New Norton dealerships…

During Garners era, Norton America LLC was the importer to the USA, yes, both exporter and importer, maybe the USA trade dept for imports could actually tell you how many this company imported.
 
Fast Eddie said:
Krazy Horse in the U.K. are Norton dealers again !

Maybe the ‘customer experience centre‘ isn‘t working out as hoped ?

I imagine there’ll be more…
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Fast Eddie said:
Krazy Horse in the U.K. are Norton dealers again !

Maybe the ‘customer experience centre‘ isn‘t working out as hoped ?

I imagine there’ll be more…
Click to expand...
I wish them well and hope they’ll be prepared to take ‘first generation’ 961s as part exchange.
 
These UK dealers are all business driven - by necessity of course. I think they’ll almost certainly take Donington Nortons if they can turn a profit; that’s what they do for a living.

As for elsewhere, including the US, I think prospective dealers that have survived in what is a pretty competitive market will be savvy enough to seperate historical difficulties from the current proposition. If Norton starts getting some real traction in the UK, overseas dealers will be lining up IMO. Let’s see what happens over the next 18 months or so. It’s gonna be an interesting ride.
 
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Stephen_Spencer said:
These UK dealers are all business driven - by necessity of course. I think they’ll almost certainly take Donington Nortons if they can turn a profit; that’s what they do for a living.

As for elsewhere, including the US, I think prospective dealers that have survived in what is a pretty competitive market will be savvy enough to seperate historical difficulties from the current proposition. If Norton starts getting some real traction in the UK, overseas dealers will be lining up IMO. Let’s see what happens over the next 18 months or so. It’s gonna be an interesting ride.
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You’re not going to see a USA dealer lining up to sell Nortons. The bridge was already burnt. You can’t even get spare parts for them here.
When Donington was still in business shipping bikes here, the dealers were having issues getting parts they said.

Funny thing is, I was able to order parts from Donington directly via email or phone, pay for them with a card, and in 3 days have them at my door step.
I miss the good ole days.

3 years and still nothing. I know 2S, Im negative. But Im realistic.
 
Voodooo said:
You’re not going to see a USA dealer lining up to sell Nortons. The bridge was already burnt. You can’t even get spare parts for them here.
When Donington was still in business shipping bikes here, the dealers were having issues getting parts they said.

Funny thing is, I was able to order parts from Donington directly via email or phone, pay for them with a card, and in 3 days have them at my door step.
I miss the good ole days.

3 years and still nothing. I know 2S, Im negative. But Im realistic.
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With respect V2D3, you may still be viewing most things Norton through an SG-era lens; not sure that’s ’realistic’. If there is money to be made in future, selling Nortons in the US, then no doubt dealers will want to get involved. Norton has to prove itself of course. I think US dealers are unlikely to turn their noses up at making a profit if Norton succeeds, because they remember the debacle at Donington. You may be doing them a disservice there.

Your inability to get the (mainly carbon) spares you have mentioned before is a bit of a mystery I’ll admit. From memory, others have received those very parts from Norton Birmingham. Gojuu posted those pretty pictures of his shiny new carbon bits you will remember. Why not try again and just seperate out any item(s) you think might be causing difficulty. The carbon bits will not be subject to any parts compatibility concerns - maybe start with just those. An idea only.
 
Stephen_Spencer said:
With respect V2D3, you may still be viewing most things Norton through an SG-era lens; not sure that’s ’realistic’. If there is money to be made in future, selling Nortons in the US, then no doubt dealers will want to get involved. Norton has to prove itself of course. I think US dealers are unlikely to turn their noses up at making a profit if Norton succeeds, because they remember the debacle at Donington. You may be doing them a disservice there.

Your inability to get the (mainly carbon) spares you have mentioned before is a bit of a mystery I’ll admit. From memory, others have received those very parts from Norton Birmingham. Gojuu posted those pretty pictures of his shiny new carbon bits you will remember. Why not try again and just seperate out any item(s) you think might be causing difficulty. The carbon bits will not be subject to any parts compatibility concerns - maybe start with just those. An idea only.
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You don’t think I’ve tried?
It’s not only carbon parts that I tried to purchase.
Header pipes, seals, gaskets, carbon parts etc.

We also don’t know what will or will not fit. They refuse to provide that info on any parts.

As I said, I’m done with it. I don’t have any more interest in trying. I’m glad some others had luck.

For me, mine became garage display pieces.
 
I think the UK dealers will take Donington 961s in trade if they know that they can work on them, that they can get parts for them. If they can, then they will be able the turn them around and sell them. Otherwise, the Donington units will remain orphans. Most of this depends on how Norton Birmingham treat replacement parts suitability for legacy 961s.

