What’s the best none Norton Norton ?

Agreed BT👍. Saigon Classic Motorcycles (SCMC) out of Vietnam. It’d look great next to the Norton in my garage - slightly behind it of course!

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I have a 2016 Thurxton S with the fairing kit fitted brought new January 2018 old new stock at a very good discounted price and the fairing kit fitted, 7 years old now and hasn't missed a beat, Norton's and Triumphs are in my blood this is my second Thruxton had a 2013 900 Thruxton but the 1200 is so much better, best of two worlds a Norton I owned since new and a near modern Thuxton, love both bikes but the Norton will always be number one.
Pics of my 2016 Thuxton, the Norton, my old Thruxton and all 3 bikes together before I sold the 900 Thruxton.

Ashley

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Triumph obviously think the 'Café Racer' thing has run its course with the end of the Truxton. Personally I think that blinging it up like the Unikat would sell well. The Thruxton just had too much brushed metal and matt black to make it look special . When the 961 was suffering from a poor reputation I went to make the sensible purchase of a Thruxton but I stood and looked and it just didn't have that instant Wow factor the Norton has. The 'R' was a great bike and fantastic value second hand as everyone was after the RS.
 
Clive said:
Triumph obviously think the 'Café Racer' thing has run its course with the end of the Truxton. Personally I think that blinging it up like the Unikat would sell well. The Thruxton just had too much brushed metal and matt black to make it look special . When the 961 was suffering from a poor reputation I went to make the sensible purchase of a Thruxton but I stood and looked and it just didn't have that instant Wow factor the Norton has. The 'R' was a great bike and fantastic value second hand as everyone was after the RS.
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I think the end of the Thruxton may have been due to a reduced focus on Cafe Racer’s in part, but mainly due to the fact that it’d stopped selling. The result of other more comfortable, great handling/performing options in their own lineup.

There’s a lot of Cafe Racers/modern retros still being produced though and countless custom builders. Not sure anyone could say it’s run its course. They’re certainly not as popular as they were 10+ years back though, that’s for sure!
 
I looked at buying a 961 Norton before 2017 but here in Aus the price was beyond my poor pocket at $35k+AU and close to $38k AU for some, the price for my Thruxton was reduced from $22,400 (the R model was $23,600 without a fairing kit) because its was a new old model the price was reduced to $17,990 but I asked for todays price and they dropped another $1k off the price as well it had the fairing kit fitted, so for the price of a new Norton at the time I could buy 2 Triumphs + parts and after sale service was not like Triumph dealerships here with the Nortons.
The Thruxton's have a lighter crank and spins up a lot quicker than a normal 1200 and the first thing I did to it was install a Meerkat x-pipe and Peter at Meerkat opened up my stock mufflers and fitted his own baffles the same design as the old Ducati Conti pipes (Meerkat exhaust is only 100 miles from me up at Gympie) and it made the bike come alive and sounds great without being overly loud and added a bit more HP.
The new Nortons are just a bit over priced here in Aus, but I love the way the Thruxton performs and handles once I installed the Ikon rear shocks, other than that I have clocked up 40k now and haven't touched it except for oil/filer changes and new tyres, it has 3 road modes road, rain and sport I always hit the sports mode when riding, mine is the S model and have fitted a duel seat and is set up for long distant runs and all day riding, the British Racing green is outstanding colour, its a heavy bike (485lbs) but it feels so light when riding it, so much better than my old Thruxton, I am so happy with my Thruxton it will be a keeper till the day I die just like my old Norton.

Ashley
 
ashman said:
....I am so happy with my Thruxton it will be a keeper till the day I die just like my old Norton.

Ashley
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I really must protest at Thruxton owners coming onto our forum and spouting such a load of common sense. Yes you may have the performance, reliability, aftermarket options, spares backup but we have....... vibration by the bucketload and a cool name. And shiny bits.
 
Clive said:
Triumph obviously think the 'Café Racer' thing has run its course with the end of the Truxton. Personally I think that blinging it up like the Unikat would sell well. The Thruxton just had too much brushed metal and matt black to make it look special . When the 961 was suffering from a poor reputation I went to make the sensible purchase of a Thruxton but I stood and looked and it just didn't have that instant Wow factor the Norton has. The 'R' was a great bike and fantastic value second hand as everyone was after the RS.
Click to expand...
It doesn't have the Wow factor when you ride it either (just my opinion!)
 
Clive said:
I really must protest at Thruxton owners coming onto our forum and spouting such a load of common sense. Yes you may have the performance, reliability, aftermarket options, spares backup but we have....... vibration by the bucketload and a cool name. And shiny bits.
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And oily fingernails.
 
albional said:
It doesn't have the Wow factor when you ride it either (just my opinion!)
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Do you mean 'WOW my ring gear has just detached itself:eek:' or 'WOW my final drive sprocket has unscrewed itself😤' or 'WOW my Bosch knock-off-copy lighting relay has just plunged me into total darkness😨'??
 
Clive said:
Do you mean 'WOW my ring gear has just detached itself:eek:' or 'WOW my final drive sprocket has unscrewed itself😤' or 'WOW my Bosch knock-off-copy lighting relay has just plunged me into total darkness😨'??
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As opposed to "WOW I know motorcycles are dangerous but I almost nodded off during that ride. Thankfully the jerky throttle in-built safety feature kicked in."
Clive said:
Do you mean 'WOW my ring gear has just detached itself:eek:' or 'WOW my final drive sprocket has unscrewed itself😤' or 'WOW my Bosch knock-off-copy lighting relay has just plunged me into total darkness😨'??
Click to expand...
 
Stephen_Spencer said:
Mmmmmmmm! Clearly undergone a significant (computer based) character bypass! Looks terminal to me:oops:!!

View attachment 120928
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Dunno. Not a bad look IMHO.
Of course, the rear fender would have to be bined. The silencers have to be swapped out for reverse cones, and for God's sake, stop blacking out the engine.
This is supposed to be a modern classic. THE AIR COOLED ENGINE IS THE MESSAGE!
We need to see it in its full grey aluminum glory.
Triumph (and Norton) went to great pains to capture the classic parallel twin style, now you should flaunt it.
 
A Norvin? Certainly a beautiful looking machine regardless of its full DNA.

May invest in something very similar one day! Well a guy can dream can’t he!

What’s the best none Norton Norton ?
 

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