NORTON COMMANDO 961 CR & SP

With new owners, big ambitions and a shed-load of money behind it, Norton is back – and not just with the V4, but with the iconic Commando 961 too…

WORDS: CARLOS

PICS: NORTON

Carl was more impressed by the Norton than it was of him.

O h, Norton Motorcycles. For some people, those words alone will do nothing but bring back nightmares, while for others they are a symbol of not just nostalgia, but pure British-built brilliance. And in a lot of senses, that’s all in the past, as the era of Norton Motorcycles begins not just with an expanding range of V4s (we can’t wait to ride the spicy new supernaked) but of course with the ‘rebirth’ of some iconic machinery, too. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that this is possible due to the acquisition by TVS in 2020, which in turn has injected the new age of Norton with a shed-load of money, a state-of-the-art facility in Solihull, new staff, and now with this – the latest iteration of the Norton Commando 961.

Retro racer...

Before we get started on the bike, we must address the big ol’ elephant in the room of previous quality issues and what’s improved with this latest page in the Norton saga. The answer, according to the head honchos at Norton HQ, is pretty much everything; it has employed new staff from Triumph, KTM,

Royal Enfield and others, and in the past few years has devised its own tests in order to give its machinery a proper standard to live up to. As an example, a whole host of special testing devices have been built that work alongside regular mileage tests such as a working rig, and where the previous generation of Commando would last for just 2.5 hours under harsh conditions before falling apart, the latest models are now lasting more than 80 hours. This is because the team at Norton has had to change a whopping 350 parts (36%, in fact) compared to the previous model to bring it in line with its new quality control standards, which has led to everything – from a re-engineered valve train to a new fuel tank and even big alterations within the frame itself – changing.