1902 NORTON 'ENERGETTE'

1902 Norton 'Energette'

 Spotted at auction currently in New Zealand is this ca.1902 proto-Norton, from the days when James Lansdowne was assembling French engines (Clement, Peugeot) into frames of his own design, to create his first own-make machines.  One of which, of course, just pipped Billy Wells on his Vindec Special to win the very first Isle of Man TT in 1907 (multi-cylinder class - the Peugeot engine was a v-twin). The 'Energette' is clearly a mo-ped, which is the typical starting point for most early motorcycle manufacturers who grew to bigger machinery after gaining experience with these first commercially-available motors.

Crankshaft flywheel on the Clement engine

A few 'Energettes' exist in museums and private hands - perhaps only 3 - one of which resides with the esteemed 'Dr. Norton', our own George Cohen.  He relates details of his own '02 on his excellent website:
"The Clement engine was 55 X 60mm bore and stroke ( about 140 cc) and had an atmospherically controlled inlet valve and a mechanically operated side exhaust valve. The crank, drive side main shaft and pin were all forged as one piece out of tough steel and case hardened and ground dead true afterwards. The aluminium crankcases were clamped to the inside of the front down tube and to the right of centre. The drive side main-shaft held a 7 ¼ inch O.D. flywheel which had either a sprocket or pulley bolted to the inside and consequently balanced the motor within the frame; so the theory goes! The pulley (or sprocket) then drove another pulley or sprocket, situated below, but in front of the pedal crank, and this, in turn drove the rear wheel pulley by the period leather belt. There were variations on this theme that sometimes included a jockey wheel to maintain the rear belt tension. The rest of the machine was basically a period bicycle and consequently pedals drove the rear wheel by the usual sprocket arrangement including a free-wheelin’ rear hub. A small petrol tank was suspended beneath the top frame rail, ignition was ‘electric with positive “make” trembler’; and ‘A coil, giving a strong spark and accumulator of 20ampere hours capacity’ (ref: Supplement to Motor Cycling 7.5.1902) The whole machined weighed about 70 lb (32kg) and was probably not much faster than a good athlete on a sports bicycle!" 

George Cohen, his 1902 Norton, and Sammy Miller (who has one too!)

The estimate for the Energette is $100,000-130,000, and the machine is documented from 1945 onwards, although at that price I'd ask a few questions and want a few photographs of the machine 'as found', and a good look at George Cohen's machine for comparison.  If its the real deal, there isn't much rarer on two wheels!

BUILDING A 'FOUR' IN THE 1960s

1973 Penthouse Pet of the Year, Patricia Barrett

In the mid 1960s an overhead-camshaft four cylinder engine was the object of fantasy and an ideal of red-blooded motorcyclists everywhere.  None were available commercially, barring a few ungainly 600cc MV Agustas, prohibitively expensive and with virtually no support from the MV factory, almost an apology or misdirection to fans eager for a roadster version of their all-conquering World Championship racing 4s.

Showing off the finned oil sump, and width of the motor

Honda had not yet translated their remarkable RC161 racing four-cylinder to the public, that would happen soon though.  It's hard to visualize today that while four-cylinder motorcycle engines had been around since the first FN's pioneering machine of 1905, no factory in the early 1960s offered a 'four' worth its salt.   Creative motorcyclists responded to this decades-old desire as they always had - they made their own, by lashing together a pair of twin-cylinder engines, or, for the truly inspired, fabricating the completely home-designed 'cammy' fours (Nougier, Marsh, etc), which cropped up in magazines like exotic flowers, typically built for racing. 

NSU Prinz 1000, the rusty donor car.

Another route to a 'four' was to pull the engine from a small car and stuff it into a motorcycle frame, as several 'special' builders did, some even in series, like Friedl Münch. The most capacious frame in the 1960s was the Norton Featherbed, in production for 10 years already, meaning plenty of 'loose' frames were laying in salvage yards or with blown engines at home.  An engine with good 'spec' was actually hard to find, as most 'fours' in cars were both water-cooled and made of cast iron - guaranteeing a very heavy motorcycle.  A few small engines were of more advanced spec, with the two most likely candidates (in Europe at least) with full and deep motorcycle connections built into their DNA.

