I have 2 Norton timing covers with a different script where it says "Norton" but which is right for a 1941 WD big4? One does match the tapet cover????
email (option): robmiller11@yahoo.co.uk
Probably only Lex has sufficient high res images to confirm for sure.
Nortons seem to have tidied up their casting patterns at some point during the late 1930s and I'd suspect that the cover with the crudest script comes from a 1938 (maybe late '37 production) civilian machine (sv or ohv). The cover looks to have been polished which supports this theory.
I have a number of 'Doll's Head' outer covers which seem to show a similar progression.
This is an early cover- no patent applied for or patent number, crude script and a polished finish rather than 'as cast' suggesting civilian origins. It came from a 1936 box that I believe was from an ES2
This is the cover that was in use by late 1939. The script is similar to your covers.
email (option): 79x100@gmail.com
Here's yet another Big 4 mag chain cover.
email (option): 79x100@gmail.com
The mark around the logo in the last two pictures is where an additional piece has been 'let in' to the pattern to alter the script. Rough old job...they wouldn't have got away with that at BSA...
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You need to know if the tappet cover is the correct one as well..
....Ian
email (option): julie@wright52.plus.com
I thought these marks around the logo's were very military, almost like the factories didn't bother with any of the peacetime finishing, a bit like having "War Finish" stamped on tools.
email (option): robmiller11@yahoo.co.uk
I know...I know..Can't I be left to wind Rik up in peace? ... ....Ian
email (option): julie@wright52.plus.com
I don't know, I come on here trying to be helpful and all I get is abuse !.
I think that you may well be right about the wartime aspect Rob. The covers with the visible join in the patterns are invariably unpolished.
I wonder if it arose because they weren't so concerned about finish or was it simply that the huge increase in production rates meant that they were changing patterns far more regularly and it was more economic to have the logos made separately than to individually chase each form.
I have a number of 16H alloy valve covers (the pre-'38 pattern engine) and they all show the inserted logo. Is this because they were all wartime production ? More research needed.
This is a not very good image of the mag drive cover on a late 1938 Model 19. It looks like the 'later' of your two.
email (option): 79x100@gmail.com
Apart from production pressures any sort of finishing of the castings would have produced a brighter and more reflective finish, which presumably was not wanted.
However, I should think it was probably just a case of function and reduced effort over appearance...Ian
email (option): julie@wright52.plus.com
It's a wonder really that they carried on casting pre-war civvy style logos on the covers anyway, let alone transfers.
Norton WD engine covers are described in the pre-war factory records as 'bead blast finish' - I only found that out after laboriously hand cleaning mine to avoid them looking like a bead blasted restoration job !
email (option): 79x100@gmail.com
Here are my Big4 covers, 1942 production. Of course I have no way of knowing if they are the originals? They are not the inserted logo type though. Ron
email (option): ronpier@talk21.com
I think all the manufacturers had an eye on the commercial benefits of being one of the firms that contributed to the war effort and fastidiously applied their makers marks.
Early post war advertising from many makers leaned heavily on the durability and reliability that had allowed their product to survive the rigours of active service. BSA wasted no time in telling potential customers that THEY supplied the majority of machines with all that implied.
A look at WW1 motorcycle literature reveals numerous recommendations from enthusiastic servicemen regarding how good their BSA machines were,and I believe the 'Trusty Triumph' slogan came from that era as well....there may have been a war on but business is business!!
...Ian
email (option): julie@wright52.plus.com