What's happening at Norton? Sale to TVS, massive investment, new bikes...

Stephen_Spencer said:
Odd MN, cos that’s what they (TVS) do for a living and they have been massively successful in doing so. Reading into their background they have bought many companies over the years, yet have never closed one - apparently.

I think building bikes that appeal to buyers is a given right. Pretty sure that’s exactly what they are trying to do. We may have to wait for a while to see whether the third largest bike manufacturer and second largest bike exporter in India has any ‘business sense’.
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So when are you signing up to buy a new TVS Norton Ev Bike?
I still say they’re not designing new ICE bikes.
 
Voodooo said:
So when are you signing up to buy a new TVS Norton Ev Bike?
I still say they’re not designing new ICE bikes.
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I’ve no more interest in owning an EV bike than you mate. Beyond accepting their inevitability, it’ll be many years before we smelly old bikers need to relinquish our beloved fuel fetish - unlikely in my riding lifetime.

Not completely opposed though - I’d like to ride one out of pure curiosity and it will be interesting to see what manufacturers come up with (especially Norton). They won’t be entirely utilitarian of course, they’ll still need to appeal to the purchaser by way of aesthetics and performance.

You still post that you don’t believe they’ve re-engineered the legacy bikes when we can see and touch the changes Voodooo; how is Norton gonna convince you of something you can’t see?;)

We’re all just gonna have to wait 6-12 months, and maybe ponder what we’re gonna fill the gap with.

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Stephen_Spencer said:
You still post that you don’t believe they’ve re-engineered the legacy bikes when we can see and touch the changes Voodooo;
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We can see and touch the changes?!

We still don’t know what these changes are apart from a few comments from the factory and a few video snippets from Stu !!

The rest (the majority) are still a complete secret / mystery.
 
Stephen_Spencer said:
I’ve no more interest in owning an EV bike than you mate. Beyond accepting their inevitability, it’ll be many years before we smelly old bikers need to relinquish our beloved fuel fetish - unlikely in my riding lifetime.

Not completely opposed though - I’d like to ride one out of pure curiosity and it will be interesting to see what manufacturers come up with (especially Norton). They won’t be entirely utilitarian of course, they’ll still need to appeal to the purchaser by way of aesthetics and performance.

You still post that you don’t believe they’ve re-engineered the legacy bikes when we can see and touch the changes Voodooo; how is Norton gonna convince you of something you can’t see?;)

We’re all just gonna have to wait 6-12 months, and maybe ponder what we’re gonna fill the gap with.

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Norton keeps talking about EV. They invested in EV, loans for EV. I do not see TVS Norton investing in a new ice model of motorcycles.
 
Fast Eddie said:
We can see and touch the changes?!

We still don’t know what these changes are apart from a few comments from the factory and a few video snippets from Stu !!

The rest (the majority) are still a complete secret / mystery.
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A complete secret/mystery FE?

We’ve had this conversation a few times mate. We’d all be delighted if they itemised every technical detail, of every change, to every component, and maybe also identify compatibility with each variant of our (10 year) legacy 961’s. But they’re not gonna do that - for likely reasons we’ve also discussed at length.

Norton has identified some item changes directly and others by general description of change - we have them listed. So not really a total secret/mystery. All will become apparent in the fullness of time of course - that effort has already started as you point out. Not ideal for us ‘in the here and now’ but it’s all we’re gonna get.

In better news, Norton is building and selling the Norton Commando 961 again - in the UK. By all accounts the bikes are much improved; owners appear delighted. So they’ve definitely re-engineered something right? They have parts contracts/ provision in place and are selling us ‘red headed step children’ spares. That’s all good news.

I’ll let you know if I see and touch any changes ;) !

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Stephen_Spencer said:
A complete secret/mystery FE?

We’ve had this conversation a few times mate. We’d all be delighted if they itemised every technical detail, of every change, to every component, and maybe also identify compatibility with each variant of our (10 year) legacy 961’s. But they’re not gonna do that - for likely reasons we’ve also discussed at length.

Norton has identified some item changes directly and others by general description of change - we have them listed. So not really a total secret/mystery. All will become apparent in the fullness of time of course - that effort has already started as you point out. Not ideal for us ‘in the here and now’ but it’s all we’re gonna get.

In better news, Norton is building and selling the Norton Commando 961 again - in the UK. By all accounts the bikes are much improved; owners appear delighted. So they’ve definitely re-engineered something right? They have parts contracts/ provision in place and are selling us ‘red headed step children’ spares. That’s all good news.

I’ll let you know if I see and touch any changes ;) !

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What’s Norton working on right now? You don’t call that a secret?
 
Voodooo said:
What’s Norton working on right now? You don’t call that a secret?
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The secret reference related to engineering changes Voodooo; I guess you can apply it to future models if you like.

Extending the V4 family, introducing a new water cooled twin family and an EV (or multiple) have all been indicated. We all wish there were more detail.

No doubt they’ll let the buying public know when they believe the time is right. My guess their marketing people have a plan - they probably know a little bit more about marketing their products than you or I.

I’d be more than a little surprised if they went purely EV and the rest was naught but a smoke screen. Although I suppose anything is possible. If so, I believe that could be a colossal mistake.
 
