More news.

marshg246 said:

And available. When the new Nortons were available in the US, there were (I think) four dealers and they had nothing to show you other than a very high price tag.

The nearby Triumph dealer, at his grand opening (2015 if I remember right), you could ride away on any model of Triumph they made. He didn't even have the parts stock Triumph required him to open with all put in bins yet, but was was setup for service. He a thriving dealer today with more brands but started with Triumph only. He moved to a bigger space after a while and is now called Motorcycles of Dulles.

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In December 2013, Norton claimed to be building 12 bikes per week, but said they would shortly double that rate with new staff. We now know that Norton was having supplier problems because Norton was not paying them. This caused many delays in the building schedule. Suppliers dumped Norton and the factory had to find new suppliers, and more delays, etc.....

Also, when the 961 did show up in the US, the dealers had a terrible time getting simple parts for routine maintenance. Like oil and air filters, gaskets and O-rings, etc. Some people had to leave their 961s at the dealer for 3 years or more because the parts were not available.
That's no way to run an airline, or a motorcycle business!

TVS/Norton is not likely to make those mistakes,

BritTwit said:

In December 2013, Norton claimed to be building 12 bikes per week, but said they would shortly double that rate with new staff. We now know that Norton was having supplier problems because Norton was not paying them. This caused many delays in the building schedule. Suppliers dumped Norton and the factory had to find new suppliers, and more delays, etc.....

Also, when the 961 did show up in the US, the dealers had a terrible time getting simple parts for routine maintenance. Like oil and air filters, gaskets and O-rings, etc. Some people had to leave their 961s at the dealer for 3 years or more because the parts were not available.
That's no way to run an airline, or a motorcycle business!

TVS/Norton is not likely to make those mistakes,

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And when the dealers finally got parts, it was already the beginning of the end, so they got left holding a bag of poop and unhappy customers. Additionally, Norton sent numbered stickers to dealers, resulting in some of the 1-50s being duplicates because certain numbers "fell off" and others were promised to specific bikes. The last bike I bought from a dealer, along with all their OEM stock, was sitting in a shipping container because of missing parts from the factory.

The air filter issue was a big one since all the beginning ones went too far into the air box. The new metal rim, shorter ones, fixed that issue, but it took a couple of years!

TVS/Norton is already making mistakes. But I think not supporting the 961 shows the limited number of motorcycles actually sold, though.

As discusswd, RE (and likely BSA to follow) are selling bikes in the US because of the price point, their classic styling and maybe a refocus on smaller/middleweight bikes - same for their global sales I suppose.

I guess Norton could access some of that market depending on the pricepoint of the middleweight bikes and their styling - heritage bikes are obviously still very popular but are any of Norton’s bikes going to tap into that genre?

We know the V4 is a modern sports bike but what of the remainder. Are any going to be classic/heritage styled to make the most of Norton’s iconic past? The 450 engine to be used is a modern parallel twin? We should know a little more after EICMA I suppose.

Seperate issue but, not sure I understand the quote above ref Norton not supporting the 961? As far as I’m aware the UK dealer network is still supplying spares for Donny 961’s, albeit as a lowest priority I suspect.

I was approached by a forum member for a spare I had offered up previously, from another post - advised him to order one through the system first. He did so, paid and is awaiting delivery from Judd as we speak - Singapore based member. Spares remain available although patience is required. Easier for UK based owners of course.

You say that, but I’ve yet to successfully order any parts

kev said:

You say that, but I’ve yet to successfully order any parts

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Neither I nor any of my customers have had any success.

kev said:

You say that, but I’ve yet to successfully order any parts

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I agree , I get no response from Judd. I would like to rebuild my spare head ., maybe try my hand at some porting. Once Solihull sent me over to Judd for parts , that was the end of my parts supply .

kev said:

You say that, but I’ve yet to successfully order any parts

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How are you guys processing your spares requests? All through Judd, or other dealers?

Anybody picked the phone up and spoken to the spares manager at Judd or elsewhere?

Stephen_Spencer said:

How are you guys processing your spares requests? All through Judd, or other dealers?

Anybody picked the phone up and spoken to the spares manager at Judd or elsewhere?