Looking like a Gilera spy photo, almost!

The engine originally used twin Solex carbs

The Hillman 'Imp' had a lovely and powerul engine, albeit watercooled, designed by unsung Norton hero Leo Kusmicki, the man who touched the 'Manx' with his magic wand and kept it competitive for 10 years after its 'sell-by' date.  Kusmicki went to work for the automotive industry after Norton shuttered its race shop, and the ohc 'Imp' engine was well-known as strong and capable of being tuned to a high pitch.  The water-cooling dissuaded many solo motorcyclists, although plenty of racing sidecar outfits found the need to carry water a small price to pay, given the cheap power an Imp provided.  Who needed the money of Count Agusta when a wrecked Hillman provided a readymade power unit?

Sitting comfortably within the Featherbed frame...

Another car-engine donor came from venerable motorcycle manufacturer NSU.  The engine from their 'Prinz' automobile, which served long years as a rally competitor, was successively tuned by the carmaker to ever sportier iterations, with the '1200 TTS' the ultimate model, appearing at the right moment to inspire plenty of dreaming two-wheel tinkerers.  And it was air-cooled and all-aluminum, with handsome finning, and few awkward casting shapes to spoil its looks.  The Prinz engine fit into the Norton frame without cutting metal, although the bolt-on sump needed a revamp... heaving the lump into a Norton frame looks simple, at first.  The reality of mating this engine with a gearbox, primary chain, and clutch, and a functioning oil sump, was far more complicated than that seductive 'looks easy' mental image.  Skilled fabrication was essential for everything to line up and function properly; a talented stylist was needed to make the result look like a proper motorcycle.

The 1058cc NSU engine, with chain-driven OHC.

Mick King (from the 'Norton Not Mammut' post) was kind enough to share his process, in photos, of taking a rustbucket NSU Prinz and a 1967 Norton Atlas chassis, and creating a successful hybrid.  The photos hint at the measuring, drawing, and fabrication time required to bring the elements together, something easy to forget when looking at the finished product.  That is the magic and drawback of a successful job - it looks easy!  The Italians call this 'Sprezzatura'  - making the difficult look effortless; the mark of mastery.

No airbox yet to fill the 'gap' - a mockup shot.

The build took him long enough that both the Honda 'CB750' and the Norton 'Commando' emerged on the market in the meantime, but as his machine was never meant as a production exercise, the Commando contributed useful bits to his Norton/NSU: the front forks and disc brake, mufflers, seat, and clutch.

From the rear, almost a Norton Atlas, barring the extra Peashooter mufflers!

 The two 'big' jobs in translating the engine from car to bike were the sump, which Mick cast in shapely aluminum to fit between the Norton frame rails, and the clutch/transmission interface, which he solved via an extended, demountable coupling between the gearbox and clutch, using a 'simple' steel box attached to the engine plates, which holds an outrigger bearing for the extended clutch shaft.  This also meant installing the Norton gearbox backwards!  Yes, it works fine both ways, but Mick had to reverse the 'pawl' on the kickstart shaft. The photographs should explain his thinking, which seems sound enough - the clutch no longer runs on the gearbox mainshaft but its own stub shaft, connected to the gearbox via a mated pair of pegged plates, similar to BMW shaft-drive practice.  All very clever and relatively simple.

The extension 'box' for the clutch; note clutch release pushrod in the center.

The donor NSU model was the 'Prinz 1000', and had Mick King read the specifications for this model, he might have thought twice about the engine!  While an impressive 'spec' the standard Prinz only produced 40hp @ 5500rpm, which is about 10hp less than the Norton Atlas engine which he abandoned to make his 'special'... no wonder then that he was shocked to find his finished hybrid a 'gutless wonder'.  If Mick had access to the latest model (1968) NSU TTS, he would have found a 70hp engine, using 10.5:1 compression pistons (not much room for increase there!) and sporting camshaft.  After Mick's engine tuning work, the Norton/NSU was capable of 125mph, so it seems he equaled the NSU factory in hotting up the engine.

