In this months issue of Cafe Racer magazine.

Yes Thiaumph make a lot of hi class modern machinery, especially in the adventure genre. But the retro twin range has been their biggest selling range for years, I think since it was launched.

I think TVS are saying they don’t want to be ONLY a retro brand as mentioned above.

If they were saying they don’t want to be in the retro business at all, that would be a staggering mistake given the size of the market, and it’s still growing!

And I believe the retro market will keep growing, though it may twist and turn as it does so. The days of choosing a motorcycle on its speed and stats are long gone, simply because there are SO MANY bikes out there that are already way faster than most riders will ever be. Modern, and future buyers will use very different selection criteria.

As has been shown by many manufactures, retros can provide more than enough performance for many buyers, whilst ticking lots of other boxes too.

Norton, with its name, heritage, brand imagery, is placed brilliantly, like Thai or HD, to exploit this market much better than most.

I think they know this already. I think that’s why they paid £16m for it !
 
Sorry to sour the conversation it but I wonder whether TVS has any plans for our electric future? This is really going to turn things upside down as a company like TVS will develop standard drive unit packages and the branding could end up as differently shaped and coloured pieces of plastic bodywork and maybe some carbon fibre and CNC parts to adorn the more exclusive brands. What will a 'retro' bike look like? Fake engines and engine noise generators?
 
What will a 'retro' bike look like? Fake engines and engine noise generators?

Probably, yes.

They’ll be app based. Want a Norton? Download the app. Want a Harley? Download the app. All downloaded onto the same soulless 2 wheeled ‘device’.

Horrific innit...?

Buy real ones while you can...!
 
Perhaps the 'retro' market is growing 'cos the rider/buyer demographic is getting older?? (In the UK at least, perhaps?) Videos of bike launches in India show that to be a vibrant: 'motorcycle as daily transport' market, competing with tuk tuks and horse drawn vehicles on roads not suited for knee down scratching!
But where else in the world does the youth or working man look to two wheels as anything other than recreational transport?
I'd guess it's a shrinking market and liable to get smaller once us lot are dead.....
 
Probably, yes.

They’ll be app based. Want a Norton? Download the app. Want a Harley? Download the app. All downloaded onto the same soulless 2 wheeled ‘device’.

Horrific innit...?

Buy real ones while you can...!

Wow Nigel we got something here! Choose cruiser racer or off-road then 3d print your bodywork with colours in store! A motorbike version of those build-a-bear shops. Remember guys you read it here first.
 
Perhaps the 'retro' market is growing 'cos the rider/buyer demographic is getting older?? (In the UK at least, perhaps?) Videos of bike launches in India show that to be a vibrant: 'motorcycle as daily transport' market, competing with tuk tuks and horse drawn vehicles on roads not suited for knee down scratching!
But where else in the world does the youth or working man look to two wheels as anything other than recreational transport?
I'd guess it's a shrinking market and liable to get smaller once us lot are dead.....

Not sure about that, I seem to see a lot of young hipsterish types on bobberish retro type thingymabobs.

And lots of fat old wannabe-hasbins on 200bhp+ missiles ...

I’d say the 200bhp nutter bastard market is likely to shrink before the retro market.
 
Worst case scenario is Norton becoming the TWS 'designer' label similar to Vanden Plas with Austin Rover.
 
Perhaps the 'retro' market is growing 'cos the rider/buyer demographic is getting older??
I'd guess it's a shrinking market and liable to get smaller once us lot are dead.....

Inspirational purchasing. We buy what the media tells us to - we can't help it; they will decide if retro or Tron bikes are in or not. Ref tattoos and beards.
 
Inspirational purchasing. We buy what the media tells us to - we can't help it; they will decide if retro or Tron bikes are in or not. Ref tattoos and beards.
No way, Jose... That might have held true as an impressionable youngster, but not any more....
 
Sorry to sour the conversation it but I wonder whether TVS has any plans for our electric future? This is really going to turn things upside down as a company like TVS will develop standard drive unit packages and the branding could end up as differently shaped and coloured pieces of plastic bodywork and maybe some carbon fibre and CNC parts to adorn the more exclusive brands. What will a 'retro' bike look like? Fake engines and engine noise generators?

