I’m sometimes dumbfounded by the relatively inexpensive nature of some of the historic motorcycles that come up for auction, this bike is a 1944 Norton 490cc Model 16H Military and its estimated sale price is just $6,200 to $7,700 USD – which I think is pretty damn reasonable. It effectively puts a vintage motorcycle that saw action during WWII into the same price range as a secondhand Bonneville or Sportster, though I love both of those models I’d much rather be hammering around town on something like this army green Norton.
The Norton 16H had an extraordinarily long lifespan, they were originally introduced in 1911, then built through to 1954. The 16H was fitted with a 490cc side-valve engine and had a bore/stroke of 79/100mm, the “H” in the name simply means “Home”, the Nortons that were built for service overseas with the Australian, New Zealand, Indian and the Canadian Armies were denoted with a “C” for “colonies”.
Norton was the primary motorcycle supplier to the British Military during WWII, almost 100,000 of the humble Norton 16H Model were built for service. Due to the relatively high ground clearance and solid reliability the Norton was favoured for despatch work, it was also used for training, reconnaissance, convoy control and escort duties.
This particular 16H was bought from the Athens Hassani military airport after WWII, it was restored in 2007 with the assistance of Vassilios Papaioanou and is now presented in running order, it also benefits from a recent servicing and is described as in generally very good and rideable condition.
If you’d like to pick up a Norton 16H and add it to your collection you should pop along to the Staffordshire County Showground on the 28th of April 2013 for the Bonhams auction, make sure you take your helmet with you, so you can ride it home.
Visit Bonhams here.
Related Posts
A Brief History of the Harley-Davidson FL Panhead The Harley-Davidson FL series was introduced in 1941, originally fitted with the Knucklehead V-twin and leading-link front suspension, with a hard tail rear. The first major update was in 1948 when the improved Panhead V-twin made its first appearance in the FL, and a year later in 1949…
Read More
The Norton Atlas was introduced in 1962 as an upgraded version of the Dominator, primarily focussed on the American market. The Atlas brought together two iconic Norton elements to create a motorcycle that’s now much sought after by enthusiasts – a Featherbed frame and the parallel twin first used in 1949. The Norton Featherbed Frame…
Read More
The Triumph Scrambler was first released in 2006, it was based on the already popular Triumph Bonneville, but it added a series of modifications to give it some off-road ability. Not off-road ability on the level of an enduro or motocross racer of course, but enough dirt road capability to have adventures down fire roads and up the occasional forest trail.
Read More
TVR is a British low-volume car maker famous for two things – 1: It’s name is a contraction of “Trevor” because that’s the company founder’s name, and 2: Its cars are so raw and visceral they’re famous for showing up any shortcomings in a driver’s abilities. Often by flying sideways through a hedge.
Read More
The Rag and Bone Man is a small company run by friendly Londoners Paul and Lizzie. Traditional rag and bone men have plied the streets, junkyards, and workshops of England for centuries – collecting scrap and junk before repurposing it or recycling it. This conrod bottle opener is one of Paul and Lizzie’s more recent…
Read More
Brough Superior (pronounced “bruff superior”) was famously dubbed the “Rolls-Royce of Motorcycles” – a moniker that was unofficially endorsed by the British carmaker after a senior executive visited the factory and came away deeply impressed. The two major model iterations built by Brough Superior were the SS80 and the SS100, the “SS” standing for “Super Sport”…
Read More
