What’s an engine from a railway maintenance wagon doing in a bike?
This assembly of disparate parts looks like it could have been a vintage rival to a Brough Superior. But the truth about its creation is much more intriguing...
For classic bike fans with even a fleeting knowledge of the history of Norton, this machine is enough to induce a head-spin. What on earth is it? The famous old marque never made a V-twin like this for starters, but it has a certain semi-authentic vintage look – maybe a prototype unearthed after years hiding in a shed in the back of beyond?
The fact that it gives that sort of impression is a credit to the skill of its builder, Jake Robbins, who explains how the whole thing came about: “The phone call went something like this: ‘Hello, can you put a bike together for me? It’s a few bits I’ve been collecting from autojumbles for 30-odd years...’ I asked the owner what he had, and he told me there was a cut-up rigid Norton 16H frame with Norton girder forks and a 1320cc JAP V-twin side-valve engine from a Wickham railway
‘The 1320cc JAP V-twin engine came from a Wickham railway carriage maintenance wagon, although they also used them to power moving targets on MOD firing ranges’
carriage – the type that was used as a maintenance wagon, although they also used them to power moving targets on MOD firing ranges.
“He added that there were a load more bits, too: wheels, petrol tanks, oil tanks, gearboxes, seats... but he admitted that none of the bits belonged together. And then said: ‘Can you sort that lot out? I don’t want anything fancy – oily rag will do nicely.’”
The project stimulated Jake’s imagination and he rather liked the guy’s attitude, so he accepted the challenge. A few weeks later, the customer, John, arrived driving a flat-bed truck with a pile of bits on the back, covered in an old-fashioned tarpaulin.
The jumble of components was duly unloaded into the workshop of Vintage Engineering in Hastings, East Sussex, where Jake has made a name for himself building specials based on classic and vintage motorcycles.
“We also design and build our own girder forks along with a girder fork repair and manufacture service for the likes of Dick Smith of The Barons Speed Shop, George Beale of Honda Six and AJS 7R replica fame, Simon Miles who builds Broughs, the National Motorcycle Museum, the Sammy Miller Museum, Beaulieu Museum and the Brough Superior spare parts scheme. Plus there’s an A-list of customers worldwide,” he says.
That’s pretty top-class name-dropping – and Jake has earned the right to do that, with over 20 years of engineering experience under his belt. He takes on all aspects of girder fork work, including straightening, retubing, and replacing spindles and bushes. He also makes frame repairs and can carry out any kind of motorcycle-related welding and fabrication work in his enviably-equipped workshop.
As regards this recently-completed ‘Norton V-twin’, Jake expands on the aim of the project: “John turned out to be a straight-up decent guy and we had no problem communicating ideas for the project. It was pretty clear from the parts that this was going in a grand tourer style of the late 1920s or early ’30s.”
The stash of parts John supplied included a homemade Brough Superior-style petrol tank, some valanced mudguards, footboards, a large Harley-davidson pan seat, a massive 10in headlamp from a World War II bomber and some enormous leather panniers.
“John stated at this point that he understood that not all the parts would work together – that was why he was leaving me to choose the way forward,” Jake explains.
To kickstart the project, the 60° 1320cc, iron head and barrel motor was mounted into the already cut-up frame. Despite being a bit of a challenge to fit the big lump, it gave Jake a free hand to get the motor to sit exactly right. That meant stretching the frame by extending the top tube to give the bike a low centre of gravity.
“It gave a balanced feel, with regards to the angle of the cylinders to the front and rear frame rails to create the impression that the engine really belonged with this particular frame,” he says.
At this point, William, Jake’s eldest son (now 25, he’s worked with Jake since turning 16) stepped in to draw and cut the engine plates using a CNC program in-house. He formed a suitably ‘patinised’ piece of steel to match the slightly weathered frame and girder forks. His next job was to screw-cut all the fasteners on the lathe, allowing Jake to bolt the motor up tight.
The Norton ‘Dolls Head’ gearbox was fitted and Jake opted for a Norton Commando belt-drive clutch kit
from NEB to handle the torquey motor. Jake says: “The front crank pulley didn’t work on the JAP crank’s taper, so we calculated the offset and the very helpful team at NEB machined us a one-off front pulley. The primary drive was enclosed in modified Norton 16H cases.”
The timing-side case of the motor had a large crank starting handle left over from its previous life. “We removed it, machined it down and modified it to accept a belt pulley wheel to drive an alternator and regulator sourced from a Kubota digger – they have a big output at low revs! We enclosed this with an aluminium cover with the words ‘Brough Superior’ cast into it – another gem from John’s pile of auto-jumbling finds.”
Jake’s next job was to fit the Brough-style petrol tank and cut down the Harley seat to suit, which was covered to match a period pillion seat from the original parts delivery. “We had a choice of headlamps and opted for the twin set-up, which I think are from an Austin Seven. Will fabricated the brackets and fitted them up.”
The front wheel hub is believed to be from a Sunbeam, while the rear is off a BSA Sloper. Lightly-rusted 19in rims were found in Jake’s “might-be-useful-one-day stores” and were laced up by PW Wheels in Herne Bay. Jake adds: “We did a modern wheel-bearing conversion for both wheels – John intends to do serious miles because this bike is a retirement present to himself. He has passion for motorcycles and a bright, easy-going nature. He’d worked hard all his life collecting, restoring and dealing in Land Rovers, sports cars and couriering up and down the country to earn a living.
