961 Weight Update

Back in 2019 I measured the weight of my 2014 Sport at 507 lbs. full wet, stock except for decats, Shorai battery, SBN exhausts, and a few titanium fasteners.


I later swapped to carbon fiber wheels and replaced some more fasteners with Ti bits. I finally got around to weighing it again, full wet, with the tank filled to overflow, and the current weight is 491.5 lbs. I'd like to drop some more weight, but I think I've already done most of the easy stuff. Now it would be a matter of fabricating some carbon fiber body work, titanium chassis parts, and machining some of the excess weight off the engine castings. Not sure I'll ever get to most of that, but you never know.

Ken

What's the driving rationale behind you wanting to lose more weight.
I think sprung weight can be your friend on the road.
Cheers

Ken,

Don't forget Ollie's aluminum swingarm.

robs ss said:

What's the driving rationale behind you wanting to lose more weight.
I think sprung weight can be your friend on the road.
Cheers

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A couple of decades ago I might not have worried about overall weight as much. I've owned some pretty heavy rides in the past, and enjoyed them. And I still have no real issues with heavier bikes when they are at speed. But as I get older I'm finding it more difficult to push around a 500 lb. bike in tight spaces and unlevel dirt and gravel roadside parking areas. It's not impossible, but not much fun either. I've also been spoiled by my Triumph Street Triple. As much as I love my Nortons, the 961 feels a bit slow and piggish after a ride on the Triumph. More sprung weight is nice on a windy day, but other than that, it just reduces acceleration and makes it slower (and more work) on really tight, twisty roads. Coming from a racing background, I see any reductions in weight, both sprung and unsprung, as a performance plus. I also have to admit that by nature I don't seem to be able to resist "improving" any bike I own. I get almost as much pleasure out of modifying my bikes to suit me as I do from riding them.

Ken

lcrken said:

A couple of decades ago I might not have worried about overall weight as much. I've owned some pretty heavy rides in the past, and enjoyed them. And I still have no real issues with heavier bikes when they are at speed. But as I get older I'm finding it more difficult to push around a 500 lb. bike in tight spaces and unlevel dirt and gravel roadside parking areas. It's not impossible, but not much fun either. I've also been spoiled by my Triumph Street Triple. As much as I love my Nortons, the 961 feels a bit slow and piggish after a ride on the Triumph. More sprung weight is nice on a windy day, but other than that, it just reduces acceleration and makes it slower (and more work) on really tight, twisty roads. Coming from a racing background, I see any reductions in weight, both sprung and unsprung, as a performance plus. I also have to admit that by nature I don't seem to be able to resist "improving" any bike I own. I get almost as much pleasure out of modifying my bikes to suit me as I do from riding them.

Ken

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Oh - thanks Ken - I understand now.

BTW it's not possible that you have the overly restrictive steering stops that someone else with a 961 was mentioning somewhere here a week or so ago? That would make slow speed stuff a real pain.
Cheers

robs ss said:

Oh - thanks Ken - I understand now.

BTW it's not possible that you have the overly restrictive steering stops that someone else with a 961 was mentioning somewhere here a week or so ago? That would make slow speed stuff a real pain.
Cheers

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It does have that problem. Compared to most street bikes I've owned, it has a very limited steering travel. But I haven't noticed that having any effect on the handling in tight turns, just making it more clumsy to push around in parking areas. Even in the tightest road turns, I'm not hitting the steering stops. I think the difference between it and something like the Street Triple is more related to a longer wheelbase, heavier weight, more trail, and a bit more tail heavy weight distribution. Doesn't mean I don't still enjoy riding the 961 through the twisty stuff, just that the Triumph is better at it. Still, I do plan to eventually see how much more steering lock I can get by modifying the stops.

Ken

Trade it in on a F1 & plasma spray the side plates ! ?



Wouldnt take a lot of mucking about for a bit of get up and go . A Notable Omission in the Norton Forum !

