Fatal Attraction ?

I've always loved the looks of the 961 and in 2016 I decided to buy a Norton. I was unsure of what to get but was lucky enough to be able to ride a 72 750 Commando back to back with a 961. The 961 was a real let down. It sounded like it was going to self destruct at any moment and the fuelling was terrible. Hunting and surging for no apparent reason. The rest of the bike was beautiful though. The 750 was great and thinking of future spares situation I bought an 850 Mk2a.

Well, call me mad and I have no idea why but after Norton went pop in February I had a real urge to buy a 961 So I have been keeping an eye out. Three weeks ago a 2011 silver 961 sport appeared on a site I rarely look at. The price was VERY attractive and the mileage 35,000 Km (which I took as a good thing), so I called the seller and arranged to go to see it the next night. When I arrived I was gobsmacked at how clean it was and was very encouraged when I saw it had been originally sold by Fritz Egli. With a cold engine it started on the button, settled down to a nice idle and mechanically was a lot quieter than the bike I rode in 2016. Although it was only around 2ºc outside I got my gear on and took it for a 10 minute test ride. (the seller thought I was mad). Everything seemed good (although I pressed the horn button twice whilst trying to indicate) so I went back, agreed a price and I said I would collect it the following Saturday. In the meantime it snowed so I arranged to borrow a van, but come the day I couldn't be bothered with all the faff of going to pick up the van, make some sort of ramps and then try to secure a bike which only has a sidestand, then try to manhandle it off the van on my own, so I texted the seller I and told him I'd be riding it. "You madman" he texted me back, with this picture attached:

It was around 3ºc where I live but -2º where he lives and there was 4 or 5 inches of snow at the side of the road so I took it very gently and was home in around an hour. The bike ran faultlessly. I waited for it to cool off then washed all the salt off it and there it sat for the past three weeks. Our Son stayed with us until boxing day and when he left he forgot to take some stuff with him. Itching for an excuse I donned all my winter gear and went for a 2 hour ride yesterday. That was all my rapidly numbing fingers could stand but so far I'm loving my 961!!

As with all Norton's I already have a list of things to do of course:

• Flashing neutral light with the lights on - I think there is simple wiring fix for that.
• Take off the primary cover and clutch to pin the the ring gear and check or replace the clutch rivets.
• Although it has the crankcase breather separator fitted, it had no transmission breather. Is that necessary? If so can I just drill the cap and press a spigot into it?
• I noticed the injector barrels have no heat insulator. Should I retro fit one?
• Update the gear lever to the later style.
• Not a priority, but I'm undecided about the handlebar switches. I may look for replacements.

Anything else I should be looking at?


Cheers,

cliffa.

Abandon hope all ye who enter here.

Actually congratulations.
The 961 does look very clean.

Others will chime in for sure.

If you open the primary, you may want to also check the intermediate gear's backlash. May need new spring.
Also, check the clutch basket springs.

Tranny breather is a good idea too. No need for drilling Richard Coote has a easy to install kit.

Definitely update the shift lever. The back facing lever operation is funcky.

Wow Cliffa ! Beautiful holiday gift , it does look the business , no trouble to imagine how much you enjoyed your ride home on it , a cool ride you won’t soon forget .... congrats on going for it !

Relays and sensors are the obvious thing to get caught up on.

At that mileage, do get used to the ‘normal’ mechanical clatter so that you can detect any new ones.

Maybe talk to Fritz, see if he knows the bike and has any recommendations?

Don‘t worry about the horn / indicator thing. You’ll get used to that (I mean you’ll get used to doing it)!

There is a lot of bare alloy on that bike, do be careful with the salt.

BritTwit said:

Abandon hope all ye who enter here.

Actually congratulations.
The 961 does look very clean.

Others will chime in for sure.

If you open the primary, you may want to also check the intermediate gear's backlash. May need new spring.
Also, check the clutch basket springs.

Tranny breather is a good idea too. No need for drilling Richard Coote has a easy to install kit.

Definitely update the shift lever. The back facing lever operation is funcky.

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Thanks BritTwit, I’ll add the gear and springs to the list. Yes the gear lever is a bit weird as it sort of rolls up your foot as you shift.

Cheers,

cliffa.

Craig said:

Wow Cliffa ! Beautiful holiday gift , it does look the business , no trouble to imagine how much you enjoyed your ride home on it , a cool ride you won’t soon forget .... congrats on going for it !

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Thanks Craig normally I would have stopped to take pictures on my first daylight ride, but it was too freakin cold.

All the best for 2021.

Fast Eddie said:

Relays and sensors are the obvious thing to get caught up on.

At that mileage, do get used to the ‘normal’ mechanical clatter so that you can detect any new ones.

Maybe talk to Fritz, see if he knows the bike and has any recommendations?

Don‘t worry about the horn / indicator thing. You’ll get used to that (I mean you’ll get used to doing it)!

There is a lot of bare alloy on that bike, do be careful with the salt.

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Thanks Eddie, I’ll look for some Omron relays. Fritz has retired and sold the business a couple of years ago, but I will contact the new owners and see if they have records of the bike.

At the moment I can’t operate the indicators without looking down at the switch, and it doesn’t help with thick winter gloves on. I think they are made by Domino, so may try to see it they do other layouts.

I’m very conscious of the salt, so as soon as its cooled I hose it down and then blow it dry with the “out” nozzle on my vacuum cleaner, which seems to work quite well.

All the best for 2021.

cliffa said:

Thanks Eddie, I’ll look for some Omron relays. Fritz has retired and sold the business a couple of years ago, but I will contact the new owners and see if they have records of the bike.

