New Norton dealerships…

baz said:
View attachment 104561maybe someone should show this to triumph where zero % is made in the UK
Just a thought
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After a recent visit of the factory at Hinckley it’s obvious that the statement is incorrect.
Two areas we were shown were crank manufacturing, mind blowing technology and quality control. This area is currently being vastly improved there as we speak.
And the paint shop.
Having in the same trip taken my commando tank and panels to a custom shop to be painted I’d have been happy with the triumph quality.
This is speculator, totally up to date but still done by hand, as are the pinstripes.
At least some parts are manufactured in the U.K. and assembled.
There’s very little now that can truly be said to be made in Britain. Shame really.
 
peter12 said:
After a recent visit of the factory at Hinckley it’s obvious that the statement is incorrect.
Two areas we were shown were crank manufacturing, mind blowing technology and quality control. This area is currently being vastly improved there as we speak.
And the paint shop.
Having in the same trip taken my commando tank and panels to a custom shop to be painted I’d have been happy with the triumph quality.
This is speculator, totally up to date but still done by hand, as are the pinstripes.
At least some parts are manufactured in the U.K. and assembled.
There’s very little now that can truly be said to be made in Britain. Shame really.
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I'm glad that triumph make some parts here
I was thinking more about the Bonneville range ,I didn't think any components were made in the UK?
Just seems funny to me that the "herald" Chinese bikes manufacture a lot of it's parts in the UK I was told by a local dealer
 
cliffa said:
That's just one of his creations. Here are a few more...

View attachment 104598
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I have no words


You might laugh (or cry) but I'm afraid the new Norton's are shortly to go this way - with possibly the word 'boutique' involved. New options on colour combos, pin striping, chroming etc etc and commensurate price increases.....
 
baz said:
I'm glad that triumph make some parts here
I was thinking more about the Bonneville range ,I didn't think any components were made in the UK?
Just seems funny to me that the "herald" Chinese bikes manufacture a lot of it's parts in the UK I was told by a local dealer
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I’ve been told clearly by Triumph that all of the ‘classic” range is made in Thailand.
 
Ok, bringing this back to a dealership conversation.

With the amount of "used" 961s available in the UK and only a couple of 961s for sale in the USA, which are both good-looking bikes (including one we worked on) yet haven't been able to sell in over a month since listed. The last sale here was an undervalued BAT listing at 11k how does that bode for a "new" selling dealer?

And don't give me the "people are waiting for the new version" response because there are plenty of really happy owners.

I've talked to dealers who would be the ideal dealer for Norton, and I think I said this before they wouldn't touch it, especially the TVS part of it.

I think if we see any dealers, it will be like Morgan with only a few dealers in the corners of the USA type of thing.

Thoughts?
 
City Garage said:
Ok, bringing this back to a dealership conversation.

With the amount of "used" 961s available in the UK and only a couple of 961s for sale in the USA, which are both good-looking bikes (including one we worked on) yet haven't been able to sell in over a month since listed. The last sale here was an undervalued BAT listing at 11k how does that bode for a "new" selling dealer?

And don't give me the "people are waiting for the new version" response because there are plenty of really happy owners.

I've talked to dealers who would be the ideal dealer for Norton, and I think I said this before they wouldn't touch it, especially the TVS part of it.

I think if we see any dealers, it will be like Morgan with only a few dealers in the corners of the USA type of thing.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
How many Donington 961 Nortons do you think sold in the USA?
Less than 100?
Less than 50?

I don’t see TVS changing that……Ever.
I still think they missed the boat and took way to long, but I also think that if anyone wanted a 961 before TVS, they would have bought one years ago.

The USA market is dominated by Harley and Japanese imports.
I personally don’t like Japanese bikes, but I do like British and Italian bikes.

If Norton TVS offered a 650 Nomad or a V4 Cafe to the USA market, offered spare parts, and dealer support, I’d strongly consider buying one.

But to be honest, I think my time with TVS is done and over with. I have yet to get any spare parts for my current 961 bikes after months and years of trying. I simply given up and moved on to Ducati.
 
Voodooo said:
How many Donington 961 Nortons do you think sold in the USA?
Less than 100?
Less than 50?

I don’t see TVS changing that……Ever.
I still think they missed the boat and took way to long, but I also think that if anyone wanted a 961 before TVS, they would have bought one years ago.

The USA market is dominated by Harley and Japanese imports.
I personally don’t like Japanese bikes, but I do like British and Italian bikes.

If Norton TVS offered a 650 Nomad or a V4 Cafe to the USA market, offered spare parts, and dealer support, I’d strongly consider buying one.

But to be honest, I think my time with TVS is done and over with. I have yet to get any spare parts for my current 961 bikes after months and years of trying. I simply given up and moved on to Ducati.
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I did a public records request to the CA DMV asking for 961 registered in CA with no response yet. I am on a mission to see how many were sold "new" here at least. Half the owners I know got bikes from other states for resale.

