Ossie Braid on his Model 3 1/2 HP Norton

Howard sent this photograph of a gent on an early Norton. The logo on the tank identifies it as a machine built before 1915; the smooth appearance of the crankcase suggests that it dates from after 1912. Before 1915 the Norton models were listed by description and not using the familiar numbering scheme (e.g. Model 7, 8 or 9) and this would thus be a 3 1/2 HP belt drive model. Note the 'gearchange' lever on the tank that operated the Phillipson pulley on the crankshaft.

Howard: "I think it is a pre 1913 model. The "SP" registration number is from Fife, Scotland. No idea who the rider is....bought the photo on eBay. I notice an acetylene generator bolted up on the handlebars so the bike looks to have been on the road and then stripped down for racing. It has a Senspray carburetter fitted. Great looking machine....wish it was in my shed!"

Who can add to the description?

Roger: "The picture is of Ossie Braid on the machine that he rode in the 1914 TT. He was part of the O'Donovan works team and this picture is of the same machine as the gear change handle is taped up as in the 1914 TT pictures. He is in his racing leathers and helmet. I suspect that he used the machine on the road after the TT which is why it is fitted with an acetylene generator. The composition of the picture suggests that it was taken by a professional photographer when he returned home after the race which is why the background is blurred out. "

Woods' winner ON7170

By Simon

In 1926 Stanley Woods rode for Nortons for the first time and his mount for the Senior TT was a dry sump OHV machine fitted with pannier tanks.  As mentioned in the earlier blog, this was a development of the 1925 TT bikes, with various changes to both the engine and the cycle parts.  Stanley has recounted how well the bike went in practise – until a conrod breakage wrecked the engine.  A replacement engine was fitted, which however vibrated badly, and further work was done on it which obviously sorted the problem in that SW came home the winner at 67.54mph.  The bike had registration number ON7170 and here are a couple of photos – one a paddock shot (above) and one – well known (below) – showing a jubilant Stanley at the finish on, one assumes, the same bike.

It is not, as far as I know, recorded exactly when or how but this particular machine became Stanley’s property.  It may have been given to him by a grateful management or he may have bought it. Whatever, it seems he loaned it to fellow Irishman  B G D’Olier for some events in 1927.  B G D’Olier, I have been told, lived and farmed in South Africa but returned to his homeland from time to time. On a recent visit to Dublin I noticed a large 19th century block in the city centre called D’Olier Building from which I assume his family was reasonably well off.  Be that as it may, he must have been friendly with Stanley to be loaned his Norton. However, in 1928 Stanley sold ON7170 to leading Yorkshire clubman Bill Milner. Stanley had become friendly with the Milner family and in his early days at Nortons (he was issued with a sidecar outfit and travelled the country as a sales rep.) stayed with them at regular intervals.

How did I become interested in these events?  Some fifty years back, I bought a pannier tanked flat-tank OHV Norton - albeit with a standard, not dry sump, engine. This had registration number OX1619 and I set about trying to find out about it. I spoke to Geoff Davison, former Lightweight TT winner and by then publisher of the TT Special and member of the Vintage Club. Geoff said he knew nothing about it but suggested I contacted Bill Milner as he felt sure Bill had owned the ex-Woods bike at some stage. A letter to Bill brought forth a prompt reply (below) along with a subsequent screed.  Note the name of Bill’s house – Norton Woods!  Bill rode the bike in the ’28 Amateur (he retired with rocker problems after other mechanical problems in practise) and his comments are interesting even though he is not quite right in saying no pannier tanked bikes were sold.  As he recounts, he sold most of the bike to Ernie Jackson of York, with, he told me in a subsequent conversation, the frame going to Ernie too but at a later date. Ernie was an inveterate builder of specials and it seems from subsequent articles about him that the original frame MAY have been modified to have rear springing on it.  The net result seems to have been that a machine containing the TT engine from ON7170 became one of several Jackson Specials.

Then the trail goes cold until a small advert appeared in the VMCC magazine in February1968.  It read: “1926 Norton Model 18. This machine is rough, dismantled, incomplete and has been fitted with rear springing but is undoubtedly a Works TT machine reputed to be Stanley Woods’ winner.  Special dry sump motor, large pannier tanks, special frame. Some spares including 1927 TT Replica engine.” And the price for this desirable package ... eat your hearts out, chaps ... £20.00 or near offer!

