1956 Norton 19S Pictures
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Many thanks to Gordon Ferguson of Spikkestad, Norway for this. It is a picture of his 1956 Norton 19S with running board, which he picked up for 7 pounds 10 shillings in 1969 and sold it in 1971 for 22 pounds. The quality of the picture isn’t too good, the original is a slide which he’s taken a digital picture of.
He recalls that the machine was great to ride, getting 80 mph out of 2nd gear. A real thumper of a machine.
Another visitor to the site has owned this bike too…! Jerry Cox says “I live and work as a marine mechanic in Bermuda. I was trying to show my wife what I did in a former life and said that it would be fun to look up Norton 19s on the web.
Little did I expect to find an identical model but much to my total surprise my old bike… SGW 928.. was on screen!!!!
I bought the bike around 1980..81 as a basket case from a Mr Paul Lowe of Norwich for 130 quid – for me a vast sum. After a very simple rebuild adding a Big four piston and cams, rebushing the gearbox.. I found myself in possession of a very fast 600 that handled as well as it went!!….sounded like a Dornier bomber!!!!..I drove it all over the place for a few years. It was my only and favorite transport. I sold it to a mate and after a year had to buy it back….It was just the perfect bike. The frame wasnt too straight so I added a sidecar with a body made of an old church pew!!!!…. Followed by a trade box which I used to carry my tree surgeons gear all over Norfolk. I enjoyed 12 years of ownership.. the bike carried everything one could imagine…
It was very fast, reliable..great fun..I went all over the UK never broke down…apart from a snow .. magneto disagreement!!… It even had an autopilot… Ok so i was a bit over the limit sometimes!!!!…A whole bunch of us in Norwich had old combo’s…the race home from Whites pub was quite often nothing short of spectacular…!!!!!
I have loads of photos of those days…I would dearly love to find the bike or even have the old girl back….
If only those young guys with playstations knew what they were missing!!”
