- Joined
- Oct 8, 2018
- Messages
- 114
Took a Birmingham Norton Sport for a test ride today. Here are my thoughts on the bike and how it compares to my Donington Norton. Any differences I’ve noticed may not apply to earlier or later bikes.
The two bikes I’m comparing
Birmingham Norton 961 Sport 2023 with 210 miles
Donington Norton 961 SF MKII (Euro3) 2017 with 4500 miles. Open long pipes with decat pipe and recommended upgrades (Bosch coils, Bosch cam sensor, Bosch injectors, Honda relays, Magnecor HT leads, iridium plugs, Jumo head temp sensor) Also the lambda sensors have been removed.
First thing I notice when I start it up is there is less engine noise. I’m not saying it’s quiet, there is still plenty of mechanical noise from the engine, but it is a lot quieter than my SF. I do have difficulty seeing the idiot lights on the clocks, the neutral light is not as bright as mine or any of the other lights.
I also look down and see the tank is not centred around the oil filler cap. So that’s not changes, I spent ages trying to get my SF tank centralised.
Into gear and off we go. Pulls nicely, possible stronger than my SF, but only fractionally. It’s no smoother than my SF, in fact I’m getting more vibrations through to the handlebars than I do on mine. No difference with vibrations to the rest of the bike. Pegs and seat are time and even the bars are OK. I do notice that the gear change is not a smooth, you can feel the change and hear the gearchange.
It is a lovely to ride, brakes are great, good clutch action, engine pulls really well, excellent handling, but that’s the same as my SF. I’ve read they’ve changed the engine and/or riding position for better handling, but I couldn’t tell the difference. The fuelling seems really good, though I his get a couple of times when riding slowly and I rolled off the throttle it spluttered and felt like then engine as about to die, but just saved itself
I’d mentioned handling, but it felt really set up with standard settings. My SF needed plenty of adjustment to suit me, the SF had really hard suspension with standard settings. The forks and rear shocks are different to my SF
I pull over and take a walk around the bike to see what’s the same and what’s different.
Straight away I see the side stand lever has been moved so it’s easier to get to, but I found it harder to put it up. Something you’d get used to.
The key is still ugly, Birmingham Norton should have done something about that!
When you turn it off, it takes about 5 seconds for the clocks to go out. Confused me to start with as didn’t think I’d turn it off. (Video doesn't upload to this)
Lambda sensors have been removed or relocated. They definitely aren’t where they used to be.
Still got the catch bottle and also looks like there is some oil in it!
Still looks a mess behind the engine. Live to starter motor seems to have been rerouted and the primary breather is still old version that is know to leak oil.
So I finish my walk around and get back on to ride back to the shop. It really is a great bike. If you’re in the market for a new Norton Commando you wouldn’t be disappointed. People have mentioned the price. This bike with the deal the have at the moment would cost just over £16k, but only has the carbon mudguard. In 2017 my SF was just under £19k what the duel seat, open pipes and decat pipe were added so even at their full list price with extras it’s what we were paying for them from Donington Norton. Would I exchange my SF for one? No. Only differences I noticed was that the Birmingham Norton has less mechanical noise and it possibly pulls slightly stronger. Birmingham Norton say they have made hundreds of changes, but it is still a new bike and needs to prove it’s reliable and these changes have resolved the issues some owners have experienced.
And this brings me to my last point about the bike that isn’t a problem, but does confuse me. Birmingham Norton go to great lengths to distance their Norton Commando from the Donington Norton Commando. If you look at their website, they have even redesigned the Norton logo in 2020 to show this is the TVS era. So why is their bike covered in the Donington Norton logos? On the tank, on the clocks, on the handlebars, on the seat cover and the one on the engine casing is even earlier. I have to say this baffles me. I’d have expected the new TVS logo everywhere as they say the have redesigned so many new parts. It makes it look like they’ve raided the Donington Norton parts bin!
Is it just me that’s confused by this?
Anyway to finish on a more positive note as the bike deserves this, I really enjoyed riding the Birmingham Norton and I really didn’t want to take it back.