At the moment I can’t operate the indicators without looking down at the switch, and it doesn’t help with thick winter gloves on. I think they are made by Domino, so may try to see it they do other layouts.

I’m very conscious of the salt, so as soon as its cooled I hose it down and then blow it dry with the “out” nozzle on my vacuum cleaner, which seems to work quite well.

All the best for 2021.

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I’d spray WD40 or another type of light weight oil on the bare aluminum to keep it from erosion or rust. I do mine after each ride / washing.
is your headlight bucket plastic or metal?

Ditto on the corrosion prevention. I clean my bike quite often but still suffer from corrosion living very near the Atlantic. Tranny breather is a must. I've never had oil saturate my air filter which happens to be a fairly common problem. 35000 km is tried and true. Good luck. Its really a lot of fun, especially for a person of your skill set. Me? I mostly pay.

cliffa said:

Thanks BritTwit, I’ll add the gear and springs to the list. Yes the gear lever is a bit weird as it sort of rolls up your foot as you shift.

Cheers,

cliffa.

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You might want to PM Raphi.
I believe he has experience with Fritz Egli.
The early 961's from 2010-2012 had several problems,.
I think Raphi's original 961 was an early version too.
He should be able to fill you in on some of the important points to focus on.

Best of luck, and enjoy your new ride.

Voodooo said:

I’d spray WD40 or another type of light weight oil on the bare aluminum to keep it from erosion or rust. I do mine after each ride / washing.
is your headlight bucket plastic or metal?

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Thanks Voodooo, I've heard ACF50 is very good for winter protection, but anything is better than nothing. Our communal garage is underground so is always well above freezing and very dry thankfully. The "bucket" is steel I'm pleased to say.

WD 40 is brilliant for cleaning and protection in summer, but in the wet and salt you need more. I’ve been using this stuff this winter after seeing a great test on YouTube of different products. Still best to rinse the salt and dirt off after each ride, but so long as you only rinse and don’t use detergent, this stuff seems to stay on. Seems good so far:

Fast Eddie said:

WD 40 is brilliant for cleaning and protection in summer, but in the wet and salt you need more. I’ve been using this stuff this winter after seeing a great test on YouTube of different products. Still best to rinse the salt and dirt off after each ride, but so long as you only rinse and don’t use detergent, this stuff seems to stay on. Seems good so far:

View attachment 20705

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Rinse with cold water never hot as it melts the salt and allows it to penetrate places where it is not welcome.

Apart From transmission vent your bike is already soughted on the whole, I not got heat shield ( on 21.000 Miles now) but at 16 k had clutch Cush spring failure, looks a great bike Cliffa

BLIGHTYBRIT/SF said:

Apart From transmission vent your bike is already soughted on the whole, I not got heat shield ( on 21.000 Miles now) but at 16 k had clutch Cush spring failure, looks a great bike Cliffa

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Hi BLIGHTYBRIT/SF, thanks, like I say I’ll be rooting around in the primary and checking everything for signs of fatigue or abnormal wear. sorry but I don’t quite understand what you are saying about the “heat shield” do you mean the throttle body insulator? Or is it something else I need to check?

Cheers,

cliffa.

Does anybody have a copy of the parts list for the 961 that can share ?

Cheers,

cliffa.

cliffa said:

Hi BLIGHTYBRIT/SF, thanks, like I say I’ll be rooting around in the primary and checking everything for signs of fatigue or abnormal wear. sorry but I don’t quite understand what you are saying about the “heat shield” do you mean the throttle body insulator? Or is it something else I need to check?

Cheers,

cliffa.

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Hi ya Cliffa , yes I ment the Insulator

BLIGHTYBRIT/SF said:

Hi ya Cliffa , yes I ment the Insulator

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Thank you for clarifying (as they say on Master Chef )


HAPPY NEW YEAR ONE AND ALL !!!

Transmission breather:

While waiting for the new year festivities to begin (yawn) I was thinking about the transmission breather and as I had some time on my hands, an old brake banjo bolt, a piece of alloy bar and a hobby lathe I decided to make one myself..


1) Drilled and tapped the filler with an M10 x 1.25mm thread to suit the banjo bolt.
2) Drilled a piece of M20 alloy bar with a 12mm bore.
3) Turned the hexagon head and flange off the bolt down to 12mm so it was a press fit in the alloy.
4) Applied Loctite strong to the base of the hole, and pressed in the bolt.
5) Once set, pop it back in the lathe for final finishing.



Looking at the pictures now, it does resemble one of the knobs on a Bush or Garrard deck Hey-Ho, as long as it does the job.

Cheers,

cliffa.

cliffa said:

Transmission breather:

While waiting for the new year festivities to begin (yawn) I was thinking about the transmission breather and as I had some time on my hands, an old brake banjo bolt, a piece of alloy bar and a hobby lathe I decided to make one myself..


1) Drilled and tapped the filler with an M10 x 1.25mm thread to suit the banjo bolt.
2) Drilled a piece of M20 alloy bar with a 12mm bore.
3) Turned the hexagon head and flange off the bolt down to 12mm so it was a press fit in the alloy.
4) Applied Loctite strong to the base of the hole, and pressed in the bolt.
5) Once set, pop it back in the lathe for final finishing.

View attachment 20777View attachment 20778View attachment 20779View attachment 20780

Looking at the pictures now, it does resemble one of the knobs on a Bush or Garrard deck Hey-Ho, as long as it does the job.

Cheers,

cliffa.

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Looks good sounds good but it is not just air that escapes it is oil mist that will condense on the engine,hence the pipe that vents under the transmission.