“When it came to this project, John never moaned about cost or time scale – and when a respected customer puts their trust in you to build them their dream bike, it makes you want to deliver your very best work.
“John wanted to ride this bike and not worry about getting it wet or dropping it, so that’s why we went to the trouble of dealing with some of the weaker points of vintage bikes. The wheels originally had taper roller bearings running on a hardened wheel spindle – a great system until it’s worn out, then impossible to find replacements and hugely expensive to replicate – so we made a new spindle and sleeve system and fitted modern easy-to-find sealed bearings.”
At this stage the bike was looking like a late 1150 Brough Superior replica. But while the bike was on the bench, with the tank off having a bespoke wiring loom designed and built by William, Jake was working on a mid-’20s Norton Model 18. “I removed the lovely, original-paint Norton petrol tank and, with nowhere safe to put it, I placed it on John’s bike. It looked amazing, like it had always been there.”
With the tank in place above the big V-twin motor, Jake took a picture and sent it to John with the tonguein-cheek caption: ‘The V-twin Norton should have built.’
John was in total agreement and Jake immediately started searching for a Model 18 saddle tank but could only find a recently restored one from a dealer. “We enlisted the help of Matt Brown from Alchemy Paints, who used to paint bikes and cars for the glitterati in California,” says Jake. “I gave him the original tank and very worn Model 18 tank, along with the newly restored one and asked him to distress-paint it, along with some of the other new parts we’d fitted and made, including mudguard stays and a new oil tank. Matt knocked it
‘With the tank in place above the big V-twin motor, Jake took a picture and sent it to John with caption: ‘The V-twin Norton should have built’’
out of the park with the paint, the lines and transfers – then knocked it all back to give the depth and impression of over 80 years of use.”
The Norton theme was continued on the alternator belt cover and Jake’s workshop neighbours Ben Parish Cnc-engraved a logo to fit over the Brough badge.
John was then called in for a fitting. He has restricted movement in one arm, so Jake made a bespoke set of handlebars to create the best riding position to suit him. Jake fabricated a set of stainless steel two-into-one downpipes and mounted a cast aluminium silencer to keep things civilised. Build finished! But then came running and testing, which wasn’t exactly simple... “We first had to consult JAP guru Ewan Cameron of Cameron Motorsport in Malvern for information about timing, carburettors, oil feeds, etc – and only then were we ready to start this giant that has been at rest for over 50 years,” explains Jake. “It was apparent from looking inside the timing chest that the engine had done very few hours, so I thought it should be straightforward. But I could hardly kick it over – I guessed it was down to its sheer volume and size of the flywheels.”
He had to use a specially-built starter trolley and stick the bike in top gear with the valve lifter on full before the motor could be coaxed into life. Sort of...
“It ran well on the front pot, but wasn’t so happy on the back cylinder,” says Jake. “After hours of adjusting, and some more help from Ewan and a local friend John Smith who happens to rebuild Rolls-royce Merlin engines for a living, we discovered there was a timing issue – not only in the rear cylinder valve timing, but also in the timed crankcase breather, causing it to throw oil into the misfiring rear cylinder and smoke out our workshop!”
With the timing chest off and adjustments made, the motor fired up on the kickstarter. “Initially it was a brute to start, but once we had it up and running and corrected the timing issues, it started very easily with the help of a longer valve-lifter lever. We got to know how the old twin likes to be started – a massive dose of tickle on the carb, lean the bike to the left so the fuel spills into the manifold, pull in the valve lifter, heave on the kickstart and then drop the lifter on firing!
“There was also an issue with it not returning its oil. It has a very odd, rotary plunger pump. One end of the pump supplies oil to the crank, the other scavenges oil from the sump and returns it to the tank. I finally traced the fault to a hairline crack in the pump body, so I Tigwelded it up and remachined the pump bosses.
The bike has run like clockwork since, allowing Jake to do a bit of road testing around his local back lanes and coastal roads. “I’ve ridden the Norton quite extensively and it’s a delight,” he smiles. “Taking the time to mount the engine low in the frame has paid off. It has a lovely, balanced feel with a very low centre of gravity; it’s easy to handle for such a weighty beast. We’ve extended the wheelbase from the original Norton 1930s 16H by around two inches, which makes U-turns interesting!
“With its super spread of power and torque, it’s a very easy and relaxed ride with excellent road manners in traffic. The clutch is very strong with great feel and control, which helps because the Norton gearbox is a little vague, although it is reliable.
“The Sunbeam front brake is very good and, used in conjunction with engine braking, has you feeling totally in control of the bike, which is very a different feeling from a lot of vintage bikes I’ve ridden.
“I’m very pleased and proud with how it’s turned out. I feel honoured to have been able to build this bike, to have had the help of my son, whose talent grows by the day, and to have been able to call on the skill of crafts people across the UK. And, of course, a big thank you to John the owner for trusting me with his bits!”
‘When a respected customer puts their trust in you to build them their dream bike, it makes you want to deliver your very best work’