Vancouver 1973, winning 'Best in Show'

The finished machine did well on the 'show bike' circuit in the early 1970s, garnering Mick many 'Best of Show' wins, and the snap (top) with the 1973 Penthouse Pet of the Year,  Patricia Barrett.  Which you may think is irrelevant, but consider that the 1971 Pet of the Year, Stephanie McLean, was racer Barry Sheene's wife. 

Before the airbox, but after painting; showing four carbs now.

Mick King's motorcycle shop in BC; Superformance.

CATHERINE, PARIS, NORTON

Catherine, who prefers her privacy, started riding in the heady year of 1969.  She always liked motorcycles, and had a boyfriend who rode one of the first Honda CB 750s, but "he scared me, as a passenger, by going too fast.  I decided to get my own bike.  That way, I could control things." Her first choice, a Yamaha DT1 Enduro 250cc, was a bear to kickstart, even for two-stroke, but she kept it for a year...not bothering with a driver's license!

By 1971 she decided a Norton Commando 750 (above, wearing its usual chrome tank) was the bike for her, which led to a string of Commandos, ending with an 850cc Interstate electric-start, which lacked the svelte grace of the previous Roadster models and didn't stay long.  She kept that first Norton for 39 years; it endured a string of other bikes as garage-mates, including a Dresda-framed Suzuki racer (a twin-cylinder two-stroke, weighing all of 110kg), and a lot of Hondas.  The very first Gold Wing in France was hers (the importer was a friend), but Catherine found it horrible..."it was a big shit, and I sold it in 3 weeks. It always felt like it was falling over in corners, and simply wasn't fun...I preferred sporty bikes, and at the time I wanted the biggest bike of all...very American!" she laughs.  By contrast, she also had the very first Honda Dax in France, with a floral seat.

In the early 70s, many of her friends rode Harleys, but she chose a Norton. "Everybody had a Harley Davidson; it was popular to say 'I have a Harley', but my friends who owned them weren't really fond of motorcycles...they just wanted to say they had one.  They didn't ride very well, it was all for show.  
I was working for La Moto magazine in Paris, as a test rider for bikes.  I was also asked to model for a lot of ads which needed a woman on a bike.  Once, I was approached for a commercial for 'Genie' soft drinks, which was filming in that part of Spain they use for Western movies.  They needed a woman who could ride an Enduro bike, so I got the call.  It happened that Giacomo Agostini was also used for the film, so I was able to interview him at the same time.  The article was published in La Moto.  I rode with a gang who were friends with some famous people, so we were pretty visible around Paris."

Her distinctive leathers were made by Parisian Albert Hirsch, whose company 'Dada Cuirs' (Dada Leathers) made some of the finest racing and riding outfits in the world, kitting all the French GP stars from 1971-84; Bernard Fau, Jean-Claude Chemarin, Charles Krajka, and most notably, his friend Michel Rougerie, wearing Dada leathers in the fantastic film Le Cheval de Fer (check out this youtube teaser - if you haven't seen it, buy it!).  Hirsch earned his scissors at fashion houses Lanvin and Hermés, and the quality of Catherine's leathers is clear - they are still in excellent shape nearly 40 years later.

Hirsch made her two sets of one-piece leathers, one in black, the other red, with the black meant to be tucked into boots, and the red with bell-bottoms - the height of fashion.  He made the custom 'flaming Norton' logo for her chest, and Catherine's personal logo, the panther, for the back.

Catherine "considered having the panther tattooed on my arm, but walking into the parlor and seeing the tattoo artist and a very stoned customer turned me off completely, and I walked out.  Now I'm glad I didn't do it."  While she included her leathers with the Norton when sold earlier this year (they don't fit anymore!), she kept a fur-lined riding jacket; "I had Dada make the fur collar really tall so it would cover my nose while riding and keep my face warm."

Regarding the Norton...it was difficult for her to sell such a long-time friend, but she "finally found someone I felt would take good care of it" in Paris, along with her leathers... although she's keeping the beautiful hand-painted tank which adorns it for these photographs.  It's a spare, which she gave to a group of artist and musician friends in '71 to paint as they chose, and she loved the result.  A treasured possession, she declines to publicize who did the work, as the artist didn't sign it, and she doesn't want to be bothered by 'trophy hunters'.

