Bushman's Rebuild Update

skinthespin said:
Hi,

What is there to acknowledge on this thread?.....

No one is saying you didn't help Rich, but the reality is Canada hasn't had a bike for years and the game has changed.

Bearing all this in mind why would I (or any of the staff here) want to get involved in this nonsense?

Simon
Click to expand...


On checking the official Norton Website it still lists a Canadian Distributor and no fewer than six dealers for Norton Motorcycles across Canada.
A veritable hive of sales activity is envisioned!

If no bikes have been shipped to Canada for years it seems time to update the Norton site to reflect reality.

Glen
 
84ok said:
might ask yourself why new potential customers would be interested in a product, where there is plenty of evidence showing 'nonsense' from the top, including a sorry history of a new model introduction, that is all blatant to todays market, who have easy access to info,

not to mention easy available options with other brands, that includes a history of full & established support
Click to expand...

I can confirm that this is exactly what is going through this 'potential' customer's thoughts. I ordered a Commando Sport early in March 2018 after a great deal of research (and angst) and I had thought that the early troubles, in both engineering and maturity, were behind us. Like many others my mechanical skills are pretty basic and I rely heavily on commitment to after-sales support, in all its forms; the earlier exchanges just make me very nervous about ownership.
 
TimS said:
I can confirm that this is exactly what is going through this 'potential' customer's thoughts. I ordered a Commando Sport early in March 2018 after a great deal of research (and angst) and I had thought that the early troubles, in both engineering and maturity, were behind us. Like many others my mechanical skills are pretty basic and I rely heavily on commitment to after-sales support, in all its forms; the earlier exchanges just make me very nervous about ownership.
Click to expand...

Tim Welcome
If you are based in the UK ,You should be backed up with factory support.
Norton have reported updates to the earlier models to refine and improve newer model bikes.
You should be looking forward to the arrival of your bike, and make judgement when you have jumped in the saddle and taken it for a spin, personally i don't think you will be disappointed.
cheers
Paul
 
Many thanks Paul, I do appreciate your kind response. I am very much looking forward to my new 961 and it will be both loved and ridden hard, as it should. Given that it will be heavily outnumbered by classic and modern Italians in my garage I should be no stranger to a bit of fettling, and having both the factory, and Krazy Horse within reach will definitely help.

Cheers

Tim
 
TimS said:
Many thanks Paul, I do appreciate your kind response. I am very much looking forward to my new 961 and it will be both loved and ridden hard, as it should. Given that it will be heavily outnumbered by classic and modern Italians in my garage I should be no stranger to a bit of fettling, and having both the factory, and Krazy Horse within reach will definitely help.

Cheers

Tim
Click to expand...

Tim, I went backwards and forwards like a fiddlers elbow, from ‘can’t live without one’ to ‘wouldn’t touch one with a barge pole’. Sometimes in the same day it seemed!

But I finally took the plunge with the anniversary deal.

Mine was only road legal in March, and you know how bad the weather has been in the U.K.! Nevertheless, I have already done nearly as many miles as I did in a year on my R nine T!

And I think that says an awful lot. As good as the nine T is (and it is a great bike), the Norton just makes me want to ride it. I’ve not found another modern bike that does that for me.

No, the bikes aren’t perfect, not even now. Neither is the factory response to everything. But both are light years ahead of where they were in the early days.

It really is a great bike now, and my advice to anyone sitting on the fence still, would be to go for it, cos if you don’t, you really will miss out.

However, I’m not sure I’d give that same advice to someone on a different continent to the factory with no nearby dealer. I admire the boys who still buy them in those circumstances hugely.

Living near Krazy Horse, you really have absolutely nothing to worry about Tim.

It’s a shame you didn’t come along to Krazy Horse yesterday, there was a gaggle of us there and you could have ‘sounded us out’ as to what 961 ownership is really like.

You’d have left happy!
 
Fast Eddie said:
Tim, I went backwards and forwards like a fiddlers elbow, from ‘can’t live without one’ to ‘wouldn’t touch one with a barge pole’. Sometimes in the same day it seemed!

But I finally took the plunge with the anniversary deal.

Mine was only road legal in March, and you know how bad the weather has been in the U.K.! Nevertheless, I have already done nearly as many miles as I did in a year on my R nine T!

And I think that says an awful lot. As good as the nine T is (and it is a great bike), the Norton just makes me want to ride it. I’ve not found another modern bike that does that for me.

No, the bikes aren’t perfect, not even now. Neither is the factory response to everything. But both are light years ahead of where they were in the early days.

It really is a great bike now, and my advice to anyone sitting on the fence still, would be to go for it, cos if you don’t, you really will miss out.

However, I’m not sure I’d give that same advice to someone on a different continent to the factory with no nearby dealer. I admire the boys who still buy them in those circumstances hugely.

Living near Krazy Horse, you really have absolutely nothing to worry about Tim.

It’s a shame you didn’t come along to Krazy Horse yesterday, there was a gaggle of us there and you could have ‘sounded us out’ as to what 961 ownership is really like.

You’d have left happy!
Click to expand...

Thanks Ed, this helps a lot. I was pretty sure I couldn't be the only one dithering over what should be a straightforward decision. I rode Krazy Horse's test bike and you're right - it's a cracker. So much so that I passed on a R Nine T, a Thruxton R and a Z900RS in favour of it, all of which I rode first. It's going to be a long wait but it's clear I'm in very good company so I'll swing by KH next time there's a meet, probably on my Buell S1 if I don't have my Commando by then. I'll be sure to say hello :)
 
Last edited:
Buying a motorcycle should be a straightforward decision...

