Norton at the 2015 IOM TT races

Practice week is under way so I'm posting this for any racing fans out there to catch up with the action. There is never any live coverage of the event due to weather etc but there are daily shows that recap all the action.Velocity channel is starting its coverage of the event on June 6th 11pm est and every day after that until June 13. Check provider for actual times.
In the meantime ITV coverage may be viewed on the ITV player. Easiest way to view is to register on the ITV webpage with a UK postcode (eg HA90WS). Firefox with the Hola extension ( switch to UK) and disable adblocker.
 
Someone has quoted Mr Garner on TV as saying that Nortons are currently involved in a new Norton engine,
have 7.5 million quid earmarked for this project, and are "about to start cutting metal".

No indication of what form that engine make take though.
(or where the dosh is coming from).
Or if its road or racing based/intended.....
 
Maybe he could put a few hundred dollars aside to create a proper shop manual for the 961s so that the current owners and dealerships could figure out how to wrench on these new machines. Right now, the 961s seem to be reliably breaking down in every conceivable way, but parts are generally not readily available, nor is the expertise needed to fix them.
Reading thru the 961 forum is a bit sad. I can understand that it is difficult to build a new motorcycle and make it reliable, but others are doing this and so must Norton.

The owners seem to be a very forgiving bunch for the most part, more so than I would be in similar circumstance. They are even attempting to put together their own fixit manual in order to get the bikes back on the road and keep them out of the shops for weeks or months on end.
To me, the racing and development of other new engines is fiddling while Rome burns. The 961 is already a totally new engine design and it obviously has some real problems. Straighten those problems out, get a decent parts inventory to the dealers and then move on to other designs. Doesn't sound like that will happen though. I've been a fan of the concept of this bike but hate to see what is happening right now to many of those who bought in good faith.
It must be very discouraging.

Glen
 
Some folks seem to report a good run from their 961, so is it component quality problems,
rather than intrinsic design flaws ??

Some of us are wondering if they have decided to cut and run from the 961,
and go for an all brand new design - to solve all their problems. ??

Out of the frying pan into the fire ?, as the old saying goes.
Guess we will see.

And, hey, the brit bike industry was renowned for using customers to do the reliability testing. (?!)
(And not just the brit mc industry either)
So what has changed....
 
I guess what has changed is that the litre class competition nowadays has bulletproof 150-200 HP machines that generally give zero trouble right out of the box and can run reliably for a hundred thousand miles or more. Hinckley Triumph managed to build some very dependable machines right off the bat, hence their near cult following now. John Bloor knew that a leaky, rattle trap, constantly in the shop type motorcycle would not get him in the game. I'm not sure that Garner has figured this out.

With the 961 vs nearly any similar displacement competitor machine, the buyers are willing to accept much lower levels of performance combined with a much greater cash outlay. I don't think they will tolerate a bike that keeps breaking down and has no secure supply of parts, however.
Too bad, the idea of the 961 was a good one and obviously there is a niche market for such a machine.

Glen
 
worntorn said:
John Bloor knew that a leaky, rattle trap, constantly in the shop type motorcycle would not get him in the game.
I'm not sure that Garner has figured this out.
Click to expand...

I'm sure they had that figured out.
Mr Garner et al thought that a new design would give them something similarly nice and reliable.....
 
speirmoor said:
Ok back to Norton racing at the TT. Heres a nice vid to calm everything down. Norton machine @ 0:26-0:45. Everything kicks off in 3 days......
Click to expand...
those guys are crazy balls to the walls riders for sure., ( ahh to be young and bullet proof :shock: ) thanks for posting it speirmoor
 
Garner's problems started with his first announced delivery date, LONG before any real testing on actual production machines was even over the ever-moving horizon.

Attempting to dump the 961 and "start over" is a VERY bad idea.
 
grandpaul said:
Attempting to dump the 961 and "start over" is a VERY bad idea.
Click to expand...

If they have filled all the orders in the order book, through all the countries that had a log jam,
and sales have now slowed to a trickle, or less (?), maybe it is a GOOD idea to move on.

The auto industry has long relied on new models for repeat business.
A new engine could breath life into an old, um, model yet.....
 
Thanks for the racing updates.
Sadly, a frenchman has died at Sulby, to add to the ever growing total.
There is fast, and there are newcomers, but there are not too many fast newcomers....
 
Rohan said:
Thanks for the racing updates.
Sadly, a frenchman has died at Sulby, to add to the ever growing total.
There is fast, and there are newcomers, but there are not too many fast newcomers....
Click to expand...


The Sulby Straight is a horribly rough stretch of pavement. I don't understand why a race course would be left that way.
The Vincent showed 115 or better there and the suspension was bottoming repeatedly, I think at both ends.
Modern bikes must hit 200 MPH there. They have much better suspension, but I'll bet it bottoms too at that speed on that rough surface.

Glen
 
Well, it won't be the new 2017 version,
since they haven't built it yet... (?).

Wouldn't like to say whats under the bonnet there either,
its not exactly on show.
 
Meanwhile a top of the line new SE version with the expensive BST carbon fibre wheels and all still sits for sale here locally for the equivalent of £10,500.
Weren't these bikes around £18,000 when sold in the UK?
I was starting to think about it then read of all the problems and rethought. I bought a 1963 BSA Super Rocket instead.
I think I might find it easier to wrench on and easier to make reliable, since they old A10s were pretty famous for reliability.

Still hoping that Norton deals with the 961 problems as it is the nicest looking new machine built today. Even my BMW riding friend agrees with that.
 
worntorn said:
Even my BMW riding friend agrees with that.
Click to expand...

And as we all know, BMs are universally acknowledged as the most beautiful machines ever made,
so your friend must absolutely be right (???).

We diverge, muchly, from Nortons at the TT though....
 
Rohan said:
worntorn said:
Even my BMW riding friend agrees with that.
Click to expand...

And as we all know, BMs are universally acknowledged as the most beautiful machines ever made,
so your friend must absolutely be right (???).

We diverge, muchly, from Nortons at the TT though....
Click to expand...

No, but as a BMW owner he is usually unwilling to admit that anything other than a BMW has any merit. And strangely enough, like many BMW owners, he find BMWs to be not only desireable but also attractive. Sort of the way possums find other possums to be attractive I guess.


Glen
 
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