a friend of mine is looking to enter the Military motorcycle world and is hoping for some reason to by a ....norton 16h... ( strange chap...)

is anyone in the west country looking to part with one ?

and what is the going rate for a runner ???

pm me privately if you'd rather !

email (option): chris.astinbarker at btinternet.com

You may struggle Chris.........with a Norton you pay more for the name, not necessarily the mechanical excellence........

Additionally, certain parts (eg - the gearbox) command a premium nowadays and parts thereof.............less Norton's come up for sale compared with M20's despite the volume manufactured........

I would say you are looking at a grand more than an M20 for a 16H runner, maybe more.....

No decent complete WD bike today in the UK sells for below 5K..........

Good luck tho !

M20s are common with BSA making around 35,000 more than the next largest manufacturer...(Norton)

I think a lot of Nortons production numbers were lost in the early part of the war as well and these losses were not made up later...

Also, the WD Norton was a prime candidate as a donor of parts for other, more desirable, pre war models..

The M20 on the other hand had no real use other than as cheap transport so many survived relatively intact...

Plus the M20 remained in service until the last ones were sold off around 1970 so many were preserved through the 50s and 60s by the government......

Considering the specification differences and varying levels of rarity between the WD models I have always found it surprising how little difference there actually is in the prices of the different machines...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

I think, however, that any up and running WD machine today, regardless of heritage, with all the right bits and in good restored condition is not going to be less than 5K.............sure they vary between makes, but not by too much...........

If you can get one cheaper, fair play, but mechanical condition apart, if missing things like toolboxes, carrier, switches, etc, the cost soon increases...........and then you need to look at the mechanical side...........and that can cost a premium.........

It's a balancing act today...........

I used to think nothing of building up a WD bike from parts............nowadays, that isn't an option anymore given the increasing rarity and price of new and 2nd-hand spares..................

['I used to think nothing of building up a WD bike from parts............nowadays, that isn't an option anymore given the increasing rarity and price of new and 2nd-hand spares.....']

I must admit I entirely agree with that comment....

Personally, I think if you are patient and buying on the private market it is still possible to buy a good machine for under £5000...In the £4250 to £4750 range...

The real problem is finding one and sorting out the 'wheat from the chaff'.....

Many machines aren't rebuilt to a particularly good standard or specification in my experience, you only have to peruse much of what's on offer to confirm that. Yet the same price is asked for those as it is for correctly prepared examples... ...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

I Know were theres one lots of spares but not sure if its a runner !
and its in the west country Gary

email (option): garypitt@talktalk.net

Hi Chris,

This one isn't too bad....

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C557091

Regards,
Sven

email (option): snvosselman@gmail.com

This is one of the reasons that WD Nortons are so scarce...they are 'in denial' and pretending to be civvy.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/norton-1934-500cc-/331396803668?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=tpyDTZ3Sh6bufmZiQiP9qd1narM%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc




Clearly not a 1934 engine and the frame has all the appearance of a WD version..presumably a previous owner 'neglected' to mention the 'W' number prefixes and the VMCC, as was their practice, authenticated without photographs.

What this doesn't tell us is whether the price of a dismantled WD16H project is £3200 or whether the buyer really thinks that he's got a post-vintage civilian 16H.

['or whether the buyer really thinks that he's got a post-vintage civilian 16H.']

Or part of one.. ...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com