The new new Nortons

[Yorick]

The RE and Norton R&D departments are in the UK, but the machines are all put together in India.

Norton built a brand new purpose built factory in Solihull the other year.
https://www.rideapart.com/news/482777/n ... y-opening/

You're right... I was writing complete rubbish there...

We didn't notice any difference

[ChrisW]

A friend of a bloke in my bike club had a test ride at the Norton factory, the MD even came down to have a chat.

I don't think he's anyone special, so I assume you can just book test rides from the hq.

I looked at this the other week - they're letting you book a test ride at a location of your choice and they bring the bike to you.

https://nortonmotorcycles.com/book-a-test-ride/

[Yorick]

A friend of a bloke in my bike club had a test ride at the Norton factory, the MD even came down to have a chat.

I don't think he's anyone special, so I assume you can just book test rides from the hq.

I looked at this the other week - they're letting you book a test ride at a location of your choice and they bring the bike to you.

https://nortonmotorcycles.com/book-a-test-ride/

I've emailed them

[ChrisW]

A friend of a bloke in my bike club had a test ride at the Norton factory, the MD even came down to have a chat.

I don't think he's anyone special, so I assume you can just book test rides from the hq.

I looked at this the other week - they're letting you book a test ride at a location of your choice and they bring the bike to you.

https://nortonmotorcycles.com/book-a-test-ride/

I've emailed them

Sadly, I suspect Sir did not fully read the T&Cs.

[Yorick]

I looked at this the other week - they're letting you book a test ride at a location of your choice and they bring the bike to you.

https://nortonmotorcycles.com/book-a-test-ride/

I've emailed them

Sadly, I suspect Sir did not fully read the T&Cs.

Ya don't say

[Bustaspoke]

The point I was trying (confusingly) to make was that we're happy buying the Royal Enfields - they've gone from nowhere to top-sellers in a couple of years so someone's doing something right.

Then there's BSA too, also with R&D in England - as I mentioned on my webcast a few days back, they've just attempted to register the names Bantam, Lightning and Thunderbolt... which implies a complete range of machines in the works to go with the Gold Star single.

I rode my mates Interceptor the other year,he'd changed the shocks & silencers,but apart from that it was standard.I enjoyed it & if I was looking for a parallel twin retro bike,factoring in price & running costs, I'd buy the Enfield over a Thaiumph or the new Norton.
I think that the Norton is aimed at a different sector of the market than the Enfield & in a few years I think they'll be selling lower spec & smaller capacity bikes made in India.

[ZRX61]

That Gladwell chap looks like he couldn't check the tire pressure on a bicycle, let alone change a set of brake pads on a proper bike. Not inspired to buy a bike from him.

[demographic]

The days when all Indian companies could build were ratty 100s are long gone.

Aye, Jaguar Landrover is sure showing the world how a quality product can be built.









Dunno about the last two years (cos I've not looked) but theyve figured in the worst cars in Which magazine for several years running before that.

[The Spin Doctor]

I think that the Norton is aimed at a different sector of the market than the Enfield & in a few years I think they'll be selling lower spec & smaller capacity bikes made in India.

For sure - the new owners of Norton always said that they wanted a premium bike and weren't looking to compete with the 'ordinary' end of the market.

But... there's word that TVS are looking at developing a 650 twin themselves... Norton had the 650 Atlas engine which appeared in a couple of prototypes before they sold the entire engine rights to Zhongshen (it's now in the RX6 which appeared last May).

When TVS took over Norton, they invited people to register interest in the 650 before announcing that the project was cancelled. It seems likely that Zhongshen would have built the motors, then supplied them to Norton to build into the finished bikes. But that clearly fell through? At the time I speculated that it would be one or more of the following:

:: the requirement to start developing an all-electric motorcycle had become a bigger priority

:: the 'premium' Norton brand didn't want to be associated with a 'made in China' engine even if to their own design

:: Zhongshen were asking too much for the motor

:: TVS planned to source a motor from India to bring the supply line back 'in house'

The news that TVS are looking at creating their own 650 twin plus rumours that a European company are developing the motor suggests they could well be using the development work undertaken for Norton to produce the new motor. With Norton part of the TVS empire, and given there are no TVS motorcycles in the UK or Europe, badging the new machine as a Norton for the Euro market - to take on BSA and Royal Enfield who already have 650s on sale here - would make a lot of sense, particularly as a lower spec bike could come in at a much more competitive price point than the V4.

