Norton trouble

An article by Alan Cathcart in RealClassic of January 2020 gives an obituary of Patrick Godet who
passed away at age 67 in November 2019. It states Godet made 280 Egli Vincents over a 25 year
period with the permission of Fritz Egli who is quoted as saying the Godet Eglis were better than his !
 
iwilson said:
Exemptions are available in the USA. Lotus obtained one to import Elises into the States for many years (it has since expired) - it couldn't met many of the safety requirements in the US - crash impact, bumper height etc.

I know from talking with former Norton suppliers the 961 was "fiddled with" until they managed to get one to scrape through emissions testing. I doubt they told the regulatory agency in the UK when they changed to the OMEX ECU since it has no OBDII output which is a requirement for certification.
Click to expand...
I am happy that in Switzerland there are no emission tests!
 
Staytite said:
An article by Alan Cathcart in RealClassic of January 2020 gives an obituary of Patrick Godet who
passed away at age 67 in November 2019. It states Godet made 280 Egli Vincents over a 25 year
period with the permission of Fritz Egli who is quoted as saying the Godet Eglis were better than his !
Click to expand...

Alan new Patrick very well, so I think that should be close to accurate. Although you got the years wrong I think, Patrick passed away in Nov 2018.

I knew him a little, I met him first in 2007. I really liked him, he had ‘his ways’ and could sometimes be a little, well you know, ‘French’ but he was a true artist IMHO, and you’ll never meet anyone with more passion for Vincent’s than he had. His knowledge of them was pretty huge too, and his long, long list of fixes and improvements, large and small was impressive. All of this lives on, Godet Motorcycles are still trading and still busy, I was there last September and the shop looks, feels, smells just as it always has.

Actually Fritz licensed Godet motorcycles, and ONLY Godet Motorcycles to use his name, hence they are actually ‘genuine’ Egli’s.

Anyone interested might enjoy this:

https://thevintagent.com/2019/04/08/patrick-godet-remembered/
 
Fake news then ! :D

Article is in a magazine dated January 2020 quote " Patrick passed away suddenly last November at his home...."

And..." So I (Patrick) went to see him in Switzerland to show him what I was making. He (Fritz) was complimentary, and gave me exclusive
permission to use his name on my bikes, because he said I was building them better than he used to himself! He even refused to accept
me paying him a royalty on each bike - he I couldn't possibly make enough profit to do so...."
 
commandofastback said:
Kawasaki can do it with the W800 too and it's as gutless as the Enfield.
But Kawasaki and the biggest motorcycle manufacturer on earth (Enfield) have some money to spend for R and D.
Unlike Mr Garner.
Click to expand...
Yep, if SG had spent that much on R & D as he claims does he have the accounts with the receipts to show for it, or has the money been diverted to someone else's little "secret" account????
 
Triton Thrasher said:
“Norton” is the trademarked name on the tank.

The recent company was called Norton Motorcycles (UK) Ltd, I think. Previous Norton manufacturing companies had different names. Future Norton makers (it seems inevitable that there will be more) will have a different company name.
Click to expand...
Mandarin for ‘Norton’ is according to Google, ‘Nuodun’.....
 
Raphi said:
I am happy that in Switzerland there are no emission tests!
Click to expand...

Really?
Is Switzerland part of the EU?
Do manufacturers there have to claim to adhere to any governmental emission standard, or is like the wild west, anything goes?
 
Fast Eddie said:
Interesting comments about the ‘desirable and definitely not overpriced’ PW monocoque though as, as much as I’d love one, they have a FAR smaller appeal than and Egli Vincent and IIRC they’re more expensive.
Click to expand...
Given I know how much many of the mechanical components cost, also given I saw how much effort in development and engineering time it meant to build one, Andover Norton being involved as supplier for many of the engine/gearbox components, I doubted at the time Peter made any money on them.
Compared to some run-of-the-mill Vincent, genuine or replica, or Brough, Broughs to me being bitsas made using a Jap engine, a Sturmey Archer/Norton box, Enfield hubs and Harley forks, I'd rather spend 70k on a Monocoque replica than on a Vincent. Had one as a university student, did about 20k miles on it. Nice bike but I liked my Commandos better. Never lusted for a Brough.
 
BritTwit said:
Is Switzerland part of the EU?
Do manufacturers there have to claim to adhere to any governmental emission standard, or is like the wild west, anything goes?
Click to expand...

Switzerland isn't part EU but vehicles there still have to be EU compliant.
http://www.airqualitynow.eu/city_info/zurich/page4.php

Britfan60 said:
New York State doesn't test for emissions on motorcycles. Lights, signals, tires, bye.
Click to expand...

I think you are referring to an (annual?) inspection test? That's not the same thing.

https://www.motorcycle.com/features...uro-5-emission-standards-for-motorcycles.html
 
Hi all, first post on here. I had a reasonable amount to do with Patrick and he went through a lot of trouble and cost to get his bikes type approved. He obtained Euro 3 approval which of course ran out in 2016 and he was recognised as a manufacturer in France as GODET. He had a number of documents approved to allow him to sell new up until the Euro 3 ran out after which his new bikes would be sold as used. He did the limited production thing very well, so hard to make any money doing that.
Sadly missed.
 
ZFD said:
Given I know how much many of the mechanical components cost, also given I saw how much effort in development and engineering time it meant to build one, Andover Norton being involved as supplier for many of the engine/gearbox components, I doubted at the time Peter made any money on them.
Compared to some run-of-the-mill Vincent, genuine or replica, or Brough, Broughs to me being bitsas made using a Jap engine, a Sturmey Archer/Norton box, Enfield hubs and Harley forks, I'd rather spend 70k on a Monocoque replica than on a Vincent. Had one as a university student, did about 20k miles on it. Nice bike but I liked my Commandos better. Never lusted for a Brough.
Click to expand...

I’m not sure what your point is other than to be disrespectful of Vincents and Broughs for some unknown reason.

The PW Monocoque is a fabulous thing. I simply said it appeals to a much smaller audience.
 
Britfan60 said:
New York State doesn't test for emissions on motorcycles. Lights, signals, tires, bye.
Click to expand...
Tennessee has no testing or inspection for motorcycles on new or renewal tags. Just pay your tag renewal fee and get your renewal sticker. Turn signal lights are optional in Tennessee, as hand signals are acceptable
 
ZFD said:
I find that hard to believe for a small workshop. I'd have thought a tenth of that was realistic. All the replicas I know off bar Manx racers were sold in single rather than two-digit numbers, even desireable ones like Peter Williams' Monocoque Replicas that were definitely not overpriced.
Click to expand...

25/yr for the last ten years. Worldwide. Plausible but probably high. 5-10 a year into NA is possible, and of those how many were actually registered for the road? How were they sold, as new bikes or recreations or restorations? If as new then no, they were not registered without a ton of hoops. A lot of states have loopholes for replicas so it's not impossible to bring them in a replica. But that is nothing like a brand new Norton.
 
Bernhard said:
I understand Morgan cars have given up north America, no air bags etc, there was an attempt to import them in semi kit form but nothing came of it?
Click to expand...
I was told that , with the new backer of Morgans, they are going for BMW motors in the new Straight 6 model, and more modern chassis construction, presumably this will help with overseas sales in future.
 

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