classic motorcycle forum
The VintageBike Message Board => The Classic Biker Bar => Topic started by: hallii on June 28, 2012, 11:51:28 AM
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Hello all, my name is Geoff and I live iin Worcester, I have owned British bikes for more years than I can remember.
I currently own a Norton 16h ex military in civvi trim, much like they were prepared for sale by dealers after realease from military service.
It runs well, I have just fitted a new plug, new petrol, and oil and it fired up first time.
I rebuilt it some years ago, it is registered as a 1940 with age related plates, the frame is 1940 at least! The engine is ex mil workshops I think and marked "Kent 34", no number. The original reg. number was long gone by the time I bought it.
It runs and rides well, with no knocks or rattles but would need a bit of TLC to get it into "concours" condition, it is, however, smart and ready to ride.
(http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x306/twoandaquarter/Norton-1.jpg)
This photo is just after it was finished so the shiny paint and chrome has dulled a little over time and some rubber bits are showing signs of age.
Now to my point! I am no spring chicken and in my 70s, I have had to accept that my riding days are drawing to a conclusion, at least riding this rather heavy beast. I might get a small lighweight bike from a country I find it hard to name, I used to work at BSA you see, and I have a long memory...
Anyway, what is it worth? I have done the searches and the prices seem to vary quite a bit. It would be nice to get Bonhams price but I doubt it!
Thank you for the forum use and I look forward to your input.
Geoff
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nice machine . put a chair on it and keep it
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What a good looking bike Geoff, pity you're having to let it go, but good that you'll still be on 2 wheels, eh?
It's a hard thing to value accurately, but I'd have thought £4-5k should be achievable. After all, people are paying up to 2 grand for basket cases these days!
Regards
Andy
(also from Worcester)
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Thanks guys, a chair (sidecar to us oldies) is an option but then I wouldn't be able to get it in my garage.
I have booked an MOT for it tomorrow and put a new battery on it, today I rode it up and down the drive, dug out my helmet and dusted it, insured it, just the MOT pass and a free tax disc to go and it's legal again.
I am getting quite excited now, I think I might go for a ride after the MOT, knowing, of course, that it will pass ;D
Maybe I will keep it.... maybe.
Geoff
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Well it passed today, just one advisory, "the headstock bearing is slightly loose and needs adjustment". I will have that little job done in the next hour. Then it's off for a ride around the country lanes around here.
Geoff
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the last mot it will ever req , after nov 18th this year no more mots pre 1960
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Update.
I have decided to keep it :D
So I have been riding it around locally.
Yesterday it "kicked back" as I was starting it. I thought I was OK but this morning my ankle has swollen up and the local A&E tell be there is nothing broken, just a ligament that is sore.
I now have a pair of sticks and feel a right wally shuffling around.
Never mind, it should be better in a few days.
I KNEW I should have used the advance retard lever!
Geoff
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You're just out of practice doing the "long swinging kick" Geoff. Its not the bikes fault. You need to start it more often. With a woolly woofler like the 16H I'd stick with it as long as you can swing your leg over it to get on.
Chuck away the sticks asap or domestic management will start harping about the bike and you'll never enjoy it again.
Cheers from another mature rider.
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Oh! The domestic management have already commented along the lines of "Maybe it's time you gave up motorcycling at your age" etc.
Even the bl&&dy neighbour got in on the act, "It's probably a bit big for you" she said. I hope she meant the bike ;D
Sod them all, there is one good thing about being old, I can be a stubborn old git when I want to be, and right now I am stubborn.
I am on 30mg Codeine pills from the doc and they are good. If I take two I can walk, tomorrow I will take two, wait for them to kick in and get the bike out. I won't actually ride it, just polish it a bit, that should put the cat amongst the pidgeons!
Geoff
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This all sounds very familiar. I think I must live on the opposite side of your street.
Cheers.
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I broke the little toe on my right foot two weeks ago, it's amazing how quickly you can learn to start a bike with your left leg. Hell summers short enough!.
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Today my ankle is a bit better, still swollen but on the mend.
I will wear my boots next time I kick it over, last time I wore my sandals ( I know it was a mistake) but I was wearing my shorts because it was hot ( I know that was wrong) and my teashirt ( I know....) and sandals seemed to be right, no socks, the beach look you know.
I do need to get some suitable clothing, something periodish, maybe a Belstaff jacket XXL and some guantlets with white cuffs for a start.
Have a look in you grandads wardrobe please...
Geoff
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Ankle still sore but soon, maybe Monday if the sun is shining, I will try a left footed kick start and go off for a ride.
I hadn't better stall it at the lights though, get off, up on stand, kick start, off stand, get back on!
They will probably simply run over me, impatient people round here!