Who actually bought it, I am not wholly sure but move on to 1980 and an ad. appeared in Motor Cycle Sport reading: “1926/8 OHV Norton. Authenticated 1926 TT winner’s log book. “ I forget the price but in any event, at the time, I was involved in a new job and a new house and felt I had to be content with what Nortons I already had, to say nothing of my ex Brooklands Flying Eight Coventry Eagle. So, after a short interval I rang the advertiser, a Mr C W G Chandler, for a chat about his – by then ex – bike.  He told me that it was not a flat tanker but was a 1929-ish frame with a 1926 Dry Sump TT engine fitted – first registered in 1936 as the Jackson Special AVY 64 -  and that when he bought it, it was entirely dismantled and included a pair of pannier tanks, which he had sold separately.  He had assembled a bike from what was there and as a result it had a later ‘top half’ and Norton forks/front wheel.

After a couple more owners, the Jackson Special in this form (above) finished up with a good friend – sadly he died a few years back – and is still owned by his family. What became of the original frame is anyone’s guess.

A final word on this convoluted tale – the despatch books list the 1926 TT machines and against one of them – in faint pencil – is written ‘on loan S Woods’.  Was this ON7170? Quite likely.  However the engine now in the Jackson Special has number 30589 – not the number of the ‘on loan’ bike. And although this number appears in the list there are no details shown against it of any sort. Whether it was a number allocated to one of the spare TT engines, fitted to ON7170 after the original practise blow-up, can only be assumed. It is all too easy to draw conclusions from unsupported snippets of information (a trap many authors of motor cycle related books  and articles fall into ) but all I can confirm with certainty is that the bottom end of  30589 shows the main sign of being a TT  engine in that it has 1” mainshafts as opposed to the smaller 22mm shafts fitted to all of the rest of the range at the time (including, when they became available, the Model 25s).....

Postscript: Our eagle eyed contributor Roger has suggested that the Keig paddock photo of Stanley on the bike with reg. number ON7170 may NOT actually be the bike on which he won the '26 Senior. He points out that the steering damper knob is mounted a different way up and also that the handlebar grips differ (albeit the photos are taken from opposite sides).  He also considers that the magneto stay support lug on the front down tube is in a slightly different place on the two machines shown.  He may be right about their identities even though it does not really seem to alter what Bill Milner has related.  At this point in time, it's difficult to be 100% sure.

Stanley on a c1928 CS1

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.

Stanley Woods, 1930, Model CS1 Norton

By Simon

This one, showing Stanley looking very relaxed, dates from late 1930, I think. It may be the bike he rode to victory in the Ulster of that year - note two stay rear frame and - just about visible - downdraught carb. The man on the right is M. Psalty, the Norton distributor in France. The photo appeared in the VMCC magazine a few years back but this copy came from the Dennis Mansell collection via the late Peter Roydhouse.

A letter from Pat Driscoll

By Simon

Hayling Island is where Pat Driscoll lived after the war and where I went to see him in the eighties. Driscoll's memory was excellent but it was not clouded by subsequent years working on other bikes.  Basically, it was all Nortons only!  Although the direct question was not asked he gave no indication as to the extent of his involvement or the fact that he - as deduced by Roger in his book - basically did all the engine work for the bikes Nigel Spring ran at the track.  Oddly enough, I came across a letter (above) a couple of weeks back from Driscoll to do with a question I had sent him re. my Brooklands Coventry Eagle.  I must have also asked him a Norton related question because in one short sentence he confirms he indeed did all the engine work for Nigel Spring!

