Why Norton should definitely continue to build the 961

Well there goes all my hope for TVS.
It’s a failure.

They couldn’t even get the number of wheels right. When did 3 wheels become 2?
 

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worntorn said:
We've done 60,000 miles of touring with our Vincent.
I'm the 6th owner, the bike has outlasted the first 5 owners and will easily outlast me.
Every owner since 1947 has ridden the bike a long way so the total mileage done is several hundred thousand, with a few rebuilds. It was originally sent to the Isle of Malta in 1947, then to a new owner in Scotland in the mid 50s. An English owner had it through the sixties. In 1975 he sold it to a young fellow in Australia who used it as his only transport and to ride across the Continent several times on summer holidays.
He eventually sold it to an older Australian gentleman who rode it for a decade then sold it to me ( in Canada) in 2003.
We've ridden it in three provinces and all of the western states plus shipped it to the UK where I flogged it around the IOM circuit at up to 115 mph. After that we toured England and Scotland with it, about 2500 miles.
We regularly used the bike to attend the North American Rally in California, a 3000 mile round trip.
We could load the bike up tomorrow and head out, I wouldn't give it a second thought, even though it is a 75 year old bike with hundreds of thousands of miles on the clock.
The only things that have broken on the bike during our mileage were some rear spokes and 2 speedo cables.


Maybe a 961 could do this, but I think all considered, it would be a very tough act to follow.

Sometimes it sinks in that people have been having fun riding this old thing for 75 years now. As near as I could tell from research, it's never been laid up for very long, always on the move or ready to go.
This is the bike

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er, I wasn’t being entirely serious in trying to make a ‘sensible’ comparison. I do get annoyed at the high prices and over done reverence for big Vincents.
 
trident sam said:
Jokes and snipes about Harleys ?.......... can't say I've ever heard any :)
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Albert Einstein arrives at a dinner party. He introduces himself to the first person he sees and asks, "What's your IQ?" The man answers, "189." "That is wonderful!" says Albert. "We will talk about the Grand Unification Theory and the mysteries of the universe. We will have much to discuss!" Next, Albert introduces himself to a woman and asks, "What's your IQ?" The lady answers, "143." "That is great!" responds Albert. "We can discuss politics and current affairs. We will have much to discuss!" Albert goes to another person and asks, "What's your IQ?" The man answers, "58." Albert's face lights up as he exclaims, "So you're the one who rides the Harley parked out front!"

source: http://www.jokes4us.com/miscellaneousjokes/corporatejokes/harleydavidsonjokes.html

Two politicians go out to lunch together. In the middle of lunch one of them jumps up and says, "Bugger. I forgot to lock the office safe before we left."

The other politician replies "No worries. We're both here."
 
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Fast Eddie said:
As a Harley rider, I’d say that’s pretty accurate pretty often !
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Depends which way you take it; The HD is a nice uncomplicated bike and so long as you keep putting the right liquids in the right 'oles it just goes when you want it to without requiring an advanced diploma in Motorcycle Systems to diagnose obscure parasitic current drain issues/ relay/ oil breather/ idle motor issues.....
 
Clive said:
Depends which way you take it; The HD is a nice uncomplicated bike and so long as you keep putting the right liquids in the right 'oles it just goes when you want it to without requiring an advanced diploma in Motorcycle Systems to diagnose obscure parasitic current drain issues/ relay/ oil breather/ idle motor issues.....
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It wasn’t a comment aimed at HDs… it was aimed at HD owners… or some of them at least, present company excepted of course.
 
Interesting read - lots more investment in Norton (gotta be a good thing) and a further indication of the intend to pursue electric alternatives. Australian Motorcycle News - May 22.

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Stephen_Spencer said:
Interesting read - lots more investment in Norton (gotta be a good thing) and a further indication of the intend to pursue electric alternatives. Australian Motorcycle News - May 22.

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When will this talk of how much invested ever end and talk of progress begin?
Enough already.
What brand, that has invested the amount of money that TVS spent operate out of a run down shed? Of course it’s state of the art! It’s brand new.

Start showing new bike progress because this old news is, well…old.

We and everyone else knows how much TVS paid for the brand and invested into the company.

And seriously, how flawed was the V4SV?
The V4SV Is a TVS bike, not a Garner era bike.
 
Ah Voodoo, your posts feel like a warm embrace on a cold night - all cuddly and reassuring! My advice, don‘t ever go into PR:oops:!
 
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Well, It looks like the article is mostly accurate.
Of course the much flawed V4 is the V4SS, not the new V4SV.
If I were Dr Bob, I would be on the phone to Hamish correcting him, IMMEDIATELY.
As far as content is concerned, I would give the article an A-.
 