Geoff
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nice to hear you still have the machine , after youve started it a few times you can tell when its going to kick back ( a sort of silent lull ive found for about 2 seconds ) enough to get out of the way , after the long kick keep your leg bent at the knee . the kicking with the left leg might not be so good as next time you post it maybe from a wheel chair , try starting holding the valve lifter open for longer than normal ( as you kick ) this will help and a well timed norton will start easy and with little effoet other than weight ie no jabs on the kick start
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Ankle better, now riding it around and about, if you see me and wave you have to accept a nod of the head, I cannot risk taking a hand off the bars in case I hit a pothole (lots of them round here).
I have now noticed that the Petseal in the tank is peeling off and has turned to a sort of jelly, that will fun to get out. Maybe Nitromors?
Due I think, to the ethanol in modern fuel.
Geoff
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dichloromethane
use it with care, buy it from ebay
its the base ingredient for paint stripper so keep it away from your paint
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MEK (methylethylketone, type of paint thinner) is commonly used to dissolve/strip out old tank liners. Ditto, keep it away from your tank paint.
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MEK doesn'y touch it, I did a trial with a lump I pulled off and it just sat there for a week!
Cellulose and synthetic paint thinner don't work either.
Dichloromethane works and so does Nitromors, just need to do the job now and protect the paint. Polythene sheet and duct tape seem to be resistant to the stripper so it will be a very tight masking excercise methinks.
Then there is my 1955 Land Rover tank, I did it with the same stuff, Oh joy!
Geoff
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Father had several 16H, he`ll love the photo because his always looked ex WD (as if they`had been in the war). Usually they had a sidecar because he and his father before him were AA men. And he put a plank on the chassis to carry his offroad (what) bikes to events. Spellchecker doesn`t recognise offroad, so thats nice.
Unfortunately with no weight on the chassis they don`t turn left very well and thats how he broke his leg the 1st time. He`s always kickstarted with his left leg, perhaps using the right leg originated with people astride their bike?
He is 88 now and we have to start his Lambulletta on rollers.
Why do so many people put the licence holder on the wrong side?
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I have ridden sidecars, in the rain, in the sun, up motorways and down dirt tracks, Panther, BSA, Norton, Vincent, to name a few. Turning left is a skill best learned at low speed! Turning right is easy provided the steady bar doesn't let go on you! It happened to me once, finished up in the hedge with surpisingly little damage.
Fiddle brake on the sidecar wheel makes left turns easier, but then not many sidecars were fitted with them, or any brake at all.
I will tell the tale of my home made sidecar heater off the exhaust one day!
Geoff
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I just noiticed that this post has 1009 views, wow, I am famous 8)
Well back to that sidecar heater, Mrs Geoff had been complaining that in the winter it got pretty cold in the Watsonian double adult sidecar, (she should have tried sitting on the bike side of things in a snow storm!).
So I designed a rasther nifty heater for the sidecar, a length of 15mm copper pipe was plumberd into the exhaust near the cylinder barrel and this was bent into a smart coil and passed into the sidecar via the floor.
Tests showed that it gave of sufficient heat to keep Mrs G happy and so we set off for a usual sunday ride.
Half way there there was frantic banging on the celluloid side car window and Mrs G was doing an impression of a demented and tortured mental patient. I was forced to stop to see what was up, what was up was that the sidecar floor was on fire, the flames were licking round Mrs G's feet.
Well, at least it kept her feet warm ;D
Geoff
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It's Christmas time again, time to be thinking of pressies, I have asked for some goggles (Split glass, leather, British made, and a pair of vintage style leather gauntletts, pity they don't do them with the white cuffs any more).
I was going to ask for full body armour but that might be a bit over the top.
I have had some wonderful pressies in the past, (haven't we all?) one day I will find out what some of them do, I have mastered the MP3 player with 8Gb and a built in radio, but the "Windows for Dummies" book is a very boring read.
Anyway, Merry Christmas.
Geoff
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Cheers Geoff. I've asked for a sixty year old footpump to recondition. I've broken too many modern ones. An internet search hasn't shown a single new good quality footpump. An old one will suit the WD16H better anyway.
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The 16h was originally fitted with a hand pump that clipped under the tank, just like a push bike pump. The pointy things had long gone on mine so I never replaced it.
My old twin barrel footpump is pretty worn now. leather washers replaced and it still works.
I mainly use a 12v Ring "Heavy Duty" pump now, much easier!
Having read the exploding battery thread I must go and take mine off charge, I use an old variable voltage supply that is limited to 500 mA and it just reduces the voltage on an overload. So I am happy it won't overcharge.
I well remember being on a "Zodiac" rescue boat, (I used to sail a lot) when the battery and compartment exploded, it blew a hole in the floor but the inflatable bits kept us afloat until we were rescued by a small launch, most embarrassing!
Geoff