Regarding the mods Driscoll made - the long (8 1/2") con rod idea did not come from Driscoll. It was current practise at Brooklands and was almost certainly something emanating from the highly successful Chater Lea tuner and rider, W D Marchant.  This - conveniently - ties in with the fact that the 8 1/2" rods were made for Spring/Driscoll by Chater Lea.  Driscoll told me the idea was not so much to increase speed as to increase reliability as it reduced the angle of thrust on the crankpin and also - to quote him - 'reduced piston scuff.'  The selection of the 8 1/2 " dimension may have come from Driscoll or Spring or someone else.  Whatever, it was an inspired choice as it allowed use of the same high compression piston in either a 588cc engine or a 490cc engine, despite the 20mm stroke difference.  Other tweaks are more basic - the long dwell IT cams were, it seems, used as well as steel ES2/CS1 type flywheels.  There seems to have been no change to valve sizes although I expect they used better springs than those available to the public.  It may also be that thicker walled crankcases and cylinder bases were used but this, again, would be to improve reliability.  There is little doubt that LPD (Driscoll) was a whizz at balancing too and managed to make the Nortons turn over at high speeds for long periods with considerable reliability. Driscoll did not as far as I have ever heard get involved atall with the CS1s - this was all done at Birmingham for road racing with comrades Moore and Carrol.

Alec Bennett, 1927 Model CS1 Norton

Sent by Al

"This is a copy of an original photo I have of Alec Bennett after he won the 1927 TT with Stanley Woods to his left. This photo was given to me by my grandfather who was a great Norton fan who used to visit Brookland regularly pre war."

Simon:"That's Walter Moore in the Trilby hat and Jimmy Shaw slightly behind Stanley to the left"

Stanley Woods, 1930, Model CS1 Norton

By Simon

Came across this pic recently - it's the admirable Stanley at the 1930 Senior TT  (in which he retired). One can see reasonably well the Best and Lloyd oil feed from the chain feed tank in front of the engine.

Dan O'Donovan on a c1920 Model 16H Norton

Roger:"The registration and the chain drive indicates a post-war event. From the registration and the riding number my best estimate is the 1920 Isle of Man TT where Dan was team manager."

Martin:"The interesting thing about this picture of O'Donovan is that it has a Leicester number. Look at page 62 of the Woollett book (above) and you will see the Norton camp at the 1920 TT. The bike at the front which isn't described in Woollett's caption belonged to Leicester motorcycle dealer Harold Petty and below is an extract of the Leicester county records showing the details of this bike which was finally scrapped in 1934, its last owner having had it attached to a sidecar, a sad end for an ex TT bike! .

Petty retired in the 1920 TT but Nortons did better than ever that year, coming 2, 4, 7, 8. 10, 11, 13 and 14, and four other Norton riders apart from Petty retired. 11th was Norman Black on the last Norton belt drive TT entry, a pretty good effort for his first ever TT ride, the start of a longish TT career through the twenties. The question I would want to ask about this picture is was this a Petty-owned (and hence Leicester registered) bike, and if so, why was O'Donovan riding it? I will get the entry from the Leicester public record office so we can see whose bike it was!! Possibly it was a bike ridden in the 1920  by a rider who retired and maybe D'Donovan rode it before or after the race, as he wasn't a rider himself by that time, his only TT rides being 1913 and 1914."

Update 05 July: I now have the registration data on this machine, and it was actually a 1920 4HP Model 1 (ie a Big Four) not a 16H at all.  That said, the machine pictured looks suspiciously like a 16H as the frame and tank of a Big Four are normally different around the steering head, so the mystery deepens.  What is certain however is that the machine was originally registered to Harold Petty as I suspected, the number dates from 1920 (19 May to be precise) and the machine is frame no 2530, engine no 20328, which is a bit earlier than the 16H Petty rode in the 1920 TT (frame no 2692, engine no 20389). Still no idea why Dan O'Donovan should have been pictured astride the machine, or what the race the number attached refers to...

As with all things to do with Nortons, the more you find out, the more you realise that nothing is as straightforward as it seems.

Petty's dealership was still active in Leicester until it closed in the 1970s.  I found a nice piece about them on another blog...

"At the top end of London Rd was Leicester's own Velocette dealer- Messr's Petty's. Here was a place where time stood still. The cut and thrust of business in the 1970's was not really for them. Customers were addressed as "sir" and the whole manner was more akin to a gents outfitters than a busy motor-cycle shop. Many of us called in on a Saturday afternoon, not to part with money, but to listen to "young" Harold recall the halcyon days of motor cycling. If anyone wished to buy something, Saturday Geoff was summoned, and the part required described in detail. In a scene reminiscent of Grace Brothers "are you being served" he would enquire if Hilda (who had an encyclopedic knowledge of all things Velocette) was "free". She would then fetch the part, place it in a bag for you, issue a till receipt and amend the stock records. 

