Would a Chinese Norton be that bad ?

BLIGHTYBRIT/SF

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Would a Chinese Norton be that bad ?
Rumours of Chinese built bikes ! Are they that bad , I’m at the the London Excel bike show atm & looking at the AJS stand , check out these prices , the interceptor is £6200 , Caldwell clubman is £2,700 , tempest scrambler is £2,250 , & the unnamed black new model is approx £4,000 & must say they looked ok ?
Would a Chinese Norton be that bad ?
Would a Chinese Norton be that bad ?
Would a Chinese Norton be that bad ?
 
They were and are that bad but there are good ones around and increasing, however they lack support from their Govt as they want to put their effort behind cars and eventually electric cars, bikes are seen as dirty and old fashioned in China amongst the Party officials. So it will be driven only if they can make a profit unlike the Govt subsidised industries. Maybe that will be a good thing as they will have to improve quality to sell volume but at least they will have to compete with less of an advantage.
 
When does a norton stop becoming a norton? That’s a different question. I was new to the brand and I bought mine for 3 reasons (in no particular order);

1) brand history
2) it’s british
3) the quality of build and components.

I can see in this scenario two of those reasons going.
 
Would a Chinese Norton be that bad ?

That would immediately make the brand no more special to me than the Royal Enfield, or AJS pictured above.
To me It reduces the bike to the level of an transportation appliance.
 
They might produce a good bike, but the problem would be that a Norton is not made in 'China'. Sorry, but a Norton comes from only one country.... I know…. It's a heartbreaker for dreamers. I can pick up a dog turd and carve the name on it although it wouldn't necessarily make it true. YMMV.

Next up a Vincent with chopstick pushrods & spokes produced in Peking utilizing synthetic soy sauce lubrication & fuel injection.
Those may be surprisingly good bikes, but they do need some other names, and to build reputations on their own merits... Out of breath now. Going for a ride on remnant of a real one.
 
These so called AJS motorcycles (with cloned Honda engines) made in China pictured above in this post, let's be honest, would you give them a second glance if they were called Haojue, Lifan, Loncin, Zhongsen, or the name of any other Chinese motorcycle manufacturer on the fuel tank ?
 
Most here wont buy an Indian made gas tank...
 
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Yep I do agree with all said , at a glance & if your new to motorcycling I can see why people may buy one , but closer closer inspection finish is ok & not remarkable, cheap to buy & expect high depreciation
 
Didn't Garner use knock off parts on the 961?
Might be just as well if the bike parts actually say " Made in China" on them rather than " Brembo" or " Bosch"
 
I remember buying my Son a Peugeot scooter thinking the quality would be better than the Chinese made rubbish which was available at the time - only to find it was just a re-branded chinese scooter anyway - and was rubbish!

I bought my Norton because it was British, was the best looking bike by a mile, rode fantastically and had that feel good effect on me. I sold it because although i can put up with 'character' I couldn't live with unreliability and I always had that feeling that the quality was only skin deep and when I saw how the seat was held on and the bolts holding the rear shocks on I saw that it was not even skin deep.

I have posted this before but I strongly feel that the bike itself was fabulous and could survive as a low volume niche product if they just charged another grand and made it reliable. So many British companies have gone down the 'lets make lots of special editions and halo products' only to find they run out of money long before they make a profit.
 
I remember buying my Son a Peugeot scooter thinking the quality would be better than the Chinese made rubbish which was available at the time - only to find it was just a re-branded chinese scooter anyway - and was rubbish!

I bought my Norton because it was British, was the best looking bike by a mile, rode fantastically and had that feel good effect on me. I sold it because although i can put up with 'character' I couldn't live with unreliability and I always had that feeling that the quality was only skin deep and when I saw how the seat was held on and the bolts holding the rear shocks on I saw that it was not even skin deep.

I have posted this before but I strongly feel that the bike itself was fabulous and could survive as a low volume niche product if they just charged another grand and made it reliable. So many British companies have gone down the 'lets make lots of special editions and halo products' only to find they run out of money long before they make a profit.

Capitalism strikes again
 
If Norton can't make it in the UK, then I think Nortons could be built in Asia:

Let’s say that some earnest, well meaning, trustworthy European businessman (obviously not SG) owning the Norton name would contract out to Triumph Thailand, or Zongshen to build the V4 for Norton with Norton QA and QC folks present in the factory. The design/engineering was done in the UK.
Then Import it to the west as the Norton V4.
Viola! Norton V4’s for everyone. No European manufacturing facilities required.
Same would apply to 650 Twins, and maybe re-designed 961 too.

Another thought – how about manufacturing in Argentina, or Brazil?
 
I'll just keep my old gal and all of the maintenance she requires to be reliable thank you. At least any foreign parts that go on are installed and inspected by myself giving a choice in the matter.
 
Most Triumph are made in Asia, and they sell bucket loads!

If it was done well / properly, it could work.

But I won’t be buying.
 
I've had all the Norton I can handle last decade . And I second the " I won't be buying " as well . But for now I am all in on getting our original 961's the parts and service they need.
 
I'll just keep my old gal and all of the maintenance she requires to be reliable thank you. At least any foreign parts that go on are installed and inspected by myself giving a choice in the matter.
Sound advise.
 
I won't even buy clothing made in China...

IMO a new Chinese Norton is worse than no new Norton's at all.

in that case, it good you live in NYC , in my little town you would be naked other than the locally made Standfield’s underwear and they would be seconds , the best are for export ....
 
If Norton can't make it in the UK, then I think Nortons could be built in Asia:

Let’s say that some earnest, well meaning, trustworthy European businessman (obviously not SG) owning the Norton name would contract out to Triumph Thailand, or Zongshen to build the V4 for Norton with Norton QA and QC folks present in the factory. The design/engineering was done in the UK.
Then Import it to the west as the Norton V4.
Viola! Norton V4’s for everyone. No European manufacturing facilities required.
Same would apply to 650 Twins, and maybe re-designed 961 too.

Another thought – how about manufacturing in Argentina, or Brazil?

I was told at Excel today that Indian now do final assembly in Poland for the European market, to avoid the new tax on exporting.
 
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