Let's rock

One of the last parts for inspection; the rockerbox. This is the part that contains the rockers, cams, camshaft and the bevel wheels that drive the cams via the vertical camshaft. Simply remove the rocker spindles and a few screws and the cover comes off. The rockers can now be withdrawn and the oil seals removed.

The cams and camshaft are left in situ; everything looks fine and well oiled. The tunnel that contains the cams is in perfect shape; this is the part that is sometimes smashed in worn engines, resulting in excessive oil leaks (I'm quoting George Cohen here). The 'ear' at the inlet side has been welded; it looks like a repair well done, no cracks visible. No signs of excessive wear except for the rocker spindles that show some marks where they rubbed against the rocker-rollers. I'll see if I can get replacements for the spindles, new seals, clean it all up and fit it back together again.

Ripping the CS1 engine apart

Though a firm believer of the "If it aint broken, don't fix it school" I did want to have a peek inside. Dismantling a Norton OHC engine is not difficult; it takes no more than 8 bolts to remove cambox, head and cylinder.

No disasters yet! This looks like a used but well-maintained engine. Quite special is the bronze cylinder head, probably somewhat more modern than the 1932 (confirmed by the VMCC) crankcases.

More to follow!

1935 Model CS1 Norton - For sale

This 1935 CS1 is for sale at Ron's. Asking price £18,000.00. Contact Ron directly, the CS1 is not on his website.

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.

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.

Tony's 1930 Model CS1 Norton

Not surprisingly, the Norton advertised recently in the magazines has surfaced; it's in Malta and Tony is the lucky owner. It's in very nice condition; the petroltank and 'box are from a later model and I've never seen such an oiltank before but for the rest most of the hard-to-find bits seem to be there. Note the Enfield hubs, the correct girder forks (with later links), the three-stay frame and the left-hand exhaust.

It still has the original engine to frame. It was sent to the agent Psalty, Paris, 11th December 1930. Dyno and foot change were fitted at the factory. Interestingly Tony bought the bike also in Paris 81 years later!

1931 Model CS1 Norton - Sold

Sent by Alf. From the April 2011 issue of The Classic Motorcycle.

Don't bother contacting Marco, it's gone already.

Frans's c1932 CS1 Norton

Sent by Frans in Belgium

This Norton, owned by Frans, was raced in Belgium untill quite recently. The tanks are from a later model, the Enfield and Horton hubs have been replaced but the three-stay frame and the engine are clearly 1931/1932. The gearbox is a very rare early Sturmey Archer as fitted to the works racers (like this one).

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.

Racing 1930 CS1 Nortons in Yorkshire

By Simon

I recently posted two photos of what might have been the same 1930 Racing Norton. One shows Jack Carr, successful MGP competitor and sand racer, and the other Frank Varey, well known Dirt Track rider.

The Varey photo also shows the registration number of WX5232 and I could not resist the temptation of finding out more information from West Yorkshire Archive Centre, where the original registration details and other relevant documents are held.

The photo copies just received show that WX5232 was registered on 28 August 1930 with Frank Varey as the first owner, the dealer – who reserved the number -  having been Alec Jackson of Keighley.  The papers do not show how long Frank retained the machine but by the late thirties, it had come south and numerous other owners in the Greater London area are shown in the Continuation Log Books and other documents held by the Centre. But after 1954, the ‘trail goes cold’ and I assume that perhaps the bike was scrapped or dismantled at around this time.

All of this seems to show that the machine on which Jack Carr is sitting is NOT the same one as WX5232 but another, albeit, identical bike, which he rode in the MGP in 1930 and 1931.

The WX5232 registration particulars gave engine and frame numbers and these in turn led me to the Despatch Records.  Here things seem to have gone awry and I can only assume that some clerical errors occurred in completing the records. The engine number for WX5232 is 49XXX and frame number 42XXX. But in the Despatch Records the machine with engine number 49XXX and the different frame 42YYY was shown as a TT spec. CS1 shipped to Belfast dealer Jimmy Shaw on 18 August 1930.  A further short search revealed that frame number 42XXX  belonged  to another TT spec. CS1 with the slightly earlier engine number 49ZZZ.  This bike is shown as having been despatched to Alec Jackson on 1 August 1930.  Also worth noting is that yet another TT spec. CS1 went to Alec Jackson on 28 August 1930 with engine number 49VVV and frame 42MMM. Exceptionally, no end user is shown for either of the Alec Jackson machines.

