1927 Norton 16H Flat tanker dream come true

Hey everyone hope we are all keeping well I finally got my 1927 Norton 16H flat tanker collected and picked up she's a records matching bike 3 owners from new before me and I've got the original buff logbook original manuals parts books carb manual etc old tax disks lots of old paperwork even back to the original owners records of what months she was on the road etc. Shes got the optional adjustable bars which were specced on the factory record along with original grips n amac carb. Huge thanks to everyone that advised Chris from Noc John From Vintage Norton n all the lads on fb.

Few little bits that are incorrect like earlier 1920s pannier bags but at least they are period ones the straps were wrapped round to stop them disintegrating any more.

So the plan with her is a very light touch up where needs be to look after her condition wise n get her running there's a few issues the previous owner was having I've already put a few right on day 1 an hopefully next week I'll be giving her a first start up when I've completed my checks she was absolutely filthy so I decided to give her a clean so I could check everything over n mechanically so far she seems sound no play in the forks etc rear wheel bearing needs attention but I'd clocked that when looking at her. Need some new tyres to from a safety point of view.

I'm having a weigh up about the bars currently and the downpipe as I don't want the rust to set in any more on those the tanks been done in the past which I'm glad off as there's a tiny bit of rust trying to come through on the top so at least it protected it up to this point I'll get that done with the correct transfer on the tank n during my use itl mellow down n pick up patina again as I plan on owning her for many years to come n hopefully keeping her in nice fettle for the generations that come after me.

An im certainly gonna be using her n riding her on every run I can get on and local rides as well.


So without further ado here's some pics.





In the van on the way home. Ignore the rubbish photoshop where I removed removed numbers not got a computer currently so had to do it rough on my phone.

An some pictures from tonight ended up having to give her a clean as I was getting covered every time I worked on her.

Exciting news she's now running got a few things to sus out on the float chamber n the rear wheel bearing before I can take her for the first ride. Looks to me n a friend that it's an amac with an amal float chamber on it. I'll post some pics of the carb shortly the Norton parts list for 27 just lists Amac Special Norton Pilot Jet Carb.

Went through the bike fitted the new carb cables put the correct amount of oil into the engine casings then drained and cleaned the oil tank, n refilled it after that I checked all the oil lines n cleaned the oil n fuel lines the fuel one was all gummed up.

Fitted a new spark plug as the original was bust.

Fresh fuel n she actually started 2nd kick which was great sounded really smooth to which was nice itching to ride her next job is to sort the rear wheel bearing n inspect the brake linings.

Hope you all enjoy the mini video

Decided to strip n clean the float chamber today pretty sure it's the Amac NY which is a large bottom feed float chamber. Gonna get stuck in on the rear wheel on Sunday then should be all set all being well for a test ride next week put the feelers out for the correct float lid as I've got a few ideas what might have caused an issue on me the other day relating to the current Lid.



Woop woop!!! First ride on the 1927 Norton 16H Flat tanker truly a life long dream come true after I got her last year n recommissioned her thanks to everyone's excellent advice. Thank you to everyone thats been a part of the journey so far and who helped to make it happen.

What a great way to start the year my neck injury is alot better to the point where I can kickstart the 16H probably still pushing it with the 650ss so rolling starts on that. Which means the 27' Norton just got bumped up the list of main bikes! So 2022 is going to be the year of the sidevalve for me once the WD 16H is going as well.

Really enjoyed the experience it was so different balancing all the different levers. Gave a whole new experience to riding motorcycles which was great n very refreshing as I use my 650ss as a daily so get lots of miles on that so the new experience was awesome!

I was also pleasantly suprised at how well the Druid forks soaked up the bumps as the roads I was on are far from smooth.

First ride on a girder fork bike as well. Few things I just wanna check out before I go further afield as the front end felt a little vague in corners in 2nd gear. Hopefully next week I'll be out on my 2nd ride down some country lanes!

I honestly didn't want to stop riding her! Hopefully the video captures the sheer happiness I was feeling.


