Norton 16H
   
Tracing its lineage back to 1911, the
Norton 16H was by turns a TT racer, wartime despatch
bike and family sidecar slogger, in a remarkable career
that spanned 33 years. In all that time the engine's
basic layout remained unchanged - it was simply that
the world moved on around it.
In 1911, the Isle of Man TT included a 500cc Senior
class for the first time and Norton had a new design
ready to contest it. A side-valve of 490cc with dimensions
of 79 x 100mm bore and stroke, it was listed as the
3 1/2. Founder James Norton rode one of the firm's
entries himself but failed to place. Yet, the very
next year, a similar bike won the Brooklands TT and
three world records in one event. In 1913, versions
on sale included the Brooklands Special (BS) and Brooklands
Road Special (BRS), which with their single-speed
belt-driven transmission were guaranteed to have lapped
Brooklands at more than 70mph (65mph for the BRS),
while many were capable of exceeding 80mph.
A chain-driven version was developed but with World
War 1 intervening it was 1919 before the 490cc Norton
was back in civilian production. The catalogued Model
16 now featured chain-drive with a three-speed Sturmey-Archer
gearbox and was directly related to the competition
bikes that were holders of some 21 world records.
In 1920, at the first post-war TT, half the finishers
were riding Nortons.
The next year, Norton launched a new model, called
the Norton Colonial. Aimed at the expanding market
in less developed areas of the Empire, it had a higher
ground clearance that the standard bike, which gained
an even lower riding position and a new designation
- the Norton 16H ('H' for Home) model.
In 1922, Norton's race development effort switched
to the newly designed overhead-valve Model 18. Out
of the spotlight, the Norton 16H found a new role
as a popular sporting tourer. The engine was reworked
in 1931 but the next major change came in 1936, when
after earlier successful trials, the army began to
place regular orders for 16Hs (modified for off-road
use). Continued right through the war, more than 80,000
were delivered, spanning a decade in all. Some bikes
stayed in service until the late 1930s.
Norton 16H
- Years in production - 1921-54
- Engine - single-cylinder side-valve four-stroke
- Bore and Stroke - 79 x 100mm
- Capacity - 490cc
- Compression ratio - 4.9:1
- Power - 12bhp
- Tyres (front/rear) - 3.25 x 26in
- Top speed - 78mph
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