Meanwhile outside Petty's the entertainment continued, with us teenagers gathering around to watch various motor cyclists following the starting procedure, or ritual, to bring a hot engined Velo into life. It seemed to us that the number of kicks to start a Velo was directly proportional to the number of people watching!! 

Sometime in the 70's Petty's closed, and the names, faces, and genteel procedures passed into motor-cycling folk-lore."

The Franks redesign of 1931

By Simon

The Franks redesign which resulted in the 1931 range of production Nortons was not an unmitigated success! I have already mentioned my late friend Jack Bindley's experiences with his new '31 ES2. He was as disappointed with the bike as he was with Norton's response to his complaints. Last week I came across a few back numbers of the Beaulieu magazine 'Veteran and Vintage' and found further criticism therein from Richard Chapman, who worked for Eric Fernihough (amongst other well known people) at Brooklands in the thirties. Richard bought a new 1931 Model 18 from dealers in Trowbridge, to which, after careful running-in, he attached a new TT Hughes sidecar. He goes on to say..

"This machine was the slowest thing on wheels and a great disappointment. With the light TT sidecar and a passenger, the maximum speed was about 50 mph and after a while I rode the machine to Birmingham to see the makers about her. A tester took her for a run round the houses and reported that she was up to standard, which drew from me the comment that their standards must be pretty low! After a lot of postal haggling, Nortons gave me a set of what they described as 'dirt track rockers' (ie cam followers) for the crankcase and these improved matters a little. I then got going on my own and raised the compression. I increased the inlet tract bore, fitted a larger inlet valve and a 10TT25 carburettor. This, with stronger valve springs, rebalancing and some work all over the engine, improved matters. The final result was that I could get 80 mph with a passenger in the sidecar, under reasonable conditions."

Richard must have had considerable tuning skills - doubtless enhanced by later experiences with Fernihough.

The reference to Dirt Track Rockers is intriguing as the dirt track model (above) was only made in 1930 - not '31 - and it would be interesting to know just how the rockers differed from the standard profile. And there is a possibility we can find out: a 1930 dirt track engine bottom end has surfaced in NZ and although rather hacked about, I am encouraging the owner to take it apart and see just what is inside! So watch this space!

The decline actually seems to have started with the 1930 enclosed rocker box set-up. The geometry of this rocker box is such that the valves open less than the lift on the cams while with the open rockers they open more...And why did Norton dowtune these engines? My guess is that they were seeking longer term reliability. What else could it be? From a marketing (doubt if the word had been coined then!) point of view it was perhaps no bad thing to have the OHC machines as real flyers and the over the counter bikes as just reliable moderate performance means of transport.

Norton at the 1914 Isle of Man TT

This photo was taken on Ramsey Promenade during the 1914 TT races on the Isle of Man. From left to right: Dan O'Donovan, the Braid Brothers, James Norton and his father sitting inside the sidecar combination. The motorcycles would be TT Model 9's or 3 1/2 HP models while Pa Norton brought his Big Four. This is another pic of Ossie Braid on this very machine.

...same day, same people, except for James' father.

...and looking at the rider's number (59), this must be Dan at the 1914 TT.

Stanley on the 1926 senior TT winning Norton

Not yet the Model 25 but already incorporating the dry sump lubrication which would be visible if the label was not exactly at the lower end of the timing chest! Read this blog entry by Simon for more info about this Norton.

...and below find a similar picture (sent by Martin) probably taken within seconds of the one above and now without the label over the timing chest!

An important letter from Mrs Woods to Stanley Woods

From a Bonhams catalogue

Dated 27th July 1919: 'Dear Stanley, I am giving you the motor bicycle because I think it will give you pleasure - in return all I ask is that you never take intoxicating drink - no matter who asks you - & that you will always be kind in your manner to daddy & Violet all your life. Yours affectionate, Mother'

Joe Craig tells of incident between the big races...