Funny you should mention that. Back in 2009 my friend and I were running our Norton powered streamliner at Bonneville, and had some good discussions with Stu Garner, who was there riding the factory rotary bike. His pit was just across the road from ours. We talked about his plans for racing, and he mentioned that they had looked at running the rotary bike in AMA races, but decided not to. I tried to convince him to sell one to me to campaign in the US, and maybe offer some parts support. But he said they were not planning to get the bike approved for use in the US, so wouldn't be selling them here. In fact, they didn't end up selling them anywhere. I suspect there was no way they could pass either the US or Euro emissions, safety, etc. requirements.

This is Stu on the bike, ready to run down the salt at 170+ mph.



Ken

Ken

lcrken said:

Funny you should mention that. Back in 2009 my friend and I were running our Norton powered streamliner at Bonneville, and had some good discussions with Stu Garner, who was there riding the factory rotary bike. His pit was just across the road from ours. We talked about his plans for racing, and he mentioned that they had looked at running the rotary bike in AMA races, but decided not to. I tried to convince him to sell one to me to campaign in the US, and maybe offer some parts support. But he said they were not planning to get the bike approved for use in the US, so wouldn't be selling them here. In fact, they didn't end up selling them anywhere. I suspect there was no way they could pass either the US or Euro emissions, safety, etc. requirements.

This is Stu on the bike, ready to run down the salt at 170+ mph.



Ken

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Nice story Ken - despite him proving to be a shit-head.
Cheers
Rob

robs ss said:

Nice story Ken - despite him proving to be a shit-head.
Cheers
Rob

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Yes, that does seem to be the common opinion. But quite charming in person, and he did seem genuinely enthusiastic about bringing the Norton marque back.

Ken

lcrken said:

Yes, that does seem to be the common opinion. But quite charming in person, and he did seem genuinely enthusiastic about bringing the Norton marque back.

Ken

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He probably is a nice guy and I’m sure his original plan was to restore Norton and make it a profitable brand again.
I mean he did bring the commando and dominator back and was in the works to bringing the superlite and V4 R and the Atlas bikes to market.

Honestly without him I know I wouldn’t be on this forum, not because I don’t like classic Nortons ( because I do) but because without Garner I wouldn’t own the 961 models, and nor would anyone else. They may have their issues and quirks, but so does everything else.

It’s just a shame that he swindled all those people out of their money that they won’t get back.

Another sad thing is, TVS really don’t care one bit about the 961 owners.
Want proof?
They could have by now been selling current owners spare parts or helping us with the parts suppliers. They surely know who the supply chain were.
Instead myself like many others on here, been calling and emailing them for many months only to be asked either for the part numbers or that they are still trying to figure it all out. I think it’s BS myself.

I’ll bet they won’t have a bike available to the market to purchase in the next 2-4 years minimum.

Voodooo said:

He probably is a nice guy and I’m sure his original plan was to restore Norton and make it a profitable brand again.
I mean he did bring the commando and dominator back and was in the works to bringing the superlite and V4 R and the Atlas bikes to market.

Honestly without him I know I wouldn’t be on this forum, not because I don’t like classic Nortons ( because I do) but because without Garner I wouldn’t own the 961 models, and nor would anyone else. They may have their issues and quirks, but so does everything else.

It’s just a shame that he swindled all those people out of their money that they won’t get back.

Another sad thing is, TVS really don’t care one bit about the 961 owners.
Want proof?
They could have by now been selling current owners spare parts or helping us with the parts suppliers. They surely know who the supply chain were.
Instead myself like many others on here, been calling and emailing them for many months only to be asked either for the part numbers or that they are still trying to figure it all out. I think it’s BS myself.

I’ll bet they won’t have a bike available to the market to purchase in the next 2-4 years minimum.

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I agree with all you said. I would hope that UK will get bikes sooner than that. And lastly SG should get credit for bringing the Norton 961 and V4 to production.