2015 Norton Commando 961SE

Kid Thunder

Kid Thunder

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Sep 30, 2018
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Back in October of 2018 I was up at National Powersports in NH USA.
My buddy was picking up his new Triumph Street Triple 675.
Big dealer. Triumph Flagship dealer & a huge used bike dealer. 400 used bikes on the floor! 250 Late model HDs.
In the front lobby alone was my SE. Black with gold stripes. Beautiful! 550 miles!
After going home to think I called & we talked a deal. $12,300! Then I mentioned a trade-in. 2017 Victory Octane which I bought for $7500 new!! Retail was $11,000. Victory was shutting down.
Well after about 1/2 hour they called me back & said they would take it & give me $6000 for it! So I got the Norton for $6300!!! Amazing!
Problem was they had it since May of that year & couldn't sell it!!
I found out that 3 peoples bank loans fell through! Why?
It seems that because of it"s rarity they couldn't get full coverage ins on it which was necessary!!
I paid cash because i could cover the smaller amount.
Found out later that if they had gone to a specialty ins company they could have gotten ins but at an elevated price.
Seems to be why not many are bought around here in the USA.
 
Kid Thunder said:
Back in October of 2018 I was up at National Powersports in NH USA.
My buddy was picking up his new Triumph Street Triple 675.
Big dealer. Triumph Flagship dealer & a huge used bike dealer. 400 used bikes on the floor! 250 Late model HDs.
In the front lobby alone was my SE. Black with gold stripes. Beautiful! 550 miles!
After going home to think I called & we talked a deal. $12,300! Then I mentioned a trade-in. 2017 Victory Octane which I bought for $7500 new!! Retail was $11,000. Victory was shutting down.
Well after about 1/2 hour they called me back & said they would take it & give me $6000 for it! So I got the Norton for $6300!!! Amazing!
Problem was they had it since May of that year & couldn't sell it!!
I found out that 3 peoples bank loans fell through! Why?
It seems that because of it"s rarity they couldn't get full coverage ins on it which was necessary!!
I paid cash because i could cover the smaller amount.
Found out later that if they had gone to a specialty ins company they could have gotten ins but at an elevated price.
Seems to be why not many are bought around here in the USA.
Click to expand...

I have a 2016 commando SF and a 2016 dominator naked. When I purchased both of my bikes I had similar issues trying to get insurance coverage on both bikes. I also had problems at the DMV here in Michigan and also got into a heated conversation with the woman at the DMV because she refused to plate either of my bikes because Norton didn’t show up in her data base as 2016. I ended up going to another DMV and was trouble free. Total joke. Not funny.
 
I don't think you can make a bike like the 961 in England , in the numbers they are being made for a lot less money . But if you are patient and do what Kid Thunder did you can get a used one for a good deal. I just hope that the guys buying one will give it the understanding that this bike needs . Otherwise they will be unhappy in the end.
 
Some who buy the 961 have already studied the bike on this and other forums, and they know about the possible issues that they could encounter.
Those folks are the most likely to endure the experience, because they have a good idea what they're getting into.
But someone who just falls in love with the bike's appearance and sound with an aftermarket exhaust, will wilt when they experience problems.
Especially, considering the cost of a brand new bike, and the reliability of other modern brands.

Buying a used 961 at vastly reduced price eases the impact when issues arise.
Owning more than one bike helps greatly, so you can keep riding while the 961 is in the barn waiting for its fix.:p
 
I had a quick look and did not see any Norton 961"s for sale at Indian Of Orange County . Or AF1 either .
 
