Is it viable to keep a 961 long term?

Berin

Berin

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My cheap lease comes up in March next year, so I'm thinking about what to do (obvs. I'm not going to pay the £12k residual). Now I love the bike but Norton just seem to have dumped them with no after sales support. I took mine into Silverstone Norton last week of an annual service and they really had no clue what they were doing, and as far as I can tell none of the techs even have a bike licence since the lonely sales guy had to take it for its test ride.

When it went in it had a problem with cutting out when warm which I asked them to look at. When they handed it back I asked what they'd done and they said they hadn't looked at that as they didn't know how to do it. It still does it which makes it almost unridable, it cut out today while I was turning right at a junction. There's no manuals apart from the home-made ones on Access Norton, and it sounds like they offloaded all the parts to KrazyHorse who then sold them all cheap. I'd like to get that fixed so I can at least get a few more miles on it, but they seem to have discontinued all their old dealers.

I'd say it could well be the case it's easier to keep an actual old Norton on the road than a 961!
 
Mine has been troublesome and as you say, poor support.

Teasdales no longer Norton so goes 70 miles over to Cheshire. Car garage with one tech who's done the Norton course.

Came back with marks all over it last time. Headlamp scratched.

It's soured it for me.

Enjoyed it initially. But can't wait for it to go back now.

Might even pay the last 3 months up early and hand it back.
 
It's too bad. I don't know how they think they are going to sell the new bikes, especially the £38k Manx V4's with such poor service
 
They had about 18 used 961s in Southdown when I was in there about 10 weeks ago

They must have sold a few as they only appear to have 12 now

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I think for the 961 models you are better having the dealers that serviced them when they were new service them. The dealers selling the new range generally won’t have much idea about what to look for or known issues. It is poor of Norton that they haven’t insisted on these dealers training up on the 961 models. If I kept mine I would still use Krazy Horse for servicing based on the comments above.
 
Berin said:
My cheap lease comes up in March next year, so I'm thinking about what to do (obvs. I'm not going to pay the £12k residual). Now I love the bike but Norton just seem to have dumped them with no after sales support. I took mine into Silverstone Norton last week of an annual service and they really had no clue what they were doing, and as far as I can tell none of the techs even have a bike licence since the lonely sales guy had to take it for its test ride.

When it went in it had a problem with cutting out when warm which I asked them to look at. When they handed it back I asked what they'd done and they said they hadn't looked at that as they didn't know how to do it. It still does it which makes it almost unridable, it cut out today while I was turning right at a junction. There's no manuals apart from the home-made ones on Access Norton, and it sounds like they offloaded all the parts to KrazyHorse who then sold them all cheap. I'd like to get that fixed so I can at least get a few more miles on it, but they seem to have discontinued all their old dealers.

I'd say it could well be the case it's easier to keep an actual old Norton on the road than a 961!
Click to expand...
My mates 961 started cutting out and it was a loose tickover screw so I would check that.
 
TPS issue usually.

Make sure to not touch the throttle when cold starting.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
A lot folk will be in the same position, I would only keep mine if it was cheap, £7000 possibly a few hundred more at a push.
There are some clever people around who could fix any issue but that won't be cheap so will need a healthy reserve to fund this.
Somehow don't think the finance company would accept that but who knows, they may be more inclined by the time mine is due back in April 2027 as there may have been be large return rate of the rumoured 300+ bikes sold on the cheap PCP deal.
Think there will be over supply come next spring which will keep prices low going forward.
 
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Saw this on Facebook today.

First batch of PCP returned Commando 961 went to auction recently, results as follows.
Did not say which auction house. In a couple of cases the hammer price was £6,000 less than the final pa6ment on the PCP.
One person commented that his was auctioned in Nottingham a couple weeks back with 24 others and I have been told by the f8nance company that bikes are returned directly to an auction house. Come next spring, once over supply and resulting low prices hit there may well be a realistic chance the finance company will accept an offer just over auction price.
 

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Following on from my Post #4 I see that South Downs are now Triumph Dealers after Destination Triumph packed in at their Fareham location
 
As the finance compny bought the bike from Norton when new and is selling it as used at the auction, can someone explain how the margin scheme works in this situation. I thought it is used to account for VAT on the difference between the price paid for a second-hand vehicle and the price it is sold for, confused for sure or just a thicko !

As a separate issue, I note that the last batch of new CRs sold in August had a final paymemt of around £11,000 meaning a total price if you kept the bike of around £12600 with a £500 voucher for accessories included, overall £1500 - 2000 less than the "unbeatable deal" late 2024 / early 2025
 
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GSite said:
….. I thought it is used to account for VAT on the difference between the price paid for a second-hand vehicle and the price it is sold for…..
Click to expand...
You’re right.
If a car is sold for the same price it was bought for, or for less, there is no margin, so no VAT is due on that sale.
Each vehicle is treated as an individual sale entity, so a loss on one car cannot be used to reduce VAT owed on a profitable sale of another.
Dealers cannot claim relief on a loss either.
 
Nice 'n' Fat said:
Following on from my Post #4 I see that South Downs are now Triumph Dealers after Destination Triumph packed in at their Fareham location
Click to expand...
As well as Norton?

They are going to have to spend a bit of money on the damp smelly shed they currently pass off as a showroom, I would think, to get to Triumph standards
 
cbritton said:
My mates 961 started cutting out and it was a loose tickover screw so I would check that.
Click to expand...
This seems to be solved. Silverstone Norton were actually quite good, they researched the issue and I went back up and they fitted a new TPS sensor under warranty.
 
Berin said:
As well as Norton?

They are going to have to spend a bit of money on the damp smelly shed they currently pass off as a showroom, I would think, to get to Triumph standards
Click to expand...
Yes as well as Norton

Have a look at their website. There's an artist's impression on how the new Triumph showroom will look
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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