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Yes, one of my customers talked to them, and they were asked to send an email to info@juddracing.com. They did that and also the contact form on the website. Crickets.... I sent a friend in the UK to them, and they were noncommittal about getting any parts. Also, he uses them for KTM parts and says apparently, they have issues getting KTM parts, which they are a main dealer in, so I think there is a bigger issue

I know the whole spares issue is a festering sore on the forum, and it's spread out over several threads.
Since it is so important, why don't we create a dedicated thread for it.
Say "Spares for the 961" or "961 Spares" or some other label that can be contributed to, or searched directly by users.

What do you all think?

BritTwit said:

I know the whole spares issue is a festering sore on the forum, and it's spread out over several threads.
Since it is so important, why don't we create a dedicated thread for it.
Say "Spares for the 961" or "961 Spares" or some other label that can be contributed to, or searched directly by users.

What do you all think?

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Let me humbly offer the following titles. The Great 961 OEM Spare-Parts Hunt or The Official 961 Looking for OEM Spares Thread: Whiners Welcome It should be an OEM parts thread because we have the other thread

City Garage said:

Let me humbly offer the following titles. The Great 961 OEM Spare-Parts Hunt or The Official 961 Looking for OEM Spares Thread: Whiners Welcome It should be an OEM parts thread because we have the other thread

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I agree it should be an OEM thread to avoid confusion.

Stephen_Spencer said:

How are you guys processing your spares requests? All through Judd, or other dealers?

Anybody picked the phone up and spoken to the spares manager at Judd or elsewhere?

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You just don’t get it do you? You always acted like I was over reacting. It’s all ok until it happens to you.
Hopefully you’ll never experience what some of us have. It’s very unpleasant owning something you can’t enjoy, when you know the spares are available and told multiple times of that until they change their mind and ignore you completely.

In other news, Indian Motorcycles just got bought by Carolwood LP.

City Garage said:

Yes, one of my customers talked to them, and they were asked to send an email to info@juddracing.com. They did that and also the contact form on the website. Crickets.... I sent a friend in the UK to them, and they were noncommittal about getting any parts. Also, he uses them for KTM parts and says apparently, they have issues getting KTM parts, which they are a main dealer in, so I think there is a bigger issue

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Not sure what that could be regarding spares generally - bit of a mystery.

We need someone in the UK (Kev?) to go to their nearest dealer (if not too distant) with their wallet out. Stand infront of the spares manager with part details and order them.

Will he be asked the year of his 961 or other qualifying(?) information? Or will the guy just order the spares/take payment.

We’d learn a lot from that. More than we have maybe from easily ignored (or delayed responses to) emails or online requests to differing organisations.

A seperate OEM Spares thread is a great idea - we’d just need to steer any random spares related traffic to it until it was better known/populated. Maybe then make it ‘sticky’.

NorTriDuc said:

You just don’t get it do you? You always acted like I was over reacting. It’s all ok until it happens to you.
Hopefully you’ll never experience what some of us have. It’s very unpleasant owning something you can’t enjoy, when you know the spares are available and told multiple times of that until they change their mind and ignore you completely.

In other news, Indian Motorcycles just got bought by Carolwood LP.

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Well, the brand hasn't made a profit and sales are down every year, so it's smart to separate Polaris from another dying brand. Their core was always the Snowmobiles and SXS. Plus, they have big military contracts, so they will keep on. Why people spend 40k on an SXS and then another 10k in upgrades to only use it a handful of times is like the most expensive gym membership of all time.

City Garage said:

Why people spend 40k on an SXS and then another 10k in upgrades to only use it a handful of times is like the most expensive gym membership of all time.

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Some have "Dirt" in their blood.

BritTwit said:

I know the whole spares issue is a festering sore on the forum, and it's spread out over several threads.
Since it is so important, why don't we create a dedicated thread for it.
Say "Spares for the 961" or "961 Spares" or some other label that can be contributed to, or searched directly by users.

What do you all think?

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Your idea BT - you gonna open the thread?

‘Norton 961 OEM Spares’ or similar seems the best option.

Stephen_Spencer said:

How are you guys processing your spares requests? All through Judd, or other dealers?

Anybody picked the phone up and spoken to the spares manager at Judd or elsewhere?

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I get everything from Stu now.

I’ve spoken to Judd multiple times and it’s always a PITA. Timescales are vague, the hoops to jump through are massive and there’s never any guarantees on delivery.