Stephen_Spencer said:
Ah Voodoo, your posts feel like a warm embrace on a cold night - all cuddly and reassuring! My advice, don‘t ever go into PR:oops:!
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Why? Because I would proof read the article before publishing it in print?

The article is the same as all of them. How many horses must be beat dead over the same information?
 
Voodoo is right.

Yes, it’s great news they’ve invested the sums they have. BUT it’s gonna be needed. It’ll get soaked up faster than a Fosters in an Ozzy summer !

And it is most certainly not new news.

Yes, it’s great they’ve got a modern state of the art factory. I help companies build, commission and ramp up new factories. Norton are not unique, it happens a lot, and I have yet to see a brand new factory be built and then kitted out with old worn out machinery… in other words, how can it possibly not be state of the art?

The investment and the factory are indeed great steps, but they are old news. And we’re motorcycle enthusiasts at the end of the day… not factory enthusiasts…!

Norton desperately need to pull their finger out.
 
Voodooo said:
Why? Because I would proof read the article before publishing it in print?

The article is the same as all of them. How many horses must be beat dead over the same information?
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What I have been trying to put forward is, in my opinion, that there is plenty of room for some optimism when we read articles such as the one below. When we see a completed high tech manufacturing facility (if you don’t like the term ‘state of the art’) that says ‘Norton’ on its front; investment of huge sums of money by a significant automotive maufacturing company; the PM talking directly about Norton Motorcycles and the fact that this trade partnership is linked to a larger trade/manufacturing strategy between the UK and India; even rows of finished bikes (albeit legacy machines) and a stated intent to take Norton forward to again become a significant marque.

Yes there is also plenty of room for skepticism/criticism about future intent and the speed of progress, and even parallels to be drawn about rhetoric/government investment to that which occurred at Garner Norton, but I think we would agree that this is a very different scenario.

You have every right as someone who has invested so heavily in Norton to vent your displeasure with progress, as I have in choosing to remain optimistic whilst recognising that TVS Norton will likely make plenty more mistakes in what is a pretty significant undertaking in a very competitive market.

www.nortonmotorcycles.com

TVS Invests £100 Million | Norton Motorcycles

TVS Motor Company, today announced an investment of £100 million in Norton Motorcycles
www.nortonmotorcycles.com www.nortonmotorcycles.com

Why Norton should definitely continue to build the 961
Why Norton should definitely continue to build the 961
 
Stephen_Spencer said:
What I have been trying to put forward is, in my opinion, that there is plenty of room for some optimism when we read articles such as the one below. When we see a completed high tech manufacturing facility (if you don’t like the term ‘state of the art’) that says ‘Norton’ on its front; investment of huge sums of money by a significant automotive maufacturing company; the PM talking directly about Norton Motorcycles and the fact that this trade partnership is linked to a larger trade/manufacturing strategy between the UK and India; even rows of finished bikes (albeit legacy machines) and a stated intent to take Norton forward to again become a significant marque.

Yes there is also plenty of room for skepticism/criticism about future intent and the speed of progress, and even parallels to be drawn about rhetoric/government investment to that which occurred at Garner Norton, but I think we would agree that this is a very different scenario.

You have every right as someone who has invested so heavily in Norton to vent your displeasure with progress, as I have in choosing to remain optimistic whilst recognising that TVS Norton will likely make plenty more mistakes in what is a pretty significant undertaking in a very competitive market.

www.nortonmotorcycles.com

TVS Invests £100 Million | Norton Motorcycles

TVS Motor Company, today announced an investment of £100 million in Norton Motorcycles
www.nortonmotorcycles.com www.nortonmotorcycles.com

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Just out of curiosity. What is your opinion and meaning for TVS to show this?
 

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Voodooo said:
Just out of curiosity. What is your opinion and meaning for TVS to show this?
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On the surface - a great PR image; a line of very sexy, shiney new Norton motorcycles displayed on an immaculate, modern (read efficient, capable and ready) production facility. Norton in action.

For those of us who have looked a little closer:

- We know that we have nothing to sell you yet but look, we are now building bikes and if you are a little patient we will shortly be producing the V4SV/V4CR and the 961 (if this Norton article is to be believed). Keep the faith, we are moving on to bigger and better things.

- And oh, by the way, we’ve done the right thing by Norton owners past by honouring orders placed with the previous company. We did’nt have to do this but we get brand loyalty and the heritage angle.

Any and all of the above.

Interesting statement about the ‘imminent launch of the re-engineered V4SV and 961 Commando’. Is this our answer on continued production of the 961 beyond the legacy bikes?
 
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