AJS & Matchless Owners Club

Please.... I am stumped. I have a bike that says Norton on the gas tank. The VIN is 116041. From my initial and admittedly novice research, it seems to have been made around the time Norton was making hybrid scramblers from Norton & Matchless bikes.

My question is.... All of the bike pics I see from this year have pipes down both sides. This bike has what looks to be stock pipes with severe curves, that both run down the left side of the bike. Also there is the cross brace on the handle bars.

The rear wheel is not original. No seat. Tank looks like a Ranger. I would have assumed an Atlas, but this is a pure scrambler.

The are pics in an album on my FB page. Notice the severe curves and lack of heat protection. https://m.facebook.com/rtfrench?_rdr

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

No one can see photo unless they are member of Facebook. Can you put photo online for all to see

It is a Norton N15CS.

I have tried to upload or attach photos, but they are more than 2mb and the page refuses them..

Thanks John, is there a way to confirm this.... Are there pictures of an N15CS with the high pipes down one side somewhere.?

Rtfrench wrote:I have tried to upload or attach photos, but they are more than 2mb and the page refuses them..

Use something like pixresizer (free) to make them smaller.

The Norton N15CS, and the Matchless G15CS all had down pipes with and with out silencers. The earlier ones had a straight through exhaust pipes with out silencers, up to about 1966. The later models used a low exhaust pipe, and Atlas silencers. No production N15CS or G15CS used high exhaust pipes; but a prototype that AMC took to America in 1963 to show to its dealers and the press had two one piece exhaust pipes similar to the later P11 single seat, type exhaust pipes. For a complete date for your N15CS, contact the clubs dating officer Roy Bellett.
Your N15CS would have had left and right hand Monoblocs and an air cleaner, with an expander cap in the petrol tank. The colour would be Candy Apple Red, and it would have also had all the later oiling modification, a different type of dual seat, and relocated oil tank, and battery box.The mudguards would be chromed, and the wheels would have been Dunlop WM2 19 front and WM3 18 rear. The tyres would have been made by Avon, and they would be knobbly scrambler type.The wheel spokes would have also been stiffer than the butted production Dominator ones. It would have used a Lucas K2F magneto for the ignition, and the later reinforced head steady stay. Coil ignition was introducted from engine and frame number 121007, or March 1967.

John, Thanks so much for the description. I may have stumbled upon a prototype here. I'll have to examine the bike more thoroughly. I'm not a gear head nor do I ever work on my own bikes so I will have to take some time and research these things. Thank you so much. I'll try to post pictures.

That N15CS is not a prototype, but a standard production N15CS, as our dating officer will confirm, if and when you contact him. The exhaust pipes look like an American accessory that would or could have been sold at the time the bikes were being sold in America, or made by a very skilled owner. The first Atlas Scrambler that was shown to American dealers and the press, back in 1963, had the high pipes either side, and were fitted with out silencers, and were similar in configuration to the later P11 single seat high pipe models. This would have predated the original P11 prototye exhaust pipes that were fabricated at ZDS Motors in Gelndale, California, by three years. I bought two set of high pipes from Baxter Cycle back in the 1980's that also routed around the left hand side of the bike. There were two types that i bought back then, one for the straight port cylinder heads, i.e Nomads,99,and 88 Dominators from the 1950's, and the later cylinder heads with the exhaust ports at an angle or about 45 degrees.These exhaust pipes are of a one piece design, and the owners would add mutes to the ends so as not to attract the attention of 50.

John, you are an encyclopedia! I think I'm in over my head. I am not the person to restore this bike. It's there a person or garage that specializes in these projects?