By Martin

In this article (The Motor Cycle, 1st April, 1937) Joe Craig tells of the experiences of a team manager on his overseas travels with the all-conquering Nortons, which makes interesting comparison with today's Formula 1 circus.  Of course 1937 was to be a bad year for Norton and Scotland with 40 year old Jimmie Guthrie losing his life in the German Grand Prix, as recorded on Guthrie's Memorial on the Isle of Man TT course, which reads: "James Guthrie, 1897-1937. Erected to the memory of Jimmy Guthrie, of Hawick, a brilliant Motor Cycle Rider, famous on the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Course for his wonderful riding and great sportsmanship. He won the race six times. Beat many world's records and was first in numerous foreign races. He died while upholding the honour of his country in the German Grand Prix, August, 1937."

The Shelleys and Norton history

An interesting email conversation started by Nick Shelley, grandson of Bob (R.T.) Shelley, one time owner of Norton Motors.


Nick: "My grandfather was Bob (R.T.) Shelley and I am still in touch with the O'Donovan family although I think that they actually fell out in the 1920's. One of the things that has puzzled me greatly, given Bob's pre-existing involvement in the trade and take over of Nortons in 1913, is that I have found no photographs of him whatsoever and he never appears in the photographs at the end of successful races."


Roger: "I am in touch with Don O'Donovan's grandson Kevin and Tony's widow as well as his great grandson Simon (Gerald's grandson) and through them I have a reasonable collection of pictures of Nortons at Brooklands.  I have no idea what Bob Shelley looked like to be able to find him in any pictures. Certainly while Pa Norton was alive he was the one that appeared in the race pictures although most of the time the activities at Brooklands were remote from the factory.  All of the development work after the OHV engine was developed took a different route to that of the road racers when Walter Moore took over that aspect. Kevin has put me right on one of the stories about Don's involvement with Norton which most writers believe was the result of his marriage to Bob's sister.  In fact he married Bob's sister in law and that was a couple of years after he started racing Nortons. I don't think that Bob fell out with the O'Donovan family when Nigel Spring edged Don out in 1927, certainly Nancy regards Spring as the cause of the problem - something that was confirmed the other day when I was able to listen to the Woolly Worters recorded by Charles Mortimer in 1975."

Martin: "

Bob (R.T.) Shelley's involvement in Nortons is well covered by Mick Woollett in his excellent history 'Norton' which was published by Osprey in 1992. Basically the Norton Manufacturing Company's assets were sold at auction in 1912 and Shelley bid for the company as he was one of the largest creditors.  Bob Shelley had realised that the new company's success (renamed Norton Motors)  depended on Pa Norton's continuing involvement, so he kept James L 'Pa' Norton on as Managing Director. However, Bob Shelley installed his own man Walter 'Bill' Mansell as Joint Managing Director to keep an eye on financial matters.  Bob Shelley's company made steel stampings and castings for the trade, and apart from general engineering, specialised in tools like spanners and jacks (I have examples of both!) but Norton Motors become fairly autonomous, hence Bob Shelley himself does not seem to figure in TT pictures or the like, as he had little or no day to day involvement in Norton. 

Dan 'Wizard' O'Donovan was R.T. Shelley's brother-in-law, and he became involved after the 1913 TT where he had ridden an NSU.  His first Norton he rebuilt from a dismantled wreck he acquired at the works.  This bike, known as 'Old Miracle' became a works test hack at Brooklands where O'Donovan and his team used to run in engines before the belt drive bikes were sold, and is now in the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu. O'Donovan stayed at Nortons until he took an offer to develop race bikes for Raleigh in I think 1927.  In the meantime when 'Pa' Norton died in April 1925, the company apparently treated Pa's widow Sarah and the family badly.  Lansdowne, Pa's eldest son, was sacked from the drawing office soon afterwards, and he subsequently became an aircraft designer at the Bristol Aircraft Co.  Bob Shelley passed away in 1927 from cancer, but before he died, he had reconstituted the Norton Motors financial structure to create Norton Motors (1926) Ltd, which helped the company survive the coming depression rather better than many motorcycle companies who folded"

Nick: "

I was in touch with Kevin (O'Donovan's grandson) for a few years until he became too ill to respond any longer. When we first corresponded, he let me know with something of a wry grin that the Shelleys and O'Donovans weren't really on speaking terms but we both agreed that by three generations we should perhaps move on!  I don't think that I ever understood the full details of this fall out but my memory of the discussion is that it might have been over the ownership of a patent. 

