USA 961 Sales.. (2011)

Carbonfibre said:
2 other companies run by the owner of the new Norton firm have recently gone bankrupt, and UK buyers who have paid deposits a long while ago have not got bikes, and only had deposits returned after they threatened legal action. Unless you can afford to lose the money, its a very bad idea to pay anything towards a 961, as it seems pretty much like a De-Lorean type operation..............
Cf jumping on the bandwagon and talking out his A%^e again. Yes they have had problems which everyone seems to focus on, how about you armchair exspurts looking at what they have achieved and see if you can do better. I for one am a very happy customer and their aftersales support is second to none.
 
All that was outlined in my last post has been published in the UK motorcycle press, and there was a full page in CB a couple of months back detailing the appalling way several customers have been treated by Norton!
 
L.A.B. said:
Continuous production..that is, except for the Meriden sit-in, and a period of several months between Meriden closing and the start of Harris Bonnevile production, the year-or-so gap (1989) between the end of Harris production and the Hinckley factory starting up.

I'll give you that (production pause during strike), but the company continued to exist while the workers struck.

Didn't HD have some downtime as well? Besides the AMF & bailout deals, wasn't there a strike period for them, 70s or 80s, maybe?...
 
grandpaul said:
L.A.B. said:
Continuous production..that is, except for the Meriden sit-in, and a period of several months between Meriden closing and the start of Harris Bonnevile production, the year-or-so gap (1989) between the end of Harris production and the Hinckley factory starting up.

I'll give you that (production pause during strike), but the company continued to exist while the workers struck.

Now you are changing what you said.
 
L.A.B. said:
grandpaul said:
L.A.B. said:
Continuous production..that is, except for the Meriden sit-in, and a period of several months between Meriden closing and the start of Harris Bonnevile production, the year-or-so gap (1989) between the end of Harris production and the Hinckley factory starting up.

I'll give you that (production pause during strike), but the company continued to exist while the workers struck.

Now you are changing what you said.

there's a first :roll:
 
1up3down wrote:
huh?

.....
Bottom line, they are building and delivering 961s, as fast as they can, and Norton is going to be around a long time!

They are doing great!


Mike Gray said:
Mr 1 up, do you have a vested interest in norton ( though i'd be alarmed if i did) - or have you been sniffing glue this morning
------------------------------------------

Yes indeed Mr. Mike Gray, I certainly have not been "sniffing glue", and i do stand by what i said.

Bottom line, they are building and delivering 961s, as fast as they can, and Norton is going to be around a long time!

They are doing great!
 
L.A.B. said:
goo said:
i was thinking about getting one. i think they'll show up someday. hope they don't turn into something the the indian motorcycle act.
i would guess another 2 years. noit sure how well they are selling outside the u.k. like in the rest of europe.
anybody know?

Here's something Hegel posted in another thread, and the article is worth reading (pages 58-64):
http://cyclenews.coverleaf.com/cyclenews/20111011#pg59

Interesting story L.A.B., thanks for linking.
As a business cat myself, I can easily relate to the myriad of problems he's had, from suppliers to funding. Admire and respect his perseverance. He must be at least part Irish.
 
haha on one hand they are doing great and delivering bikes: on the other they are borrowing loans from the gov and stealing deposits. I suppose Norton are the only ones that really know.
 
I guess the customers who have had their deposits stolen have a fair idea of what Norton is into!
 
....
Carbonfibre said:
I guess the customers who have had their deposits stolen have a fair idea of what Norton is into!

Theft is a real harsh description. I would guess that there would be some type of written agreement that goes with your deposit. If Norton has breached that agreement, irate buyers who paid deposits without getting their bikes should litigate.

At the same time, I would never put a deposit down on an imaginary anything, nor would I accept down payment on anything I could not produce in a week or so.
 
There do apear to be some changes going on with sales plans for the US. Both South Bay Norton/Triumph in California and RPM in Texas claim to be dealers, and are taking deposits, but the official Norton web site, http://www.nortonmotorcycles.com/
shows no dealers in the US, only a distributor with a PO Box address in Connecticut. The Norton web site used to show South Bay as the only US dealer, but for some reason they have been removed. In any case, after reading the interview in Cycle News with the CEO, it's quite clear that we won't see any in the US for quite a while.

Much as I admire them (I have a weakness for Nortons and pushrod engines), I'm afraid I'm getting older and feebler (and poorer) at a faster rate than they are ramping up production. I think I'll just have to make do with my old Commandos. On second thought, that's not so bad after all.

Concerning the written agreement that goes with a deposit, the only one I have seen is the South Bay Norton form, and they make no promises about delivery time. Basically, you pay your deposit, and they agree to put you in the que for a bike and notify you of the "scheduled production date". I'm not a lawyer, but there doesn't seem to be much room to litigate there, even if it takes a couple of years to get a bike.

Ken
 
Well, to be pragmatic about production, has anyone anywhere seen a 961 on the road?
 
I recieved the original post from RPM who got my email address from a direct inquiry to Norton on their UK website. I made no contact with RPM, only Norton UK.

JD


lcrken said:
There do apear to be some changes going on with sales plans for the US. Both South Bay Norton/Triumph in California and RPM in Texas claim to be dealers, and are taking deposits, but the official Norton web site, http://www.nortonmotorcycles.com/
shows no dealers in the US, only a distributor with a PO Box address in Connecticut. The Norton web site used to show South Bay as the only US dealer, but for some reason they have been removed. In any case, after reading the interview in Cycle News with the CEO, it's quite clear that we won't see any in the US for quite a while.

Much as I admire them (I have a weakness for Nortons and pushrod engines), I'm afraid I'm getting older and feebler (and poorer) at a faster rate than they are ramping up production. I think I'll just have to make do with my old Commandos. On second thought, that's not so bad after all.

Concerning the written agreement that goes with a deposit, the only one I have seen is the South Bay Norton form, and they make no promises about delivery time. Basically, you pay your deposit, and they agree to put you in the que for a bike and notify you of the "scheduled production date". I'm not a lawyer, but there doesn't seem to be much room to litigate there, even if it takes a couple of years to get a bike.

Ken
 
Stuart Garner's timing couldn't have been worse. He's about ten years late to benefit from the easy money, venture and consumer. DOA. The next iteration might make it. Third time's a charm, or would that be the fourth?


Big_Jim59 said:
If you can't sell and actual product you can't make any money.
I think there have been exceptions. a lot of them. :roll:
 
powerdoc said:
Well, to be pragmatic about production, has anyone anywhere seen a 961 on the road?

There are 2 that i know of in New Zealand.
 
powerdoc said:
Well, to be pragmatic about production, has anyone anywhere seen a 961 on the road?

Ex-Work mate, still waiting for a duel seat version after 15 month's, still no sign...but he as had a letter stating "it's on going :!:" he put up £1600 deposit, as stated 15 months ago...
I can relate to Nortons production problems, there is bound to be delays Lord Hesketh's story is tipical of a ONE mans dream, Investers lost every thing £4 million equal to 10 million today could not save them.
Vince Cables £300 grand "help line"is nothing, But good luck to them...

But Kenny ain't very up front in interviews...saying things like "Not sure" about production figures, He's loath to put deffo numbers forward...now that's a worry.

"His" stratergy to get hundreds more to stump up deposit's , well fair enough he as no interest payments with other risk punters...dont see the goverment offering tax payers dosh :!:
 
The UK government has stumped up £ billions of taxpyers money to finance various illegal wars, so why not give a few million to Norton? I for one would far rather my money went to Norton, rather than be used to kill people in pointless wars!
 
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