I have had a look back through my posts on this thread and here are the positive comments:
"the carbon one looks good"
"True Norton didn't design the street, our very own ex heroin addict Henry Cole had something to do with that, I still say it looks good though."
"the V4 the Superlight and the 961s (didn't an American design that one though?) look good"
And the negative.
"the Atlas is ugly, and not a Norton but a Zongshen which makes it Chinese,"
"but to paint the V4 to look like chrome, makes it look rank to me.
that chrome thing is a classless abortion that only rappers and pimps would buy. the Atlas looks like a Hipster has designed it and their bikes look like they do because they don't have any money, so I don't see a market for that either."
So if you read my posts correctly, you will see it is only the (Chinese) Atlas and the chrome V4 I don't like and criticise.
Like you point out not liking something is personal but I don't think I have been constantly putting them down.
But as you say the 961 is in many ways like a 70s bike and that might be part of the problem, we are no longer in the 70s and the issues i have been reading about shouldn't really exist in this day and age. I couldn't comment on the total flops but the fact that the American dealers lost money on the bikes tells it own story.
I think it is brilliant that you have not had problems with your two bikes and the the others that have posted the higher milage tours on theirs is great, I also agree with Fast Eddie that for Stuart Garner to keep the Norton name alive is an achievement that I, or a lot of others couldn't do, but what I know about modern Nortons is stopping me from pulling the pin on what looks like a bargain, when they come up. Like this.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classi...N&model=COMMANDO&advert-type=standard-listing
8 years old and only 1300 miles. Why?