-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!
-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.
-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!
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-SG- What you may ask, has a 1928 photo of a chap on a Francis Barnett got to do with Nortons? The answer is simple - not really him but his dad!
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I knew John Newman back in the seventies, when he was running the local garage in Chobham, Surrey. He still had an early two-stroke (I think a Velocette) and was interested in my 1930 Norton - by then fitted with a 1929 engine, with of course exposed valve gear ... this led to his recollections of his father's early OHV Norton in the twenties which was fitted with the first inverted cup rockers - see scan. These of course did not retain any lubricant as originally supplied and John's dad used bits of rubber tube to try and remedy the situation!
Move on to November 1928 and Norton's had seemingly woken up to the needs of pushrod end lubrication and mentioned it in their publicity material! Again - see scan. None the less, they do not appear to have mentioned any seals in the 1929 Parts List. Meanwhile the Desmo Company had started selling 'Flexi -Lubricovers.' While Desmo did not mention any specific brand they considered to be in need of the Lubricovers, the engine outlined in their ad. is without doubt......a Model 18!! Thanks to John for the 1928 stuff!
-SG- I was pleasantly surprised to receive a scan of a 1928 Mobil advert from John - for which many thanks - which mentioned a TT event near Alexandria in October of that year. And the winner and second place man were both NORTON mounted!
Maddie at the VMCC library has kindly located the brief report that followed a few weeks later, in 'the Motor Cycle' - also attached.
What/where next?!!
-SG- Thanks to Ian for this 'high res' scan from the October 1928 Motor Cycle. Note that the CJ and JE models are not listed, neither are any of the four speeders. The fact that many 1929 models were supplied to end users in November/December 1928 was a result of the Autumn timing of the Olympia Show.
-SG- Peter Thomson (Thomson's Motorcycle Museum, New Zealand) has kindly sent this full page advert from 1928. This lays great stress on SILENCE - and of course, the new for '28 double-barelled silencer is clearly depicted. Peter has also scanned the image itself, which shows good detail - including the frequent advertising department error of the time - the valve rockers shown are those used up to and including 1925!
-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."
-JdK- An email from Martin in England, in his own words: "Good morning. With apologies for the poor photos here are a few snaps of my Model 18 I've owned for about 15 years. I got talking to an elderly gentleman, Malcolm, at a rummage sale who was selling a few Norton bits. After chatting for a while we exchanged telephone numbers and that was it for about a year. Then I got a surprise call off Malcolm who asked me if I would be interested in an old Norton. Not knowing what was in store I made the journey with trepidation expecting disappointment as is often the case. Upon arrival I was treated by the bike in the first picture which I would like to share with you. A deal was done and to this day it's my go to bike as it's a joy to ride. The despatch notes list it as a Model 18 of April 1928. The delivery address was 602 bombing squadron Renfrew Glasgow, the recipient being E. Poole. I've tried but can't find any details about this chap. I enclose a couple more outdoor snaps. Best regards, Martin from Walsall England."
-SG- Back in October 2013 we had a posting about the late John Masterman and his very well travelled 1928 Model 19. Alan has recently sent me a copy photo from Crowley's 1973 book 'Discovering Old Motorcycles' which I attach.
Some time back I checked up on the numbers of this stalwart machine and was surprised to find that, contrary to the generally accepted story and the caption to the photo, John Masterman was NOT its first owner. If the despatch records are correct, it was first delivered in March 1928 to a chap called (hard to read) A Gashing, who lived in Dodworth Road, Forest Hill, London SE. Enough said!
-SG- Titch Allen testing a Model 18 Norton. The bike was supplied to Coventry Motor Mart in November 1927 and delivered to a customer on January the 7th 1928. This type of timing cover and oil pump are the 1926/27 set-up, still used for the early 1928 models. Read the full story via this link.
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-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 ...
-SG- ... was not Norton's best year from the competition point of view. Must have been a disappointment to all concerned and reasons for the problems have been well discussed by various pundits over the years - most blaming Walter Moore for OHC engine changes which caused trouble. It was a milestone year none the less - with the last of Norton's flat-tank machines being produced and, of course, the introduction of saddle-tanks on the CS1 and ES2 models. Another change was to wired-on 19 inch tyres on all models.
Restoration of a 1928 Model 18 has been another of Reece's long term projects and he has just sent in some photos of it. It is virtually finished - all that remains being the fitting of a period electric lighting set - the Lucas magdyno (type MDB1) is already in place. Thanks for the photos!
-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!”
-SG- Way back in early 2012 we were sent a photo of Alan Lewis and Jack Kerr with their 1928 Model 19 outfit in period speedway trim - with braced front forks and inward sloping side-car wheel. The Australian magazine Old Bike Australasia recently published an interesting article about the track - which no longer exists - as a result of which I was able to contact Grant Barrett in Australia. He has kindly sent me a scan of a photo in his collection showing Alan and Jack with plenty of awards - and, of course, their outfit BUT it seems not to be the same machine! This one has a saddle tank - albeit seemingly rather shallow - and I assume either the actual machine was changed to a 1929 version or the original was modified in some way to accept a saddle tank.
-JdK- Photographs downloaded from the site of the Swedish Bohusläns museum. Thanks Olav! The machines are late 1920s Model 18 Nortons (and a pair of Husqvarna's).
-JdK- A message from Philip in the UK: "My grandfather (Harold Sevier Ham) got hooked on motorcycles in the early 1920's and soon favoured Nortons after going to the TT races. The attached photo shows his collection of machines in 1932, I only wish he had kept the CS1! Because he served in the RFC during WW1 he felt duty bound to help out during WW2 when they were asking the public to donate metal to "Keep the Spitfires flying." So sadly some of his machines were thrown in the back of the scrap lorry. My grandfather is sitting on the CS1 on the left of the photograph.
My father carried on the Norton tradition but did long distance trials on firstly a girder fork ES2 then a 1951 500T, and was quite successful in the MCC trials. When I passed my test in 1970 he said "better find you a Norton then!". So we bought a 1955 Norton ES2 for £12 and this started my lifelong interest in Nortons.
I've only recently ventured into flat tank Nortons when I acquired a 1927 Norton Model 18 and am still working to get it ready for the road. The petrol tank had turned into a colander when the previous owner parked it up for 7 or 8 years when he suffered from dementia. I've tried to retain the original patina as it looks quite unmolested. I've consulted the NOC about the Model 18 and found that it was built in late 1927 but first registered in March 1928. I've no history of the machine but noted that it has aluminium mudguards fitted, a Bonniksen speedo and an Andre steering damper; I wonder whether someone did a bit of Clubman's racing with it? A photo is attached to show the machine as I bought it."
-JdK- An email from John in the UK: "My Norton has spent the majority of its life in the Isle of Man. It was supplied to Vic Horsman in February 1928 and was shipped to agent Brown, Douglas, for J. Wiiliamson, Glen Hotel, Laxey in 1934. It came back to the UK in 2007.
I've had vintage bikes all my life, mainly Rudges, although my Father was a cammy Norton man. He raced in VMCC meetings for about 20 years. I bought my 16H in memory of him as he always wanted a flat tank Norton. I must admit, I'm impressed with its performance and ride quality - far better than a Rudge!
-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.