What I can say about this tank, painted in an era of 'heightened consciousness' in Paris...it is simply sublime, one of the finest custom paint jobs on a motorcycle tank I've ever seen, very sweet in a depiction of youthful, virginal innocence, the Springtime of life.  Alas, that image was stark contrast to the reality of the time, when so many of Catherine's friends "used Everything", while she preferred the high of riding a powerful motorcycle.  Sadly, the painter died soon after the tank was finished, a victim of his own indulgence, but Catherine keeps the tank, and her memories, close at hand.

'HOW YOU FIND THEM' MANX FOR SALE

A 'barn find' 1956 Norton Manx 30M, featured on The Vintagent two years ago, will appear at the Bonhams Petersen Museum auction on November 13, 2010.  This machine was catnip to me when a friend forwarded the photos - a full-blown racer on the road! - but queries about a sale were rebuffed.  Now it appears the owner has changed course, and the story revealed behind the machine and its modifications for the road make it all the more desirable.

The text of the Bonhams catalog bears repeating, as its charmingly written:

"The argument over best-loved automotive writer of all time would last far into the night, but among the finalists has to be Henry Manney III. No finer wordsmith ever grasped a steering wheel or set of handlebars. For decades his pieces were required reading in Road & Track magazine, especially his "At Large" column, which often signed off with his trademark shorthand coda, Yr Faithfl Srvnt. It was Manney who famously characterized the sexy-swoopy Jaguar E-type as the "greatest crumpet-catcher known to man." He also wrote for R&T's sister magazine Cycle World, where his good humor, keen wit and wonderfully obtuse writing style were always welcome entertainment.

Manney, a trained dancer in his youth, was comfortable rubbing shoulders with the Grand Prix greats in Monaco or touring deep in the American South driving some European import the locals had never heard of. His personal garage often included at least one exotic four-wheeler from Italy, but on the motorcycle side he favored the Queen's Iron, as illustrated by the four Britbikes on sale in this auction.

Flagship of the motley fleet has to be his Manx Norton. As befits Manney's slanted view on life in general and transportation devices in particular, this is no ordinary Manx. In silhouette, all the familiar components are there. The overhead cam motor with its right-side bevel-drive tower and exposed valve springs. The innovative all-welded frame so ahead of its time it was said to ride "like a featherbed," a name that stuck. The bread-loaf gas tank and bum-stop seat, known to legions of privateer roadracers learning their craft, not least of which was a young Mike Hailwood. The conically shaped brake hubs, the front with a jutting scoop to collect cooling air. All standard Manx fare.

But look closer and you'll discern Manney's grand plan for his Norton. First clue is the Smiths speedometer alongside the usual tach. Gone are the low-mounted clip-ons, replaced my more comfortable tubular handlebars. A custom alloy bracket on one of the frame's front downtubes holds an alternator intended to be belt-driven from a pulley attached to the crankshaft. The engine breathes through a filtered Mikuni carburetor, easier to start and keep idling than the proper remote-float Amal GP (which is included in this sale). The rear fender is drilled and wired to accept a taillight. In deference to neighbors and the local constabulary, a sound-deadening flapper valve was fitted to the megaphone exhaust, cable-operated from the handlebars. Yes, Manney intended this Manx to be street-legal and road-ridden! 

His untimely passing in 1988 put a stop to the project. Since then, all of Manney's bikes have been in the care of son Henry IV, stored in a shed for decades and only recently brought back into the light of day. Obviously, it would take very little to put the machine back in race trim, but what fun to continue where Manney left off, complete the transformation and end up with a cafe-racer ne plus ultra, a genuine road-going Manx Norton with literary provenance."

Mike Jackson, former 'Sales Mangler' for NVT (NortonVilliersTriumph), relates the following:

"Denis Jenkinson [another giant among motoring writers] first knew Henry when he was based in Paris at some time in a late 1950s, at which time he was riding a Manx on the road.  It was so high-geared that as a result he coined the phrase, 'One Bang per Lamp-post*'!   Well, there's a chance that this Manx might be that very machine."