If UK dealers and Dr. Bob can make this work for all 961s, then Norton will "be back." Then there will be US dealers interested as well. I have no doubt that there will be a handful of US dealers willing to sell NEW 961s that actually work, and are well supported. However, due to price/performance considerations, the 961 will probably never have much market penetration here in the US. Not as long as I can buy 2 Triumph Street Twins, or three Royal Enfields for the price of one 961.
 
BritTwit said:
I think the UK dealers will take Donington 961s in trade if they know that they can work on them, that they can get parts for them. If they can, then they will be able the turn them around and sell them. Otherwise, the Donington units will remain orphans. Most of this depends on how Norton Birmingham treat replacement parts suitability for legacy 961s.

If UK dealers and Dr. Bob can make this work for all 961s, then Norton will "be back." Then there will be US dealers interested as well. I have no doubt that there will be a handful of US dealers willing to sell NEW 961s that actually work, and are well supported. However, due to price/performance considerations, the 961 will probably never have much market penetration here in the US. Not as long as I can buy 2 Triumph Street Twins, or three Royal Enfields for the price of one 961.
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How many 961’s do you think sold in the USA? I’m going to take a wild guess and bet less than 100 total under Donington ownership.

I agree with you on the 2 or 3 for the price of 1 961.
People here are biased and only voice their opinion because we are on a Norton forum who own these bikes. I’m not brand loyal when it comes to motorcycles.
I love my 961, but I’m not blind to the fact that other bikes look as good and provide way better performance for equal or less cost.

I certainly didn’t buy my 961’s for the performance or to save a buck. I bought them for the looks and the brand.

If I didn’t own a 961 today, I’m not sure I’d buy one from TVS even if they were available here in the USA.

TVS has a long way to go to selling the 961 world wide and in “my opinion” I think they missed the boat.
 
Voodooo said:
How many 961’s do you think sold in the USA? I’m going to take a wild guess and bet less than 100 total under Donington ownership.

I agree with you on the 2 or 3 for the price of 1 961.
People here are biased and only voice their opinion because we are on a Norton forum who own these bikes. I’m not brand loyal when it comes to motorcycles.
I love my 961, but I’m not blind to the fact that other bikes look as good and provide way better performance for equal or less cost.

I certainly didn’t buy my 961’s for the performance or to save a buck. I bought them for the looks and the brand.

If I didn’t own a 961 today, I’m not sure I’d buy one from TVS even if they were available here in the USA.

TVS has a long way to go to selling the 961 world wide and in “my opinion” I think they missed the boat.
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Voodooo,

My personal opinion is that there were probably far fewer than 100 961s sold in the US. The bad new about the Donington 961 spread really fast as soon as the first new 961s had to be recalled to fix major issues. Then it took months to get spare parts. Then dealers were not properly compensated for their warranty work. All of these issues can be laid squarely on SG's doorstep. His incompetency, and mismanagement was epic, to say the least. Now, there appears to be actual competent, sober management running the New Norton company. Maybe they are not moving quickly enough for some, but remember, knowing the history of Norton, can they really afford another humiliating misstep that once again would cast the company as clueless?

I'm not arguing any of your points. They are valid complaints concerning the way the Donington factory failed their customers and dealers. My reasoning is more about the future possibilities of the new company. It appears from the latest news, that Norton Birmingham have changed their philosophy concerning signing up actual dealerships. That's a real positive step. If the whole test ride process proves out that the NEW 961 is fixed, and that there are UK dealers willing to sell them, then for sure, there will be buyers.

The decision to sell the 961 overseas will depend on whether the cost of certifying the 961 in 50 US states can be justified. If the 961 will only be produced for a short while, and the prospective US market is low volume, would it be worth the cost to the factory. Probably not. However, a new EV, or the V4 would be a whole different issue.

I don't know ultimately what will happen, I'm just hoping for the best outcome for Norton.
 
Fast Eddie said:
I think the ‘real’ motorcycle dealerships that have taken Norton on will probably take old ones in PX.

As to what they’d actually offer for one, that’s another matter.
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Well Norton rang me up in January to see if I would be interested in the new 961,I told them that I already owned one but would they be interested in a px.They got back to me with an offer off a third party of £7250 told them that was not enough.
My bike has 10250 miles is a sport and year 2016, immaculate with all upgrades fitted, factory long open pipes fitted by myself.
 
