Why Norton should definitely continue to build the 961

I should add, not that there's anything wrong with slathering adulation!

Glen
Nor riding the machine when, where and how owners choose. If that guy is gaining enjoyment and satisfaction from riding to the coffee shop and back then good on him. He’s ploughed money into the marque and is providing a rolling advertisement. At least he’s still riding it at his elevated age. Wonder how many 961’s are up on plinths or suspended from SWR in expensive man caves. Now that is a travesty :eek:!

I reckon the V4 will sell because it’s an (extremely expensive) exclusive machine, from a re-invigorated iconic marque (probably the most iconic?) and is also drop dead gorgeous! In the main, I think this sort of clientele are’nt gonna care too much about the ‘2’. Deep down, in a place that bikers rarely go, we know that we aren’t really capable of using a 200+ hp rocket ship anyway. Other than if we have the opportunity to scare ourselves shitless on the track!

Don’t care who buys it or indeed, how they use it as long as it sells!

Long live Norton.

Why Norton should definitely continue to build the 961
 
Nor riding the machine when, where and how owners choose. If that guy is gaining enjoyment and satisfaction from riding to the coffee shop and back then good on him. He’s ploughed money into the marque and is providing a rolling advertisement. At least he’s still riding it at his elevated age. Wonder how many 961’s are up on plinths or suspended from SWR in expensive man caves. Now that is a travesty :eek:!

I reckon the V4 will sell because it’s an (extremely expensive) exclusive machine, from a re-invigorated iconic marque (probably the most iconic?) and is also drop dead gorgeous! In the main, I think this sort of clientele are’nt gonna care too much about the ‘2’. Deep down, in a place that bikers rarely go, we know that we aren’t really capable of using a 200+ hp rocket ship anyway. Other than if we have the opportunity to scare ourselves shitless on the track!

Don’t care who buys it or indeed, how they use it as long as it sells!

Long live Norton.

View attachment 94851
That’s an Arrow exhaust. Same muffler that’s on my ducati.
 

Attachments

  • Why Norton should definitely continue to build the 961
    9A8C5CD5-FA35-4EB0-82FE-5301C91A859E.jpeg
    873 KB · Views: 110
  • Why Norton should definitely continue to build the 961
    73DE8366-0DF9-4D13-959D-5F89A07DD132.jpeg
    458.1 KB · Views: 102
  • Why Norton should definitely continue to build the 961
    732E61BF-612F-46C9-819A-40C2788264D3.jpeg
    431.9 KB · Views: 91
How many times does the press have to mention the words “state of the art”. “World class manufacturing”? Literally every article says this at least 5-10 times in every report.

It’s also clear that they are working towards electric motorcycles.

How British will the TVS Norton be? 100%? 90%? 50%?
I’m sure since TVS is Indian owned and has manufacturing in India, they’ll be using their other factory’s to produce parts in India.

They may engineer, design and assemble the bikes in the UK, but I’m interested to know how much is really made in the UK. It can’t be 100%
There is a huge investment in 'state of the art' equipment at the Solihull factory - predominately test equipment. There is a large welding area for frame/swingarm manufacture and also engine/frame assembly areas. And rows of PCs for design work. What there is not there are rows of cnc equipment. Unfortunately almost every component has become massively more complex - from pistons to gaskets so it is getting less economic for a manufacturer to make these components on site or an outside company working in low volumes. In days gone by when technologically simple bikes were produced in the thousands in British factories this was possible but not now - economy of scale means that a supplier has to manufacture a component on a large scale to recoup the investment in the equipment required. And the days when an British engineer would use his skill and experience to manufacture components is gone - tighter tolerances and consistency means manufacturing is now down to an operator looking after a cnc machine running a program which has been developed somewhere in the world. So is there a difference between a cnc manufactured component which has been run on a machine in India or Croydon? Does an Indian or British operator pressing the RUN button make a difference? So is the 'made in Britain' thing a 'support UK jobs' or a belief that British made products are better?

The New New Norton mission seems to be to make sure that a 'British made' product is seen to be reliable as that is the bedrock of the brand. When you are sitting by the side of the road with oil spewing out of your stricken bike are you going to be thinking 'at least the component that failed was lovingly hand crafted in Britain'?

If you really want a machine made in the UK in a traditional manner by skilled craftsmen then may I point you in the direction of Morgan Sportscars. And yes they use BMW and Ford engines....
 