What a terrific provenance, and I wish Henry Manney IV had sold it to me then!

[* Ribald phrase; in pre-internet days, Parisian hookers could be found leaning on lamp-posts as their 'turf']

SEARCHING FOR AN INTER...

Tas owned an early Bronze-head ex-works Norton Model 40 International, which I thought, before seeing photos, might have been one I just sold.. but his bike has a two-stay frame, while mine had the earlier three-stay type.  There can't have been many bronze-head ohc Nortons on the West Coast of the US, but perhaps his machine is out there somewhere..

.Hi Paul,

My name is Tasman Graham, and my daughter Kathy has been in touch with you concerning the history and location of my old Norton Model 40. As we presently understand it, the bike you owned  spent time in Germany, came to the States to you, in turn you sold it to John in Holland. This background information is a bit at odds with my bike’s history as I have been  able to reconstruct it, some of this info came via Stan Dibben, from George Cohen’s memory.

It was first a factory bike for several years, then it was imported to the agent in Launceston, Tasmania, E.T.H. (Trevor) Jowett. It might have been in Victora  for a short time. It was raced in Tasmania from the late1930’s, pre WWII, and the owner in 1950 put it up for sale so he could buy a newer one. I purchased it directly from Jowett.  It had few identification marks, but in late 1950 I dropped a valve doing the flying mile at Greens Beach. It was then rebuilt by the BSA Goldstar wizard, Pat Brown, in Devonport, Tasmania. In order to keep the cost down, he used a 348cc BSA Goldstar piston in lieu of the Norton piston which was very expensive. Unless the bike has been rebuilt, it is probably in there.

The bike had two valves, a few were made with four, hairpin valve springs, and the racing fuel petrol aluminum tankcap centered on top of the tank. Also, the aluminum fuel tank had scalloped edges where the sides were soldered to the bottom, beautifully done. When I sold it, it was partially restored, all the tin painted, but the seat was not finished

I was born in Idaho and moved to Tasmania with my mother in 1934. In 1952, after I turned 21, I started looking for a way to come back to the U.S.A. to see my father and brothers. I met some of the crew of the Matson line freighter SS Sierra and was able to purchase a ticket from Brisbane to San Francisco. I sold the Norton to a crew member on the same ship and it paid for my ticket home. The only name I have from that crew was the purser, Robert Boehm of Portland, Oregon, whom I have so far been unable to locate, and believe he may be gone. The last time I saw my bike it was lashed to a mast of the Sierra on 7 Oct. 1952.

Some recent information from the Tasmanian Motorcycle Club of this period has encouraged me to track down the history of my bike. I am enclosing copies of the only photos I still have, one showing the right side in its original form with me sitting on it.

The second one shows the left side after I had started restoration. The new paint job was complete but the replacement seat was not finished. This is how the bike looked in Oct. 1952. With everything going on in those days, I did not have sense enough to keep information like engine or frame numbers of any of my bikes.  So this is going to be hit and miss, but with the information I got from Kathy, it shows great promise.

By the way, I enlisted in the U.S Army in 1953 and was stationed in Germany from ’54-58 where I was able to attend much of the Continental Circus, including the Dutch TT at Assen in ’55-’58.

There are a few mechanical details that might be important, but we can discuss this at a later date. A final note: I am now 77, have no lungs, am blind and have terminal cancer, so every day is a gift and a new trip, and maybe we will have time to sort this out, I do hope so. I sure thank you for your response and help to Kathy.

Cheers, Tas

Does this story ring a bell to anyone?  Contact me and I'll send the info to Tas...

BEART FEATHERBED MANX NORTON

By John Joss

Nostalgia attacks as I fling my leg over this lovely Featherbed replica: all the old familiar sights and sounds, the identical saddle, throttle, footpeg and lever ergonomics. The sensations are immensely pleasing. I am transported back to my youth as if by magic, watching Geoff Duke and John Surtees on the Island. Take a deep breath. Force down the upwelling of memories and concentrate. The owner’s wife won’t let him ride it, ever. I am honored today.

