view from 961 owner in the UK

Yesterday I was out on my Mk 3 in North Wales , ended up at a well known Bikers cafe, anyway :-
A silver 961 SF rolls in (first time I'd seen one on the road apart from a factory tester)
Had a good long chat with him about his beautiful bike, he said he'd had the bike since December (bought new) and had very few problems, one a slight oil leak from a rear crankcase bolt that just needed a wipe with sealant, and a tendency for the revs to rise at idle, that he expects will be cured at the next service. The bike had been decatted and had pea shooter type silencers fitted (at the factory)
The guy had no long standing love of Nortons and owns a Ducati Panigale, BSA Road Rocket, and big Harley aswell (so obviously he likes twins!)
He said he really enjoyed the bike, and the service from Norton had been excellent - so a happy owner
His mate has a 961 with over 40,000 miles on with no probs to speak of.
I left with a much better feeling about the bikes , I do hope the factory is successful, the bikes just ooze quality .
sam

Hello Trident Sam , This is a new HIGH for me. I have not heard of a 961 with such high mileage ! Is there any chance you can get these Norton Owners to join us here at access norton and share their stories with us ? Thanks for posting . Tony

It was interesting to me how perfect my dads 2013 SF is. Because if it was 2013 right now it wouldnt be running quite as good. but before riding it we did ALL the upgrades we know about in 2016. I imagine that between this forum of great people and more experience at the factory you can make any of the 961's into really high milegae, trouble free bikes. Because the components are all extremely well made.

Wow "over 40,000 miles on with no probs to speak of" is high praise indeed ...

TonyA said:

Hello Trident Sam , This is a new HIGH for me. I have not heard of a 961 with such high mileage ! Is there any chance you can get these Norton Owners to join us here at access norton and share their stories with us ? Thanks for posting . Tony

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Yep, I did tell him about this website and he did say he'd log on, as I told him if nothing else it was a way of getting like minded owners together. Anyway, the guy's name is Alan , so hopefully he will join.
sam

good to see "Operation Darwen" isn't putting bikers off visiting north Wales!

Wonder if the SF's mate is the guy I met in Betws y Coed one time, he had one of the first black/gold SE's to come out the factory and proceeded to pile on the miles! the bike looked well but had clearly seen a lot of use. I forget what mileage he'd done but he dismissed it as so many parts had been replaced or improved with development.

Was the biker's cafe the Ponderosa? I pulled in there one time on my 961 and the car park was heaving, parked up and was instantly surrounded by people wanting to see the Norton. In my haste to go out that day I'd forgotten to put he 'bung' back in the air box drain pipe, within a minute of parking up the bike started to drip and drip. "Hey mate your bike's dripping oil".... No it's ok its the airbox

Hello Der , you were one of the first to report Oil in Air Box . Have you fitted the FIX yet ?

Hi Tony, no I've not had the fix done yet, I'm aiming to take the bike back to the factory for it's yearly service in July and will get them to do the fix then.

der said:

good to see "Operation Darwen" isn't putting bikers off visiting north Wales!

Wonder if the SF's mate is the guy I met in Betws y Coed one time, he had one of the first black/gold SE's to come out the factory and proceeded to pile on the miles! the bike looked well but had clearly seen a lot of use. I forget what mileage he'd done but he dismissed it as so many parts had been replaced or improved with development.

Was the biker's cafe the Ponderosa? I pulled in there one time on my 961 and the car park was heaving, parked up and was instantly surrounded by people wanting to see the Norton. In my haste to go out that day I'd forgotten to put he 'bung' back in the air box drain pipe, within a minute of parking up the bike started to drip and drip. "Hey mate your bike's dripping oil".... No it's ok its the airbox

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Yep the Ponderosa, I try and get there once a week either on Commando or T160.
I wouldn't worry about dripping oil skits, just give em the snore noise.
After 40 years of hearing that crap it wears a bit thin !
sam

Sam, Were you at the Ponderosa today on the dark blue/purple coloured Commando Interstate ?
I had a 150 mile ride out on my 961 and rolled in to the Pondy around 1pm for lunch and noticed the Commando but couldn't match it to it's owner in the time I was there.

Yep, purple Interstate is mine, parked up next to my mate's Trident Lowrider. I saw a 961 come in, and meant to go and have a look.
Unfortunately I had to get going before I got a chance to walk over to your bike. Next time maybe.
sam

So although in production for 6 years, the 961 are still getting that much attention? That's inspiring. Still pretty rare here in NY.

Britfan60 said:

So although in production for 6 years, the 961 are still getting that much attention? That's inspiring. Still pretty rare here in NY.

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Always always draws attention. First question yesterday was how many miles? 8,100. You get much trouble? naa not really

I ride out with a mate pretty often and he swears he's gonna get some Honda stickers for the tank so nobody comes to look!