did not seem to be any other damage, apart from the big dent in the tank visible in the photo. but I felt uneasy about the frame and resolved to change it for another if I could.

As it happened, my old friend Frank Pearce had a bare frame from a 1939 ES2 with no documents which I had for a couple of Pounds, while a new set of ex-WD forks from Russell Motors (still going) in Battersea cost me a tenner.  Frank came up with a front wheel and mudguard suitable for the WD forks (brake on the left, whereas mine had been on the right). I literally swopped everything over into the 1939 frame and thus it became more 1939 than  '46. As far as I recall - and as it's now 57 years ago, my memory is a bit hazy -  the 1939 ES2 frame differed from the 1946 Model 18 version in the provision of pillion footrest lugs on the rear frame tubes. I think one had them and one didn't, but not sure which.

I sold it in 1984 for not very much money and the new owner provided the photo not long before he and a friend departed on a somewhat disastrous trip, I think to Greece.  Wish I'd kept it!

Rubbish Norton

-JdK- Olav and his Norton have featured on this site before and while he's enthusiastic about our favorite brand of motorcycle we don't want to miss this story; in his own words:

"I was going to the UK after visiting my parents in France on a trip that had taken me 1700 km already. Fifteen km before Dieppe disaster struck; suddenly all power was gone, I pulled the clutch and rolled to a standstill. I should not forget to mention that the engine sounded like a bag of stones.

A quick mechanical checkover confirmed what I thought had happened. Have a look at the pic above and decide for yourself (clue; this is the exhaust port and I can't see a valve). Off course I'm not a member of any Recovery Service and I started pushing the bike to the nearest village that turned out to be miles away. I quickly got tired of this, pushed the bike in a ditch, covered it up in hay and made my way home via hitchhiking and trains to Rouen, Paris, Maastricht.  Eleven hours later I crossed my front door.

The next day I took my Toyota Starlet to collect the bike that was now 420 km from home, laying in a ditch. Unfortunately, while the Toyota has a tow-bar, the clutch is worn and slipping and it therefore doesn't pull a trailer.

When I arrived in Longueville sur Scie the bike was till there; I pulled it from the ditch in a burning heat and covered in flies, sweat and oil took the bike to bits and after a lot of pushing and swearing managed to get it into the back of the car. Fortunately the Toyota and it's clutch got me home.

So my advice; do not buy an OHV Norton, it's rubbish!"

(Note from JdK: we do need to mention that Olav does more miles on his Norton in one week than most of us in a decade)

Charlie's bikes

-JdK- Steve sent these pics of Charlie Cockcroft, his father-in-law, on his bikes. The Norton (XG4849) is a c1936 Model ES2 Norton and it looks quite new. XG3961 is a Triumph and Hans, who has a similar machine, wrote the words below:

"XG3961 is a 1935/36 Triumph Model 3/5 (350 c.c.) or 5/5 (500 c.c.).  The /5 models were the specials in the OHV range with higher cams and a high compression piston. The petrol tank for these models were  finished in chrome and plum, very attractive. All models in this range were designed by Val Page. What is interesting is that this machine seems to have only one exhaust pipe on the right hand side while the /5 models always had, to my best knowledge, two-port cylinder heads."

New Models for 1928

-SG- Thanks again to Ian for the loan of this fold-out leaflet covering the introduction of the CS1 and ES2 models. The illustration of the latter (above) shows it with the wrong Best and Lloyd oil pump fitted - obviously a matter of little concern to the publicity chaps at Norton's as they went on using the same retouched photo for quite a while!  Worth noting too that the rear brake anchor set-up differs somewhat on production models to that is shown in this leaflet.

c1939 Model ES2 Norton

-JdK- Ian in the UK sent this photo of his dad and his bike.

Ian: "Thought you might like a picture of my Dad’s Norton, I was told it was a 1930s model, he owned it after the war and did most of the courting with my Mum on the back. She tells us how she would often fall asleep whilst they rode."

The Norton is a late-1930s Model ES2