Frame Nr.: 48450 Engine Nr.: 2035
Year: 1932 cc: 350
extra: Dyno foot change 21" front wheels
from VMCC register: Dispacth Date 1932-05
Agent: Bateman Kidderminster date of purchase: 28.3.1934
runs well starts fisrt kick
The pre-war version of the Model 50 started production in 1932 and used a smaller version of the engine in the Model 18 and ES2. During the '30s, the open diamond frame and cycle parts were usually the same as on the Model 18 whereas the ES2 used the full cradle frame.
In 1934, it gained a second drive side main bearing and the timing gears were revised, reversing the direction of magneto rotation in the process. The Norton/Burman gearbox was used from 1936 and in 1938 there was a new cylinder head with through studs to retain the head and barrel. The original exposed hairpin valve springs were superseded that year by enclosed coils; a neater looking arrangement but the facility to change the springs without removing the head was lost.
The silencer fitted onto the 1938 OHV and SV machines was a truly hideous affair, a sort of rectangular box with two short outlet pipes that quickly got labelled the 'cow's udder'.