Stanley on a c1928 CS1

Sent by Alf

Clearly Stanley Woods, don't know the other rider. Lucien Psalty (Norton's agent in France) is on the left. Walter Moore and Alf Buckley (a factory mechanic) stand between the machines. The picture was taken in France c1929. The machines are CS1 Nortons. Note the rear-set footrests.

Geoff's 1928 Model 16H Norton

Sent by Geoff in the UK

Geoff: "Above two pics of my 1928 16H when I bought it in 2006. As you can see it was an oily rag. I only let it go in 2007 because I wanted the Zenith Super Eight a friend was selling and he wouldn't let me have the Zenith unless I swapped the Norton in exchange! For some reason the carb was removed. It now has the correct cylinder as it came with a later barrel and separate head. The friend I sold it to has restored it to his liking (below). I have recently bought it back!

It came from the Isle of Man and the reg no MN 1150 has now been taken off as an Isle of Man number cannot be used in the UK. In the UK we can keep and transfer registration numbers so as I had the number TT 1358 (which I took from a Mini car I had one time) I have put it on the 16H. I have an original 7" Horton front wheel I am going to fit. It has a post war carb and I have a spare B&B carb. that should be OK"

1928 Model 18 Norton - For sale

For sale at Ron's; not a bargain! Contact Ron directly, the Norton is not on his website.

1928 Model 24 - For sale

For sale at Verralls; a flat tank Norton described as an original 1928 Model 24. I've never seen one before but when the description is correct the dry-sump 588cc engine (!) sitting next to it would originally have been fitted. The 4-speed box is correct for this model. There were a few 588 dry-sump ES2 engines made/sold by Nortons; it is only the differing main shaft diameters which means that standard 588 flywheels can't be used in ES2s so in that respect it could be correct. A very interesting flat tanker with a hefty price tag at £21,500 (for which off course you also get the spare Model 18 engine).

Ian Hatton:"It's a 588cc OHV with the Model 25 type recirculating oiling system. Standard Model 18 engine is presently fitted but I have included a pic of the oil tank to show the return oil line. Obviously the external oil pump is not correct. Also has a four speed cross over gearbox. I believe all these details to be original."

1928 Model 18 Norton

Sold at Bonhams

1928 Norton 490cc Model 18. Registration no. VW 4704. Frame no. 29074. Engine no. 36093. This matching-numbers Model 18 was sent to a dealer in Leytonstone on 18th November 1927 and sold new to a Mr Cox of Chigwell. Sold for £16,100 on the 24th of april 2011.

1928 Model CS1 engine - For Sale

Now on Ebay; it looks to be an early Moore CS1 engine (see the clip holding the inspection cover on the cambox) fitted to what could be a 1940s WD16H frame.

Ravindra's 1928 Model 2 Norton

An email from Ravindra in India

I am a great lover of British bikes. Recently I visited my old parental house where in the barn I found the remains of a Norton flat tank motorcycle in very rusty condition; it used to be my grandfather's bike. The frame number is 331xx and the engine number is 404xx.

Simon: "It is a Model 2.  Engine and frame numbers match. Originally fitted with B and B carb., 26 x 3.25 tyres, Druid forks, and CS gearbox number 100232.  Despatched on 26/5/28.  The dealer's name is very hard to read but it was probably an export merchant dealing with India and it looks like Diodar. Note the clutch is from a later model and the crankshaft is missing."

R J D Burnie's Nortons

Pics sent by Steven, words by Simon

Steve: "This is my grandfather R J D Burnie (in the pictures) and most of these photos were taken at Pendine as this is where he was from... but he did also race at Oxwich, Brighton, Southport, Shelsley Walsh, Ulster and others... he was the chief accountant at Fort Dunlop and raced purely for fun. I have two scrap albums of his with newspaper cuttings from the thirties and fourties which is where I have managed to get most of my info from and then in '47 he get tranferred to Durban as internal auditor in a new Dunlop factory. Before leaving he was one of the most successful amatuer racers of his time..."

 Simon: "Some pics were obviously taken at Sand events and some seem to be road races but just where I do not know. It is not easy to be too sure about which models are which from the action photos. However, both bikes in the top photo are from 1928/9. The one on the right is an ES2 model and the one on the left may be an ES2 or a CS1 (they looked the same from the drive side!). I would think the photo was taken two or three years later - perhaps in the early thirties - as the front brake lever on the r/h bike has been changed to a later design.

The machine with telescopic forks and plunger rear suspension is a post war Manx Norton - as sold to the general public in the period up to the early fifties when the featherbed framed models came into the picture.

The machine with riding number 31 looks to be a just pre-war CS1 model - note full chain case over the primary chain and detachable front brake drum on left hand, while I think the other shots are all of the same machine (riding numbers 1,15,23 and 45) and this looks like a Model 30 (the 490 cc OHC racing model) from about 1933/4."

The V-twin is a New Imperial

Stanley Woods and a 1928 CS1 Norton

Words by Simon

Stanley Woods on a CS1 at the 1928 TT - Stanley's riding number was 27 and he finished fifth. The number plate colour indicates a race day photo. The CS1 still has a left hand exhaust port, but it has the special 7 inch front brake which first appeared on the works bikes that year. Below the same Norton on a page from Motor Cycling, page 202, June 18 1928.

Tim's 1928 CS1 Norton

By Simon

What has rope to do with Vintage Nortons? Tim Hunt's father was a director of Healey Brothers Ltd of Heywood in Lancashire, a fairly substantial rope-making concern founded in 1843. It is well known that Tim's bikes were initially - rather like Mike Hailwood in more recent times - provided by his parents and judging by the size of Healey Brothers, it would probably have been of little financial consequence to them to indulge him in this way! No less than 700 - 800 people were employed in their four factories and they ultimately (1971) became part of British Ropes Ltd.

This is a photo of Tim Hunt after winning the 1928 Amateur on his CS1. His father is the chap with his arm round Tim's shoulders! Tim's CS1 appears to be an entirely standard machine. As this was the same machine that he rode in the Scottish Six Days Trial in '28, it is likely that a photo exists somewhere of the bike in that event showing its number plates......

The 1928 catalogue

The 1928 brochure in German; it folds into the shape of a flat tank and shows the flat tank models only, not the CS1 and ES2. Flawil is a town in Switzerland (sent by Markus).

1928 CS1 Norton

Nice projects still surface. This 1928 Norton CS1, and quite a few spares, were recently bought by Bill in the US.

1928 Model 34 Norton

Contributed by Howard: "This photo was taken at Penrith Speedway, New South Wales, Australia, probably in the late 1920s or early 1930s"

The Norton is a 490cc OHV Model 34, easily identified by the 4-speed gearbox and the final drive on the right hand side of the machine. The half round shape of the oiltank suggests a 1928 model. The front forks are sidespring Druids, one would expect Webbs.

Compare the motorcycle to this one.

Rob's 1928 Model 18 Norton

Rob's 1928 Model 18; he plans to refit the original mudguards and build a new rear carrier. Rob restored it in a cellar many years ago, and has used and abused it ever since (he rides it on the fast lane of the motorway). It never let him down. Note that the engine already has the 1929-type of lubrication, without the external oilpipes on the timing chest.

Piet van Wijngaarden on a CS1 Norton

Two photo's of Piet van Wijngaarden and his CS1 Norton competing in the 1928 TT races in assen. See the front mudguard, he must have crashed into something already.