650 SS history

I think sometime in 1963   and probably went to Australia.  Phil may have  some info on this.

The local  parent Company was  making  all sorts of  cast and pressed items for the general  motor industry , I believe the early 650 Manxman  silencers and  wonky pipes were hand  made in house  at Norton , I think they had a plating shop .  Alloy castings (Birmal?)  were  bought in  for machining  at Norton  I think. The first small  650 Manxman tanks were  very different  and made from several pressings with a seam along the sides with a shorter seat to match. And just to stir the pot, I don't think we would have got a slimline frame at all if the Jubilee had not been made first !!

One of my books (Woollett maybe?) says Norton installed their own chrome plating plant in about 1928 or 29. So plating was probably done in house . Prior to that, they used nickel plating.

Featherbed frames were by Reynolds, so they were bought it.

I've never seen a date (week or even month) when production stopped and restarted. Does anyone have one? It probably fizzled out but there must have been a first bike with a letter "P".

Hi Roger ........... yours is a very challenging question.

Bracebridge officially stopped bike production in  February 1963.  The updated Dominator Service Notes Ch 36  Dates & Details contains the following notes.

January 1963 – Use of shop engine numbers ended as from 18SS 104979 Shop Engine Number 2212.  Production of Standard and De-Luxe bikes ended.

This definitely applied to the 650 engines and suggests to me a possible cessation of these Norton models being built using official factory parts.

Also, by this time. most of the old Bracebridge Office Staff were disappearing to look for new employment and quite soon there was nobody left to keep the production records up to date. The official Ledgers, for this changeover period are thinner in detail than the pages written on. 

You may have to ask the official NOC records people for help with your question.

My understanding is that Reynolds of tubing fame made the wideline featherbed frames, and the slimlines were made by AMC, logically in Plumstead.  Since the slimline started in 1960, before the departure of Norton from Birmingham, does that mean they were sent north by lorry? Can anyone confirm?

Slimline frames were definately  being built  during 1959 and possibly earlier, My guess  mid 59.

Are you sure that Slimline frames were made at Plumstead? In the late 1950's and early 1960's I worked in the research Labs of Tube inveatments near Cambridge. Reynolds were one of many of the companies owned by TI and we keen motorcyclists who worked there were proud that one of our small companies produced Norton Frames.

My records show the Slimlines  being made by Reynolds. But the pre-drilled frame brackets for these frames being supplied by Norton. Pages 150/151 in Ken Sprayson's book supports this.

According to John Hudson the later Mercury frames were made in Italy along with some early Commando frames. The metal used in their construction being a little softer than the usual Reynolds Grade B 14 gauge that Road Bike Featherbed frames were constructed from. This leading to twisting and bending of the respective frames when road conditions were poor.