classic motorcycle forum

The BTH magdyno is very unusual....and rare ,I expect.......The fuel line is likely spray paint hose,thiokol lined and the only fuel line Ive found to be 100% reliable with modern fuel......which is pretty close to paint thinner in chemical makeup.

Not if you re an auctioneer collecting comission and buyers premium.

Last place I worked was a big operation,but the owner had a radar for cash jobs,and would suddenly appear when a boxtrailer with a old  bed frame or old car bits came in the gate......A $20 note was enough to lure him out....

Out here the EPA license and compliance costs are round $100,000 a year for a small operation.  Adds on to the cost more than somewhat.........In fact,you could probably fly the stuff to India and return a lot cheaper job.

I d never get chroming done again.....since hexavalent salts were banned,the platers all say it doesnt last......I would get stainless rims,or just go with paint........where I had the wheels professionally lined,it seems a etch was used,which has lifted the chrome where the lining is........Fortunately,the tank wasnt done by the same guy,and the chrome is still 99%..with one little patch thats visible in sunlight.

Jap bikes use the same process on plastic and pretend its chrome...........just the plastic is a bit thicker.

The frame number is the identity part.......engine number probably changed when the rods came out for a look around...The frame numbers on the early fifties Nortons were pretty roughly stamped,and sometimes hard to decipher......So the story goes,when a bike was finished and test ride OK,an old fellow called Pops would come down from the "counting house"and apply the frame number........he was said to always have a big bottle of strong smelling cough mixture with him,and was frequently tipsy...When Nortons went bust due to poor sales ,and racing expenditure,the comnpany was offered to the Birmingham makers,who declined...money man C.A.Vandervell died,and his son didnt like bikes.....Under a board of trade scheme,a subsidy was offered,and Charles Collier of AMC thought the price and subsidy were good enough.........AMC sent Jock West to Bracebridge St to sort things out.......Which included sacking Pop,and having Harold Daniell up before the beak for nicking stuff.......Daniell beat the rap....Jock West was not popular,and when he was made sales director for all AMC products,he got the big Yankee importers offside....including Sammy Cooper,who was selling about half of all Matchless output.

Ive been "at it" for nearly sixty years ,and IMHO Norton twins wernt common.........mainly I suspect because Triumph s were.I seem to remember Nortons were always dearer than Triumphs and BSA s.....The early plunger Norton twins were also ugly bikes,and had tin chaincases ,something that just didnt sell in OZ...Pre 50 ,they also had the primitive outside linkage gearbox,which was also ugly.........Funny thing is the Norton SV singles were common in government fleets.....the Brisbane council had lots as mosquito sprayers and the rat gangs.....the PMG had them as linesmens  outfits,....probably all Big 4s..............As an aside.....the the arrival of the rat gang on their thumping Big 4s was a major event when I was a kid.........Sidecars full of  fox terriers..........the boss would stand up on the tank of one bike and read "The Prevention Of Plague Regulations 1907"......then give everyone to five minutes to round up cats ,chooks and guinea pigs.....Then the dogs would go to work......very exciting for a five year old.