Before we take the ride, may I ask you, please, not to be down on reproduction bikes. As readers know, one can buy complete bikes and cars of other eras, some built from the original drawings, and when faithfully executed they are as authentic as the originals. Often they are better, produced from superior materials and solving original design problems. Many ‘genuine’ bikes with pedigrees, matching engine and frame numbers, and all that jazz, contain modern parts that replace the ‘pure original.’ Start with spark plugs and keep going.

Last time I rode a Featherbed was on the Isle of Man, a long time ago. It was a 350, with reverse-cone megaphone that controlled exhaust and intake pulses for maximum engine performance. The 500-cc motor on this Francis Beart replica has been started by ‘motorized roller’ applied to the rear wheel, so today no run-and-bump calisthenics are required. Just as well, since I haven’t applied this technique in anger to a race bike in, ahem, several years. I lack the agility now.

The open pipe barks melodiously but without an idle setting in the Amal TT carb I must blip it continuously to keep the fire lit. The only instrument is the tach (see photo). In the nearby pits I see that the throaty bellow sits poorly with visitors, who flinch and put their fingers in their ears. Time to launch. Remember the routine: foot brake on the left, gearshift on the right, up for first.

Mechanical brake and clutch controls embody friction and feel unknown to modern riders who use hydraulics, but these Norton levers and cables have a decisive, honest quality, a strong physical connection. The sensation is a bit like the difference between mechanical, or even assisted-mechanical aircraft controls, vs. ‘fly-by-wire’ systems managed by a modern DFCS (Digital Flight Control System), for example in the F/A-18 Hornet I flew recently, that lack a genuine, direct feel. You’re flying a computer, not an airplane. Perhaps like trying to express emotion through a phone or screen, rather than in person. Not all change is progress.

I roll out onto the Laguna Seca track, accompanied only by the camera car, and proceed to savour five laps in splendid isolation. Doucement: those narrow tires are cold and unscuffed. The big TT Amal is maladjusted and won’t provoke a clean response at low revs, so I must crank it up a tad. There. I guess 50 smooth, linear horses, not like a modern racing two-stroke, with ‘light-switch’ throttle and minuscule rev range, or a race 600 with ‘Everest’ power curves.

I traverse the diabolical, downhill Turn 2 buttonhook and all the sensations of control and feel, conveyed historically by the Featherbed, come back in earnest. Compared with a modern race bike, this half-century-old design holds up well: honest and forgiving, great turn-in, ‘finishes’ the corners without drama. Those drum brakes? Don’t ask too much of them. By the time I reach the Corkscrew I know that I want this experience to continue forever. But Race Control has placed strict limits on my joyride: five laps or fifteen minutes, maximum.

Five laps in just twelve minutes. It passes like the sudden caress of a butterfly’s wing, a snatch of marvelous music or the momentary embrace of a woman whose scent lingers after a casual kiss. One longs for more. (Ref: “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn”).

STANLEY'S NORTON

By John de Kruif


Amazing things still happen; a few blogs ago I published a picture of "uncle Ned'' on his CS1 Norton. Obviously, this was not a standard bike but modifications like the right-hand exhaust can be made by anyone. Then the photo was seen by my friend Simon and with a keen eye for detail and a very good memory the story unfolded. It would be a shame to change the text in the emails below:

Date: Sat, 25 Apr

John- 'Uncle Ned's' CS1 on your web site has what looks to be one of the 1929-ish works type 7 inch front brakes.....the reg. no. OF166 is Birmingham and it would not surprise me if this CS1 wasn't a works cast-off at some stage! The reg. number seems vaguely familiar to me....

Cheers Simon

Date: Sat, 25 Apr

John- no wonder OF166 seemed familiar - it was the reg. no. of the CS1 ridden by Stanley Woods in practise - and perhaps in the actual race - in the 1929 TT. I have a paddock practise photo of him and the bike! Race number was 28.

Cheers Simon

Date: Wed, 29 Apr

John - You may notice that Stanleys bike has the usual (awful) 8" Enfield front hub in this shot but other 1929 TT pics. show the racing 7 inch hub (probably Horton).