I've not had the cylinder off her yet to check it's on the list n I'll give it a decoke when the time comes n the weathers a bit warmer. Ideally though I want to try and keep her together for now rather than tearing things down as it pulled like a freight train n concentrate on getting my 44 wd16h finished n to riding condition for major spannering jobs n re wire my 68 commando i just rebuilt

Just trying to steadily work my way through all the things to check out

I had a bottle under the tap for a week n that's not leaking which was good, what float heights /fuel level does everyone aim for on the amacs?

I had the fuel off n it did it when the bike was stood and the 2nd time was after the ride fuel off n it continued to drip out of the body when the bike was off when the bike had been put away didn't notice it doing it when the bike was running.


When I was first started diagnosing it I thought I'd sussed it to an issue with the float lid so when testing that I put the fuel on for 30 secs then tap off n initially it seemed OK but 10 mins later fuel started weeping from the hole.

Before I took the bowl off today I popped the float bowl lid off float was floating in the fuel but the needle could be pulled up a little bit. Where it had lost fuel level. I did film it Into a little video as I was messing which I'll have to upload.
Was stood since I did the first ride on her.

I'm assuming this was probably one of the issues the previous owner was having all a great opportunity to learn though

I can feel a slight nick in the float needle where it looks like it seats although only very slight. N also there's a noticeable lip on the edge of the needle at the widest part of the conical section.

Itching to get it sorted so I can get out for a spin again.

Wow first longer ride on the Flat Tank Norton 16H from 1927 I just want to say big thanks to everyone that stopped and offered assistance mainly Rick Hall a fellow member of the VMCC who offered to Van me home while I was having a bit of grief after spotting me out n pulled up typically at the furthest point from home as she was refusing to start.

Partly due to my neck giving me a massive amount of grief again and I'm pretty sure the timing has slipped. The only way I got it to start in the end as a last ditch was with some advance on the lever.

N she got home nice an well did sound slightly off though so that's for investigating I also think Im gonna try a KLG M80 that I got Nos for the war bike as the C3 was very sooted up really really shifts and has a great turn of speed.

That was a 22 Mile ride.

Got the oil level sussed in the crank cases at 200ml

Managed to get a bit more oil out so probably say about 180 left out of the 200 that was pre filled so just going to tweak the pump up one notch.

Got a nos KLG m80 8k gonna gap n fit for the next ride.

Tomorrow's job is timing.

For those running wired on Rims what size did you go to?







Productive day today just the usual things to settle in made a load of progress today my new Amac float needle came along with a fresh clip properly sorted the remaining slight leak I had which is awesome also alot easier locating the float bowl lid now onto the tickler with it being the correct length the needle I removed was on its last legs on the seating area so that's a massive improvement.

Checked the timing by removing the compression tap and using an indicator in its place as per the Norton 1926 Manual as there isn't a 27 one. That seemed ship shape which is good.

Refilled the Sumps oil to 200ml again as per George's book and I'm going to turn the pump up one notch and see if that keeps up with use as it wasn't replenishing about 1 ml per mile so 22ml in total for the 22 mile ride I did.

I did find a mention on page 13 of the 1928 Manual under decarbonising to fill the engine case with half a pint of
Engine oil after washing them out.

So from my reckoning that's imperial pint = 568ml so half of that is 284ml

Probably gonna add the extra in the morning.

Next step in the morning is to gap the Nos KLG M80 I've got originally according to the 1927 Parts list it would have had a KLG HS3.

Did find one thing wrong which was the carb top had spun itself off which would explain some of the starting issues as the slides would've been help open, which also explains the lever points on the carb lever changing when I was having trouble.

All in all a really productive day today got the video edited as well from the ride which came out really nice just waiting on that exporting and uploading on my phone.

The first test ride clip is live! On my 1927 Norton 16H had a few hiccups on the run which have since been sorted and I've just returned from another 22 Mile ride where she ran great although it was very wet out!
So takes the total to 44 miles this week.

Since this video, I experimented with spark plugs today, did the timing, fitted a new float needle and increased the oil pump which is now keeping up with its usage only needed 1 extra notch. Sorted the clutch cable that was fouling and the carb top that had loosened its self off.

Going to try some more plugs next as the one today was a bit to cold.

Part 2 and 3 are coming soon showing me working on the bike and today's test ride which was very wet!

Hope you all enjoy.