Every motorcycle and auto, truck vehicle manufacturer is struggling with this question.
They know that they will be forced by regulation to move to electrics, but they don't yet know how to make the transition.
Harley's LiveWire is a reflection of what they believe their customers would want.
They housed the power train in an "enclosure" that provides something of an "engine" aesthetic.
Dealers were forced to buy one for the showroom floor, but couldn't sell them.
This is what manufacturers want to avoid.
Dropping a new electric model on the market, and have it lay an egg.
 
Probably, yes.

They’ll be app based. Want a Norton? Download the app. Want a Harley? Download the app. All downloaded onto the same soulless 2 wheeled ‘device’.

Sad, but not so strange at all.
Young folk are very comfortable using apps for literally everything.
Electric vehicles will be considered consumer electronic devices.
 
I think we all know that it’s coming! Less fettling in your garage and more ‘plug n play’ but from a purely selfish perspective, it is unlikely to affect we bunch of old knackers! What was our average age again;)?

I feel sad for those in the (relatively) near future who may never have the oportunity to ride real bikes, get their hands dirty and experience that wonderfully visceral experience, no matter whether retro or rocket ship!

Norway will phase out conventional cars by 2025!? Really!?

In this months issue of Cafe Racer magazine.
 

This is a very unusual event, but not unheard of.
Most car batteries are composed of hundreds of individual cylindrical lithium battery cells.
All that is needed for a fire to start is for just one of those cells to be defective, overheat while charging, short, and burst into flames.
Spraying water on the fire is pointless since the shorting of the battery is chemical in nature, the reaction has its own oxygen supply.
It's best to just get away from the inferno.

Tesla had this problem on a few of his vehicles, especially during "fast charging" cycles.
The only way to protect against these fires is with extreme manufacturing quality control of the lithium cells, and thermal senors that shunt off charging if or when temps approach the danger zone.

One of the concerns with electric cars is if you are in an accident, and the impact damages the battery pack in your vehicle, best to get out and run like hell.
 
What gets me is people act like only electric cars catch on fire. Have they forgotten gas / fuel is combustible and produce huge explosions ever fraction of a second and can bust into flames as well?
 
No way, Jose... That might have held true as an impressionable youngster, but not any more....

Hmmm so why didn't you buy a nice sensible H*nda or one of those lovely Nikens? ;) Or even a climate-saving Prius.......
 
Hmmm so why didn't you buy a nice sensible H*nda or one of those lovely Nikens? ;) Or even a climate-saving Prius.......
Because I exercise my freedom of choice to not ride a bike that currently has primary drive parts in the kitchen and on the garage floor... To be reassembled when gaskets arrive in the post. May even fit one of DynoDave's pushrod seals but he's gone shy and won't answer my emails (perhaps his wooden shack ain't earthed properly!) Such are the joys of not following the herd :)
 
Such are the joys of not following the herd :)

I do find ownership a strangely mixed experience;
Walking a broken bike for miles down a country lane. :mad:
The pleasure of stripping the clutch and gearbox and getting it all back together working better than before.:D
Trying to ignore the comments about how much I spent on a bike that suffers so many problems.:rolleyes:
The delight of old guys in the local supermarket car park who haven't seen a Norton since they owned one in 1965 and there's a story I can tell you about it........:)
Out-handling a young rider on a sports bike with a glorious cacophony of sound.;)
just looking at the gorgeous lines of the bike.:p

If variety is the spice of life then owning a Norton 961 is rather like a Vindaloo........
 
I do find ownership a strangely mixed experience;
Walking a broken bike for miles down a country lane. :mad:
The pleasure of stripping the clutch and gearbox and getting it all back together working better than before.:D
Trying to ignore the comments about how much I spent on a bike that suffers so many problems.:rolleyes:
The delight of old guys in the local supermarket car park who haven't seen a Norton since they owned one in 1965 and there's a story I can tell you about it........:)
Out-handling a young rider on a sports bike with a glorious cacophony of sound.;)
just looking at the gorgeous lines of the bike.:p

If variety is the spice of life then owning a Norton 961 is rather like a Vindaloo........
'Been there, done that' for most of the above, though have to take task with the last line. Whilst I'm no fan of the 961, at least it is Brit. The Indian dish simile may be appropriate for the
next generation of bikes bearing the word Norton on the tank, but as troubled as the 961's history has been I think it deserves a better epithet..
 
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