Price of a Norton

[wetdog]

mechanic goes to the doctors for a blood test , talking to him he states that there jobs are very similar .
“I rebuild engine from the heart up and you also look after the heart”
The doctor agrees but adds
"Try doing it with the engine still running"
 
now back to bikes , Nortons are expensive toys

[yebbut]

the BBC, is today reporting that 75% of wealth is in the hands of 25% of the population

That puts me in the bottom range of the 25% then.


As for the BBC  (Buggers Broadcasting Communism) it has long lost credibility. Personally I would have the lot on trial for treason.

And to keep it on topic being skint is why I can't afford to buy anymore of those fantastically priced bikes these days
Stuff that as a youngster I refused as give aways, I remember   refusing a pile of about six M20/M21  in the early 1960's.....  what lad would have been seen dead on one back then, now they are restored  to betetr than new or worse turned into that obscene abortion of a bike a bobber-chopper

Now where did THAT crap idea come from?

[johnnyboy-wonder57]

I do not read any National newspaper, you just have to ride or drive across the Country to see & experience the stupid traffic policies & speed limitations in place where inappropriate, many countries may be more totalitarian than ours, but once we had a higher degree of freedom here than what we have now & & I would challenge anyone who lived here in the second half of the 20th century to dispute that!

Just wait till we get snow & ice again!

Cheers

JBW

[Rex]

We'll get snow and ice regardless of the shade of government currently in power. Of course, local authorities could invest millions in gritters and snow ploughs, but then there wouldn't be any substantial snowfalls to justify it, and so there'd be calls to explain the waste of rate-payers' money.
The Mail and Express go for the apocalyptic "woe is us" style of journalism, and I thought you were indulging in a bit of that too.

Don't know about you, but I MoT the old bikes yearly, the tax is free and the insurance is dirt-cheap on a classics policy. I can then ride when where and with whoever I like, no restrictions, and I don't see how any of that is different from at any time in the past.
Thanks to the 'Net, spares and info is more readily available now than probably ever it was, so I really can't see how have reached your particular view-point JBW.

[Bomber]

So Rex, you would be happy to ride about in a high viz tabard and you dont mind what they put in your fuel... devils advocate you understand...

[johnnyboy-wonder57]

Rex,
Just a bit of realistic debate that's all, motorists & motorcyclist are being bashed constantly with rules and regulations e.t.c, look @ the new Driving Licences & the young road user, how you have to be retested for every different category. The insurance rip-off generally across the board to do with motorised traffic, albeit excepting Classic motorcycles @ present.  What about the under-cover police teams joining Club runs and filming  people riding, the Daylight headlight proposals, Police & Council over interference over events such as  Appleby Fair , trying to stop events across the Country which have happened in our Sceptred isles for millennia, trying to organise something, AKA an event, now is a nightmare, with overburdening health & safety, insurances, District Council rules, personal indemnity insurance, Equality Laws & access all have to be considered, plus what you are trying to achieve.

Winter & Traffic calming:
As for snow & ice look @ the lay-out of many roads in the country, they are now designed  so that its almost impossible on a single-carriageway to overtake safely, there are a million more objects of substantial  structure in the middle of our carriageways, than there used to be & I consider them downright dangerous to motorcyclists & that the authorities have forgotten what British winters can be like in designing modern roads, with slaloms through deliberately built traffic control structures,  speed humps, all of which you cannot see if a substantial amount of snow falls & Ice forms and with all these additional objects to hit the more likely the occurrence of an accident is likely to take place.

Then if there is no difference in road conditions, why then does it take me longer to ride or drive across Kent than it used to, if you disregard congestion then nearly every road speed limit is 10 mph down on what it was 30 years ago, has anyone noticed how Dual-carriageways are now often 50mph   in many places rather than the 60mph, that they used to be!

What speeds are you travelling @ Rex? Some A & B roads are becoming unusable through lack of maintenance & over zealous & restrictive speed controls, I like seeing the scenery but I also like to travel @ a reasonable pace!

Go on line & research the cost of  becoming a new motorcycle rider imagine yourself as a 17 year old, its horrendous the amount of money you need these days.

I think I am an optimist with a realistic slightly pessimistic point of view, leading to an awareness brought about by past experience, because it certainly is less fun to live in Britain than it used to be through needless restrictions and poorly thought out legislation and policy implementation!  The treating us like we are idiotic children, surekllt on reflection this cannot be a true reflection of what this great Nation has become?


Incidentally, why is the new Norton so expensive
Cheers

John

JBW

[Rex]

A general rant against life in the 21st century, then?

My long-gone dad used to say much the same about conditions and rules and regs when he started out (pre-war) compared to how things were in the 50s-60s when he finished with bikes.

That golden glow which always seems to emanate from "the past".

[yebbut]

Things were so much better in the past, if only I was back there I could buy all those bikes no one wanted.

Norton Prices?
I put  the first Commandos together at Plumstead, for  a lot less than 20 quid a week before tax,

before that,  just out my  gas fitter apprenticeship the wage was around £12  a week.

So that's the difference.
Incidentally I didn't like Commandos back then and I still wouldn't have one now.


As for the rant, well generally I agree, I seemed to have had a lot better time in the 60's than kids do now, but then I could go where I liked without fear of "disrespecting" someone and getting done over or stabbed.

I could also buy a wreck of a bike for 10 bob and either push it home without getting stopped  and harassed by a jobsworth copper, or bring it home on a train in the guards van, remember those?

[johnnyboy-wonder57]

"surekllt on reflection this cannot be a true reflection of what this great Nation has become?" Is this a new word no!
Degenerating into an idiot I profess most of us are not! Meant to say surely!

Looking back is always dangerous, so I try & look forward, then end up looking back again?
Yes, Rex, what would you get know for scrambling  a Honda 50 round a field now, or running your Bantam with no baffles and filling the  monobloc carb' with Redex & leaving a trail of pure white smoke down the A6, an ASBO?
@18 I got 3 points on my licence and a £5 fine & Court appearance, for 1 of my "L" plates being missing, I was made to feel by the Judge as an enemy of the State, of course they hadn't heard of Al-Qaeda then!

Theory on price of a Norton:
Component parts: High metal, alloys, copper, steel & carbon fibre prices;
Tyre prices astronomical;
Labour costs- neutral;
Fuel injection system, ECU, electronic ignition substantially expensive;
Paint & finishing astronomical;
Plant equipment,  Foundry casting, tooling costs power & water supply, insurances, H&S, expensive;
Commercial rates;
Construction Type Approval & Manufacturing fee;
Management Expertise Expensive;
Road Logistic costs to Dealer, fuel costs;
Dealer's cut;
Priced not on costs but maybe what the market can be seen to afford!
Profit margin producer;
Higher VAT;
Green Stealth Taxes;
Some ridiculous prices of Classic & Vintage bikes further push up the price

How the hell do they make them for less than £14,000!


Cheers

John

JBW