Lot details Registration No: RH 1307 Frame No: 41161 Engine No: 47569 cc: 490 MOT Expiry Date: None
The over head valve Norton Model 18 was first seen in 1922. The new model retained the 79mm x 100mm bore and stroke that was already synonymous with the Norton marques 500cc models, but adopted a new over head valve top end that was fitted to the well proven Norton bottom end already in service in the 16H. The new head and barrel employed sound engineering principles with plenty of well spaced finning on the cylinder and the massive head. The rockers were placed well above the head on pillars ensuring adequate cooling. Much of the development work on the new engine was carried out at Brooklands, where the soundness of the design was demonstrated when the new model established a new world record for a 500cc class machine covering a kilometre at 89.22 mph. The new engine was housed in a frame of a similar type to that employed by the 16H, although in order to accommodate the taller over head valve engine without the whole machine becoming overly tall the tank rail was kinked. A three speed Sturmey Archer gearbox was employed as was chain drive both the primary and final drive For the rest of the 1920's the Model 18 provided the basis for many of Norton's competition successes and in recent years has become one of the most sought after Norton's. The first examples still employed a dummy belt rim rear brake, however as the decade progressed drum brakes were adopted. At the close of the decade Norton adopted a saddle tank as part of an overhaul of the range. The Model 18 had been joined by a twin port variant that, other than the addition of a second exhaust pipe and the consequent changes to the cylinder head mirrored the Model 18 in looks, performance and development. In an attempt to modernise the range saddle tanks were fitted from 1929 although it was not until 1931 and a complete overhaul of the range that the Model 20 lost its essentially "vintage" characteristics.
This lovely example has been in the vendor's family for at least the last thirty years during which time it has been "locked away in a garage". Apart from the missing exhausts it appears to be complete and in good condition suggesting that it will respond well to some sympathetic recommissioning. It is accompanied by a buff log book.
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