CS1 Norton

Another nice picture from the web. "Uncle Ned" on his CS1 Norton. This is the engine that preceeded the better known OHC engine that was designed by Carrol and Craig. The timing cover resembles a cricket bat, hence the name. The cricket bat name has been used since the 1970s only and many people therefore prefer to identify the engine by the name of the designer, Moore. It was a very good design from the start, winning TT races untill Moore redesigned the cylinder heads, which apparently caused overheating and did little for the performance .

This Norton must be of 1929/1930 vintage; it looks very sporty, with the open exhaust, no lights and the chrome plated tanks and mudguards. It already has the "triple-stay" frame. Motorcycle evolution went very fast at the end of the 1920s; no more than a year went by between the 16H flat tank Nortons from the previous blogs and this racer leaving the Norton factory.