USA 961 Sales.. (2011)

Exactly right.............seems weird that several posters on here are quite willing to take ridiculous PR agency nonsense about these bikes as being somehow related to fact!

I don't think some understand the scale of manufacturing businesses. It's not uncommon for a business to burn through $1,000,000 a day. I'm not saying that's the case with Garner's Norton. I just think the scale is a little overwhelming for some people to understand.
 
USA 961 Sales.. (2011)
 
At $2,000.00 NET profit per unit (pretty optimistic), it would take selling 500 bikes to repay $1,000,000.00 with zero interest.

Extrapolate from there...
 
Still, one might make the argument that the original Commando hardly had a long and healthy R&D behind it's unveiling.
The original Commando had an engine that had been around since 1948 and in 750cc form for several years, forks ditto, gearbox longer than that (though in the final form since 1962), wheels since 1956 but for the TLS brake up front. So one can argue the main components- bar the frame and isolastics- were fully developed.
It also had a team of people with considerable experience in the motorcycle industry behind it, and a firm that had been manufacturing motorcycles for decades producing it alongside other product (650 Mercury, P11 etc) that was still being made and creating running income. Plus a developed distribution network in the major markets, and an established and respected name that every boy who was into motorcycles knew and loved.
Is this where the similarities end?
 
Once these new 961's come on line will the traditional vendors be involved in stocking spares?
 
hobot said:
Once these new 961's come on line will the traditional vendors be involved in stocking spares?

There are precious few "traditional NORTON vendors" out there. I'm not so sure any of them (with the exception of Andover and Norvil) would have any interest anyway...
 
We (Andover Norton) have no interest in becoming involved with this- we are flat out producing an ever-growing range of Norton Commando and Dominator spares.

We are not retailers in the classical sense in that we don't run a shop. We retail spares by mail to private owners as many of you know, especially to those Norton owners who are far away from dealers and those who have been sold spurious spare parts by their previous source and want to be sure that they are getting the real thing.

But we do not run a showroom with slick salespersons and do not plan to do it, ever.

Joe Seifert
 
ZFD said:
We (Andover Norton) have no interest in becoming involved with this- we are flat out producing an ever-growing range of Norton Commando and Dominator spares.

We are not retailers in the classical sense in that we don't run a shop. We retail spares by mail to private owners as many of you know, especially to those Norton owners who are far away from dealers and those who have been sold spurious spare parts by their previous source and want to be sure that they are getting the real thing.

But we do not run a showroom with slick salespersons and do not plan to do it, ever.

Joe Seifert
Can i see a picture of your machine shop producing these " real thing spares" or did you mean flat out buying stuff in? I started in production engineering in 1964,since then i have seen evolution! and if Twyfords [one time Englands largest producer of ceramic ware] as moved production overseas , then i would state you are following their example.
 
Andover Norton do not run a machine shop, and never claimed to do, we run a spares organisation. It is not unknown of suppliers of complete vehicles- Volkswagen, Daimler Benz etc come to mind- to produce as little as possible in-house, and to leave component manufacture, even the development and procurement of complete assemblies, to their suppliers.

The majority of our spares are made exclusively for us, to our original Norton engineering drawings, in the correct materials often provided by us (f.e. fork tube material we need to buy and stock 2 years worth to get the correct steel seamless tubing). Often using our tooling (dies, forging tools etc) by machine shops most of which are in the Birmingham area. I can show you the drawings and the tooling, but no machine shop.

Whilst we do buy spares from outside England- ignition coils from Germany, electronic ignitions from New Zealand, components that were procured even in Commando production times from Italy- you'd be surprised how many of our spares are made in England still, including some that were bought from far afield in the 1970s. Our Commando frames come to mind, now made in England, but in the old days made by Verlicchi/Italy.

We have a quality control for incoming goods and reliable suppliers most of which we have had for many years. Why we should run our own machine shop, forge and foundry with the variety of parts that make up our spares portfolio escapes me, but I am sure you can give me a perfectly good, financially viable reason for it.

By the way, we are not in the ceramics industry- though we do sell coffee mugs occasionally- we are in the motorcycle industry.
 
" though we do sell coffe mugs occasionally " = ' Give me Coffe , and no-one will come to any harm ' . :D

DRAWINGS ! :?: The Magnesium John Player Commando monocoque & spaceframe ? Do you have the magnesium
Um , The FORK SLIDERS Drawing , please . grovvle etc . :oops: :wink: or others of them .
 
Matt,
No, we don't have drawings for the works racers- if indeed any ever existed. But we do have drawings of production racer parts and those drawings that were done for the (production) Cosworth- drawn by Richard Negus, later Managing Director of Norton Motors Ltd, at the time.
We also have some drawings for the "3-cylinder Commando" I own. Found that out after the restoration, typical!
Joe Seifert
 
ZFD said:
Matt,
No, we don't have drawings for the works racers- if indeed any ever existed. But we do have drawings of production racer parts and those drawings that were done for the (production) Cosworth- drawn by Richard Negus, later Managing Director of Norton Motors Ltd, at the time.
We also have some drawings for the "3-cylinder Commando" I own. Found that out after the restoration, typical!
Joe Seifert

You should post some photos and technical details of that bike. People here would find it interesting. Or is there a link that would take us to more information?

Russ
 
ZFD said:
Matt,
...
We also have some drawings for the "3-cylinder Commando" I own. Found that out after the restoration, typical!
Joe Seifert
I'm intrigued, pics please, feel free to start another thread or post link if the thread already exists.
 
Will do, but not today. I have done a piece in German on "Jake" (the 3-cylinder Commando) which I will translate and probably put as a link on the Andover Norton homepage. Will post it then.
Joe Seifert
 
ZFD said:
Matt,
No, we don't have drawings for the works racers- if indeed any ever existed.
I was told by Norman White back in the '80s that there were no drawings for the 750 monocoque racer chassis. As I recall, he said Norton called in a pair of builders (might have been brothers, my memory is a bit vague now), who built the chassis by hand, without drawings, first from mild steel, and later from lighter gauge stainless. Sounds a bit like the story of Rob North building the racing triple chassis with no drawings, and no two alike.

At the time Norman was still in the process of building his first replicas of the original tube frame John Player F750 bikes (the blue ones), and I saw one in the jig when I dropped by to pick up a belt drive kit. I asked if he would consider building a replica of the monocoque bike, and he said he would have to have one to copy. He finally had the chance a few years ago when Jamie Waters commissioned him to build a replica of the monocoque he had just purchased. Jamie wanted one to race, but didn't want to risk the original on the track.

Ken
 
There has been a lot of frustration to say the least about the 961 delivery’s to the US. I have been waiting two years now for the bike to arrive. My dealer has called a stated my bike is on the boat headed to US soil. They even provided me with a VIN. Norton has a picture of crates being loaded into a truck. Hopefully those are bikes that are actually heading to the US. I was told my bike will arrive in about two weeks. It’s a black Café Sport Dual. I wanted the solo but at this point I’m tired of waiting and I’ll take whatever I can get. I’m new here on this forum but I promise a full report upon the bikes arrival.
 
Good news and great to have you on this site V7Sport! Thanks for chiming in!
 
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