Solihull is back in business?

TonyA said:
Norton have to get their parts from somewhere ? Maybe this firm is where they will come from. If Norton will make 40 more Commandos this may be what happens.
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When we see motorcycles rolling off the assembly line then I'll believe it. And unless the have more that "40" parts left then maybe we will see some parts availability.
 
Anyone who thinks TVS cares about past 961 owners, are complete fools.
Mine are now just display pieces.
 
Does anyone know if these final 40 (or whatever the number was) have actually been produced?

I know the National Motorcycle Museum had one, but that was only one, and according to Stu it swiftly returned to the ‘office’ (I don’t like calling it a factory… factories manufacture things…)

The whole saga is getting old now. I just hope they‘re keeping their powder dry, and working flat out towards, a big display and announcement at the NEC show in Dec…
 
Regarding this Chinese engine deal fiasco, Garner splashed that ‘ceremonial signing’ all over the media, so I’m thinking that it couldn’t have been some secret under the table deal that TVS weren’t aware of.

They must have known. And they still proceeded with their plans. So they must have been assured of engine supply, so there must be an engine supply deal in place in my opinion.

My guess is that the deal was for a ‘sole supplier to NM’ and also prohibited them selling to others. If I’m right, it’s actually the Chinese who got shafted cos they‘ve invested in an engine which (let’s be honest) isn’t really very good by modern standards AND has almost no market !

I just hope the final 40 ‘Classic 961s’ don‘t have ‘made in China‘ cast into the engine cases :eek:
 
Fast Eddie said:
So, you gonna start a thread in the ‘other motorcycles’ section about your Hot Rod LRS project ?

Please…?
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Not inside information but the NOC have been asked to move there van because TVS need the space due to taking on more workers/staff!
Is this good news!
 
Fast Eddie said:
Does anyone know if these final 40 (or whatever the number was) have actually been produced?

I know the National Motorcycle Museum had one, but that was only one, and according to Stu it swiftly returned to the ‘office’ (I don’t like calling it a factory… factories manufacture things…)

The whole saga is getting old now. I just hope they‘re keeping their powder dry, and working flat out towards, a big display and announcement at the NEC show in Dec…
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The #1 donated to the Motorcycle Museum raffle, and you should give them credit for that, sat in the motorcycle museum for a long time. Only just gone out of the reception area.

The factory produced a number of bikes to fulfil existing orders (carried over from OldNewNorton?) which I saw sitting in the factory but they were not releasing them because of quality issues. That was a month or two ago. I got the impression that they are interested in supporting existing owners but these good intentions often change when the bean counters take an intertest......
 
Fast Eddie said:
My guess is that the deal was for a ‘sole supplier to NM’ and also prohibited them selling to others.
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No, it was the opposite, the Chinese gained all the rights and Garner wrote a letter to the supply base telling them the new Chinese supplier processed all the manufacturing and design rights not Norton and the supply base should now deal with the Chinese owner. Selling off the crown jewels as the castle crumbled around him.

More detail

Norton sold 961 engine rights just before going under

Reports are emerging that claim that ex-Norton CEO, Stuart Garner, sold the rights and tooling to the 961 engine platform in January this year
www.visordown.com www.visordown.com

REPORTS are emerging that seem to show that the ex-Norton CEO, Stuart Garner, sold off the rights and tooling to the 961 engines to Chinese Jinlang of January this year.

Note this is a different Chinese company than the one involved with on the 650 twin for the Atlas.
 
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kommando said:
No, it was the opposite, the Chinese gained all the rights and Garner wrote a letter to the supply base telling them the new Chinese supplier processed all the manufacturing and design rights not Norton and the supply base should now deal with the Chinese owner. Selling off the crown jewels as the castle crumbled around him.

More detail

Norton sold 961 engine rights just before going under

Reports are emerging that claim that ex-Norton CEO, Stuart Garner, sold the rights and tooling to the 961 engine platform in January this year
www.visordown.com www.visordown.com

REPORTS are emerging that seem to show that the ex-Norton CEO, Stuart Garner, sold off the rights and tooling to the 961 engines to Chinese Jinlang of January this year.
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Wow, that’s pretty shocking!

In that case I’d say future parts supply looks precious…
 
Clive said:
The #1 donated to the Motorcycle Museum raffle, and you should give them credit for that, sat in the motorcycle museum for a long time. Only just gone out of the reception area.

The factory produced a number of bikes to fulfil existing orders (carried over from OldNewNorton?) which I saw sitting in the factory but they were not releasing them because of quality issues. That was a month or two ago. I got the impression that they are interested in supporting existing owners but these good intentions often change when the bean counters take an intertest......
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That’s encouraging, but I still wonder if many / any have actually been delivered yet?

