What's happening at Norton? Sale to TVS, massive investment, new bikes...

BritTwit said:
Actually, my CR had the wrong size rings installed, along with two other 961s shipped to my dealer.
SG had "repair" kits sent to my dealer a month after I got the bike, and the dealer picked up my bike and fixed it under warranty.
The kit included, new rings, valve springs, valve seals, and all of the gaskets required for a top end tear down/rebuild.
My dealer, who was a personal friend told me the details:

1. The rings were too small and the end gap too large, so the engine passed a whole lot of oil when cold, got better when the motor was at operating temp, but the plugs were still black. When my dealer first started the bike after removal from the crate, he noticed the smoke and called the factory. They told him that the rings used were very hard and will take while to bed in. WHAT???

2. The valve springs had to be replaced because the supplier had shipped to wrong ones. The factory found that at higher RPMs these springs would bind. So new/correct ones were sent in the kit. Luckily I hadn't revved the bike above the 4,000 rpm limit that I was given by the dealer.

3. The factory also determined that the supplier had shipped the wrong valve seals, so they had to be replaced as well.

My dealer performed all of the work, and the bike that emerged worked beautifully. Pretty incredible when you consider that the factory had no shop manual at the time in 2013. My dealer received hand written instructions, and FAX-ed hand drawn diagrams from the factory to use in the rebuild process. He showed me what the factory sent him. The dealer has 3 bikes that needed the modifications.

Now, how did three 961s with all of these defects, and obvious symptoms get crated and shipped out????:oops:
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Now look, you either want a new bike or you want parts. You cannot have both. At least you were able to get parts 😂
 
Stephen_Spencer said:
The more I read FE, the more I think it’s likely that one of the principle reasons for dropping the Atlas range was that it did not fit into their premium/luxury vision - whatever we may think of that. Comments like, ‘we are not in the market of making a parallel twin…. at 12K’ is a bit of a clue for me.

Garner played everybody he did business with. Not sure that includes TVS though, as they were not in the picture at the time; don’t suppose the Atlas figured much in their decision to purchase Norton.
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Hi Steve , Did you get to speak Norton about ordering parts ?
 
Stu Bodycote said:
They can't ship them as new bikes, as they're not homologated.
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Right, but even so, It's gonna be a tough sell for Norton to acquire dealers in the US after the Donington episode.
Norton will have to spend $$ to get the homologation from the USDOT, and the individual states that have specific requirements above and beyond the USDOT reg. Like California, and other states.
Does Norton really think they will sell enough 961s or V4s to make it worth their while?
 
They'd not get them homologated in their current format.....hence each UK bike having to have a single vehicle approval certificate. Basically, the same inspection that a home built bike or car has to pass.
 
BritTwit said:
Actually, my CR had the wrong size rings installed, along with two other 961s shipped to my dealer.
SG had "repair" kits sent to my dealer a month after I got the bike, and the dealer picked up my bike and fixed it under warranty.
The kit included, new rings, valve springs, valve seals, and all of the gaskets required for a top end tear down/rebuild.
My dealer, who was a personal friend told me the details:

1. The rings were too small and the end gap too large, so the engine passed a whole lot of oil when cold, got better when the motor was at operating temp, but the plugs were still black. When my dealer first started the bike after removal from the crate, he noticed the smoke and called the factory. They told him that the rings used were very hard and will take while to bed in. WHAT???

2. The valve springs had to be replaced because the supplier had shipped to wrong ones. The factory found that at higher RPMs these springs would bind. So new/correct ones were sent in the kit. Luckily I hadn't revved the bike above the 4,000 rpm limit that I was given by the dealer.

3. The factory also determined that the supplier had shipped the wrong valve seals, so they had to be replaced as well.

My dealer performed all of the work, and the bike that emerged worked beautifully. Pretty incredible when you consider that the factory had no shop manual at the time in 2013. My dealer received hand written instructions, and FAX-ed hand drawn diagrams from the factory to use in the rebuild process. He showed me what the factory sent him. The dealer has 3 bikes that needed the modifications.

Now, how did three 961s with all of these defects, and obvious symptoms get crated and shipped out????:oops:
Click to expand...
er... no effective quality control when fitting externally supplied parts....compare that to what happens at BMW or Honda.
 
Spoke with Joseph (Norton Parts) today. Went like this.

Called Norton Sales and Service (0011 44 1215654411). Quick recorded welcome message and directly through to a receptionist (very efficient/friendly - didn’t catch her name), who put me straight through to Joseph - Parts Section. She checked he was there, visually - guess reception overlooks the shop floor.

After a bit of a chat and a (very) quick summary of spares provision for Donington bikes, I let him know that spares supply had been good until more recent months and then had dried up - referencing overseas requests.

He recognised this straight away. He explained that there was a glitch in the online form some weeks ago that had impeded normal parts requests - it had gone unnoticed. He is new and had not recognised the drop in spares request volumes. It’s fixed and he sited the 60 requests he’d sorted over the last few days. He provided more detail - he was clearly genuine.

Bottom line:

- No problem with spares supply, glitch in the ordering system is fixed but we need to follow the correct procedure.
- Requests to be processed through the online form - select ‘parts’ from the drop down.
- Any difficulties with the form, submit direct through parts@nortonmotorcycles.com - Joseph monitors this. Final option is to ring direct (although Joseph didn’t offer this option, he didn’t discount it) - I had no difficulty reaching directly into the parts department.

Other stuff:

- Joseph is new but is clearly keen and motivated (friendly) - he wanted to sort my request out directly; I’ll use the system.
- I got the feeling he was working on his own, but may be wrong. So delays? My guess, we’re gonna be lowest priority behind production and new customers, so may need to be patient.
- If you have submitted spares through other means, re-submit them through the online form.
- He used ‘bedlam’ to describe activity there currently; extremely busy with both 961’s and V4’s.
- I got no sense whatsoever that there was any difficulty with us ‘red headed step-children’.

Proof’s in the pudding - I’ll resubmit my request through the online form and ‘watch this space’ as they say.
 
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