As I have contributed to Wiki I know it's often not accurate. I did think it may be a case of military preceding civilian, since it was the Military who wanted the changes; only to not make full use of them....
This adds weight to the 276 being developed with feedback from Norton re the "standard" 1065 needle jet [as does the numbering code].
To date my little black book, when did the RAF first order 16Hs?
The first contract that I can see was for 20 bikes delivered by June 1941. There was another contract for 531 solos, after which they mostly seem to have ordered combinations. Lots of M20 combinations were also ordered by the RAF. These military outfits were fitted with a Swallow model 8 sidecar. Ron
I haven't double-checked it recently, but I believe that the factory records show the RAF taking two WD16Hs in August 1938, presumably assessment models and then a first delivery of 275 in March 1939. These were finished in the pre-war RAF blue-grey.
This one is complete with pre-war Local authority registration and NI-Fe battery.
The two machines built in 1938 were built according the 1938 spec.
It appears they later went for the standard 1937 spec.
They had black painted rolling chassis and headlamp rim and RAF blue sheet metal parts.
It did not have speedo. Norton applied an RAF transfer.