Trouble at Mill

I know that you are wrong !
And if you read the link that someone provided, it said that Erik sold 49% and then 49% and then 2%. That doesn't leave much ! Link was to an article quite a while back too.
Other articles refer to "large stocks of inventory to be disposed of" after manufacturing ceased...
 
I don't know about your neck of the woods, but they couldn't sell Buells here at HALF RETAIL price, so they shipped them off somewhere.

As usual, my stack of play money was depleted when that sale happened...
 
I would like to see a Norton company run along the lines of the Ural and Royal Enfield operations in the USA. Those are both successful without having state of the art technology and super power and speed. They have a lot more sales appeal and authenticity than the new Triumphs to a significant market.

There are a lot more Urals and RE bikes seen around my town than the new Triumph twin bikes.

Norton could have done the same thing only better. If they would make the featherbed model 88 again and get it over here for the price of an 883 Harley I think it would do great. Make it as simple as possible and let the enthusiasts hot-rod it and customize it like the Enfield crowd. If they put the featherbed back in mass production they could probably make them for a couple hundred bucks a piece, sell them for $500 a piece over the parts counter to the Cafe builders and make money hand over fist.

All that would take far less money to start up than trying to make something new from scratch to compete with other modern bikes. They could mass produce Manx wheels and other parts for vintage Nortons that are hard to find and going for way too much money now.

The nostalgia and neo rocker scene is going crazy and a new Norton 88 could move right into it and take over.
 
beng said:
I would like to see a Norton company run along the lines of the Ural and Royal Enfield operations in the USA. Those are both successful without having state of the art technology and super power and speed. They have a lot more sales appeal and authenticity than the new Triumphs to a significant market.

There are a lot more Urals and RE bikes seen around my town than the new Triumph twin bikes.

Norton could have done the same thing only better. If they would make the featherbed model 88 again and get it over here for the price of an 883 Harley I think it would do great. Make it as simple as possible and let the enthusiasts hot-rod it and customize it like the Enfield crowd. If they put the featherbed back in mass production they could probably make them for a couple hundred bucks a piece, sell them for $500 a piece over the parts counter to the Cafe builders and make money hand over fist.

All that would take far less money to start up than trying to make something new from scratch to compete with other modern bikes. They could mass produce Manx wheels and other parts for vintage Nortons that are hard to find and going for way too much money now.

The nostalgia and neo rocker scene is going crazy and a new Norton 88 could move right into it and take over.

I am ready with my Norton 88!!

Trouble at Mill
 
Rohan said:
I know that you are wrong !
And if you read the link that someone provided, it said that Erik sold 49% and then 49% and then 2%. That doesn't leave much ! Link was to an article quite a while back too.
Other articles refer to "large stocks of inventory to be disposed of" after manufacturing ceased...

Haven't seen a link. If a company stopped making motorcycles, don't you think they'd have "large stocks of inventory to be disposed of", or do you think that if the current Norton concern went guts up that they would have "large stocks of inventory to dispose of". Don't think so.

I wasn't aware that Erik had sold his last 2% to harley davidson. Be that as it may, I still stand by what I have said. Certainly here in Australia people were scrambling to buy the last Buells available and they ran out fairly quickly.

You still didn't address my question of why harley davidson didn't sell Buell. If you want to believe that Buell, as a company was failing, then that is your prerogative. It is not, however, the truth.

If Buells sat in showrooms elsewhere, then I would think that it would be AFTER the announcement that h-d had screwed Buell and people were worried about ongoing parts issues.
 
You can ignore history if you wish, and fabricate your own version.
Maybe now we know where the excess inventory was shipped to ?

Hortons Norton kindly supplied this link a page back here.
http://www.industrytoday.com/article_vi ... cleID=1485

And Erik Buell hisself tells his story....
http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/featu ... index.html

"Our sales had dropped significantly. Buell was a little division of a great, big company that was doing 350,000 units a year, and it was in trouble, in a sector that was in trouble. So maybe it's not surprising that Harley decided to get out."
 
Rohan said:
You can ignore history if you wish, and fabricate your own version.
Maybe now we know where the excess inventory was shipped to ?

Hortons Norton kindly supplied this link a page back here.
http://www.industrytoday.com/article_vi ... cleID=1485

And Erik Buell hisself tells his story....
http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/featu ... index.html

"Our sales had dropped significantly. Buell was a little division of a great, big company that was doing 350,000 units a year, and it was in trouble, in a sector that was in trouble. So maybe it's not surprising that Harley decided to get out."

Yep, read the interview, and it's pretty obvious that Erik was being extremely careful to say the right things. h-d would sue his arse off if he put one word out of line. Watch his press release when the news was released about h-d closing Buell. Erik had a year to think about this stuff. I think he was being very diplomatic under the circumstances. If they were having difficulty selling motorcycles at the same time as everybody else, so what? It was still a profitable company and the motives for the closure were not as straightforward as you present. I'm not sure what you know of Buell's history but if you read any h-d press releases and believe them I guess you still leave the milk and cookies out for Santa.

Erik was screwed for being Erik, certainly not for any reasons of economics.
 
Fullauto said:
Yep, read the interview, and it's pretty obvious that Erik was being extremely careful to say the right things. h-d would sue his arse off if he put one word out of line. Watch his press release when the news was released about h-d closing Buell. Erik had a year to think about this stuff. I think he was being very diplomatic under the circumstances. If they were having difficulty selling motorcycles at the same time as everybody else, so what? It was still a profitable company and the motives for the closure were not as straightforward as you present. I'm not sure what you know of Buell's history but if you read any h-d press releases and believe them I guess you still leave the milk and cookies out for Santa.

