Trouble at Mill

Matt,

Brian Crighton's letter pretty well confirms the suspicions of most rationale observers of Garner's poorly financed attempt to resurrect the Norton. I've seen some on this site who insist Garner's problems are due to environmental regulations. Just another example of Garner's piss poor planning. Passing environmental regs is all part and parcel of manufacturing a vehicle today, just as much so as have machining tools and workspace is required. In the end, Garner will only have done more to bury a reincarnation of Norton forever.
 
JimC said:
In the end, Garner will only have done more to bury a reincarnation of Norton forever.
Click to expand...

What makes you think this is the final chapter ?

If you look back over history, Nortons have been "restructured" (insolvent ?) at least 10 times over the past century - in 1913, when Shelley Tools bought in, in 1926 with Norton Motors 1926 Ltd, sometime before the war when the 1926 bit diappeared (?), in 1953 when they were sold off to AMC, in the 1960s when Norton Matchless appeared, in the 1960s When Norton Villiers was formed, with NVT, in the US when those guys ended up in the clink, with Kenny Dreer, and now with Stuart Garner.

For all we know, this could be the prelude to a grand future, when someone like the Shanghai and Tofu MC Company (just for example) gives them a grand new beginning ?? The final chapter may still be centuries away, and the best years still to come ?
Crystal Ball required, mandatory equipment in any planning division....
 
It seems that in general people are understandably upset during the long waits then quite thrilled with the bikes once they take delivery and even more pleased after logging some miles.

I'm happy to see that they are producing these great looking bikes. I wonder how many in total have been produced now?

Glen
 
P.S. Wasn't the 961 completely metrified (metricated ? ) to all metric, from being imperial measurements/threads. That is a major design, serious work there.

So Mr Crichton missed that point, serious flaw in his comments...
 
Rohan said:
P.S. Wasn't the 961 completely metrified (metricated ? ) to all metric, from being imperial measurements/threads. That is a major design, serious work there.

So Mr Crichton missed that point, serious flaw in his comments...
Click to expand...

With any of the more popular CAD packages this wouldnt have taken much work at all
 
Volkswagen has a bit of Anglophile heritage, so with Audi buying Ducati, maybe VW could do a boutique Norton, or even the Indians could build them alongside the Enfields..[sorry, that last bit was a bit mean.]
 
Twice I havnt had a reply from Cosworth . Demanding a decent non unit One Litre Plus powerplant for more discerning individuals . Seems theyre involved with the men from mars , these days . No personal service at all .
Very Disapointing . Un British . Letting the side down . Gone to the Dogs . . .
 
Dead serially , If the Turkeys put the Engine through a 24 Hr ( minimum ) type test . Pre design finallised , they wouldve KNOWN itd worked .

Personally If it wouldnt stand two consecutive 24 hour Lemans Test Cycles ( The REAL Le Mans Track ) AND seperate 80 $ Nitro proveing runs ,
It Wouldnt meet old Edward Turners Standards , let alone modern ones . Barring monkeys in the workforce . or on LCs .
 
Rohan said:
P.S. Wasn't the 961 completely metrified (metricated ? ) to all metric, from being imperial measurements/threads. That is a major design, serious work there.

So Mr Crichton missed that point, serious flaw in his comments...
Click to expand...

Cheesy said:
With any of the more popular CAD packages this wouldnt have taken much work at all
Click to expand...

So you think converting all the jigs, dies and tooling to metric, they could have done it over the weekend ??

18 months was the figure I recall being quoted, memory could be way out on that though.

Depends too on whether the metric equivalent to inches was good enough, or they did a neat job of it and made it pure metric... ?
 
Rohan said:
P.S. Wasn't the 961 completely metrified (metricated ? ) to all metric, from being imperial measurements/threads. That is a major design, serious work there.

So Mr Crichton missed that point, serious flaw in his comments...
Click to expand...