I assume the 961 owner records project that was attempted never got much traction as well
 
Voodooo said:
The USA market is dominated by Harley and Japanese imports.
I personally don’t like Japanese bikes, but I do like British and Italian bikes.
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Don't get me going on BMW. Such a great line of machines they build and so easy to work on both personally and as a shop. They are perfect (except those pesky torx)
 
City Garage said:
I did a public records request to the CA DMV asking for 961 registered in CA with no response yet. I am on a mission to see how many were sold "new" here at least. Half the owners I know got bikes from other states for resale.

I assume the 961 owner records project that was attempted never got much traction as well
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Weren’t all 961 bike imported through California?
I bought my commando from South Bay Norton and my dominator from indian of Orange County.
 
Voodooo said:
Weren’t all 961 bike imported through California?
I bought my commando from South Bay Norton and my dominator from indian of Orange County.
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First 3 bikes sold in 2013 in the US were through Gold Coast Motorsports, on Long Island, NY.
Mine was the third, 2013 CR.
 
City Garage said:
I've talked to dealers who would be the ideal dealer for Norton, and I think I said this before they wouldn't touch it, especially the TVS part of it.

I think if we see any dealers, it will be like Morgan with only a few dealers in the corners of the USA type of thing.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
I think it's the old, once bitten, twice shy thing.
The 961 has such a bad rep, dealers will have to be convinced of the NEW 961's virtues.
Even those dealers who sell exotics, or exclusive brands will be leery of Nortons until the press can verify that they are reliable.
It will take time for TVS to establish Norton's new bone fides.
 
BritTwit said:
I think it's the old, once bitten, twice shy thing.
The 961 has such a bad rep, dealers will have to be convinced of the NEW 961's virtues.
Even those dealers who sell exotics, or exclusive brands will be leery of Nortons until the press can verify that they are reliable.
It will take time for TVS to establish Norton's new bone fides.
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I’m not sure that’s enough to sell them here.
In the retro market, here in the USA, Triumph has that market covered along with a distance Royal Enfield and Japanese brands.
I don’t believe TVS can do any better selling the 961 here as SG did.

It would be interesting to see how many retro bikes from all brands were sold here in the last 5 years.
 
Voodooo said:
In the retro market, here in the USA, Triumph has that market covered along with a distance Royal Enfield and Japanese brands.
I don’t believe TVS can do any better selling the 961 here as SG did.
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You may be right, but SG did a terrible job of supporting US dealers.
My dealer and a New Jersey dealer both got shafted by SG on warranty work performed on 961s.
Also, factory support on replacement parts was very slow, it sometimes took months to get parts from Donington.
TVS will have to convince dealers that they will be fairly compensated for warranty work, and that parts will be readily available.
Then I think there will be a dealer or two willing to work with TVS here in the US.
But at the price point of the 961, I doubt that its sales numbers will ever be significant with the likes of Triumph and Royal Enfield about.
As I wrote before, you can get 3 REs or 2 Triumphs for the price of one 961.
Even with the 961's exclusivity factor, the price is a real hurtle for buyers.
 
BritTwit said:
You may be right, but SG did a terrible job of supporting US dealers.
My dealer and a New Jersey dealer both got shafted by SG on warranty work performed on 961s.
Also, factory support on replacement parts was very slow, it sometimes took months to get parts from Donington.
TVS will have to convince dealers that they will be fairly compensated for warranty work, and that parts will be readily available.
Then I think there will be a dealer or two willing to work with TVS here in the US.
But at the price point of the 961, I doubt that its sales numbers will ever be significant with the likes of Triumph and Royal Enfield about.
As I wrote before, you can get 3 REs or 2 Triumphs for the price of one 961.
Even with the 961's exclusivity factor, the price is a real hurtle for buyers.
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When I placed my order for parts directly from Donington, I literally got them in 3 days when they were in stock parts. Now it’s been 3 years and I’ve given up on TVS.

I don’t think to many people are buying into the “exclusive” Norton BS. What good is a purchase that has not a good proven product record and no history of success?

If I didn’t have my 961s now and we’re in the market for a modern retro, I would not even consider Norton. I wouldn’t have the opportunity anyhow as they don’t even sell bikes yet.

But maybe I’m just saying I wouldn’t because I already filled that void.
But if I were to buy a new modem classic today, it would be either a triumph or a Ducati scrambler bike.
 
Some spares are already coming out so I don't think it's going to be like turning the tap on and all spares are immediately available. Go on someone; ask how they are able to build bikes without all the parts bins holding stock........
 
Voodooo said:
I don’t believe anything TVS Norton says. Especially regarding spare parts. But I do believe they built a multi million dollar factory. I mean museum.
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We definitely need a deep throat at Solihull who can give us the skinny on what's going on there.
 
Clive said:
Some spares are already coming out so I don't think it's going to be like turning the tap on and all spares are immediately available. Go on someone; ask how they are able to build bikes without all the parts bins holding stock........
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Ok but can I ask where all the bikes are that are being built with the parts bin parts???
 
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