Kid Thunder said:
Back in October of 2018 I was up at National Powersports in NH USA.
My buddy was picking up his new Triumph Street Triple 675.
Big dealer. Triumph Flagship dealer & a huge used bike dealer. 400 used bikes on the floor! 250 Late model HDs.
In the front lobby alone was my SE. Black with gold stripes. Beautiful! 550 miles!
After going home to think I called & we talked a deal. $12,300! Then I mentioned a trade-in. 2017 Victory Octane which I bought for $7500 new!! Retail was $11,000. Victory was shutting down.
Well after about 1/2 hour they called me back & said they would take it & give me $6000 for it! So I got the Norton for $6300!!! Amazing!
Problem was they had it since May of that year & couldn't sell it!!
I found out that 3 peoples bank loans fell through! Why?
It seems that because of it"s rarity they couldn't get full coverage ins on it which was necessary!!
I paid cash because i could cover the smaller amount.
Found out later that if they had gone to a specialty ins company they could have gotten ins but at an elevated price.
Seems to be why not many are bought around here in the USA.
Click to expand...
Hey kid thunder ,what is the number of your SE, in case we’ve seen it B4;I saw this one near yo at “ Moto Fantasy “ bike rental firm in Oregon 3 years ago, not numbered though ?
Rental was $250 a day,real mix of bikes there & u stay there to in a lodge type cabin
2015 Norton Commando 961SE
 
If you mean the 1 of 50# it just says 1 of 50 in the USA. From what I understand is that Norton rushed the SE bikes over to the USA be sold & sent the plates after. So none of the USA bikes have a particular #. Just one of 50 for South Bay Norton to install which is no more involved. The only problem I've had with the bike is the flasher failure & leak on the primary which disappeared after I vented the transmission.
 
TonyA said:
I had a quick look and did not see any Norton 961"s for sale at Indian Of Orange County . Or AF1 either .
Click to expand...
There is no US distributor for Norton at this time. I know at least one organization has approached Norton about becoming the US distributor but Norton wanted an 'opening order' of way too many bikes. Not sure what the future holds, but it's my understanding that two of the four US dealers listed on the Norton website are no longer dealers. Until a US distributor is named, we should not expect any more bikes.
 
Kid Thunder said:
If you mean the 1 of 50# it just says 1 of 50 in the USA. From what I understand is that Norton rushed the SE bikes over to the USA be sold & sent the plates after. So none of the USA bikes have a particular #. Just one of 50 for South Bay Norton to install which is no more involved. The only problem I've had with the bike is the flasher failure & leak on the primary which disappeared after I vented the transmission.
Click to expand...
Maybe for some but not for my May 2014 build.
2015 Norton Commando 961SE
 
Kid Thunder said:
Well mine says Commando 961SE. 1 of 50 USA Maybe mine IS # 1 of 50. Hard to get straight answers from Norton!!
Click to expand...
There was an SE in Laguna Hills, CA about a year or so ago for sale that also had a plate 1 of 50. The story I heard was that Norton ran out of numbered plates later on in the run of SE's for the US and that a bunch of the 1 of 50 plates were either sent to Matt Capri ( the importer) or to the owners themselves to affix to their bikes.
 
Last edited:
SgtUSAF80 said:
There was an SE in Laguna Hills, CA about a year or so ago for sale that also had a plate 1 of 50. The story I heard was that Norton ran out of numbered plates later on in the run of SE's for the US and that a bunch of the 1 of 50 plates were either sent to Matt Capri ( the importer) or to the owners themselves to affix to their bikes.
Click to expand...
Yeah. That's sounds about right. So I really don't know which number mine is. The bike had a Maine title.
 
I will probably never sell this bike! I have 2 other bikes(03 Aprilia Tuono & 15 EBR1190SX)to ride also. I will admit that the Norton is the most uncomfortable of the 3. Pegs are to high & with the long tank, it's a long reach for this 71 year old body & knees! I have moved the bars back a little more than an inch which also lifted them 7/8". The height wasn't the problem. I'd like to move back more but wiring problems will appear. Hoses can be made. I imagine the new America could help with the hoses & cables. I really don't like the look of the mini apes on a Norton though!
So the Norton will get ridden more for bikes nights of Brit bike rallies. Took it to my local bike museum(CT)& it was a hit.
More people checking it out than inside the museum!
Put a couple thousand miles on it this year though!
 

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