Fixed but shaken!

Al's#5

Joined
Feb 4, 2020
Messages
452
Country flag
Pulled up at a T junction yesterday, country road blast to watch the kids playing rugby, put my right leg out and whoaaa. Bike passed the point of no return and the best I could do was let it down slowly. Minor damage, brake pedal, bar end mirror and a slight additional bend to the front brake lever but all fixed. Spoilt a good ride out, bikes running great! Thing is the seed of doubt now sown, ok there was an adverse camber involved but 52 years biking should have catered for that eventuality surely? Expect the unexpected me thinks.
 
That sucks Al. Good to hear that you got it fixed without difficulty.

One certainty in life is that we are all getting older. I guess as we age we just have to become more vigilant about how, where and when we slow, stop and turn - particularly in the dreaded gravel car park! I’ve also found my ability to concentrate in not what it used to be.

I’ll ride my CR for as long as I can fold my body (semi) comfortably into position. After that it’s a high bar conversion. Adapt and ride on methinks.
 
Happens to us all - pride takes a little longer for the dent to come out. Dropped mine in the garage once and on the drive once. My HD is relatively light as HDs go but I find the drag bars do give you a lot more leverage when moving it around - just got my 961 back on the road after 9 months and the first thing I noticed was how awkward it is to move around. For a completely different reason can anyone comment on how the Thruxton feels by comparison weight-wise?
 
Clive said:
Happens to us all - pride takes a little longer for the dent to come out. Dropped mine in the garage once and on the drive once. My HD is relatively light as HDs go but I find the drag bars do give you a lot more leverage when moving it around - just got my 961 back on the road after 9 months and the first thing I noticed was how awkward it is to move around. For a completely different reason can anyone comment on how the Thruxton feels by comparison weight-wise?
Click to expand...
As light as a feather , I am sure ? You must mean the 2016 on liquid cooled ?
 
Ok so add another to my drop count. My garage is being rebuilt so limited space for manoeuvring bikes. Rule 1 don't try to move a 961 in slip-on gardening shoes when mildly hung-over. Rule 2 don't put off oiling that sticky sidestand.
Shoe slips off, can't get sidestand down it time and over she goes on top of me. Lying on drive under bike at 5.30 in the morning not wanting to get out and drop bike onto paving. Managed to wedge a brick under a handlebar end, get out and force it back up again. As far as I can see only damage is broken seat mount?? But that thing deserves to be broken anyway. Had to get to work on Kwaka zxr400 which is so wonderfully light you have to tie it down in strong winds......
 
Clive said:
Ok so add another to my drop count. My garage is being rebuilt so limited space for manoeuvring bikes. Rule 1 don't try to move a 961 in slip-on gardening shoes when mildly hung-over. Rule 2 don't put off oiling that sticky sidestand.
Shoe slips off, can't get sidestand down it time and over she goes on top of me. Lying on drive under bike at 5.30 in the morning not wanting to get out and drop bike onto paving. Managed to wedge a brick under a handlebar end, get out and force it back up again. As far as I can see only damage is broken seat mount?? But that thing deserves to be broken anyway. Had to get to work on Kwaka zxr400 which is so wonderfully light you have to tie it down in strong winds......
Click to expand...
And no damage to you ?
 
Fast Eddie said:
And no damage to you ?
Click to expand...
After years of bouncing off the tarmac and other vehicles while cycling and only suffering a broken top jaw I seem to be fairly resilient so nothing significant. An awkward ride into work as my Kawa has my new Ignitech ignition module on it but I discovered that it only switches the fuel pump on for a few seconds on starting. Bike runs, carb bowls empty, switch it off and on again, off I go again. Discovered problem starting was due to faulty plugs!!! They were only a few miles old - I cleaned them with a wire brush so they looked shiny and seemed to spark but local bike shop said you just cannot touch plugs these days. Totally sceptically I put new plugs in and it fires straight up!!!!!! To return to topic the 961 is a bit of a lump to move around - did we ever mange to get a definitive weight and a real-life 'how easy is it to move around' comparison to the new Thruxton? I would not replace the 961 but a picture of a Unikat custom polished up looks rather nice. And around 20hp extra to play with. And spares on the shelf.
 
Good to hear you got away unscathed Clive and extra marks for throwing your body under the bike to prevent damage - it’s what any proper biker would do instinctively! Unless it’s a fully laden Goldwing of course and then just let the mofo go!

For me it does feel as though the Norton carries it’s weight quite high up - maybe exacerbated by the carbon wheels on mine. I’m also 6ft and the CR feels quite diminutive when I’m reaching down to the bars. Add in the limited lock and the bike is more difficult to manoeuvre around by hand than my other bikes.

