Identifying this Norton Bitser? Need help please.

@L.A.B. yeah I'm not sure what he means by " plate " either. I'm asking him to take photos.

Thanks for the info, appreciated.

Any salvageable parts from the donor bikes laying around that need a good home?

stompbox said:

Finally got some numbers for the bike. These are what the gent who has it has found in his worlds.

"030026 on frame....

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I don't know whether it has been mentioned already but you should tell "the gent" to look at the LH swinging arm gusset. Featherbed frames have the number there and usually it will be a model code plus the serial number or VIN or whatever you'd like to call this. The model code is horizontal and above the VIN and for a slimline should either be 122 (model 88), 14 (model 99), 18 (650 versions) or 20 (Atlas) or if the frame is from a single it might be 13 (model 50) or a simple 4 (ES2). The serial number is vertical and should rather be a five digit number in the 9xxxx region or a six digit number in the 1xxxxx region as the slimline was produced from 1960 to 1970 and that is very roughly the number range for this decade.


Tim

Ok, i have a frame number is 1713037 he said there may be a 0 after it as well.
Engine number 140705 20M3 may be an S as well

On VMCC I think the frame no is pointing towards 1970/1971 Fastback but the shocks are more upright on this beast??

Waiting for photos of numbers.

Cheers to all.

stompbox said:

On VMCC I think the frame no is pointing towards 1970/1971 Fastback but the shocks are more upright on this beast??

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It is a "Featherbed" frame (this information was given on page 1 of this thread)-so the frame did not originally belong to a Fastback or any other model of Commando.

1713037 or 17130370 also doesn't seem to fit.

Is there a link to that VMCC information page?

@ L.A.B yeah thank you, just been waiting for numbers to verify. I can see it's a featherbed, still a bit confused though, many sites with numbers but can't find one that shows this frame number as a featherbed.

Appreciate the patience :roll:

Stompbox

stompbox said:

many sites with numbers but can't find one that shows this frame number as a featherbed.

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That is probably to be expected-as it doesn't appear to be a normal serial number.

Any update on that 030026 "frame" number yet?

@ L.A.B I think you nailed it previously with the bottom yoke.

Ir's quite frustrating, he's a great older guy and he's trying for me, he's not good with digi cameras/ sending files etc.

Again thanks for the patience while I try and get more info.

Stompbox

stompbox said:

Ok, i have a frame number is 1713037 he said there may be a 0 after it as well.

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A serial no. 130370 would indicate a 1969 manufacture - which would be okay if it started life as a Mercury, wouldn't it? However on the other hand the correct appearance would then be

18

1
3
0
3
7
0

There should be an 18 and no 17 at the start. A "17" would be correct for a Jubilee and thus not on a slimline featherbed.

I should add that on both my featherbed frames - 1964 slimline and 1956 wideline - the numbers can be guessed at best. I'd be tempted to say that it's hard NOT to distinguish between an "8" and a "7" but on the other hand but who knows how the actually look like. Taking pictures of the area will in the case of my frames show absolutely nothing useful so probably if you're interested in the bike you should have a look yourself.



Tim

Tintin said:

A serial no. 130370 would indicate a 1969 manufacture - which would be okay if it started life as a Mercury, wouldn't it?

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Only....Mercury production supposedly ended at 129896 (NOC) but I suggest that perhaps we all stop speculating and let's wait and see if the photos can put an end to the mystery.

TinTin I see what you mean. Below is Glenn's last msge, a little confusing.

Hi Dave still having problems sending files I got the numbers on rear of frame 1713037 there is a small 0 next to first 1 hope this helps .

Cryptic?

I think L.A.B. is right, for our own sanity we put it to bed until the photos arrive.

And I'd really love to see the thing but it's over 1200 km's away, I'll take a flight or do the drive if I have to.

Thanks for your advice and ideas......and now we wait.

Stompbox