Norton self service update

Ok
The drama continues

I bought this brand new bike on the deal I could do my own service as I live miles from a dealer. Norton emailed me back and said that's fine but you must use Norton parts and any work done that is the cause of failure won't be covered. Fine that's ok

All emails from them below. Basically they have set me up to fail. If you think im wrong then just say but to me this is a terrible way to go on.

Hi Shaun,

Apologies for the delay in getting you the information requested around servicing your bike at home.

Whilst it is always best to have all servicing work completed at an official Sales Partner, we do appreciate that you may not live in a reasonable proximity to do so and as such your warranty would not be invalidated should you wish to do this.

Please be advised, that this only stands if genuine Norton parts are used, and that the person completing the work is competent. Records for all self- service items must be kept to support any future warranty cases. Any warranty claims that arise due to breaks/damage or failure caused by the self-service work being completed incorrectly will not be covered under any warranty parameters

Best wishes,
Customer Support Team

Good afternoon Mr Anderson.

The technical data for the Norton 961 SP is supplied to the trained technicians within our authorised dealer network.

As discussed in previous emails, the decision to service outside of the dealer network, any warranty claims that arise due to breaks/damage or failure caused by the self-service work being completed incorrectly will not be covered under any warranty parameters.

Kind regards
The Aftersales Team

Muppets !!!

I have torque settings for pre Solihull but two dealers have told me the new bikes have different settings

Wardude said:

I have torque settings for pre Solihull but two dealers have told me the new bikes have different settings

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Your two responses above are from different teams - this may explain a disconnect.

Maybe pick the phone up to the service enquiries team, (very) briefly explain the home service understanding reached with the Customer Support Team and that the only information preventing this arrangement from successfull completion is a single torque figure.

Stephen_Spencer said:

Your two responses above are from different teams - this may explain a disconnect.

Maybe pick the phone up to the service enquiries team, (very) briefly explain the home service understanding reached with the Customer Support Team and that the only information preventing this arrangement from successfull completion is a single torque figure.

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I suppose the dealer makes some income from the warranty service and this may explain this ? 180 miles one way to the dealer would makes this a overnight service visit .

So Norton are saying you can service it yourself, as long as you take it to a competent mechanic who knows the torque settings. Only Norton dealers know that so, in essence they are saying you have to take it to a Norton dealer.

I see on the Facebook group the Stu managed to get John Hogan’s attention and he has responded. Perhaps some common sense will prevail here.

TonyA said:

I suppose the dealer makes some income from the warranty service and this may explain this ? 180 miles one way to the dealer would makes this a overnight service visit .

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Resolved it appears.



Likely a mis-communication between departments I guess? Just needed someone to get the dots connected - with Stu’s assistance.

Generally worth waiting for these things to pan out I guess.

Ok update
Spoke to Norton and they are honouring the self service for me and given me
The head torque. Iv also raised the problem that many Solihull owners are using the only manual available for the 961 which happens to be pre Solihull. These bikes have completely different torque settings to Solihull as new metals and alloys etc etc were used in the new engines. This is proven now Iv had it confirmed via Norton and a dealer. So, im Hoping Norton will now see sense and release the service torques etc for the owners of Solihull bikes. Let's hope

Would we expect the release of full service information to buyers of what is (effectively) a new bike, that is still well inside of its warranty period? What about any software updates etc? Is that realistic - I don’t know.

I guess Norton has responsibility to its dealers - part of their acceptance of the dealership contract would likely hinge on profit to be made through the usual avenues, including servicing. Responsibility to provide the same information to third party service organisations in future - a different issue I guess.

Norton is unlikely to want to encourage home servicing - in which case they need to look at expanding their dealer network you would think. That said, any buyer from areas remote to a dealer would need to factor that in as part of the purchase decision. Wonder how the likes of Brough deal with it.

Stephen_Spencer said:

Would we expect the release of full service information to buyers of what is (effectively) a new bike, that is still well inside of its warranty period? What about any software updates etc? Is that realistic - I don’t know.

I guess Norton has responsibility to its dealers - part of their acceptance of the dealership contract would likely hinge on profit to be made through the usual avenues, including servicing. Responsibility to provide the same information to third party service organisations in future - a different issue I guess.

Norton is unlikely to want to encourage home servicing - in which case they need to look at expanding their dealer network you would think. That said, any buyer from areas remote to a dealer would need to factor that in as part of the purchase decision. Wonder how the likes of Brough deal with it.

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I mentioned the lack of dealers and obviously they are keen to expand that. As for the servicing, I did factor that into the purchase as I emailed Norton to ask if I could do my servicing and they said I could because of my lack of dealership as long as it's carried out by a competent mechanic and Norton approved parts are used. Like somebody else has mentioned though, who is going to buy an out of warranty bike that you cant look after yourself???

Wardude said:

I mentioned the lack of dealers and obviously they are keen to expand that. As for the servicing, I did factor that into the purchase as I emailed Norton to ask if I could do my servicing and they said I could because of my lack of dealership as long as it's carried out by a competent mechanic and Norton approved parts are used. Like somebody else has mentioned though, who is going to buy an out of warranty bike that you cant look after yourself???

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You’d expect that at some stage a service manual would be made available to the public - maybe not inside the warranty period (+) though would be my guess. Clearly the dealers have the technical information required to maintain the 961 in its entirety; not that the bike is particularly complex.

Goes to show also I suppose, that there may have been more changes to the 961 than was initially apparent. Mention of changed materials/spec and significant amended to torque settings might indicate that.

Interestingly some manufacturers, like BMW, have apparently stopped selling maintenance manuals for some models as they believe that these bike have become too complex to be worked on by the home mechanic. Not a problem that afflicts the 961 of course!

Hi again , It could be something as simple as a few lbs more or less torque and even a small change of tightening sequence .

TonyA said:

Hi again , It could be something as simple as a few lbs more or less torque and even a small change of tightening sequence .

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The head torque on the 961 was 60nm

I'm told on the Solihull it's 48nm. BUT the Solihull bike at 500 miles you only torque the outside head bolts, NOT the ones under the rocker cover