c1946 Norton Manx 350cc Motorcycle

Description

The Manx Norton is without doubt the most successful production racing motorcycle, with the first examples powered by a single overhead camshaft, long-stroke engine designed by Arthur Carroll in 1930. Extensively reworking Walter Moore's original OHC unit but retaining the same bore and stroke, this legendary engine powered both the touring CS1 and CJ bikes in addition to the factory racers during the 1930s, with a production variant of the latter - the International - sold to the public from 1932. There were two versions of the International sold, the Model 30 with the 500cc engine and the smaller 350cc Model 40 and many were stripped of their lighting equipment and silencers for track use before the war. Demand for a production racer culminated in the Manx Grand Prix of the late 1930s that was essentially a works replica apart in all respects other than the short-stroke engine and twin camshafts. Post-war, Norton sold Manx versions of both (catalogued as the Models 30M and 40M) from 1946, in deference to the success enjoyed on the Isle of Man before the war. The all-alloy engine featured a single overhead camshaft driven by a vertical shaft and bevel gears, 'Road holder' telescopic front fork, plunger rear suspension and the signature megaphone exhaust. This frame, pre-dating the 'Featherbed', has come to be known as the 'Garden Gate' and suffered a little in terms of reliability due to stress fractures but these early Manx Nortons were nonetheless very rapid and competent machines. Norton began campaigning their bikes in America, with local riders competing in the Daytona 200 in 1948 and success continued into 1949, with Geoff Duke victorious the Senior Manx Grand Prix that year.