Part of my reason for wondering is this: if TVS make and sell some 961s then I would have thought they have a legal duty to provide service parts for 961s for a number of years?
 
kommando said:
It was just the engine, so the cycle parts have a better chance, but TVS will find it hard to muster any enthusiasm for the 961.
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I guess that by ‘engine’ we mean complete engine, primary, transmission? If so that’s a lot of areas that we know will need parts!

However, on the flip side, presumably the Chinese manufacturer wants to make something from their investment? So maybe they have plans?

And yes, re the rest, many suppliers were shafted by Garner, so they’re unlikely to be queuing up to offer tiny volumes at tiny prices…
 
Here is the email from TVS regarding the parts situation.


At the moment, we are still preparing to re-open our parts department at our new site in Solihull UK. Parts of the delay in re opening has been compounded by putting systems into place for the first time, and also testing procedures we have put in place for parts designed, manufactured or sourced from the previous company (NMUL) now in liquidation. I appreciate that this doesn't assist with your enquiry, and we will always endeavour to assist customers if we can with the information that we inherited from the previous company, which is very poor and in cases non-existent. I can keep your details on file and get back in contact when I hear anything in regard to opening. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Scott Gibson
Aftersales Administrator
 
Well at least they’re saying something.

Strange job title though, they don’t really seem to need an ‘aftersales’ anything just yet now do they ?!
 
Fast Eddie said:
However, on the flip side, presumably the Chinese manufacturer wants to make something from their investment? So maybe they have plans?
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Absolutely,
That's why we may see in the future from Jinlang:
- 961 Flaming Dragon (flaming refers to waste gate from supercharger)
- 961 Rabid Panda (Hooligan version - twin headlight - lots of angled plastic bits)
- 961 Road and Belt (Chinese version of the Norton Interstate)
o_O
 
Fast Eddie said:
Well at least they’re saying something.

Strange job title though, they don’t really seem to need an ‘aftersales’ anything just yet now do they ?!
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That's our thought as well. We reached out to a few parts suppliers and they won't do business with Norton no matter the entity unless they are paid either upfront or upon delivery.
 
Fast Eddie said:
That’s encouraging, but I still wonder if many / any have actually been delivered yet?

Part of my reason for wondering is this: if TVS make and sell some 961s then I would have thought they have a legal duty to provide service parts for 961s for a number of years?
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This is the catch 22 of providing parts I was talking about. Providing parts could mean to some as assuming liability for previously made and a smart business wouldn't assume the liability no matter the hold harmless agreement etc. But if they have a good stock of parts from NMUL then selling those would be a good way to generate income. That's a big "if"
 
City Garage said:
........ Providing parts could mean to some as assuming liability for previously made and a smart business wouldn't assume the liability no matter the hold harmless agreement etc.
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Dunno about that.
Isn't the tvs relationship to Garner's Norton - name only, no assumed liability at all?
Similar to the Norvil relationship to the old Norton-Villiers firm?
Does Norvil assume liability for machine/engine part defects produced by Norton-Villiers?

Seems to me tvs could have a side business supplying 961 parts (made by Jinlang) to Norton owners.
Thereby establishing a connection between 961 owners, and the new Norton-tvs company.
That connection if positive, would certainly breed customer loyalty, and possibly future sales.
And without tvs having to manufacture or source any new components from suppliers other than Jinlang.
Of course this assumes that the Jinlang produces 961 parts, and they are not crap.
 
City Garage said:
Here is the email from TVS regarding the parts situation.


At the moment, we are still preparing to re-open our parts department at our new site in Solihull UK. Parts of the delay in re opening has been compounded by putting systems into place for the first time, and also testing procedures we have put in place for parts designed, manufactured or sourced from the previous company (NMUL) now in liquidation. I appreciate that this doesn't assist with your enquiry, and we will always endeavour to assist customers if we can with the information that we inherited from the previous company, which is very poor and in cases non-existent. I can keep your details on file and get back in contact when I hear anything in regard to opening. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Scott Gibson
Aftersales Administrator
Click to expand...

My last reply, August 17th..
"
Good Morning,



Apologies that you’ve not yet received a quotation for your parts enquiry.



As Norton Motorcycle Co. Ltd. continues to settle into its new Solihull location, we’re putting many systems in place for the first time. Unfortunately, the first time is not always correct, and there are associated delays. Part of settling in also highlights that there remains gaps in the supplier, technical, and parts information as passed on by the previous owners of Norton Motorcycles, NMUL.



We remain committed to help you as much as possible, and will provide you with regular up-dates. Although we have no legal responsibility for the bikes built by NMUL, our desire is to deliver and support your parts enquiry.



Kind regards,



Scott Gibson"
 

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