Erik was screwed for being Erik, certainly not for any reasons of economics.

Buell was 100% owned by HD when they shut it down, so Erik "didn't need to be careful" he was rolling in $$ having sold at the peak of its worth. And HD being awash and knee deep in bikes that wren't moving, it was obvious, with 20/20 hindsight, that Buells were a niche market, and flooding the market with them wasn't a good strategy, when other models were still moving ?

You also have to remember that HD got $2b in gov't bailout money, and raised a further $1b privately, just to keep the finance side of the business going. They could see precisely what was in demand for these $$...
 
' Mine ' . :D , :p :shock: :lol: .
Will get the stuff (27 litre / 6 ) on Other classic motorcycles . got it on disc . Pdf .
 
I am one of the unfortunate ones, who in light of all the positive publicity surrounding Norton believed them when they said my bike was ready for production and I now needed to pay the outstanding balance. 6 months later no bike, (no new delivery date was ever offered), and despite promising to refund me in full, it seems this is only likely to happen with the additional stress and cost of legal action. I am happy for anyone who has taken delivery of their bike and is enjoying it but it does not change the fact that Norton systematically takes money from their customers under false pretences and despite being a great product, the means does not justify the end. In this respect, Stuart Garner has absolutely nothing to be proud of.
 
cojovella said:
I am one of the unfortunate ones, who in light of all the positive publicity surrounding Norton believed them when they said my bike was ready for production and I now needed to pay the outstanding balance. 6 months later no bike, (no new delivery date was ever offered), and despite promising to refund me in full, it seems this is only likely to happen with the additional stress and cost of legal action. I am happy for anyone who has taken delivery of their bike and is enjoying it but it does not change the fact that Norton systematically takes money from their customers under false pretences and despite being a great product, the means does not justify the end. In this respect, Stuart Garner has absolutely nothing to be proud of.

did you pay by credit card if so get the card company to put the pressure on.
when i bought mine i paid by card .
 
Hi Richard, I also paid for mine by card and eventually got it after 8 months but it wasn't easy! There were times when I thought it would never arrive. I have had it almost a year now and generally I'm pleased with it once the teething problems were sorted! all the usual probs, oil leak from starter motor, gearbox selection issues, but hopefully that is all OK now and the bikes being delivered have all the mods done.
I see that you have got yours up for sale now are you fed up with it or do you just fancy a change? :wink:
 
JAYMAC said:
Hi Richard, I also paid for mine by card and eventually got it after 8 months but it wasn't easy! There were times when I thought it would never arrive. I have had it almost a year now and generally I'm pleased with it once the teething problems were sorted! all the usual probs, oil leak from starter motor, gearbox selection issues, but hopefully that is all OK now and the bikes being delivered have all the mods done.
I see that you have got yours up for sale now are you fed up with it or do you just fancy a change? :wink:

i had a few problems with it from the outset which for me took the good out of it and i lost
the will to ride it, also its the only bike i've owned where the engine is louder than the exhaust........
 
Nice Limited ediction New Norton on Ebay, No 6 of 200 and in a one off colour. now off on a complete tangent, is it a pity the New RBS chairman wasnt into Nortons, that £1,000.000 turned down would have gone a long way at Norton...refunding depositers Dosh :lol: ..Sorry what i ment was building orders :!:
 
beng said:
I would like to see a Norton company run along the lines of the Ural and Royal Enfield operations in the USA. Those are both successful without having state of the art technology and super power and speed. They have a lot more sales appeal and authenticity than the new Triumphs to a significant market.

There are a lot more Urals and RE bikes seen around my town than the new Triumph twin bikes.

Norton could have done the same thing only better. If they would make the featherbed model 88 again and get it over here for the price of an 883 Harley I think it would do great. Make it as simple as possible and let the enthusiasts hot-rod it and customize it like the Enfield crowd. If they put the featherbed back in mass production they could probably make them for a couple hundred bucks a piece, sell them for $500 a piece over the parts counter to the Cafe builders and make money hand over fist.

All that would take far less money to start up than trying to make something new from scratch to compete with other modern bikes. They could mass produce Manx wheels and other parts for vintage Nortons that are hard to find and going for way too much money now.

The nostalgia and neo rocker scene is going crazy and a new Norton 88 could move right into it and take over.

I have to totally agree with beng here. Sure be nice to see Norton do this for the "retro-market" people. (ME)

As far as Buell problems, I bought my Cyclone new in 1999 and still have it ! It is a torque MONSTER, handles great, and very fast as well. Even got 65 MPG with it once, in Oklahoma on a 100 mile stretch of I-40 as well. I didn't believe it so I checked it on the return trip, 63 MPG. Average now is in the mid 50s. For the life of me, don't know why HD didn't just take these HOT Sportster motors and put them in an otherwise 'regular" Sportster. I did notice the last couple years though, Buells were just NOT selling. I talked to dealers around here; and they could hardly give them away. No wonder HD shut the brand down. BTW, hasn't GM done that with Pontiac and Oldmobile ???

As far as the New Norton, they had a single "cafre racer" model at the International motorcycle show in Cleveland last weekend. Great looking bike ... I sure hope they succeed.
 
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