Few pics from today






Today's job after some sleep with it being midnight is to investigate is what looks to be the missing pilot jet needle, needle insert, needle spring and needle catch as it looks like mine has some sort of either later type pilot needle or a bolt in it I'm gonna check that out in the morning only just noticed it while looking at the Amac book. That could be a tricky set of items to get but I'll try the supplier I got the float needle and clip from just incase.

I'm also running a 41 Amac main jet + the amal air filter.

Looking at the M80 today it was overly rich getting caught behind slower moving traffic didn't help either I think the c3 seemed to run a bit cleaner although I did get caught in some traffic it was to wet to do plug chops as most of the roads were soaking. Hopefully it'l be a bit dryer tomorrow and I can do some experimenting.

Got her to starting within 1-3 kicks now which is good considering my kicks are quite limp to with a neck injury I'm recovering from so pretty happy with that.

It's super enjoyable learning to work on her n the handling was absolutely superb at 55psi.

Had a word with the Green Spark Plug company and they said in the old book they had that the KLG HS3 (original fitment) equivalent was a Lodge C3. So going to give that another whirl / try get hold of a few spares also going to get the NGK Equivalent they recommended which was an AB6 as a get home plug.

Exciting times really exciting times here's the 2nd longer test ride. Taking the total to 44 miles this week. Was actually crazy weather at a few points while I was testing in hail stone but it dried up enough to film which was good!

I got to the bottom of the starting issue on the 16H which was down to a few factors one the float needle was severely worn and the wrong length causing all sorts of havoc a new correct Amac float needle really sorted it out.

The carb top had loosened off so was holding the slides to open that was a really easy fix.

Since the first clip I've been trying a few different plugs out and doing some research, I also checked the timing on her which is bang on I'm very impressed with the handling since I upped the PSI to 55 from 50 which took all the vagueness out of it which is awesome.

Upped the best and Lloyd oil pump setting so it's now replenishing the the amount of oil that its using.

I was still having an issue with over rich running in this clip (was trying an m80 out) I'm pretty sure I've got an idea what's causing it as I think I've spotted something else wrong on the carb and I'll be bringing that in the next clip along with the other work that I've been doing on her hope you all enjoy the ride ^-^ I've been trying to do longer clips rather than the previous 1-2 min clips.

Little bit of progress today

The Garmin came to use as a speedo until I can afford something period which at least means I can go out without dad in tow with the headsets on in his car doing his best stig impression haha!

Starting to do some research on sourcing the original grips or getting some made. Part number 2383 in the Norton 1927 Parts book sports rubber grip long.

The rh still is solid although worn out but the lh one is falling apart.



Just waiting on a new pilot needle adjusting screw setup for the Amac arriving and then I'll give her another test ride to check out some new plugs I've got.

Next thing is to get a side valve spring tool ready for the decoke

Has anyone ever come across these valve covers, can see the collets on the underside.

Just had an absolutely brilliant if very wet ride on the 1927 Norton 16H takes the setup miles in the past week or so to 70 which isn't to bad considering I'm still working on setup she's starting first or 2nd kick now as well which is great

Was trying a few different plugs, m80 on the left, Lodge C3 in the middle and a NGK AB-6 on the right which was a propper plug chop at full throttle. Considering going down one on the main jet as I'm running an Amac 41 with the air filter and am only a half turn out on the pilot screw.

Next task is a decoke an I might split the cases while I'm at it will assess that once the cylinder is off.

Thanks Chris sounds good! I'll have to get along to one of the end of the month meets on her chaos at the moment so just grabbing the odd run out when I can should be a bit calmer towards the end of March all being well.

Talking about runs out here's the footage from the other day.



it's extremely smooth over 45-50 mph an still continues to want to pull with plenty in reserve it's really surprised me wouldn't surprise me that it'd cruise at National all day I'll be testing that in the coming weeks.

Still going to be getting some wired on rim's once I can afford them looking forward to that.

Cup and cone bearings from memory.

The grips are going to be a problem as I've yet to be able to find the exact pattern I had a look into getting some made but it's gonna cost £300 or so to get them done still looking into that.

