Dolls Head gearbox

A Serial number as high as 41919 indicates wartime production, thus WD. This is backed up by the other stamping. 'B14' indicates a Base Workshop, 'MS' almost certainly Ministry of Supply and the final part would usually relate to a date, generally month and year.

Presumably fitted with a bushed gearchange shaft and brass gear position indicator ?

The major pricing factor with these is the condition of the top fork and bottom lug.

Previously alan_stothart wrote:

20150809_171941 (00000003)Hi. Can the guru s amongst us ID this box which i have recently come across, i know they were fitted to the 16h and others, if possible the year of manufacture. This will be up for sale in the near future if there is any interest. B14 ms 4/4 and SN 41919, cast into the box N8001 3. Thanks Alan

I think this would be mid 40s. I have one on my 1947 model. What condition is it in. Does it select all gears. Pictures would be nice.

Previously alan_stothart wrote:

Previously alan_stothart wrote:

Previously robert_dixon wrote:

Previously alan_stothart wrote:

20150809_171941 (00000003)Hi. Can the guru s amongst us ID this box which i have recently come across, i know they were fitted to the 16h and others, if possible the year of manufacture. This will be up for sale in the near future if there is any interest. B14 ms 4/4 and SN 41919, cast into the box N8001 3. Thanks Alan

I think this would be mid 40s. I have one on my 1947 model. What condition is it in. Does it select all gears. Pictures would be nice.

Unable to upload photos.saying file is too big.please send email address so i can e-mail them

robertdixon731@hotmail.com

Previously alan_stothart wrote:

Previously alan_stothart wrote:

Still got this box, is there no interest ?

Are you offering this to club members or the world at large?

I've often thought that I'd 'like' a spare Dollshead on the shelf, just in case and am always on the lookout for a decent shell at the right price so that I can begin the process. This is probably Commando-owner paranoia (There goes the layshaft bearing !) combined with the knowledge that there is no source of new parts.

However, the level that eBay has taken prices to means that buying a complete box on the off-chance is no longer a viable proposition. Ten years ago, when they could be found for £100 or not much more, you'd have found plenty of takers at the going rate. Nowadays (with perhaps a 600% increase on the prices of not so long ago), it will only be the builders of fake Broughs and racers of pre-war Inters who have blown up yet another ex-WD box who will actually feel inclined to pay what is now the going rate.

I suspect this means that market prices are higher than supply and the fairly low demand actually warrant. They are around but those who have them don't need to sell so can afford to wait...none of which really helps your situation.

Perhaps eBay with a restriction to UK buyers is the best option ?

Nowadays (with perhaps a 600% increase on the prices of not so long ago)

Perhaps eBay with a restriction to UK buyers is the best option ?

Seems like the plan is to pass it from punter to punter each taking their 10%. I have never put a Norton part on Ebay. I have passed parts on to other Norton owners who needed them. That explains why I am always able to get the parts I need. When your objective is to grease the wheels of commerce, you lose all my sympathy. Your shortage of parts is your own fault. What is a better goal, getting a Norton on the road or getting a part into the hands of the priciest reseller (where it remains for a long time)?

I think that you misunderstand me Jonathan. I too sit in a network of Norton owners and am pretty confident that if I really needed a gearbox, someone would come up with one. That doesn't alter the fact that having experienced overnight rebuilds because a bike had to be ready the next day, I really quite like the idea of rebuilding a box at leisure ready for any eventual problems. That seems to me to be a sensible precaution rather than making me an enemy of the hobby. Last year I lent a rebuilt magdyno to someone in France. Had it not been for that, his trip would have been ruined.

Thanks to careful forward planning, I have a reasonable spares stock to cover most foreseable problems. I live abroad and try to be self-sufficient in the short term. I don't need your sympathy.

I've never sold a Norton part on eBay either, though I have no moral objection to it and I've certainly bought plenty.

Alan is selling this box on behalf of an elderly lady and it would be somewhat ungentlemanly to spin some yarn suggesting that he should pass it on to me for less than the going rate. I now realise that it was on another forum that he mentioned it had been sold on eBay but he had been let down by an overseas buyer and needed to re-advertise.

Previously richard_payne wrote:

I think that you misunderstand me Jonathan.

I understand someone is inviting club members to outbid allcomers on Ebay.

The mistery deepens! I have a set of crankcases which I assumed were from a 1946 Big 4, stamped with very similar references, i.e. - B14/MS/1/4 and a Serial Number commencing 6XXX; all original and not adulterated in any way.

What do they come from, any ideas anyone?

regards

Derek Ambler

Previously Jonathan Soons wrote:

Previously richard_payne wrote:

I think that you misunderstand me Jonathan.

I understand someone is inviting club members to outbid allcomers on Ebay.

Alan has been pleading for interest / offers from club members but apparently received no response. Bearing in mind that he is selling on behalf of another, he's hardly in a position to do less than his best in obtaining a decent price for it. I'm not sure also quite why paying x £ or $ per year and becoming a member of the NOC should result in a discounted price from a private seller anymore than buying a bike from an NOC member as I've sometimes seen advertised is a guarantee of good maintenance and technical knowledge. We're an owners club, not a socialist collective !

Which bike do you need a Doll's Head box for anyway ?

Previously derek_ambler wrote:

The mistery deepens! I have a set of crankcases which I assumed were from a 1946 Big 4, stamped with very similar references, i.e. - B14/MS/1/4 and a Serial Number commencing 6XXX; all original and not adulterated in any way.

What do they come from, any ideas anyone?

regards

Derek Ambler

Derek, it's difficult to say without seeing the stampings. There were no 1946 model year Big 4s although quite likely to have been 1947 year bikes built from September onwards with the prefix B7

The serial number doesn't begin with an 'S' does it ? Is it stamped 82x120 ?

If there is any sign of the number being altered then I'd suspect the re-use of ex-WD swd Big 4 cases.

I'd suggest sending a photo either to Chris Streather as Records Officer, Singles or myself as Tech Advice WD models and we can have a go at identifying.

Attached below is a B14 rebuild stamp. Not a very good image, I'm afraid. B189 is also very common. These would have been Base Workshop locations.

Attachments
W16135%20-2.JPG

Alan, I've tried to message you via this board, but I've no idea where private messages appear here...