Brgds Simon

Great story, but how did uncle Ned get his hands on a factory racer used by Stanley Woods? Half an hour of Googling retrieved the original pic of Ned from the Internet and fortunately it was posted on a forum that displayed the email address of Ned's nephew; an interesting detail is that the nephew operates under the name of NoisyNorton! This is his reply:

Date: Wed, 29 Apr

Hi John,

Info on the bike is pretty scarce. My Dad told me the story of it many years ago. To make it short it seems there was an Irish soccer player (I have his name written down somewhere but I can't remember it) playing for a team in Birmingham and he was good friends with Joe Craig. Which is how he came by the bike. The bike was supposed to be an ex-factory racer. As the story goes the soccer player brought the bike to Ireland for a summer vacation and never brought it back to England. It passed through the family. Dad, Uncle Ned, Uncle Bill etc. and then disappeared just before WW2. Another friend in Ireland remembered possibly owning it but it has long since disappeared possibly for good. I lived in Ireland for a considerable time and became good friends with Stanley (through the Dublin and District Motorcycle Club).

Many thanks, Bill

Joe Craig was the famous and very successful racer, development engineer and Norton racing team director. Stanley Woods was the Irish motorcycle racer famous for 29 motorcycle Grand Prix wins and winning the Isle of Man TT races 10 times in his career.

Date: Thu, 30 Apr

Hi John - The photo was taken in the TT paddock in '29 and Stanley Wood's riding number was 28 in the Senior. It is not a race day photo as the numbers are the wrong colour - white on black was used for practise sessions. I think it highly likely it was his actual race bike - despite the front brake - rather than a publicity shot on a standard machine. For one thing, it has the right hand exhaust port cylinder head which was ONLY used on the works bikes in 1929. Unfortunately, the 1929 works bikes are not listed in the despatch records in one clump so to speak and individual superseded race bikes when sold much later on, do not seem always to have been given an entry so it is really difficult to be 100% sure of facts at this distance in time! Stanley retired in the event itself.....and was too idle to check as to the reason.

Cheers Simon

Date: Thu, 30 Apr

Hi John,

I'm 63 years old and for at least 60 of those years I heard the story of OF 166 being a very special Norton. Stanley Woods was a hero of my Dad during his younger years. I'm sure had he (or uncle Ned or uncle Bill) known it was Stanley's race bike it would still be part of the family. I have a feeling that somewhere in Dublin it is hiding in a shed or garage and will resurface someday...

Bill

Check on John's blog; Rapid Hare Motors.

RIKARD'S FIRST LOVE; 1931 NORTON

By John de Kruif

James Lansdowne Norton designed the company’s first experimental overhead camshaft (OHC) engines in the mid-1920s. After his death, Walter Moore took over development of this engine, resulting in the birth of the CS1 (‘CamShaft 1’) in 1926, an engine best known for the ‘cricket bat’ timing case. Moore also designed a new cradle frame which was shorter and stronger than the previous flat-tank design; the new combination did very well, until Moore redesigned the cylinder heads in 1928. According to Stanley Woods in a 1990 interview, Moore ‘made a complete mess out of it’; the redesigned engines were troubled by overheating due to a poor design of the combustion chamber. The TT races for that year ended with very few Norton victories. The heated discussions which inevitably followed resulted in Moore quitting his job [and moving to NSU – there is speculation that Moore intentionally hexed his engine, after being denied a seat on Norton’s Board of Directors - pd'o], saddling Norton with an OHC engine with a lot of room for improvement. A new OHC engine was designed by Arthur Carroll and Joe Craig, leading to the launch in 1930 of one of the most successful and good-looking engines ever. In 1931, Edgar Franks updated the Norton range, and in 1932 the famous International Models 30/40 were introduced. These were the road-going replicas of Norton’s OHC racing machines which had won many races. The CS1 name continued, although now reserved for the touring version of the OHC models; prior to 1932, the CS1 was the sportiest Norton available from the catalogue.

