Re: 'I don't need any more bikes' to a new purchase in 24 hours

Last week I received a phone call from a friend of ours who weâve known for years. To cut a long story short, heâs in his 70âs and has finally accepted that he will never finish his Norton that has been in bits for 30+ years. He took it off the road in the early 80âs to do a few jobs on it, one thing led to another and it never got done. Would I like to buy it. Thereâs no rush. Itâs not going anywhere else in a hurry. Heâs more concerned about it going somewhere that it will be finished and used than getting the absolute top whack for it. He doesnât want it disappearing into a collection or the back of someone elseâs shed to never see the light of day again, and the thought of it being bought as an investment doesnât bare thinking about!

So the following day I rang him back and said Iâll take it. âDonât you want to come and look at it first, it needs a lot of workâ. Didnât really matter, no matter how much work it needs, this was the best chance Iâll ever get to own one of these. So that afternoon I went and picked up my new (very old) 1928 CS1.

Fortunately his idea of a lot of work is slightly different to mine. For those of you that remember my Inter project, this one doesnât need anywhere near as much doing to it. And whatâs really great is that it really is all there. Heâs taken the engine plates off, then put the bolts, washers and nuts back in the plate â so not only do I have everything I can see where it all goes rather than just having a box of lose nuts and bolts.

Having said itâs all there it does have a few incorrect bits fitted. A Norton 4 speed gearbox instead of the 3 speed Sturmey Archer it should have. There is most of a Sturmey box with it but it needs a fair bit of work to get that up and working. Iâll probably put the bike on the road with the Norton box and then swap them later.

It also has an Amal carb instead of the Binks. Again, it can go on the road as is and if a Binks turns up later I can swap them. It is currently fitted with alloy mudguards but the correct D section ones are there, Iâll have to make some new mudguard stays if I decide to fit them.

A few other bits need making/repairing and the engine and gearbox will need going through before I use it. But what a lucky purchase! For now I am going to try and keep the âpatinaâ and just get it mechanically sound and on the road. It may get restored at a later date but Iâll wait until I have all the correct bits and know enough about them to do a good job before that happens.

So here we go again â if anyone has one of these, or knows anyone who does Iâd love to hear from them. Get ready for a load more questions on this forum and Iâll keep you posted on progress.