961 Engine

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Feb 24, 2014
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My dad and I have literally taken apart his entire engine with the engine still in the frame. It is incredible how easy it is to work on. This engine is extremely well made. Probably more of an engine in terms of strength than most would need or want or perhaps care for. It is sooo simple, yet.... so well thought out. If you look at my recent OIL ROUTE manual, you will see the size of the bearings and thickness of the cases. Also, the simplicity of it all. The bearings are SPLASH fed, so really the oil level could be pretty low for a short period of time and there would be no real reason of concern. I know most could care less about the OIL ROUTE manual, but at least take a minute to study the photos and see the value of the time spent designing this engine. SO MUCH THOUGHT was put into the design. Perhaps because I'm a designer of such things and work at a HIGH PRECISION MACHINE SHOP I look into it deeper than most, but I just wanted to put it out there that as far as the engine is concerned -- IT's A true WORK OF ART - in fact it's a masterpiece!!! Huge thumbs up to everyone involved in engineering that motor from Kenny to all at the NORTON UK facility.

Here is a photo of my dad starting to tear it down. We are making manuals of it all so in due time you will really see what this engine is made of. But manuals take a lot of time to put together. I have all the photos now but would rather not spoil the new upcoming manuals so instead, I will post the photos only in the manuals.

961 Engine
SE107 Repair by Dave C, on Flickr
 
Richard,
I love the technical bulletins about the bike and engine that you have produced.
Keep it coming.
It’s great to know that the motors are substantial units, well designed and constructed.

How is your Dad doing since the accident?
 
Richard. They really do seem to be built to last. Not a light weight by any means. I sure wish I had the skill level of mechanics that you and your dad have so I wouldn't have to be victim of a too busy dealership. So Dad's got a second one, eh? Love the red. My original choice, but too impatient to wait. Glad to see he's doing well. Thanks for posting. The crickets started to chirp around here. Oh, and I notice the red Sport has the upside down fork. Ordered as an option? On Nortons list of options, quite pricey.
 
As far as I'm aware, all bikes in Canada have USD forks. So it's not an option here.
 
Interesting.
It also has radial calipers on the USD forks.
Is this a Mk II version of the 961 Sport?
 
BritTwit said:
Interesting.
It also has radial calipers on the USD forks.
Is this a Mk II version of the 961 Sport?


Def. not. it's a 2013. Actually it was the very first RED 961 in all of North America. Here is the photo from when it left the UK. All heading to Canada all with USD forks.
961 Engine
 
I guess it's more like an SF. Canada only has SE, Cafe or Sport and the cafe's are the exact same but with clip-ons. Then you can add options like carbon, exhaust, fly screen, aluminum tank, etc...
 
richard-7 said:
He doing really good -- thanks for asking.

Here is a pic of him on a test ride after delivery down the street and back on his new 2013 Sport. (Short dead end Street, it was -1°c)

961 Engine
1ST RED 961 IN NORTH AMERICA by Dave C, on Flickr

We put my dads damaged exhaust on it as he has new pipes on order. My son swapped them -- Hope they don't fall off.. You can see my dads bike in the background with no mufflers.
961 Engine
 
I guess your distributor set the final specs with Norton UK for Canadian import.

Your son looks pretty intense wrestling with the silencer.
Best to break them in early. :lol:
 
richard-7 said:
I guess it's more like an SF. Canada only has SE, Cafe or Sport and the cafe's are the exact same but with clip-ons. Then you can add options like carbon, exhaust, fly screen, aluminum tank, etc...

I have a 2013 Sport. When I insured it the VIN showed as a SF not a Sport on the insurance companies database. All Nortons that come to Canada have USD forks and radial brakes.

I just added some carbon fibre bling to my Sport and I made it an SF.

Peter Howes, President of Norton Canada told me it had something to do with getting approval from Transport Canada to sell the bike here. There are time delays and costs involved in getting approvals and each model that has different technical specs has to be approved individually. Norton Canada just reduced the number of models that had to be approved.
 
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