I guess the question really is this; do TVS want to continue to see very limited sales at the very top end of the market with Norton? Or do they want to shift the company towards sales in volume?

[KungFooBob]

They should resurrect the Nemesis

[asmethurst99]

There's one in the window of the Bikeshed in Shoreditch -
https://uk.motor1.com/news/660822/norto ... -showroom/
Seems like you can book test rides from there

[The Spin Doctor]

I'd be amazed if their V4 was anything more than a rehashed version of the Garner ones with some fancy Ohlins and other bolt on stuff.

Plenty of information online as to what's been changed... several hundred engine parts have been reengineered, the engine's detuned, plus the frame's been strengthened... IIRC.

[Dodgy69]

That Norton that started to disassemble itself on the TT course the other year, surely had assembly issues, not just poor components.

[asmethurst99]

There's one in the window of the Bikeshed in Shoreditch -
https://uk.motor1.com/news/660822/norto ... -showroom/
Seems like you can book test rides from there

Edit beaten to it

[The Spin Doctor]

The Garner era guys talked a good game about how it was superbly engineered and it turned out to be a dangerous pile of wank.
The fact that's it got anything of the old bike about it means I'm suspect, reengineered can mean a lot of things, and a bit of frame bracing means it's probably a bad design to start with.

I'd want to see a few proper reviews, but even then I'm suspect, the motorcycle press were hanging out of Garners arse for ten years, waxing lyrical about his amazing bikes, which turned out to be riddled with problems. I'd probably believe more that comes out of Dianne Abbotts mouth than anyone in the motorcycle press.

I sincerely hope I'm wrong and if they do a proper reliable and well performing bike that looks like the Dominator SS chromed bikes then I'm in.

Obviously, I'm just going on what I've read, and I agree - as a source of reliable info, the bike press is pants.

But since a) the bike as Garner's Norton built it was terrible, and everyone knows it now... and since b) TVS / Norton are trying to rebuild credibility for the brand... I'd be very surprised if they hadn't done a bolt-by-bolt makeover and probably spent more money on it than they'll make on bike sales.

[Nordboy]

I stumbled on some of the RE's yesterday at a dealer. Brand new bikes for less than £4500, there's absolutely a market for that. Spanky new they looked surprisingly really good, I guess what they looked like after 6 months would be interesting though.

[Bigjawa]

I stumbled on some of the RE's yesterday at a dealer. Brand new bikes for less than £4500, there's absolutely a market for that. Spanky new they looked surprisingly really good, I guess what they looked like after 6 months would be interesting though.

I bought mine with less than 4k on the clocks in November 21. By March 22 the fuel injector failed, the rear caliper was a pile of fur, I had to strip the entire rear end out as it seems grease is illegal in India, the gear indicator had packed up and the clocks were misted up.

All in 1400 miles.

In comparison the 20yo, 60-odd thousand mile GS I replaced it with hasn't missed a beat.

[The Spin Doctor]

I'd be very surprised if they had, but you never know, RE bought Harris Engineering and built fantastic bikes, so maybe the new Norton owners have done something similar, but why aren't they shouting it from the rooftops.

I've watched some Youtube reviews and it basically comes down to the Commando being just like the old bike but now with bolt on bling.
One bloke actually describes it as feeling like the old one that has been customised by somewhere like the Bike Shed and modern components like Ohlins/Brembo bolted on.

I don't see any fundamental redesign in it.

I was talking more about the V4 as that bike was fundamentally flawed. It's had a very significant makeover.

I know less about the Commando.

[ZRX61]

So the one called the Manx doesn't have the black stripes on the tank like the actual Manx in the pic.. but the *Energette* does have the Manx stripes, but is supposed to remind of a bike that didn't have the Manx stripes...

Did they get the pics mixed up, or have they dropped a complete bollock on the design/name front?

[Rockburner]

So the one called the Manx doesn't have the black stripes on the tank like the actual Manx in the pic.. but the *Energette* does have the Manx stripes, but is supposed to remind of a bike that didn't have the Manx stripes...

Did they get the pics mixed up, or have they dropped a complete bollock on the design/name front?

They probably think they're being "disruptive"

Or the "lore" around Nortons has got so muddled, and no-one cares enough about "history" any more to pay attention to that sort of stuff.