Norton Manx engine art

These drawings were made by Niels, Marcel's brother. Niels is a wizard with computers and a big fan of cammy Nortons. When he got one of his uncle's (Ko Konijn) Nortons he took it apart, measured all the components and entered the dimensions and position of each part into his computer. No clue how it works but the results are amazing! It allows him to look 'into' the engine from any angle.

Surprisingly, these are the low quality prints. Niels is working on a book that will contain many more pics of his Manx, in much higher resolution, in addition to photo's and technical data sheets. It may take 'till the end of this year before the book is available though.

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

Bill's Manx

Bill (in the picture) bought his ex-Reg Dearden 350cc Manx Norton from a chap in Yorkshire in the early 1970 for the sum of 30 pounds. He used it on the road and to race untill it broke at a time when spares were impossible to find.

He must have enjoyed it. Reg Dearden was a famous tuner with a very remarkable Isle of Man record for by the end of 1961 his bikes had won 186 TT and Manx Grand Prix awards. Dearden believed that many of his best results had come as the result of mistakes. At one time, Geoff Duke bent an inlet valve of one of his Manx models in the final practice lap; no spares being available, Dearden grabbed a hammer and spent all night tapping the valve untill it was straight. He got the engine running and despite the worst start in Duke's life the Manx engine went like a rocket, with the result that Duke overtook all riders to score one of his most popular wins. (The Manx Norton - Mick Walker)