Really?! It’s all about emotion and feeling. Nothing could be more confusing for a man !

Krazy Horse isn’t a regular venue for us lot.

Our next meet up is currently planned for May 20th at the National Motorcyle Museum, see this thread: https://www.accessnorton.com/Norton...ck-national-motorcycle-museum-solihull.25026/

But don’t give up on the nine T altogether... you should have both. You deserve it.

Wanna buy mine ?!

One owner... low miles... miles not increasing cos owner prefers his 961 !!
 
I replied in detail on Tony's A rebuild thread .... it is running fantastic, it is like a new bike, no complaints. Need to re-torque the head now - it's at 300 miles..ooops..(should be 100) been having too much fun riding it.
 
bushman said:
Day 4: Another productive evening. Scrolled the exhaust rocker spindles using a boring bar by hand with a small HSS cutter, honed the surface for clearance, cleaned and applied assembly lube. Install rockers, set valve clearances, re-torqued the head bolts. Installed the rocker cover, the primary cover, gear shifter and the fuel injectors. Connected a whole lot of cables and hoses. Starting to look like an engine again. Lots of fiddly stuff to come, but looks like will be running this weekend...yeah....it came off the road in August last year, long time in the process.
Click to expand...

It's been a while since the original posting.
Was wondering if bushman ever got around to examining his modified rocker spindles to see if the scrolling eliminated seizure issues.

TonyA - is this a mod that you have done to your 961?
Any findings?
 
No , I have done no mods . The rockers and shafts were examined during the rebuild at 6,000 + miles. Then 2,000 miles later I did the head re-torque . This gave me an opportunity to inspect for tightness on rockers and spindles . It felt fine , so I did my re-torque and reset the lifter adjustment. I am now some where above 14,500 miles and going great.
 
Tony,
Thanks for the update, it sounds promising, hopefully the rocker issue is an isolated incident that only a few encounter.

I'm hoping Bushman will chime in with an update too.
 
Bushman's Rebuild Update
skinthespin said:
My official answer is no, Rob won't be chiming in.

The 961 range of bikes was first sold in 2010. It has been under constant development since then and even now has a small team of people constantly refining and developing the bike. These developments are predominantly down to constant drive for quality control as volumes grow and the need for tighter legislation. As you know we have just gone through Euro 4, 5 is next. Anyone that has seen a current Euro 4 bike versus an older one can see the differences. As such it is impossible for ANY Norton employee to know and keep on top of all the changes on the bike.

Thanks

Simon
Click to expand...

I know this is a old post, but I’m going to call bullshit on this.
The euro specs are for emissions.
I have a 2016 Commando that never gets oil in the air box. And hardly ever gets any oil in the bottle.
My 2017 Dominator naked on the other hand, “ALWAYS” has oil literally dripping oil from the air box and the bottle gets oil in it. I’m fine with the oil in the bottle. But the air box oil is annoying as hell. Not to mention my Dominator starter also leaks oil after every ride. This bike was also fitted with a factory installed transmission vent!
Plus the cam cover gasket was broken at the oil filter bore and caused my bike a loss of oil pressure.
Explain to me how one installs a gasket like this?
The bike only had less than 500 miles on it at the time.
Bushman's Rebuild Update
 
Voodooo said:
My 2017 Dominator naked on the other hand, “ALWAYS” has oil literally dripping oil from the air box and the bottle gets oil in it. I’m fine with the oil in the bottle. But the air box oil is annoying as hell. Not to mention my Dominator starter also leaks oil after every ride. This bike was also fitted with a factory installed transmission vent!
Click to expand...
Scott,
I am sure another Dominator owner on the forum has installed a one way valve in the oil line to the air box to try and cure this problem - I can’t remember which thread but think it might be iwilson
John
 
Voodooo said:
My 2017 Dominator naked on the other hand, “ALWAYS” has oil literally dripping oil from the air box and the bottle gets oil in it. I’m fine with the oil in the bottle. But the air box oil is annoying as hell.
Click to expand...

Do you have the one way valve installed on the return line from the oil cooler?
Is the oil separator installed right way up?

Two areas that can cause problems.
 
Eljahara said:
Scott,
Found the thread - it was iwilson!
Unraveling the 961 part two (oil in the air box)
Click to expand...

As it turned out I didn't need to fit a one way valve. I simply redid the plumbing (back to the MKI layout) and although I could have had the breather pipe terminate in the airbox I instead added a small oil separator just to see how effective my new plumbing was. Turned out it was very effective with only a tiny amount of oil making it into the separator.

Voodooo if your Naked still has the banjo bolts on the cam cover you might want to change the breathing back to the MKI style and just vent to a little oil separator and then to the air - works a treat for me. That way you can throw away the airbox oil bottle and never have oil going anywhere near the airbox (just remember to block the hole in the airbox where the breather hose used to go).

Bushman's Rebuild Update

Bushman's Rebuild Update

Bushman's Rebuild Update
 
Thanks Ian,
Remembered you had fixed the issue but couldn’t remember how so thought I would point Scott in the general direction. Elegant solution, a pity it wasn’t widely adopted ;)
Cheers
John
 
BritTwit said:
Do you have the one way valve installed on the return line from the oil cooler?
Is the oil separator installed right way up?

Two areas that can cause problems.
Click to expand...
Are you referring to the black anodized aluminum inline filter screen from frame oil tank to oil pump? Then yes I do. Only on my Dominator naked. My commando didn’t come factory fitted with the inline filter screen but I installed one.
 

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