Year of manufacture advice

Hi Jono. Dvla will register your bike as a 1959 because they go on frame numbers. You may have to get a verification certificate and/or a vehicle inspection just to satisfy them that what you have is cosher.

The club does a very good dating service try them first.

Emlyn

Hello everyone

This site was so helpful fixing my last problem. I would really appreciate some advive about the year of my bike.

I have only owned it about 4 months and its my first Norton but not my last.

My problem is its was registered in 1968 which gives it a G plate.

Now when I checked the serial numbers the frame is N14 77573 which according to my poor research makes the frame a 1959 year, and the engine number is 93567 stamped a 99C which makes it a 1960 year??

My problem is, canI re-register the bike as a 1959 if i fill out the correct forms (which I have downloaded)with this club, or should I just accept the registaration and log book i have?

I'm not sure if my Norton was just not registered for 10years or more likely built from different parts.

Really interested in your opinions.

Thank you in advance.

Jono

yes has its registered by the frame not the engine numbers

Norton Letter Identifiers

My 1958 Norton 99 has engine number starting 14N76561

Letter Code

Year

Engine Number

1945

1001

A

1946

2131

B

1947

7756

C

1948

13792

D

1949

20701

E

1950

27100

F

1951

35560

G

1952

42700

H

1953

48900

J

1954

55350

K

1955

60700

L

1956

66600

M

1957

71360

N

1958

77400

P

1959

80488

R

1960

87038

the letter ( N ) saga .a while ago i took a bike i had for mot when asked where the frame number was i showed him he put it in the computer he said there should be a letter ( N ) in the frame number. anyway after rubbing most of the paint off to find a letter ( N ) that wasn't there he said no problem carried out the test i went away with the pass certificate .3 weeks later a letter from the dvla came saying the mot was null and void and my insurance would be also because of a discrepancy in the info they have. and the police have been notified as it may be a stolen bike. 2 weeks went by time to think who i would be sharing a cell with.a letter came through the post saying an amended log book would be sent out with the correct frame number with no letter ( N ) on it. no other explanation . a bit of a worrying time so i would get it sorted properly make sure all the frame number matches the log book no worries then. bye the way the police did come around just to check log books on me other bikes and me car to check frame / chassis numbers on them matched. good of them.

Tell me if I am being thick, but I am a bit puzzled by your number, Phil. N is 1958, but the numbers in the list surely are the first numbers of that year? For example, they didn't make 1001 bikes in 1945; 1001 was the first, not the last. Therefore the first number in 1958 was 77400, making your number, 76561, a 1957 manufacture, doesn't it? Shouldn't it be an 'M'?

Cheers. Ian

In an attempt to answer my own question (!), is it that the letter indicates a model year, and, whilst the numbers in the list show the first machine manufactured in that year, in this instance 'N' could have been stamped on machines made in the latter part of the previous year, post Motorcycle Show, when the following year's models were announced? For example, my 350 Matchless Trials has the engine stamped 1958, yet I know for sure it was actually built in October 1957, for the '58 model year. Likewise my Greeves 24TE was built in October 1961; I have the despatch records; yet all publications show that model did not come out until 1962.

Ian.........you are almost correct. The numbers are from Jan 1 for each year. Not sure why the 1945 list begins with 1001. The big but ...... is the Norton production year always began from the previous October. This does indeed make my engine a 1957 motor but it was sold in a 1958 bike and stamped accordingly. Even I get confused sometimes. I had an 1957 14M engine 70368 ....... it was a dynamo enginewhich would probably apply to all the other pre-october bikes.

Phil. Yes, that is what I meant, but you put it more succinctly! It seems it was the same with most manufacturers, then.

Ian.........you are almost correct. The numbers are from Jan 1 for each year. Not sure why the 1945 list begins with 1001. The big but ...... is the Norton production year always began from the previous October. This does indeed make my engine a 1957 motor but it was sold in a 1958 bike and stamped accordingly. Even I get confused sometimes. I had an 1957 14M engine 70368 ....... it was a dynamo enginewhich would probably apply to all the other pre-october bikes.

Well Bracebridge street worked with there updated or new home models from September too September , But Export models came out when they were ready to do so , So the first Home Model 99 was built in September 1955, and so on like when they up dated the Electircs to Altenator from September 1957, for the 1958 season and the engine numbers can be a lot earler than is printed in a lot of Norton twins Books, and not every thing is set in stone, Yours Anna J Dixon

Norton Letter Identifiers

My 1958 Norton 99 has engine number starting 14N76561

Letter Code

Year

Engine Number

1945

1001

A

1946

2131

B

1947

7756

C

1948

13792

D

1949

20701

E

1950

27100

F

1951

35560

G

1952

42700

H

1953

48900

J

1954

55350

K

1955

60700

L

1956

66600

M

1957

71360

N

1958

77400

P

1959

80488

R

1960

87038

YES and all these numbers will be way out, like most thing printed in Books,

Looking at the table above (pause to scroll to the top - grr) 1960 R starts with 87038. However, my 99, a 1960 model but registered on 15/12/59 is 14R 85787. So in fact R numbers started before the published 87038. Oh what fun it all is...

Looking at the table above (pause to scroll to the top - grr) 1960 R starts with 87038. However, my 99, a 1960 model but registered on 15/12/59 is 14R 85787. So in fact R numbers started before the published 87038. Oh what fun it all is...

hello Gordon like I said nothing set in stone its just gets more interesting , yours Anna J

Remember.......the factory sales year starts in the previous October. So 1960 models will be sold from October 1959 onwards. There are a good number of examples of 1959 Slimilne frames. Which according to many reference books can not be so. According to these books, the official start date for the Slimline frame models was January 1st 1960.

Remember.......the factory sales year starts in the previous October. So 1960 models will be sold from October 1959 onwards. There are a good number of examples of 1959 Slimline frames. Which according to many reference books can not be so. According to these books, the official start date for the Slimline frame models was January 1st 1960.

Surely date of registration is only of interest to the authorities and the NOC has copies of the factory records so production date is beyond doubt. For the rest of us (apart from the odd case where a licensing advantage can be found by proving earlier production) 'Model Year' is the intersting thing

It's quite clear from the records dating back to the 1930s that the factory started building the following season's models as soon as they returned from the annual holiday / factory closure at the end of August each year.

There were of course existing orders to be completed (presumably at last season's prices) but it's clear that from September onwards, the new models were the rule and the old ones the exception.

The year letter changed with the model year each September...not at 1st January.