BritTwit said:
So true.
Unfortunately, small startups like Norton UK have minimal engineering and QC resources, so like it or not, owners become the gamma testers.
I have gone through a few issues with my 961 CR in order to get it to the point it's at now:
Easy starting, strong idle, great throttle response. The same as any modern EFI bike.
By the way, that is a beautiful Dominator you have.
Cheers.
I'm not so sure, it seems more a cultural issue than a money issue. Fine tuning an engine map is not big money. Listening to customers and communicating that
you are listening is virtually free. The oil in the airbox
had to be addressed, yet dragged on for years with little or no communication from the factory. Is the lack of a transmission vent the next elephant in the room? All they need to do is acknowledge the problem and say they're working on it with the odd update and everyone would be happy. As easy as that is to say, if the company culture is not there, it just won't happen. Norton has got away with a lot of issues because it's 'brand Norton', but there's only so much mileage you can squeeze from the nostalgia many of its customers have. Looking forward to Norton's new generation of bikes most of its potential market weren't even born when Norton was around and these bikes will have to stand on their own merits. Back to the elephant... Now the oil has gone as a result of the airbox fix the more subtle leak coming from the transmission case is showing....
Now I made a point of carefully wiping away every trace of oil with a paper towel the morning I went for a 60 mile ride - so this is new oil. Not much just a little bit of weeping. I so very nearly purchased Richards transmission vent immediately but then I thought no, I'll give Norton an opportunity to show me they are able to get on top this issue in a timely manner. So an email has been despatched to the dealer (primarily regarding the lights issue - see below). So we shall see how long it takes to wind its way up the chain of command, first to Australia (New Zealand doesn't exist according to Norton) - then onto the UK. Now one would think with a small volume manufacturer of high end motorbikes and the instantaneous nature of modern methods of communication that an acknowledgement at least would be forthcoming within no more than a day or two, especially given by posting it here I know someone in the factory will be reading it...
Anyway enough of that, I don't want to come across to critical - although I should perhaps have a right to be, considering my ride home last night... With winter fast approaching down here I was a little late getting away from work and it was dark by the time I started home. All good until I left town and was on the last twisty section a couple of minutes from home. For the first time I hit the high beam switch and was immediately plunged into darkness! No lights at all other than indicators - fortunately I didn't disappear of the road and was able to creep the rest of the way home. Obviously a fuse had blown and obviously it was related to switching the high beam on. Maybe something got pinched when the oil in airbox fix was being performed. Will have to wait and see.
I did manage to get the bike onto the dyno again. The results are below.
This shows the stock pipes and megaphones with the short exhaust map vs. the megaphones with the megaphone map. HP and AFR
As above with the torque curve as well.
Lastly just the megaphones compared with the megaphone map and the short exhaust map.
As you can see nothing much happening at the top end power wise, but the megaphone map is running richer (to rich). More power in the low to mid range. I'm just happy the idle is now pretty much as it should be. Clearly there is more power to come, but without the ability to remap the ECU it's not going to happen.
Do I still love the bike YES