The two bikes I’m comparing
Birmingham Norton 961 Sport 2023 with 210 miles
Donington Norton 961 SF MKII (Euro3) 2017 with 4500 miles. Open long pipes with decat pipe and recommended upgrades (Bosch coils, Bosch cam sensor, Bosch injectors, Honda relays, Magnecor HT leads, iridium plugs, Jumo head temp sensor) Also the lambda sensors have been removed.
First thing I notice when I start it up is there is less engine noise. I’m not saying it’s quiet, there is still plenty of mechanical noise from the engine, but it is a lot quieter than my SF. I do have difficulty seeing the idiot lights on the clocks, the neutral light is not as bright as mine or any of the other lights.
I also look down and see the tank is not centred around the oil filler cap. So that’s not changes, I spent ages trying to get my SF tank centralised.
Into gear and off we go. Pulls nicely, possible stronger than my SF, but only fractionally. It’s no smoother than my SF, in fact I’m getting more vibrations through to the handlebars than I do on mine. No difference with vibrations to the rest of the bike. Pegs and seat are time and even the bars are OK. I do notice that the gear change is not a smooth, you can feel the change and hear the gearchange.
It is a lovely to ride, brakes are great, good clutch action, engine pulls really well, excellent handling, but that’s the same as my SF. I’ve read they’ve changed the engine and/or riding position for better handling, but I couldn’t tell the difference. The fuelling seems really good, though I his get a couple of times when riding slowly and I rolled off the throttle it spluttered and felt like then engine as about to die, but just saved itself
I’d mentioned handling, but it felt really set up with standard settings. My SF needed plenty of adjustment to suit me, the SF had really hard suspension with standard settings. The forks and rear shocks are different to my SF
I pull over and take a walk around the bike to see what’s the same and what’s different.
Straight away I see the side stand lever has been moved so it’s easier to get to, but I found it harder to put it up. Something you’d get used to.
The key is still ugly, Birmingham Norton should have done something about that!
When you turn it off, it takes about 5 seconds for the clocks to go out. Confused me to start with as didn’t think I’d turn it off. (Video doesn't upload to this)
Lambda sensors have been removed or relocated. They definitely aren’t where they used to be.
Still got the catch bottle and also looks like there is some oil in it!
Still looks a mess behind the engine. Live to starter motor seems to have been rerouted and the primary breather is still old version that is know to leak oil.
So I finish my walk around and get back on to ride back to the shop. It really is a great bike. If you’re in the market for a new Norton Commando you wouldn’t be disappointed. People have mentioned the price. This bike with the deal the have at the moment would cost just over £16k, but only has the carbon mudguard. In 2017 my SF was just under £19k what the duel seat, open pipes and decat pipe were added so even at their full list price with extras it’s what we were paying for them from Donington Norton. Would I exchange my SF for one? No. Only differences I noticed was that the Birmingham Norton has less mechanical noise and it possibly pulls slightly stronger. Birmingham Norton say they have made hundreds of changes, but it is still a new bike and needs to prove it’s reliable and these changes have resolved the issues some owners have experienced.
And this brings me to my last point about the bike that isn’t a problem, but does confuse me. Birmingham Norton go to great lengths to distance their Norton Commando from the Donington Norton Commando. If you look at their website, they have even redesigned the Norton logo in 2020 to show this is the TVS era. So why is their bike covered in the Donington Norton logos? On the tank, on the clocks, on the handlebars, on the seat cover and the one on the engine casing is even earlier. I have to say this baffles me. I’d have expected the new TVS logo everywhere as they say the have redesigned so many new parts. It makes it look like they’ve raided the Donington Norton parts bin!
Is it just me that’s confused by this?
Anyway to finish on a more positive note as the bike deserves this, I really enjoyed riding the Birmingham Norton and I really didn’t want to take it back.
). And just to say that with the deal Norton have on at the moment, the paintwork stripes, black engine, polished cases and fancy seat are all included in the price... saving a fair bit of money if you prefer that stuff.