There is a huge investment in 'state of the art' equipment at the Solihull factory - predominately test equipment. There is a large welding area for frame/swingarm manufacture and also engine/frame assembly areas. And rows of PCs for design work. What there is not there are rows of cnc equipment. Unfortunately almost every component has become massively more complex - from pistons to gaskets so it is getting less economic for a manufacturer to make these components on site or an outside company working in low volumes. In days gone by when technologically simple bikes were produced in the thousands in British factories this was possible but not now - economy of scale means that a supplier has to manufacture a component on a large scale to recoup the investment in the equipment required. And the days when an British engineer would use his skill and experience to manufacture components is gone - tighter tolerances and consistency means manufacturing is now down to an operator looking after a cnc machine running a program which has been developed somewhere in the world. So is there a difference between a cnc manufactured component which has been run on a machine in India or Croydon? Does an Indian or British operator pressing the RUN button make a difference? So is the 'made in Britain' thing a 'support UK jobs' or a belief that British made products are better?

The New New Norton mission seems to be to make sure that a 'British made' product is seen to be reliable as that is the bedrock of the brand. When you are sitting by the side of the road with oil spewing out of your stricken bike are you going to be thinking 'at least the component that failed was lovingly hand crafted in Britain'?

If you really want a machine made in the UK in a traditional manner by skilled craftsmen then may I point you in the direction of Morgan Sportscars. And yes they use BMW and Ford engines....
I think BUILT in Britain is the best we can hope for. My 06 Hinckley Triumph may be one of the last of the MADE in Britain?
 
  • Like
Reactions: baz
There is a huge investment in 'state of the art' equipment at the Solihull factory - predominately test equipment. There is a large welding area for frame/swingarm manufacture and also engine/frame assembly areas. And rows of PCs for design work. What there is not there are rows of cnc equipment. Unfortunately almost every component has become massively more complex - from pistons to gaskets so it is getting less economic for a manufacturer to make these components on site or an outside company working in low volumes. In days gone by when technologically simple bikes were produced in the thousands in British factories this was possible but not now - economy of scale means that a supplier has to manufacture a component on a large scale to recoup the investment in the equipment required. And the days when an British engineer would use his skill and experience to manufacture components is gone - tighter tolerances and consistency means manufacturing is now down to an operator looking after a cnc machine running a program which has been developed somewhere in the world. So is there a difference between a cnc manufactured component which has been run on a machine in India or Croydon? Does an Indian or British operator pressing the RUN button make a difference? So is the 'made in Britain' thing a 'support UK jobs' or a belief that British made products are better?

The New New Norton mission seems to be to make sure that a 'British made' product is seen to be reliable as that is the bedrock of the brand. When you are sitting by the side of the road with oil spewing out of your stricken bike are you going to be thinking 'at least the component that failed was lovingly hand crafted in Britain'?

If you really want a machine made in the UK in a traditional manner by skilled craftsmen then may I point you in the direction of Morgan Sportscars. And yes they use BMW and Ford engines....
I'll debate the skilled craftsmen at Morgan...We work on them here and the fit and finish of some of them are horrible. But getting away from the S&S engine will be a good thing since that engine is obsolete.
 
I think BUILT in Britain is the best we can hope for. My 06 Hinckley Triumph may be one of the last of the MADE in Britain?
Which model do you have?
I have an 05 Daytona 955i.
It was assembled in Hinckley. The parts were made in various countries. For example, the forks and brakes are Japanese.
The engine components are mostly from the UK. Assembly of the engine was done in the UK.
Its been completely reliable to date, although I haven't put huge mileage on it.
I usually license it for one week per year , do a thousand or 1500 mile trip on it and scare myself silly a few times.

Others have put huge mileages on those bikes, very few issues.
Assembled in UK and powerful/reliable is possible.

Also, Triumph is still building bikes in the UK. They are currently increasing the UK output by a large factor.

Glen
 
Last edited:
Which model do you have?
I have an 05 Daytona 955i.
It was assembled in Hinckley. The parts were made in various countries. For example, the forks and brakes are Japanese.
The engine components are mostly from the UK. Assembly of the engine was done in the UK.
Its been completely reliable to date, although I haven't put huge mileage on it.
I usually license it for one week per year , do a thousand or 1500 mile trip on it and scare myself silly a few times.

Others have put huge mileages on those bikes, very few issues.
Assembled in UK and powerful/reliable is possible.

Also, Triumph is still building bikes in the UK. They are currently increasing the UK output by a large factor.

Glen
Triumph only made a couple bikes in the UK. One of them the rocket 3. The other the speed triple I believe.
 
Which model do you have?
I have an 05 Daytona 955i.
It was assembled in Hinckley. The parts were made in various countries. For example, the forks and brakes are Japanese.
The engine components are mostly from the UK. Assembly of the engine was done in the UK.
Its been completely reliable to date, although I haven't put huge mileage on it.
I usually license it for one week per year , do a thousand or 1500 mile trip on it and scare myself silly a few times.

Others have put huge mileages on those bikes, very few issues.
Assembled in UK and powerful/reliable is possible.

Also, Triumph is still building bikes in the UK. They are currently increasing the UK output by a large factor.