I bought CS1 Norton a year ago, in a condition described by previous owner Paul d’Orleans [gulp] as ‘The King of Bitza’s'. This description is an overstatement as the numbers have been checked with the Norton factory records and the frame turns out to be a genuine CS1 item, shipped to Germany on 30th of May 1931. The engine was replaced at some point, but is the correct early type, once fitted to a 1932 International M30 model - the basis for a very decent restoration, but most other bits are a blend of replica parts, newer Norton parts, and even a rear wheel from an Indian! I started assembling whatever would fit to ‘look right’, without worries about originality for now. A problem with these early 1930’s Nortons is a lack of reliable literature and pictures, so determining what the CS1 looked like when new is difficult.

Into our story comes Sven Jerksjö from Sweden, and the CS1 his father Rikard Jerksjö bought new and is still in his son’s possession. Luckily, Rikard had a decent camera and made quite a few pictures of the bike when new. “My father’s CS1 was dispatched to Arthur Nyström, the Norton agent of Trollhättan, Sweden on the 29th of June 1931.” Extra fittings and modifications made at the factory included a Magdyno, conversion to foot change, a speedometer reading in kilometers and a headlamp with chrome rim. The original owner planned to race it in local competitions and to that purpose it was stripped by the Swedish agent of the lights and the silencer. The cylinder head internals were polished, a Lucas magneto and a straight-thru exhaust pipe were fitted. Once the work was finished however, the customer who had ordered the Norton found himself in financial difficulties, and not being able to pay for this expensive bike the order was cancelled. Then Rikard walked into the showroom and at the age of twenty bought the CS1 that would serve him for the rest of his life. Rikard did not bother to refit the electrics and kept the Norton in racing trim. For the next nine years he used the CS1 for daily transport, enjoying this fast machine on trips to work and for fun in the weekends. Then World War II started and being very fond of his Norton he stored it for the duration of the war.


After the war, Rikard continued to enjoy his Norton. Small modifications were made, like a tiny bicycle dynamo fitted to the rear wheel, powering the taillight. In 1953, a Norton four-speed gearbox replaced the original three-speed Sturmey-Archer 'box.

Somewhere in the mid 1950’s, Swedish law required that all vehicles should be fitted with proper lights and the Lucas magneto was replaced by a combined Bosch magneto/dynamo unit to power ignition and a Miller headlamp. In 1951, Sven was born and the earliest childhood memory he has of motorcycles is of his father’s CS1.

In the early sixties, disaster happened when Rikard lent the CS1 to a friend who was so overcome with the speed of the Norton that he crashed it into a stone wall. He flew over the handlebars and luckily also over the wall and walked away without serious injuries; the CS1 however suffered badly in the accident. Frame, forks and the front rim were bent and the tanks, both mudguards and other fittings were mangled. Not wishing to part with his beloved CS1, Rikard repaired the motorcycle, but many parts such as the front mudguard and the handlebars with fittings were replaced in the process.


The Norton was the primary family transport until Sven’s father bought his first car 1967. The pictures show him in 1969, still the proud owner of his first love. In that year, Sven got his driving license and he used the CS1 for two seasons before upgrading to a more modern Velocette. The CS1 continued to be used by Sven and his father though it was joined by a 1959 Norton Model 99 Dominator that Rikard, getting older, found easier to start and handle. He used his Dominator every summer until he passed away at the age of 69 in 1980.

The CS1 at that time was due for some major maintenance and for lack of time it was left in the basement of Sven’s mother until 1992, when Sven started to rebuild it to its former glory. As he intends to rebuild it to the exact condition in which his father bought it, progress is slow. The frame and front forks needed additional straightening after the unfortunate event in the early sixties. The rear mudguard was salvaged after the spill but a new replica had to be made to replace the front guard. Many nuts, bolts and other fasteners were refabricated to original specification. The engine has been rebuilt by now but the correct three speed Sturmey Archer gearbox that was recently sourced awaits his attention. Sven is still looking for parts that were lost over the years and he has yet to find a suitable original primary chain case and the handlebar fittings.


The story and the pictures provide us with a valuable insight into what the first Carroll-Craig Nortons looked like when new. And we may draw the conclusion that a motorcycle bought new at the age of 20, rebuilt after a complete write-off in the early sixties (when no one cared about bikes), and kept in the family ever since, must be very good!