1936 Model CJ Norton - For sale

For sale at Verralls; a decent looking 1936 350cc OHC Norton

Jon's 1936 M30

Another nice picture of Jon's 1936 Model 30 Norton, taken at the village of Snape in North Yorkshire.

Shunsuke's 1936 Model 18 Norton

This is the 1936 Model 18 Norton owned by Shunsuke Fukata of Travis Cycles in Japan. Shunsuke is rebuilding his Norton and is looking for a rocker box.

1936 Model 30 International Norton

Contributed by Martin

This Norton was photographed at the Racing and Sporting Motorcycle Show at the Horticultural Halls in London, around 1972. It's a road-going 490cc International of 1936. There was a display of machines from the Richards and Wallington collection, and this one was particularly attractive. Roy Richards was later to set up the National Motorcycle Museum which subsequently burnt down in the famous fire, so not sure if this fine machine survived.

and a comment by Pa Houlihan: "Not sure if it's the exact same bike but it is a 1936 Model 30 at the National Motorcycle Museum; this photo (below) was taken in April 2008".

11th Juli 1936, Dutch TT

Theo Zwolle, Dutch champion, on his 500cc M30 International.

Jon's 1936 M30 Norton

Jon from the UK sent these photo's and words: "This is my 1936 M30 Inter. I'm the 4th owner from new and I got it in its present condition a couple of years ago from 'Norton George'. It runs on Castrol 'R' and is the best smelling bike I've ever owned, not the most oiltight but more important it goes as well as it sounds.

It's at it's best out on these smaller roads of North Yorkshire, spring photo's taken last weekend. It was also featured in the Dunhill Pursuit TV advert!"



Careful viewers will have spotted the little fellow on the tail light!

1936 M40 Norton engine for sale

Tony from France has this engine for sale:

"I have this cammy engine for sale and thought you may know someone who would be interested. The fully magnesium engine is from 1936; the engine number is 4909 and the capacity is 349cc (bore x stroke are 71mm x 88mm). It appears to be in good condition (JdK: from the outside I presume). Note the position of the revcounter drive. I had it from a german museum and I'm asking £8000 for it"

Anyone interested can mail me for Tony's contact details.

Two 16H Nortons

Two 16H Nortons; the one in the lower picture is a 1946 model, one of the last Nortons to be equipped with girder forks. The other 16H is a late 1930s model and at least younger than 1935 as the lock on the toolbox is on top; compare this to this 1935 model. Note the many other differences; the older model has an 8" headlight, paneltank, front brake on the left hand side, dolls head gearbox, oilpressure tell-tale...

The photo's look like factory shots to me; the white sheet was used to provide an even background. Does anyone know who the three gents are?

Roger's & Tim's comments:

"The top picture shows the registration COV169 which is a Birmingham registration dating to January 1937."


"I think the date will be 1936 or 1937, because it is fitted with the 2 brush dynamo system and regulator box fitted above the toolbox this first came out in 1936 and took over from the 3 brush type which had the half charge resistor in the switch and no regulator/cutout box. The engine is the redesigned type as it has the 2 small oil drain pipes in the timing chest. The flywheels are also thinner than the 1935 model and the valve cover has provision for greasing the valve guides. Cannot think the panel tank would have gone on longer than 1937"

As Others See Us

This is a 1936 Norton brochure (contributed by Wim); too large to reproduce properly on a Blog page but the introduction (copied below) says it all:

"Here are a few letters of appreciation that we have recently received. We did not ask for them - they were sent spontaneously - obviously as the result of the enthusiasm aroused by the splendid performance of the "Unapproachable" NORTON. As you read these letters it must be perfectly clear that only a machine quite out of the ordinary could provoke such genuine approval."

This photo from the brochure shows Jimmy Guthrie on what appears to be a trials version of the M30 International. Fitting an obsolete acetylene lighting kit must have been less work than fitting a magdyno!

1936 Model 30 Norton

This M30 International used to be mine; I sold it last week. I've had it since 2004 when I bought it as a basket case (see the pic at the bottom). Restoring was not that difficult. The engine was rebuilt by Stu Rogers and you drop the engine parts at his place, wait for one and a half year, collect and fit. Many of the other parts are similar to abundantly available 16H items that can be made to fit with a little work. What's left is very careful assembly. It's not an original bike but then again, very few Inters are.

Then, even before it was finished I bought a flat tank OHV Norton that I like a lot. I did ride the Inter for a few hundred miles but when the shed got too crowded a decision had to be made and the Inter moved indoors where it spent a few happy years next to the television. Then last week another Norton came along and the Inter had to go.

Ruminating about what happened I came to the conclusion that my taste changed over the years; I like the truly Vintage Nortons that have the bought-in parts from Webb, Royal Enfield and Sturmey Archer so much better now.

Indoor Norton International

One to play with and another one to admire in the living room. This is a 1936 M30 International. Built from parts and too nice to use.