I'm going to have to make a decision on what to fit as the left hand one is starting to disintegrate where as the RH is good enough to make a pattern from I think the good thing is they are sliding on the bars so will be easy to remove them without damaging them. I might look at some John Bull Style ones maybe.

Going to have a couple more rides out this week and decoke the week after this one

If everyone would like it'l take me a bit to do but I'll stick the rebuilds up on my other three Nortons,


Bit more progress today

My new replacment grips arrived from Jeff Hunter. A set of Period John Bull Grips.

Removed the originals carefully as one is pretty intact ready for me looking into getting them replicated.
All set for tomorrow's ride.





Had a great ride out today was very very wet and greasy headed over to a little village called Prestbury in Cheshire.

Settling in now to which plugs she likes I'd say the original Norton grips are more comfortable looking forward to getting the copied they have an interesting design on the inside of the original Norton Grip.

All in all a good ride footage to come over the next few days.




Yay! Video is up from yesterday's splash about on the 1927 Norton 16H Flat tanker. I'm trying a slightly different format trying to show some of the tweaks I'm making while setting the bike up or the odd issue I had one of which was self caused lol over pumping the oil on a hill lol the riding is towards the end of the clip lemme know what you think or what else you would like to see. Had a spin out to the village of Prestbury in Cheshire over 120 miles on her now an shes starting to settle down going to be doing a Decoke this week so next video will ne a workshop one.



Unfortunately had a bit of a disaster yesterday went to the cat got half way up n loads of misfires then no spark so ended up coasting back down that was interesting!

Anyways got to the bottom sent dad for some bits from home, new pickup, new leads n plugs no such look still no spark so after relenting and calling the breakdown my insurance one would have been hours then I tried one of the main bike recovery ones 155 quid for 9.5 miles but no one available drat haha!

The long push commenced up hill and down dale the nightmare was all the hills n some of the pavements are lethal.

Just about the width of the tyres an the councils answer where they had gone let's plant daffodils in the potholes lol

Made it home in the end after 6 hours of pushing n the route was 9.5 miles went the wrong way for a little bit so probably closer to 10.5

The worst bit was just as I got onto our road my legs went n I slipped n over we went! One bent R/H footrest later we got home luckily that took the brunt of it n the bars hanged off the curb.

Just looking into who to use to rebuild the mag at the moment and whether it's worth getting one of the easy caps.



Alls well that ends well we shall return to the cat and fiddle!

Had a huge jig round in the workshop for getting ready to remove the mag next task is the gear on the end of the Cam.

Found one other thing wrong that will need dealing with the Best and Lloyd pump housing has had a shoddy repair when the previous owner fitted the tell tale so thatl need replacing just gotta decide on who to use for the Mag rebuild now once it's off I'm gonna get stuck in on taking the top end apart for a decoke and measure up.

All in all a decent bit of progress




Found this lovely little bodge on the one part of the bike you don't wanna risk a bodge on!

Anyone spot the problem



Hi everyone so had such a productive afternoon on the flat tanker

Got the magneto removed and ready to send off on Monday.

N pulled the engine cylinder to ready to decoke

Looks like she's still on her original Iron piston to.

All doesn't look to bad next step is to measure the bores up guessing getting hold of oversize pistons is tricky so hopefully it's ok.

I have been filming as I go along which I'll be uploading over the next week or so

Engine


Timing chest




Piston



Bore



Exhaust valve


Mag went off today in the post

Been starting the clean up polishing the engine up. Started on the cylinder tonight as well which is coming up great.

Latest update engine's back together just waiting on sorting a magneto chain out and a set of footrests and she's good to go so close!

Great post and the bike has a lovely patina not sure about the basket on the back though.

Great post, I am enjoying it thanks.

How does it like running on unleaded?

Thanks everyone it's OK Nortons have hardened valve seats great thing with a sidevalve if they need doing really easy job.

It actually handles superb and pulls like a freight train considering how low the HP is it just shows what the influence of light weight is on a bike.

Did I mention the smell of Castrol R ahhhhhh so lovely haha!

The basket was put on by the previous owner actually handy for a few tools spare plugs and some lunch

What a fantastic bike loving the videos

Thanks Ekimyf glad you enjoyed them

Cracking stuff, keep us posted.