I’m not joking when I say that I have NEVER received a part from anyone/store that’s not Stu or sourced myself

Stephen_Spencer said:

Not sure what that could be regarding spares generally - bit of a mystery.

We need someone in the UK (Kev?) to go to their nearest dealer (if not too distant) with their wallet out. Stand infront of the spares manager with part details and order them.

Will he be asked the year of his 961 or other qualifying(?) information? Or will the guy just order the spares/take payment.

We’d learn a lot from that. More than we have maybe from easily ignored (or delayed responses to) emails or online requests to differing organisations.

A seperate OEM Spares thread is a great idea - we’d just need to steer any random spares related traffic to it until it was better known/populated. Maybe then make it ‘sticky’.

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I’m happy to do that as there’s a Norton “dealer” not too far from me but I suspect the minute I say Donnington or provide a VIN (that they require to source parts) I’ll hit a blocker.

As you say, cash is king, so if I placed a big order, maybe I’d get somewhere. However, I strongly suspect someone in Solihull would ask questions as to why a single individual requires 18 indicators, 4 heads and 30 gaskets.

kev said:

I’m happy to do that as there’s a Norton “dealer” not too far from me but I suspect the minute I say Donnington or provide a VIN (that they require to source parts) I’ll hit a blocker.

As you say, cash is king, so if I placed a big order, maybe I’d get somewhere. However, I strongly suspect someone in Solihull would ask questions as to why a single individual requires 18 indicators, 4 heads and 30 gaskets.

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Sounds like a right pain Kev - it would be really useful to try and work out what’s going on though.

Is this Judd being inefficient because they’re busy, or are they reluctant to deal because Norton is slow in providing parts to them - we’ve seen this before. Or, is this Norton starting to control spares in some way?

If you get the chance and still want parts, go in and place an order directly. More difficult to ignore someone or obfuscate when that someone is stood infront of you, wallet in hand.

Maybe don’t initially state that it’s for a Donnie bike. If he asks, or requests a VIN, maybe remind him that all variants have parts compatability.

If they are insistent and then start throwing hurdles up then that might indicate that our ‘red-headed stepchild’ status may have been upgraded to ‘decesaed relative’!

At that stage I’d ask outright whether they are still suporting Donington owners and/or whether they’ve been given alternate direction by Norton. Unlikely, but you may get a straight answer. Either way it will be enlightening.

We can just sit back and say ‘Norton is crap’ or have a go at clarifying spares provision (again). There’s a few thousand of us out there - difficult to ignore if persistant.

Stephen_Spencer said:

Sounds like a right pain Kev - it would be really useful to try and work out what’s going on though.

Is this Judd being inefficient because they’re busy, or are they reluctant to deal because Norton is slow in providing parts to them - we’ve seen this before. Or, is this Norton starting to control spares in some way?

If you get the chance and still want parts, go in and place an order directly. More difficult to ignore someone or obfuscate when that someone is stood infront of you, wallet in hand.

Maybe don’t initially state that it’s for a Donnie bike. If he asks, or requests a VIN, maybe remind him that all variants have parts compatability.

If they are insistent and then start throwing hurdles up then that might indicate that our ‘red-headed stepchild’ status may have been upgraded to ‘decesaed relative’!

At that stage I’d ask outright whether they are still suporting Donington owners and/or whether they’ve been given alternate direction by Norton. Unlikely, but you may get a straight answer. Either way it will be enlightening.

We can just sit back and say ‘Norton is crap’ or have a go at clarifying spares provision (again). There’s a few thousand of us out there - difficult to ignore if persistant.

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Stephen, I said I wouldn’t respond to you again but this is just too much. I’m not arguing or insulting you.
I know you wouldn’t be bothered by any of Nortons handling of the spares, but put yourself in our shoes and for once, having paid thousands of dollars for a vehicle that you can’t enjoy, knowing that the spares were / are available. Until it happens to you, it’s not a problem.

You seem to think that those of us whom had no success in getting spares just sit back and given up on the first few tries.
You seem to think we all just over reacted or bad mouthed Norton for no apparent reason.
I’m happy that you didn’t experience what many of us have, I really am.
But you need to realize we’re not all you and that what many of us say isn’t just a bad mouthing Norton for no reason. It’s the same experiences many of us have had and it’s not going to change, especially now that the 961 is being discontinued.