New owner - first on the road ride

TonyA · Feb 25, 2018

That is light ! Thruxton R may be lighter , but not the T120 .

MxMartin · Mar 1, 2018

Today is official registration day, received my license plate from Norton, bike ready for a blatt down the lanes.... except it isn't, she is sitting in my barn under several layers of blankets with 8" snow drifts just feet away from her rear wheel and compacted frozen snow out on the road... and another blizzard is blowing in

Fast Eddie · Mar 1, 2018

I know the bloody feeling !!

john clark · Mar 1, 2018

Really feel for you Martin seems every time i restore a bike when finished the U K weather laughs at me . Best of luck mate

Britfan60 · Mar 1, 2018

You could always layer up in the cold, but snow?? I've done it when I was 20.

TonyA · Mar 1, 2018

MxMartin said:
Today is official registration day, received my license plate from Norton, bike ready for a blatt down the lanes.... except it isn't, she is sitting in my barn under several layers of blankets with 8" snow drifts just feet away from her rear wheel and compacted frozen snow out on the road... and another blizzard is blowing in

Wow , how much snow do you guys get ? What part of the UK are you in ? Is London getting snow ? Oh I looked and you are in Lincs . I don't know where that is got to look it up. Lincs short for Lincolnshire County ? You are just east of Norton Motorcycles (Derby-Castle Donington area) ?

Fast Eddie · Mar 1, 2018

Many parts of the U.K. have had quite bad snow (by our standards, it doesn’t take much to make us go snow crazy)!

But it’s the cold that’s unusual, minus 5 actual and minus 15 or worse with wind chill (Celsius).

My bikes are staying in the workshop, tucked in cozy with the heater and de humidifier on!!

Clive · Mar 2, 2018

TonyA said:
Wow , how much snow do you guys get ? What part of the UK are you in ? Is London getting snow ? Oh I looked and you are in Lincs . I don't know where that is got to look it up. Lincs short for Lincolnshire County ? You are just east of Norton Motorcycles (Derby-Castle Donington area) ?

Yes we are totally snowed in in the Midlands between Birmingham and Stratford upon Avon. Took 3 hours to make a 15 mile journey home. Almost an inch and a half of snow!!!!! Must look at second hand snowmobiles on ebay......

MxMartin · Mar 2, 2018

TonyA said:
Wow , how much snow do you guys get ? What part of the UK are you in ? Is London getting snow ? Oh I looked and you are in Lincs . I don't know where that is got to look it up. Lincs short for Lincolnshire County ? You are just east of Norton Motorcycles (Derby-Castle Donington area) ?

As Nigel and Clive have said, we haven't got a lot of snow, but it doesn't take a lot of snow to gridlock us here. Yes I am in Lincolnshire which is on the East Midlands coast and the weather pattern has unusually brought the winds in from the East. The farmlands around me are covered in about 4 inches of snow, not a lot, but it is dry powdery snow and the wind is driving it across the farms and causing snow to drift across the roads, especially in areas where the large farms are and hedgerows and woodlands have been removed for intensive farming. Many of the major roads are impassable, as soon as they clear the drifts they return within the hour. The constant strong and bitterly cold winds haven't eased for past 3 days, I put water out for the birds but within 30 minutes it has started to freeze over. In reality what we get is pretty insignificant compared to other countries but we have zero capacity to deal with it when we do get it.

MxMartin · Mar 2, 2018

TonyA said:
Wow , how much snow do you guys get ? What part of the UK are you in ? Is London getting snow ? Oh I looked and you are in Lincs . I don't know where that is got to look it up. Lincs short for Lincolnshire County ? You are just east of Norton Motorcycles (Derby-Castle Donington area) ?

Yep on the plus side for me Castle Donington is just 70 miles inland so a trip back to the factory is a breeze

nopdog · Mar 2, 2018

You could move to Australia! Plenty of long country roads with lots of bends!!!!! And there is only about 20 million of us.

nopdog · Mar 2, 2018

Oh and in the winter we rug up by putting a woolen jumper under the leather jacket and ride at night. Norton runs cooler no traffic ah heaven.

Britfan60 · Mar 2, 2018

Clive said:
Yes we are totally snowed in in the Midlands between Birmingham and Stratford upon Avon. Took 3 hours to make a 15 mile journey home. Almost an inch and a half of snow!!!!! Must look at second hand snowmobiles on ebay......

3 hours for 15 miles. I do that in half the time in 6 inches in New York. Do you not get much snow in your area? I ask because in the southern states of the US, if they get snow, they have no clue. Takes a skilled hand to drive in the crap.

Fast Eddie · Mar 2, 2018

Britfan60 said:
3 hours for 15 miles. I do that in half the time in 6 inches in New York. Do you not get much snow in your area? I ask because in the southern states of the US, if they get snow, they have no clue. Takes a skilled hand to drive in the crap.

We have NO clue.

2 snow flakes and the country grinds to a halt...

MxMartin · Mar 2, 2018

Britfan60 said:
Do you not get much snow in your area?

Most years we get snow, but as a nation preoccupied with the weather we have DIFFERENT types of snow to everyone else (yes plural, different types!)

, and just as we learn to deal with one type of snow along comes a different type and the whole country grinds to a halt again.

gchoppin · Mar 4, 2018

MxMartin said:
Today is official registration day, received my license plate from Norton, bike ready for a blatt down the lanes.... except it isn't, she is sitting in my barn under several layers of blankets with 8" snow drifts just feet away from her rear wheel and compacted frozen snow out on the road... and another blizzard is blowing in

Keep the faith, brother.

MxMartin · Mar 5, 2018

The good news is that the winds have changed and instead of -5degC a few days ago we are +10degC today, sun is shining, most of the snow has thawed except for the heavy drifts. Bad news is roads are filthy with salt, I am wishing (unbelievable) for a solid week of rain to help clean the roads.... but Spring is in the air!

PS: just been in my barn and uncovered my bikes, letting them breathe some fresh air and fingers crossed can de-winterise them this week, maybe even a spot of polishing on the cards

BPHORSEGUY · Mar 5, 2018

Polishing is very therapeutic

MxMartin · Mar 9, 2018

I managed to take the 961 out for the afternoon and a 75 mile blatt around the lanes. She is behaving the perfect lady... the suspension is the best I have had for a factory setup, gear change continues to be silky slick except for one 'crunch' (my clutch needs to be pulled in up to the bars to disengage and needs adjusting I think). She starts first touch of button once warmed and rpm settles to idle immediately, the snatchiness below 2k rpm wasn't as pronounced and the engine sounded a little quieter.

I stopped off at SportsBikeShop at around the 65mile marker and still felt quite fresh.... and the 961 drew a crowd of onlookers with nothing but praise. Smile factor remains 10/10

Britfan60 · Mar 9, 2018

MxMartin said:
I managed to take the 961 out for the afternoon and a 75 mile blatt around the lanes. She is behaving the perfect lady... the suspension is the best I have had for a factory setup, gear change continues to be silky slick except for one 'crunch' (my clutch needs to be pulled in up to the bars to disengage and needs adjusting I think). She starts first touch of button once warmed and rpm settles to idle immediately, the snatchiness below 2k rpm wasn't as pronounced and the engine sounded a little quieter.

I stopped off at SportsBikeShop at around the 65mile marker and still felt quite fresh.... and the 961 drew a crowd of onlookers with nothing but praise. Smile factor remains 10/10

That's a nice read for a change. Cheers.