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What bike is this?


Jonzjob
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Given the pillion seat, I doubt it has been changed for racing - unless partially changed back.

Needles and haystacks spring to mind given the number of small producers that started post WW1 - some producing just a handful of bikes.

Jonzjob,

Do you know which country the photo is likely to have been taken in?
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Definitely looks like a Norton CS1. Reg. plate is Oxford.

I previously thought it was a Velocette, who like Moto Guzzi had shaft driven OHC engines, similar to this model [url]https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fphotos1.blogger.com%2Fblogger%2F4659%2F3671%2F1600%2F1930%2520KTT%2520Mk1%2520%28restored%2520%29%2520ts.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fthevintagent.blogspot.com%2F2006_11_01_archive.html&docid=RjXJpzNEmLAlZM&tbnid=YYT_99qoEdVUDM%3A&w=963&h=459&bih=628&biw=1360&ved=0ahUKEwjV08OzrPfMAhVEzxQKHbIPDvwQMwhuKEowSg&iact=mrc&uact=8[/url]

The title of the pic is "1922 Hooky" - is it the cricketer Denys "Hooky" Hill by any chance?

EDIT: According to Wikipedia the Norton CS1 was first produced as a TT racer in 1927 and not until the early 1930's as a road bike, which makes the date of 1920's rather unlikely.

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[quote user="Harnser"]

The bike tank detail looks very much like a Norton, but the engine profile is a puzzle - it's an OHC engine but doesn't look like a Norton engine of that era[/quote]

How about these images of a CS1?

[url]http://www.motoclix.com/miscellaneous/norton-cs1-classic-bikes-boden-dreiborn/norton-cs1-classic-bikes-boden-dreiborn/norton-cs1-1928-3827.html[/url]

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[quote user="Harnser"]I agree with ebaynut it is very similar to a CS1 Norton except that the left hand side camshaft drive is not Norton CS1.[/quote]

But the camshaft drive is on the right hand side, and if you look at the appropriate picture in the link I posted above (click on the little arrow for slide show, wait for the series of images to load, then pause on the image of the RHS) you will see that the bike is almost identical to the original picture posted.

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Yes - managed to magnify it and it looks Norton now- what is that vertical black cylinder in front of the engine? Can't be a horn because there's a bulb horn on the handlebar.

I looked at the hooky ref and came up with:-

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/14807.html

So could be but can't find a picture of him.

I would say that the date of the picture is early to mid 1930's looking at the jacket.
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I knew that I would get a response o this, but this much is a nice surprise, so thank you all for your input. I have posted the link for this thread on the forum the original question came up on, so the OP should reply soon.

The photo was possibly taken in 1926, but not sure?? Sorry for any confusion, but the photo was taken in Hook Norton, almost certainly the Hooky reference

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For those interested, the model is a late 1920's,

they were made from 1928 until 1939, when the war intervened, so it is most

likely the picture was taken after 1928.

CS in the model name, stood for

camshaft, the one in the picture has the early engine fitted which was known as

the 'cricket bat' engine, but the engine was replaced in the early 1930's with a

new design, as it had many problems the previous season in racing.

Bonham's

sold one a couple of years ago for approx. £25K, so they are worth in the region

of 20-30K. today, originality would be more important than being

restored
.

But he has a great period photo there, and if

the rider in the picture is a relation of person seeking the info, then he has a

really nice family shot for sure.
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I have, somewhere in the grenier, a photo of my Uncle, Dad's brother, on a Norton, probably at around the same year as this photo.

He was resplendant in a pair of immaculate plus-fours as I remember the photo.

If I can find it I will scan it and post it on here.
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British motorcycles are an interest

of mine, so I knew the make and model from the picture, and had a rough

idea of the age of this one.

The extra details I added later were found in a

Norton history book I have,  but they can be found here

also.

As the picture is your friends father, that makes it extra special for

him. I have similar ones of my parents and their bikes over the years, something

to treasure for sure.

 

Model

list

Pre-War (1908 - 1939)

ModelEngineYearsNotes
Big Four (Model 1)633cc single1907-1954A 475cc model was also made at some

point
Model 7 (BS)490cc sv1914-1922Brooklands Special
Model 8 (BRS)490cc1914-1922Brooklands Road Special
Model 9(TT)490cc1912-1923Belt-drive
Model 3½490cc sv1911-1918Side-valve, became the Model 16 in

1919
Model 16490cc sv1919-1920Chain drive
Norton 16H490cc sv1921-1954

Model 18490cc ohv1922-1954Roadster
Model 19588cc ohv1926-1939Increased to 596cc in 1933
CS1490cc ohc1928-1939CS stands for camshaft. 1928-30 were the

Cricket Bat Motors. 1930s models were the Arthur Carroll designed

motors.
ES2490cc ohv1928-1939

CJ348cc ohc1929-1939Junior version of the CS1
JE348cc ohv1929-1939Junior version of the ES2
Model 20490cc1930-1939Two-port ohv version of the Model

18
Model 22490cc1930-1931Two-port ohv version of the model

ES2
Norton International Model 30490cc ohc1932-1939

International Model 40348cc ohc1932-1939

Model 50 OHV348cc ohv1933-1939

Model 55348cc ohv1933-1939Twin port version of model

50

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It is always interesting to download the picture in question, then on Google images, get it to look on the internet for the same picture, or one similar, if it does exist in the system.

The search could not give an immediate ID from the picture, but it did find it on another forum;).
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  • 10 months later...
I know that I'm a bit late coming into this discussion but has anyone suggested an Excelsior Manxman? The reason I ask is that a friend owned a bike very similar to that in the photo and the Manxman had over head cams and the rocker cover and the bevel drive look very similar, it's just a thought. I would also like to point out that a lot of the old race machines did have a pillion seat so that the rider could get as aero dynamic as possible with his chin on the tank.
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