Never manoeuvred a Thruxton around but you would’nt want to drop it in the garage would you. Think of all of that plastic and brushed metal splintering off all over the place. It would probably be a write-off!! Just kidding, just kidding!!;)
 
Clive, even with much lighter pipes (shorter = lighter you know ;)) and no cat, pillion pegs, mirrors, or indicators, and a Shorai battery (huge reduction), mine still came it at just over 500lbs wet IIRC.

The 2022 Thrux R is shown as 434lbs dry, so around 464lbs wet ?

Put some lighter pipes and battery etc on a Thrux and you‘d probably be 440-450lbs wet I reckon.

That‘s a big difference.

And as to the power… I think you either being kind to the Norton or mean to the Thrux, I’d say the difference is at least 30 BHP (even comparing a stock Thrux to a free breathing / mapped 961, so the difference is likely more if the Thrux got pipes and a map. The Thrux also has the option of a factory race cam).

So, 50-60lbs less and 30bhp more. You‘re gonna feel that !

Plus the Thrux has crazy mid range.

And they feel far lighter and more nimble than a 961 when you ride them.

Blimey… reckon I should become a Thaiumph sales rep… :oops:
 
Last edited:
Stephen_Spencer said:
Never manoeuvred a Thruxton around but you would’nt want to drop it in the garage would you. Think of all of that plastic and brushed metal splintering off all over the place. It would probably be a write-off!! Just kidding, just kidding!!;)
Click to expand...
Exactly why I didn't buy one but with a tube of goo and a lot of wrist action they can be made to look like this;
Fixed but shaken!
 
Fast Eddie said:
Clive, even with much lighter pipes (shorter = lighter you know ;)) and no cat, pillion pegs, mirrors, or indicators, and a Shorai battery (huge reduction), mine still came it at just over 500lbs wet IIRC.

The 2022 Thrux R is shown as 434lbs dry, so around 464lbs wet ?

Put some lighter pipes and battery etc on a Thrux and you‘d probably be 440-450lbs wet I reckon.

That‘s a big difference.

And as to the power… I think you either being kind to the Norton or mean to the Thrux, I’d say the difference is at least 30 BHP (even comparing a stock Thrux to a free breathing / mapped 961, so the difference is likely more if the Thrux got pipes and a map. The Thrux also has the option of a factory race cam).

So, 50-60lbs less and 30bhp more. You‘re gonna feel that !

Plus the Thrux has crazy mid range.

And they feel far lighter and more nimble than a 961 when you ride them.

Blimey… reckon I should become a Thaiumph sales rep… :oops:
Click to expand...
Yes , There is no doubt you will feel that . Let's ask BritTwit what he thinks and not to pull any punches ! Stock Thruxton was 87 HP and being kind say Norton 71 HP .
 
From what folk seem to report on here, 70 and a bit is possible with careful Dyno setting up. The 1200 Thruxton is now a claimed 103 (although I doubt that is a rear wheel claim).

Add pipes, decat, and re map and the Thrux has gotta be north of 110. And then there’s the race cam option…
 
The Thruxton isn't bad to move around as the weight is reasonable and the bike seems to sit a wee bit lower than the 961.
I have parked the bike next to a 961 and was surprised at how compact the Thruxton looked.


The plastic tank getting smashed on tip over would be a concern- Oh wait, I'm getting mixed up again, it's the 961 has that big hammerhead Plastic tank.
The Thrux tank is a svelte steel one, might just escape unscathed.

Glen
 
Last edited:
Fast Eddie said:
Clive, even with much lighter pipes (shorter = lighter you know ;)) and no cat, pillion pegs, mirrors, or indicators, and a Shorai battery (huge reduction), mine still came it at just over 500lbs wet IIRC.

The 2022 Thrux R is shown as 434lbs dry, so around 464lbs wet ?

Put some lighter pipes and battery etc on a Thrux and you‘d probably be 440-450lbs wet I reckon.

That‘s a big difference.

And as to the power… I think you either being kind to the Norton or mean to the Thrux, I’d say the difference is at least 30 BHP (even comparing a stock Thrux to a free breathing / mapped 961, so the difference is likely more if the Thrux got pipes and a map. The Thrux also has the option of a factory race cam).

So, 50-60lbs less and 30bhp more. You‘re gonna feel that !

Plus the Thrux has crazy mid range.

And they feel far lighter and more nimble than a 961 when you ride them.