Norton moving (albeit slowly) on merch - from FB

IMG_9089.jpegIMG_9081.jpegIMG_9084.jpeg

Webpage has been updated also - some great pictures of the V4CR being built.

nortonmotorcycles.com

Norton Motorcycles | Iconic British Motorcycle Manufacturer

Explore Norton Motorcycles, the iconic British motorcycle manufacturer. Discover our range of high-performance motorbikes blending classic design and modern technology.
nortonmotorcycles.com nortonmotorcycles.com

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Up to 11 UK based dealers, including the factory.
 
robs ss said:
I filled out the Inquiry form for the V4CR - stating I am in Australia - wonder if I'll get a promised response?
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Good luck with that one Rob🤣! Well at the moment anyway. They are talking US next year and Australia has been mentioned also. We can only hope - it would be great to see these bikes over here and to have an available dealer network again.

I’m still using Brisbane Motorcycles who are acting as a pseudo-dealership, well certainly for Nortons that were bought from there. Are you just servicing your own now Rob? It’s pretty basic let’s face it.
 
Stephen_Spencer said:
A complete secret/mystery FE?

We’ve had this conversation a few times mate. We’d all be delighted if they itemised every technical detail, of every change, to every component, and maybe also identify compatibility with each variant of our (10 year) legacy 961’s. But they’re not gonna do that - for likely reasons we’ve also discussed at length.

Norton has identified some item changes directly and others by general description of change - we have them listed. So not really a total secret/mystery. All will become apparent in the fullness of time of course - that effort has already started as you point out. Not ideal for us ‘in the here and now’ but it’s all we’re gonna get.

In better news, Norton is building and selling the Norton Commando 961 again - in the UK. By all accounts the bikes are much improved; owners appear delighted. So they’ve definitely re-engineered something right? They have parts contracts/ provision in place and are selling us ‘red headed step children’ spares. That’s all good news.

I’ll let you know if I see and touch any changes ;) !

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Quite right Stephen, they’re all fair points.

However, I fail to see the relevance as an answer to me. I made no reference to the red headed step children, or to parts supply, or any other point.

I simply challenged your statement that ’we can see and touch the changes’.

As you say, Norton have identified some changes and made some inference of others in general comments. Moreover, Stu has clearly shown and explained some in his videos, which has BY FAR been the best information.

Nevertheless, we simply do not even know what most of them are, so your statement that ’we can see and touch the changes’ is, frankly, incorrect.

That was my only point.
 
Stephen_Spencer said:
Odd MN, cos that’s what they (TVS) do for a living and they have been massively successful in doing so. Reading into their background they have bought many companies over the years, yet have never closed one - apparently.

I think building bikes that appeal to buyers is a given right. Pretty sure that’s exactly what they are trying to do. We may have to wait for a while to see whether the third largest bike manufacturer and second largest bike exporter in India has any ‘business sense’.
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Only in India and other third world markets where choice and quality is limited, that's not massively successful that's shooting fish in barrel, selling bikes to customers crying out for anything to get them mobile. They don't import their current models into the UK, the reason is that they know they would not sell in here or in other western markets. It also seems strange that they bleat on about closer co-operation with BMW, maybe they now realise that Norton is a dead duck of a money pit and closer ties with BMW is the way forward.

Lets not confuse massive success that Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki etc have, TVS Motor is only the 3rd largest PTW manufacturer in their own indian market - that's not massively successful.
 
Maybe the reason why they are now selling spares is that those parts were destined for the complete bikes that they expected orders for and never materialised, or now know will not materialise.
 
Stephen_Spencer said:
Good luck with that one Rob🤣! Well at the moment anyway. They are talking US next year and Australia has been mentioned also. We can only hope - it would be great to see these bikes over here and to have an available dealer network again.

I’m still using Brisbane Motorcycles who are acting as a pseudo-dealership, well certainly for Nortons that were bought from there. Are you just servicing your own now Rob? It’s pretty basic let’s face it.
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Yes Stephen - I service all my 4 Nortons myself.
I may be a curmudgeon but I don't trust the modern breed of "mechanics" Seems to be all component replacement and no fine tune/adjustments - unless its a computer.
Cheers
 
Reply just now...

Dear Rob,

We're delighted you're interested in purchasing a V4CR. We've been working incredibly hard to create the ultimate incarnation of the café racer and we're looking forward to seeing you ride one.

We're going to be opening orders very soon but we'd ask you if you don't mind waiting that little bit longer. We promise it will be worth it. If you're outside of the UK, we're going to have to ask you to be extra patient - Norton is coming, just not quite yet.

As soon as it's ready, we'll be in touch but in the meantime, we'd invite you to head to our YouTube channel (Norton Motorcycles - YouTube), where you can watch one making the most of the finest roads Wales has to offer.

Best wishes and safe riding,

The Norton Team

So... as the vulture said - how long is "patient"?
Cheers
 
Yep, Joe described activity as ‘bedlam’, so I suspect there is a lot more going on than some here might believe.

The glitch in the online form appears fixed and requests are landing in Joe’s tray again. My request was for a single item, with part number provided - so ‘low hanging fruit’ hence the super quick response I guess.

For greater volumes or more complex components (that may require investigation), then no doubt it will take longer. Production and new bike customers are also gonna take priority.

I don’t know what you’ve requested Stu, but you may have been better separating potentially more ‘difficult’ items from the routine high use stuff - just a thought.

Maximum information on the form guys, part numbers where we have them and make things as easy as possible at that end is gonna work best I think.

C’Mon Voodooo - get those body part requests back in and release those beutiful bikes from quarantine! Let me know when it happens, I’m gonna throw a party to celebrate 🤣 !
 
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