They are probably factoring in at least a £2k+ profit on a subsequent sale along with having to provide at least a 3 months warranty…..assuming they can can sell your bike for over £9k. As is so often the case it’s not the value of your bike that is the issue but what someone is prepared to pay for it. Good luck with your sale if you decide to sell.
 
DODGY DEN said:
Well Norton rang me up in January to see if I would be interested in the new 961,I told them that I already owned one but would they be interested in a px.They got back to me with an offer off a third party of £7250 told them that was not enough.
My bike has 10250 miles is a sport and year 2016, immaculate with all upgrades fitted, factory long open pipes fitted by myself.
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At that price, they're either selling it trade or passing it straight onto the likes of "we buy any bikes"....they won't be retailing it out.
 
Lincolnshire Poacher said:
They are probably factoring in at least a £2k+ profit on a subsequent sale along with having to provide at least a 3 months warranty…..assuming they can can sell your bike for over £9k. As is so often the case it’s not the value of your bike that is the issue but what someone is prepared to pay for it. Good luck with your sale if you decide to sell.
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For me my 961 is a keeper as it’s been a very reliable bike and at 71 I don’t need another heavy bike. Pushed the f1 out into the sunlight last week what a difference in moving it about. I would have been interested in the Atlas but that’s another story.
 
Voodooo said:
How many 961’s do you think sold in the USA? I’m going to take a wild guess and bet less than 100 total under Donington ownership.

I agree with you on the 2 or 3 for the price of 1 961.
People here are biased and only voice their opinion because we are on a Norton forum who own these bikes. I’m not brand loyal when it comes to motorcycles.
I love my 961, but I’m not blind to the fact that other bikes look as good and provide way better performance for equal or less cost.

I certainly didn’t buy my 961’s for the performance or to save a buck. I bought them for the looks and the brand.

If I didn’t own a 961 today, I’m not sure I’d buy one from TVS even if they were available here in the USA.

TVS has a long way to go to selling the 961 world wide and in “my opinion” I think they missed the boat.
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🤣 We are definitely biased towards the 961 Voodooo my friend - this is a Modern Norton enthusiast’s forum after all! And we definitely voice our opinions because we own one - that’s sorta what we are all doing here.

I think pretty much all of us have multiple bikes of differing makes and types though - myself; dirt, road and adventure (Kawasaki, Norton, KTM) . Don’t think many of us are completely one-eyed about Norton or ‘blind’ to other marques.

I doubt there’s an owner here that bought the 961 for it’s performance (or value for money I suspect). I also doubt anybody here bought the 961, that secretly really wanted three cheaper Royal Enfields! The majority bought them because they wanted a Norton, the marque and the aesthetics of the machine - like your good self. Future owners will no doubt view purchase in the same way.

Birmingham Norton will doubtless build multiple models over the coming years - I guess we’ll find out if they have ‘missed the boat’ when they eventually ship them to the various markets. Until then, the future is in their own hands. If they build great quality, sought after, reliable bikes and follow good business practices they are likely to succeed IMO - the Norton marque still has considerable pulling power. I for one wish them every success and have no difficulty separating past problems with future potential - I don’t think most dealers would either.

And here’s to breaking new ground on the conversation front - there’s no shortage of subjects that are forward leaning.
 
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Stephen_Spencer said:
🤣 We are definitely biased towards the 961 Voodooo my friend - this is a Modern Norton enthusiast’s forum after all! And we definitely voice our opinions because we own one - that’s sorta what we are all doing here.

I think pretty much all of us have multiple bikes of differing makes and types though - myself; dirt, road and adventure (Kawasaki, Norton, KTM) . Don’t think many of us are completely one-eyed about Norton or ‘blind’ to other marques.

I doubt there’s an owner here that bought the 961 for it’s performance (or value for money I suspect). I also doubt anybody here bought the 961, that secretly really wanted three cheaper Royal Enfields! The majority bought them because they wanted a Norton, the marque and the aesthetics of the machine - like your good self. Future owners will no doubt view purchase in the same way.

Birmingham Norton will doubtless build multiple models over the coming years - I guess we’ll find out if they have ‘missed the boat’ when they eventually ship them to the various markets. Until then, the future is in their own hands. If they build great quality, sought after, reliable bikes and follow good business practices they are likely to succeed IMO - the Norton marque still has considerable pulling power. I for one wish them every success and have no difficulty separating past problems with future potential - I don’t think most dealers would either.

And here’s to breaking new ground on the conversation front - there’s no shortage of subjects that are forward leaning.
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Regardless of TVS Norton. The down side is, it’s killing the value of the Donington bikes. Whether TVS Norton does good or bad, the resale value of the Donington bikes are in the crapper.
 

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