Norton Motorcycles Acquires Donington Hall

worntorn said:
Did Norton owners offer this much criticism of Dreer's efforts? I don't recall that happening.

There was certainly a lot of comment about the guy who did jail time over scammiing the investors in his Norton project. ?
Not to mention a bit of amusement.
Or have we all forgotten that already.
And where a certain amount of cynicism may have originated ??

Mr Bloor, with almost zero publicity, dreamed up and started up a large manufacturing enterprise.
And went ahead with it.
Compare with the current Norton lot....
 
79x100 wrote:
....Want the new Norton to fail ? That would imply that I cared. Quite frankly, I don't give a damn, although I might feel a little more charitable if they had chosen their own name for the motorcycle rather than trying to trade on the borrowed glory of a brand that was obsolete almost forty years ago but which I value rather highly in its historical context.


I couldn't agree more with that last part 79x100.
 
If Garner and company would have stated up front that a 100% deposit was required and the wait would be 18 months, there would have been a whole lot less criticism. Unfortunately, additional deposits were required as delivery promises were repeatedly missed. Regardless of what the product is, any manufacture that operates that way is going to be viewed with skepticism. The criticism of the new Norton company has been justly earned. There may be some who wish to see Garner fail, but they are not on this forum and are probably not even motorcycle enthusiasts.
 
Triumph is not "better" than other modern bikes on offer nor are they cheaper.
Easy to say there is no real need for another bike brand or even that the market
wouldnt support one. They are mass manufactured but not on the level of Honda
Yamaha etc. They have succeeded because they have a "name" and they have
turned out to be reliable enough and powerful enough to be acceptable by
modern riders.
Norton is trying to establish itself at the higher end of the market with fewer
more expensive bikes. They likely go well enough and hopefully stay together.
That the company can get established is yet to be seen.
Id buy one but I dont need one as I can have enough fun on a much less expensive
Commando.
Shrug.
 
"Norton is trying to establish itself at the higher end of the market"

But how are they actually at the "higher end" other than in their own mind? They offer less in every way - performance/reputation/racing experience - than, say, a Ducati does at a lower price. None of the the various components on the Norton are exclusive or superior to those on other bikes - they are the same components other bikes use coupled with a relatively low-powered engine by today's standards. I can't get my head around "high end" when there is nothing there to support it OTHER than the fact that they don't make very many of them. But again, I'm speaking based on my disappointment over what they have chosen to do. Harley seems to do pretty well selling heavy, slow bikes to a certain market so I guess if Norton can corner a large enough appropriate market they could do as well. I'm just not sure what that market would be in 2012.
 
Maybe it makes more sense to compare the 961 to the CNW Nortons. Afterall, the customizing that Kenny Dreer did to standard Commandos was the starting point for the 961. So we have two Norton custom builders, and two different approaches. CNW recognizes the limitations of the motor trans and stays within that. Dreer experimented with performance and concluded that a totally new design was needed. Both did great things with styling.
I believe the CNW bikes are in the 40k range, not sure if that includes the donor bike or not. Performance is similar to a standard Norton, so considerably lower than the 961. So by that measure the 961 is a bargain.
Last article I read about the CNW bikes indicated there was a substantial waiting list for them. By any measure that enterprise has to be considered a success. The purchasers of the bikes always seem thrilled with the product, the owner is doing well and a number of people are gainfully employed at a great job.
But the performance level of the bikes is quite low and the price is pretty high. Perhaps that doesn't really matter for this portion of the market?
Glen
 
Shame they didn't spend the money making bikes for customers who have paid their deposits, like me ..........
 
tribonnie said:
Shame they didn't spend the money making bikes for customers who have paid their deposits, like me ..........

How long have you been waiting?
 
lardygitTVR said:
79x100 said:
....Want the new Norton to fail ? That would imply that I cared. Quite frankly, I don't give a damn, although I might feel a little more charitable if they had chosen their own name for the motorcycle rather than trying to trade on the borrowed glory of a brand that was obsolete almost forty years ago but which I value rather highly in its historical context.

For someone who has zero interest you were very keen to make a comment (third post in this thread). I assume you believe the current incarnation of Triumph should change its name. or maybe stop making motorcycles altogether?

You misunderstand me completely. The new Norton as a machine is completely irrelevant to me. What I do care about, and passionately is the good name of Norton being dragged through the mud. The original NVT debacle was bad enough but no-one can look back with pleasure on the dealings of the Le-Rouxs and the Skalbanias. I can't shake off that "Here we go again" feeling.

I have no emotional attachment to Triumphs, old or new. My impression though is that they don't have to apologise for anything in the current marketplace.
 
If I had given a deposit on a new Norton and was made to wait far far past a promised delivery time then I would be pissed and bad mouthing them.

Norton blew it by overmarketing in the beginning, we all know that and they do to.

Does that mean they are a piece of sh!t company or does it mean they screwed up?

Looking forward, they are building and delivering bikes, the reviews are quite generally positive and clearly their prices is not an issue because they can't build em fast enough to satisfy demand.

They can't be in financial trouble as many seem to guess because they just committed a boat load of money to the new facility, and they are building the bikes in England, not in Asia as Triumph.

I don't get the grousing and sense of hoping they "fail", unless one is waiting on a deposit back or a long promised bike.

I am 62 and I afford a new Norton, I want one bad as soon as available here in the USA, and I do not give a damn if it is not up to Japanese performance, it has the great Norton name and enough parts of it look like my Commando, it is a naked roadster like mine, and that is good enough for me.

So quityerbellyachin
 
worntorn said:
Last article I read about the CNW bikes indicated there was a substantial waiting list for them. By any measure that enterprise has to be considered a success. The purchasers of the bikes always seem thrilled with the product, the owner is doing well and a number of people are gainfully employed at a great job.
But the performance level of the bikes is quite low and the price is pretty high. Perhaps that doesn't really matter for this portion of the market?
Glen

What I read into their blurb and all the chat about them though was that they have taken all the components and systems that may give trouble with long term reliability - and upgraded them to remove this possibility. This is nothing really except commonsense - and what the factory may have done if they had continued with the making of them.
If it adds a bit of exclusivity and style, then why not = good marketing.

A bit expensive to do now, as a retrofit, sure. But if it had been done in the manufacturing level, probably not much more expensive than they were.
Matt obviously should have been on the factory development engineering team... ?!

P.S. Nothing wrong with a stock bike.
But take your spanners/wrenches, just in case.
And isn't that what brit bikes/cars/planes/ships/engineering was famous for...??

Hopefully, the 961 had all of that designed out of it - or is that designed into it.
Owners do seem to give them good reports.
 
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