what month is this?
- Thread starter goo
- Start date
- Status
grandpaul
VIP MEMBER
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2008
- Messages
- 13,883
I wonder how many they've delivered locally (UK and surrounding areas) since the first one delivered?
Okay, take that number, and that time-frame, then add raw shipping time & logistics, and estimate how long it will take at that rate, to get 200 of them over here.
...and dstop holding your breath, you're going to burst a lung.
Okay, take that number, and that time-frame, then add raw shipping time & logistics, and estimate how long it will take at that rate, to get 200 of them over here.
...and dstop holding your breath, you're going to burst a lung.
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2010
- Messages
- 681
Where are they? I am sure people who have paid in full over a year ago in Europe would be quite happy to have them, if they were there. Haven't seen 50 anywhere.
Sold, yes, but delivered? Ask the patient, well-meaning customers on this thread: http://www.nortonownersclub.org/noc-cha ... /837230712. Yes I know there are some out there, but a lot of people have been waiting for up to two years.
They remind me of the typical Hesketh customer: very patient, very forgiving, and, after a long wait, ready to accept anything.
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2004
- Messages
- 21,090
YING said:
It still seems to be taking too long, delivery still appears to be a trickle rather than a flood. But used 961's are starting to appear for sale on UK ebay more regularly, so the bikes are out there.
One for sale:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/150834249029? ... 1423.l2649
One recently sold:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Norton-Comman ... 4ab873636c
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2004
- Messages
- 21,090
ZFD said:
I think you know very well that only 200 961SE's were going to be made, 50 of which were apprently allocated to US dealers-therefore they obviously cannot go back on their word and sell them to other buyers.
http://www.nortonmotorcycles.com/bikes/ ... /index.php
Meeting the EPA and DOT regulations was a monstrous task for the original Commando program also. The biggest issue was noise.
Back then there were two tests, both straight line runs past a pair of microphones, maybe 20 feet away and I think 100 feet apart. The first run was a full throttle acceleration in second gear, winding it open just short of the first mic and keeping it there until you passed the second one. There was a decibel limit as the bike passed each of the two microphones, and an overall limit for the sound during the accel. This one we managed to meet with what eventually were called the "pea-shhoter" mufflers, I think.
The second test was more difficult, as we had already met the first one. This involved a constant-speed run at 75% of the bike's maximum speed at a constant throttle setting. Again, there was a decibel limit. The problem we had was aerodynamic ( wind) noise. The test bikes didn't have fairings, so wind around the rider was an issue, but the biggest problem was the airflow through the cooling fins. The engine is installed tilted, but the fins are parallel to the cylinder centerline and at an angle to the airflow and they made a lot of whistling noise.
N-V were still hard at work on this when I left and I don't know how it was eventully solved. The US regs were so difficult to meet, and I'm gob-smacked when I hear the racket that Harleys make. No way would those things meet the requirements we had to meet. The four cylinder Japanese bikes are quieter that we managed to achieve, helped in some cases by being watercooled,
I don't know which part of the regs are holding things up, but I'm willing to bet it's the noise issue again.
Back then there were two tests, both straight line runs past a pair of microphones, maybe 20 feet away and I think 100 feet apart. The first run was a full throttle acceleration in second gear, winding it open just short of the first mic and keeping it there until you passed the second one. There was a decibel limit as the bike passed each of the two microphones, and an overall limit for the sound during the accel. This one we managed to meet with what eventually were called the "pea-shhoter" mufflers, I think.
The second test was more difficult, as we had already met the first one. This involved a constant-speed run at 75% of the bike's maximum speed at a constant throttle setting. Again, there was a decibel limit. The problem we had was aerodynamic ( wind) noise. The test bikes didn't have fairings, so wind around the rider was an issue, but the biggest problem was the airflow through the cooling fins. The engine is installed tilted, but the fins are parallel to the cylinder centerline and at an angle to the airflow and they made a lot of whistling noise.
N-V were still hard at work on this when I left and I don't know how it was eventully solved. The US regs were so difficult to meet, and I'm gob-smacked when I hear the racket that Harleys make. No way would those things meet the requirements we had to meet. The four cylinder Japanese bikes are quieter that we managed to achieve, helped in some cases by being watercooled,
I don't know which part of the regs are holding things up, but I'm willing to bet it's the noise issue again.
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2010
- Messages
- 681
Well, basically a 961 is a 961, so were there 50 bikes ready to be shipped, or even just 50 sets of parts for bikes, what stops the tin shed in Donington to convert/build them into standard 961s and to satisfy the poor souls who have paid in many cases not just deposits, but for their whole bike, and are kept waiting for months if not years?
I suspect there are no 50 sets of parts for SE's, let alone bikes. As to going back on a word I am sure people who were told their bike was going to be buit in January, then in February, then in March, then... got a slightly biased view on who has difficulties to go back on his word.
Given the small number of bikes delivered I find it remarkable there seems to be no lack of secondhand ones. Whether this is because "investors" bought them, only to find out they are no "investment"- same as the "investor" types found with the Norton "Limited Edition Classic" in 1988 and in the following 20 years-, or whether they were disappointed with what they got I do not know. I have heard both opinions.
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2004
- Messages
- 21,090
ZFD said:
Oh, come on now, ZFD, that's complete conjecture on your part, and the 50 SEs may have been shipped to the USA ages ago, unless you have some proof to the contrary? You can of course speculate all you like-and why not-everyone else does;-but I don't think you know any more than the rest of us, in fact, it sounds a little like "sour grapes" to me, at least S G is making a Norton motorcycle that people do actually want to buy.
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2010
- Messages
- 681
I could tell you about new Nortons being in N.Y. docks not getting out into the US because they had no homologation, in the 1990s, but I won't do it. It makes 50 crates with new, unhomologated bikes kept in customs for months on end unlikely.
You are entitled to your opinion, I got mine- and some factual information supporting it. However, let us come back to this discussion in a few years time, and see who was right. I should be delighted if it was me.
I was a believer in a bright future for Norton in the rotary era and shut out all information to the contrary- which I had, but declined to put into context- so I think I understand your honorable motives.
You are entitled to your opinion, I got mine- and some factual information supporting it. However, let us come back to this discussion in a few years time, and see who was right. I should be delighted if it was me.
I was a believer in a bright future for Norton in the rotary era and shut out all information to the contrary- which I had, but declined to put into context- so I think I understand your honorable motives.
- Status
