Norton motor cycles

[Rob van Meel]

Hi all,

I am wondering if anyone out there has any information on 18" (yes 18 inch) wheels that were originally fitted to Norton WD-16H's delivered to probably contract C 6653 (motorcycles frame numbers: W18.001-21.000).
I have a pair of wheels which I swopped some 10 years back for normal 16H 19" ones. The motorcycle from which these 18" wheels came did not have any toolboxbrackets on the frame, but featured the two top toolboxes on the rear carrier.
In those days we assumed that the wheels somehow came of a big four Norton with the original Goodyear 4.00 x 18" tyres, but a few years back we compared my wheels to Rob Miller's big four outfit and found them not matching.
I have Norton WD-16H spares lists for the contracts C5612, C7353, C9062, C11082, C12426 and C14498, but miss the one which may prove about the 18" wheels.
Can anyone help?

On the repro Welbikes: several people have accomplished this allready, probably due to the stupid prices that a real one fetches. (it is probably one of those hard to get Jeep accesoiries
to show to others, like the BSA folding bicycles featuring on many US marked Jeeps here in the Netherlands).
In Australia peple are making a batch of some 12 repro Welbikes and here in the Netherlands we are making another 20 in one batch. On ours there will be one or two differences when compared to the original folding motorcycles, so they can not immediately be passed on as real!

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

HI Rob..
The 4.00" x 18" tire/tyre was standard on the Canadian built Harley Davidson WLC model//
The 3.25" x 26" was standard on the 41G.3.L 350CC Matchless..
front and back...

Somewhere along the line maybe someone threw a pair of Harley wheels on the Norton...

[Rob van Meel]

Hi Alex,

I did not mean that this set of Norton WD-16H wheels with 4.00 x 18" Goodyear tyres are a one-off field modification, but that the 4000 Norton delivered to contract C6653 all may originally have been fitted with this size wheel and tyre. Possibly because some (all?) of these motorcycles were for Canadian units serving in the UK the powers that be, tried out the Canadian configuration for tyre size. On steering wider tyres usually mean more force needed to steer, but with a wider road contactsurface of the tyre, the bike is bound to have been more stable when going straight on a good surfaced road.
So the answer lays in the spares lisyt for that contract: anyone out there must have a copy?

It is now time for my Sunday Trappist. On a nice sunny day I enjoy these more than any lager can. Trappist is both short for the beer making monastry chain of Trappist Monks (Berkel-Enschot, Chimay, Westmalle etc.) and the product of their barley fermentation. There is one monastry just up the road from where I live!

[Richard Farrant]

Originally posted by Alex Blair
The 3.25" x 26" was standard on the 41G.3.L 350CC Matchless..
front and back...

Alex,
The Matchless tyres are actually 3.25x19. The manual is misleading stating the rims to be 19" with the tyres at 26", you would have a job to hold them on the rims

Richard

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Thanks Richard
The manuals is as you steted ,that size...It seemed rather large ...I had an old Matclesss back in the late '50's but don't remember mutch about it ...