Blimey… reckon I should become a Thaiumph sales rep… :oops:
Click to expand...
Well, I don't have a Thrux, but do have a Speed Twin, which is supposed to be several lbs lighter that the Thrux in stock form.
No doubt about it in the power dept, the Triumph 1200 mill has very good power and torque. In Sport mode power wheelies in 1st and even second are possible. You can't really compare the 961CR to it, being 300cc down on the Speed Twin. Also, the 961CR is a pretty faithful reproduction of a classic air cooled pushrod twin. The Triumph is in almost all respects, a modern liquid cooled overhead cam twin. In fact the only area where Triumph kind of pulled their punch was in the induction design using straight horizontal intake ports with tight internal radius. This was so the cylinder head arrangement would allow an airbox behind the motor instead of above like in a modern motorcycle. This port arrangement definitely hurts max power, but WTF it's a modern classic, not a sportbike.

Weight-wise, The Speed Twin doesn't feel like a lightweight at all, I think the fluids and battery are about 40lbs extra. That puts the full wet weight around 475lbs. About what I was able to get my T100 down to after a lot of swapping parts for plastic ones. The Speed twin has about 30 more hp than my old T100, so it hauls the mail much much better. I weighted my 961CR a few years ago and found that it was 497lbs. So the difference is 22lbs.

Pushing the two bikes around in my garage, I don't really notice a whole lot of difference effort-wise to move them. The narrow steering lock and clip-ons of the 961 does require more movements to maneuver it into the desired place. The Speed Twin has "normal" steering lock and handlebars:), so in this respect, requires less effort than the 961CR.

One thing about the 961. I too dropped my 961 in the garage while moving it. What was strange about this, is that I never stopped to think that in my panic to check for scratches, I literally was able to pull the bike up off the ground with just the clip-ons and standing next to the bike. I can't do this with a 4 cylinder bike. That requires technique. The 961 may weight in at 500lbs, but I would say that it carries its mass pretty low.
 
Fast Eddie said:
Clive, even with much lighter pipes (shorter = lighter you know ;)) and no cat, pillion pegs, mirrors, or indicators, and a Shorai battery (huge reduction), mine still came it at just over 500lbs wet IIRC.

The 2022 Thrux R is shown as 434lbs dry, so around 464lbs wet ?

Put some lighter pipes and battery etc on a Thrux and you‘d probably be 440-450lbs wet I reckon.

That‘s a big difference.

And as to the power… I think you either being kind to the Norton or mean to the Thrux, I’d say the difference is at least 30 BHP (even comparing a stock Thrux to a free breathing / mapped 961, so the difference is likely more if the Thrux got pipes and a map. The Thrux also has the option of a factory race cam).

So, 50-60lbs less and 30bhp more. You‘re gonna feel that !

Plus the Thrux has crazy mid range.

And they feel far lighter and more nimble than a 961 when you ride them.

Blimey… reckon I should become a Thaiumph sales rep… :oops:
Click to expand...
Weren't the TFC models assembled at Hinckley?
You are getting close, it wouldn't take much to give yourself permission to own one
 
BritTwit said:
The Triumph is in almost all respects, a modern liquid cooled overhead cam twin. In fact the only area where Triumph kind of pulled their punch was in the induction design using straight horizontal intake ports with tight internal radius. This was so the cylinder head arrangement would allow an airbox behind the motor instead of above like in a modern motorcycle. This port arrangement definitely hurts max power, but WTF it's a modern classic, not a sportbike.
Click to expand...
The main restriction is the factory ecu which starts to close the throttle bodies at 6800 rpm and has them at just 80% open by 7500 rpm.
This is easily bypassed with a tune download.
One of the Triumph forum members did this and a few other small things to his otherwise stock 2016 r.
He took it to Bonneville and ran 151 mph, equivalent to 165 mph at sea level.
He also drag races it and routinely beats young fellows on 600 cc sportbikes. They get frustrated and trade for litre Sportbikes. Then he really lays the beater on!
You can see all the fun he and his UPS delivery man buddy Mr. Bill have at Flatcap racer on YouTube.

Glen
 
Fast Eddie said:
From what folk seem to report on here, 70 and a bit is possible with careful Dyno setting up. The 1200 Thruxton is now a claimed 103 (although I doubt that is a rear wheel claim).

Add pipes, decat, and re map and the Thrux has gotta be north of 110. And then there’s the race cam option…
Click to expand...
Clearly this is the route to take for a Modern British for those who want that . I had already purchased my Norton 961 long before this 1200 came out. What I don't get is why do some come back to the 961 , when the Triumph is clearly better ? What I don't like is having Triumph superiority pushed down my throat . And why would some even consider putting the 1200 into the Norton frame if everything works great as a stock 1200 ? Has anyone ever measured (weight) a Triumph frame vs a Norton 961 frame ? And lastly , IF the Norton 961 was a full 1200cc motor and not 961 it would be making more power . My XR12 is making 85 HP at the wheel with just an intake kit and tune.
 
Heck , If you want a stonking Air cooled 1200 twin get a BMW R9T for that matter ! And no chain to fuss with !
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top