Glen
 
Triumph only made a couple bikes in the UK. One of them the rocket 3. The other the speed triple I believe.
All of the 955 Daytonas were UK built.
The last 955 was built a long time ago now, in 2006.

These are the current production percentages as of Spring 2022, from Triumph's website.

Where are Triumph motorcycles made? Around 20% of all Triumph bikes are built at a new Hinckley assembly facility. 71% are built at their 3 Thailand facilities and the remaining 9% are assembled at their Brazilian plant. All research and design is carried out at Hinckley.
 
Last edited:
All of the 955 Daytonas were UK built.

These are the current production percentages as of Spring 2022, from Triumph's website.

Where are Triumph motorcycles made? Around 20% of all Triumph bikes are built at a new Hinckley assembly facility. 71% are built at their 3 Thailand facilities and the remaining 9% are assembled at their Brazilian plant. All research and design is carried out at Hinckley.
Well,
My TFC they said was made in the UK. The pictures of it being build tell another story. Why you ask? Because all the faces in the book that came with the bike are those of Asian people. And they show it being a TFC and at a Asian factory.

I never been to the UK (would love to someday) but im pretty sure the UK isn’t a Asian country.
 
My Triumphs are both labelled with Country of Origin as required by Canadian law.
The Daytona label states " Made in the UK " and the Thruxton R shows " Made in Thailand"

There is a very large South Asian population in the UK. Lots of very good Indian takeout too!
 
Last edited:
Which model do you have?
I have an 05 Daytona 955i.
It was assembled in Hinckley. The parts were made in various countries. For example, the forks and brakes are Japanese.
The engine components are mostly from the UK. Assembly of the engine was done in the UK.
Its been completely reliable to date, although I haven't put huge mileage on it.
I usually license it for one week per year , do a thousand or 1500 mile trip on it and scare myself silly a few times.

Others have put huge mileages on those bikes, very few issues.
Assembled in UK and powerful/reliable is possible.

Also, Triumph is still building bikes in the UK. They are currently increasing the UK output by a large factor.

Glen
It's a 900 Scrambler, carbs, not 100% sure of the Made in Britain hence the ?
 
2006 was the peak year for UK builds.
The VIN will show the manufacturing plant location for your bike.
The 11th digit will be a J, or a T or an M.
J is for Jacknell Road, UK
T is for Thailand
M is for Manaus, Brazil
My 955 has a J here, the Thruxton a T.

In researching this I was surprised to learn that some Ducatis are built in Thailand as well as scads of Ohlins components.
Then there's Italian Brembo with its one half million sq ft manufacturing hub in China. Seems to be the way it is in 2022.

 Glen
 
Last edited:
My Triumphs are both labelled with Country of Origin as required by Canadian law.
The Daytona label states " Made in the UK " and the Thruxton R shows " Made in Thailand"

There is a very large South Asian population in the UK. Lots of very good Indian takeout too!
2006 was the peak year for UK builds.
The VIN will show the manufacturing plant location for your bike.
The 11th digit will be a J, or a T or an M.
J is for Jacknell Road, UK
T is for Thailand
M is for Manaus, Brazil
My 955 has a J here, the Thruxton a T.

In researching this I was surprised to learn that some Ducatis are built in Thailand as well as scads of Ohlins components.
Then there's Italian Brembo with its one half million sq ft manufacturing hub in China. Seems to be the way it is in 2022.

 Glen
Yeah but you said 20% of triumph was / is built in UK and I’m not believing that. Only 2 bikes are made in the UK and I’m leaning more like they’re assembled in the UK.

They claimed my TFC was built in the UK and the book that came with the bike as it’s showing them being built are all by Asian workers.

I’m not disagreeing with your claim about 2006 955. They also said the new rocket 3 and the Daytona are made in the UK.

It’s been going on way before 2022.
 
Yeah but you said 20% of triumph was / is built in UK and I’m not believing that. Only 2 bikes are made in the UK and I’m leaning more like they’re assembled in the UK.

They claimed my TFC was built in the UK and the book that came with the bike as it’s showing them being built are all by Asian workers.

I’m not disagreeing with your claim about 2006 955. They also said the new rocket 3 and the Daytona are made in the UK.

It’s been going on way before 2022.
Not my words, it was a quote from Triumph.
Designed in the UK and assembled in UK is about it for the UK built Hinckley Triumphs. They have always brought in components. The whole front end on my Daytona was made in Japan.
If you want a motorcycle that is completely manufactured in the UK, one would have to go back in time quite a long way and be prepared for relatively low performance coupled with high maintenance/ sketchy reliability.
I have some of those!


Glen
 
Last edited:
If you want a motorcycle that is truly manufactured in the UK, one would have to go back in time quite a long way and be prepared for relatively low performance coupled with high maintenance/ sketchy reliability.
I have some of those!


Glen
As do many on this forum.:p
 
Back
Top