2009 norton 961

[Travman]

From the articles it's not clear that this will get off the grown, which is a bummer since that bike looks nice.

Those articles were just to about the end of Kenny Dreer's efforts to revive Norton.  That effort fell apart in 2006 or 2007.  The remains of Kenny Dreer's company were purchased by Stuart Garner around 2008 and this latest effort is based in England.

[Lars D]

I do believe that South Bay Triumph is either this importe or the first dealer is the U.S.

The owner Matt Capri does some serious mods to the Triumphs.

I also wanted one when Dreer was trying to get it up and running.

I think Dreer now works at Latus HD.

[jerryz]

Kenny Dreer is not involved anymore ..also although Stuart Garner bought the designs the Motor has been redesigned for production and Euro3 with EFI.The factory has $10m of new cachine tools for the motor production 85% of which is UK supplied.Bikes are being produced as we speak .The bike delivers 85hp at rear wheel with more possible , only a heavily modified Hinckley Bonnie could match that  and $10,000 would need to be spent , i recently saw such a Bonnie in UK with a Dyno 85BHP at rear wheel  after $10,000 spent on the engine.new FCR carbs  bumpy cams, big valves ,larger pistons ,lightened crank ,skimmed heads  ,exhaust system and new race ignition module plus the chassis mods to make it handle the power ,new braked springs schocks etc etc etc etc , the Norton does that out the Box.

Jerry the monsterman

[DucSeason]

I really dig the bike, but the price tag reflects a liberal use of unobtainium in the design....   

[Adam in TX]

Those pictures have been around for at least 4 years now, and while it is a beauty of a bike, that would no doubt be fun to own and ride, we have seen stories touting their production, and soon to be availability for the same 4 years.

I definitely hope it happens, I'm just saying don't hold your breath.

Major ditto... I vividly remember seeing the black pic when I was a freshman in college... in 2003.

[loneknight66]

I don't like the tail of the 2009 Norton 961...

[Travman]

I don't like the tail of the 2009 Norton 961...

From certain angles the tail does look a little too long and too stylized, but from most angles I think it looks good.  I think the body work looked better on the earlier VR880 bikes.  The body work on the 961 sitts higher up on the frame or maybe because the engine is bigger and taller the tank has to sit higer up.  

[jwoconnor]

Hopefully the new owners give Dreer some props since that was his baby. He had passion for the marque, I'd bet the new guy just wants to make money but we'll see.

[Travman]

I guess a few more have rolled off of the assembly line. 
This one is called the Commando 961 Sport.  The only difference between this one and the Special Edition is the substitution of spoked wheels for the carbon fiber wheels of the SE. 



They have updated their website with the latest models.
http://www.nortonmotorcycles.com/bikes/

[Travman]

There is also a model called the Commando 961 Cafe Racer with USD Forks, radial brakes and a little hat.

[Travman]

Norton 961s on display this past weekend at NEC in the UK.

[1KDS]

The SE above has the inverted forks of the cafe racer, I hadn't seen that yet on the SE
maybe it's only the standard that gets the traditional forks

[LowThudd]

Love the frenched tail light.

[Travman]

Here is the latest "test" video of the Cafe version.  I like this version a lot.  It sounds much better with the performance pipes.
http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/News/newsresults/videos/2010/February/feb2410-video-norton-cafe-racer-world-first-ride/
The bike looks awesome from the rear 3/4 view with the rider on it.  Check it out around 1:26.

[jerryz]

You cannot place orders at present as all current production is sold out....until September 2010,  But they will be ramping production up to 1500-2000 bikes a year soon.