I'd be surprised if Kenny the bike in imperial as it probably wouldn't have mix with the third party parts (i.e. Ohlin shocks, etc).

On the other hand the VR880 was probably a mix of imperial, Whitworth, cycle thread, and metric. And probably a few others thrown in for good measure.
 
Rohan said:
Rohan said:
P.S. Wasn't the 961 completely metrified (metricated ? ) to all metric, from being imperial measurements/threads. That is a major design, serious work there.

So Mr Crichton missed that point, serious flaw in his comments...
Click to expand...

Cheesy said:
With any of the more popular CAD packages this wouldnt have taken much work at all
Click to expand...

So you think converting all the jigs, dies and tooling to metric, they could have done it over the weekend ??

18 months was the figure I recall being quoted, memory could be way out on that though.

Depends too on whether the metric equivalent to inches was good enough, or they did a neat job of it and made it pure metric... ?
Click to expand...

Well 18 months would even be a long time to actually model/draw the thing. If it was just changing fasteners and metric equivalent measurements a couple of man weeks tops, making it pure metric could take longer but you get to the point that inspection measurements etc are no longer nice whole metric numbers as they are usually driven by other design features that are not measurable (well maybe with a CMM machine)
 
Don't forget that this may also include getting everything tee'd up for manufacture....

How many parts are in the average motorcycle these days - 1500 or thereabouts ?
How many different suppliers would be needed to supply all those ?
Even if one supplier could do each major component, whole and complete.
 
Rohan said:
P.S. Wasn't the 961 completely metrified (metricated ? ) to all metric, from being imperial measurements/threads. That is a major design, serious work there.
Click to expand...

The 961 designs that Garner acquired were already mostly metric, although I've seen a handful in inches or both.

Trouble at Mill
 
[/img]
jeffdavison said:
Matt,

Love the second pic. The Aston and the Dino. From the late 60's TV show from England... in the US it was a Summer replacement show. We got it only for two seasons and the Britts 3, 4??? "The Persuaders" with Roger Moore (as Lord Brett Sinclair a debutante aristocrat from old money)
JD
Click to expand...

Roger Moore may not have been your favorite James Bond: you might think he ranks below Sean, Pierce & Daniel in terms of manliness, but to describe him as a "debutante" is going a bit far: -

A debutante (from the French débutante, "female beginner") is a young lady from an aristocratic or upper class family who has reached the age of maturity, and as a new adult, is introduced to society at a formal "debut" presentation.

Dilettante might be a better description, "A person who enjoys the arts or someone who engages in a field as an amateur out of casual interest rather than as a profession." which would give Brett Sinclair something in common with a lot of us dilettante motorcycle engineers.
 
I was describing the character Moore was playing not the actor.

JD

ggryder said:
[/img]
jeffdavison said:
Matt,

Love the second pic. The Aston and the Dino. From the late 60's TV show from England... in the US it was a Summer replacement show. We got it only for two seasons and the Britts 3, 4??? "The Persuaders" with Roger Moore (as Lord Brett Sinclair a debutante aristocrat from old money)
JD
Click to expand...

Roger Moore may not have been your favorite James Bond: you might think he ranks below Sean, Pierce & Daniel in terms of manliness, but to describe him as a "debutante" is going a bit far: -

A debutante (from the French débutante, "female beginner") is a young lady from an aristocratic or upper class family who has reached the age of maturity, and as a new adult, is introduced to society at a formal "debut" presentation.

Dilettante might be a better description, "A person who enjoys the arts or someone who engages in a field as an amateur out of casual interest rather than as a profession." which would give Brett Sinclair something in common with a lot of us dilettante motorcycle engineers.
Click to expand...
 
ggryder said:
jeffdavison said:
I was describing the character Moore was playing not the actor.
Click to expand...

Roger kind-of played himself whatever the role.
Click to expand...


Agreed. Ever see the family guy, where Roger Moore is waiting by the phone for Stewie to call after their first date? Hilarious.
 

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