The Despatch Records ‘Extra Fittings’ column for these machines shows some interesting information which gives confirmation that ‘over the counter’ TT spec. machines with Carroll engines were sold in the Autumn of 1930 to those with the money to pay for them.  Here it is:

Front (tyre) 27 x 3, Rear (tyre) 3.25 x 27. (modern equivalents are 300 x 21 and 3.25 x 20).  Oil box for primary chain. TT specification.  Specially tuned engine.  ML Magneto (probably the Square ML as used on some of the 1930 Works bikes). Petroflex pipes. Thin rubber twistgrip. G D (George Dance) knee grips, TT large tanks. Oil filler on left. TT foot change (positive stop).  Dunlop saddle. TT brake pedal and footrests.

Marcel's 1930 TT spec CS1 Norton

By Marcel

My CS1 was used on the road in the Netherlands in the 1950s; my uncle Ko Konijn bought it at the end of that decade, probably in quite original condition though at one stage a buddyseat was fitted (the original rubber Dunlop saddle may have been hidden beneath the homemade seat). Ko must have been unhappy with the mechanical condition of the Norton as he completely rebuilt the engine and gearbox, at the same stage sourcing missing parts like the original type of magneto; which must have been a hassle as it took Ko ten years to finish the CS1. 

Ko's health prevented him from riding his bikes and when I became the owner of the CS1 after Ko had passed away it was covered in oil and grease to protect it from the damp conditions in his shed. After cleaning the bike the paint did not look that nice and the Norton was dismantled again and given a fresh paint job. Thereafter the CS1 sat in my living room for more than 10 years.

In the last months the CS1 has had a complete check-over again. New 20" tyres were fitted, the magneto was rewound and many original nuts and bolts sourced. Still not completely finished it started last week for the first time in 40 years!

Simon: "Frame number 422xx was a CS1 to 1930 TT specification. Gearbox number N103, Webb 650 Forks (i.e. CS1 sized). It was despatched on 17/6/30 to Piet van Wijngaarden.  No other details are given. The engine number is very strange and I think must have been added and the original deleted."

Bob from the UK: "I read this blog with great interest, as I have a 1930 CS1 engine which was despatched in June 1930 to van Wijngaarden, and thought for a moment that it might have come from this bike, particularly as Marcel mentions in his story about something being done to the engine number.  However, I have since checked my own records and mine was despatched to van Wijngaarden on 21 June 1930, or 4 days after Marcel's. My frame number was 423xx and the engine number is 49001. I've owned the engine for quite a few years, and its now being re-built to go into an International rolling chassis, as I've given up hope of ever finding a 1930 frame for the engine. These bikes were some of the very first of the Carroll engined machines to be sold to the public, and van Wijngaarden was clearly a favoured Agent to get the new bikes. Marcel, your bike looks as though it will provide you with some good riding opportunities, and hope you enjoy it in the way the maker intended!"

A 1930 CS1 Norton

By Simon

Here are a couple of pics from a 1930 racing spec. CS1 - probably of the same bike as the riders pictured lived quite close to eachother in Yorkshire. The rider in the 'plus fours' and jazzy socks is Frank Varey - a very well known speedway rider in the early thirties - while the other one is Jack Carr, a butcher from Skipton. He finished third in the 1931 Senior MGP, probably on this actual bike. Apart from various IOM visits, Carr was a keen and successful sand racer on an SS100 Brough Superior.

The primary chain oil box can be seen on the front engine plates (like the works bikes) but the front wheel has the standard 8 inch Enfield hub so I am not jumping to the conclusion that it is actually one of the works machines.

For more info follow this link.

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