You are right of course in saying that Don married Bob's sister-in-law Hilda in 1915; I must say that she often looked rather severe in her pictures but it might have been something to do with the hats and the hair style of those times.

During the period 1913 to 1927 I have only two pictures of Bob Shelley - one at Don and Hilda's wedding and the other a portrait picture taken I am guessing some time in the late 1920's.  I am attaching an extract from the wedding showing both Bob and his step-sister Fredericka (the only know picture of her) and also the portrait. In the wedding extract you will see, from left to right, Charles Frederick Hulley (Hilda's father), her sister and Bob's wife Edie, Bob Shelley, sister Lillah Hulley and Fredericka Shelley aged around 17, photograph taken 19th Oct 1915. 

I do remember the allusion to 

Pa Norton's family being treated badly, presumably this was by Bob 

Shelley. Just at this moment I can't remember if I ever knew the full 

details of what happened or not. My understanding is that Bob appointed 

his three children Geoff, Ken and Eric within the company for a while 

(they would have been in their late teens I guess) but they were chucked 

out when Bob died"

Tucker wins the 1929 200 mile sidecar race

By Roger

I have found the attached picture of Tucker immediately after the win in the 1929 200 mile race - the numbers are the same.  The engine is clearly an ES2 but the frame is earlier and the forks are certainly side spring braced Druids. A noticeable change is the loss of the tank lining or perhaps a new tank was put on for the publicity pictures!

Like other Brooklands riders of the period, George Tucker would have kept using his machines until they were no longer serviceable.  The mid to late 1920s were a period of severe shortages with a general strike in 1926 and the depression beginning to bite in 1929 - Pat was still using his 1925 TT machine in 1929 and possibly later.  Tucker's frame is likely to have been made around 1927 and the forks could even be the 1925 TT ones - the 1925 machines used the four speed cross over gearbox so it is not that one.  The rear brakes remained the V-block type until the end of the flat tankers at Brooklands presumably because they were lighter.

The frame would be a Model 19 to take the taller engine which also has the ES2 head with the angled exhaust port.  I suspect that Norton supplied the engine - or parts - for racing as Simon has told me that the Model 19 crank won't fit the ES2 cases and I don't think that Norton sold a bigger ES2.  Tucker probably would not have had the resources to make his crankshaft and that this would therefore have been done by the works as he was a tuner rather than an engineer much like Driscoll who had others do the engineering. George was a Norton main dealer in Bristol so he would have access to factory components even if he was not officially supported by the works by that time.  He did win a Grand Pix with Walter Moore in the chair in 1923/4.

The race report says that all three Nortons were 588cc which is what I would expect.  Tucker didn't use long (8 1/2") conrods in his 490cc engines (JdK: which makes the 490cc engines appear as 588cc models) as these were only used by the Spring/Driscoll team from what I have seen.  O'Donovan did try a long rod around 1926 but he used an 8" rod from the 588 as did Pat around the same time.

Simon: "There were a few 588 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."

Nortons win the 1929 Brooklands sidecar race

Sent by Wim

A very nice 1929 poster celebrating Norton victories. Tucker seems to be riding a dry sump Norton in the 600cc class.

Bennett's 1925 TT Norton again

Another picture of Alec Bennett on his 1925 TT Norton.

C W G Lacey on his 1930 588cc Norton

This picture shows mr Lacey after winning the Wakefield Cup at Brooklands with a winning speed of 108.27 mph, with one lap at 112.42 mph. (From dr Bayley's The Vintage Years at Brooklands)

The machine is a 588cc Carroll-OHC. Not sure if this one would be in the books as a CS1.

Guthrie and Woods at the 1933 Junior TT

Photo by Howard

Jimmy Guthrie on his 1933 Model 40 racer; he came 3rdin the 1933 Junior TT. Stanley Woods, the winner, on the left. Bill Mansell is behind Guthrie, Arthur Carroll at his left shoulder. Norton mechanic Frank Sharratt is holding the handlebars.

G H Tucker, 1922 Model Big Four Norton

This photo shows Tucker after winning the 600cc 200 miles (!) Sidecar Race at Brooklands on 17 June 1922 (From dr Bayleys The Vintage Years at Brooklands).