NORTON AT NEC...

Joined
Jan 30, 2015
Messages
213
Country flag
NORTON AT NEC...
NORTON AT NEC...
NORTON AT NEC...
NORTON AT NEC...
NORTON AT NEC...
NORTON AT NEC...
NORTON AT NEC...
NORTON AT NEC...
NORTON AT NEC...
NORTON AT NEC...
 
Al , Did you get a chance to speak to anyone from Norton ? What are they saying about what's going on ?
 
I tested the water a little with two of the guys regarding the bigger issues. My take is that they probably know no more than us, perhaps less, and had been briefed on what to say (as you’d expect).

When we talked about production numbers, timing, etc, it was “it depends how many orders we get”.

So they are clearly still in the ‘chicken and egg’ situation regarding cash and production.

Overall the stand was very sparse. It was big, but there wasn’t much on display.
 
“it depends how many orders we get”
Yet more lies uncovered, apparently they have orders worth £30M according to recent press releases in the last two days. Seems that the stand staff have not been briefed well.
 
Yet more lies uncovered, apparently they have orders worth £30M according to recent press releases in the last two days. Seems that the stand staff have not been briefed well.
Yes Mad... but it still seems that they have to get the full money for one bike to have enough money to build the next bike. I spoke to 2 Norton guys on the stand...the first i got nowhere with...the second (Ray) had only worked for Norton for 3 days (!)..but ''promised'' to look into my SL order and get back to me...
this is in MCN this week....Skinner added: "We are focusing hard on producing the V4s and the Atlas right now and are just starting to build the Superlights with delivery starting in the New Year. Superlight SS delivery is expected to start in the middle of next year."....let's see eh...:rolleyes:...
 
What, there is no one there with any seniority or responsibility and you have an employee on the stand that has been with company 3 days. Blackadder school of management comes to mind, shocking, where are the names? you would expect them to be on or around the display from time to time during the show - anyone seen them?
 
Calm down Ashley, not everything is a conspiracy... actually SG and SS were both rubbing shoulders with the great unwashed last year, and perhaps they have been this year too.

I don’t recall seeing Mr Bloor on the Triumph stand though... or Mr Honda... or...
 
It is certainly a big stand with I think I recall 2 x V4s (one chrome and the second a very smart bike in the black grey stripe JPN colour scheme, a Superlight, 2 x Nomads, 2 x 961s and a Dominator along with an example of each engine in and it’s own glass case, various engine/body components and a few rows of clothing along with large signage. Having arrived early the numbers of people attending the show seemed sparse. Not sure if it’s fair to expect the guys from the production line to comment on finances or the strategic direction of the company.....
 
I spoke to Ray too. He was my local Honda AD salesman for years and very good at his job there. I didn’t know he’d made the very recent move to Norton but was a surprise seeing him on the stand. Kay j was there too on the day i went, and as said above last year SG and SS were there too.

Saw the domi street on display, love those tanks. I also spoke to one of the engine guys about the SL and was given the same story as above, seems like a strange situation that they won’t be clear on production timings and waiting to see what orders come through. I was kind of talking myself in to an SL whilst there, but I think I may just wait.
 
the day i went (tues), there were 3 or 4 Norton guys on the stand..all seemed to be mechanics/bike builders i would think...a lady was back n forth behind the counter...no sign of any sales person or any senior staff...so who would've been taking future orders..? last year garner n skinner were there to answer questions and clem to take orders...i reckon they were missing this year because they've STILL no answers....
 
I went on thursday and I think there was a lack of Norton representatives on the stand (although two on clothing who were not rushed off thier feet) I perused the different models for a good 10 mins and nobody came to chat with me. I also felt the Atlas and Nomad models should have been more accessible rather than enclosed in a pen with only those with 2mtr length arms could have touched them. Its a key model to get the numbers up and nobody was there talking with onlookers. I know from attending an exhibtion with a small 3x4mtr stand set me back £5K so I reckon this stand must surely have cost £50K+ and i would be wanting some more sales activity had I spent that money. I think the lady sitting near the clothing section was their person in charge of sales/dealerships? maybe she was on a 10 minute break while i was on the stand.

Most stand visitors were definately 50+ me included. That's a big target audience but maybe they need to work on something that will encourage younger riders, a naked maybe, around £15-£16K with 170hp
 
I was amazed at the difference between the norton stand and the royal Enfield stand. I couldn’t get near the enfields, the crowds were big, with everyone wanting to throw a leg over. Clearly £5k is a big draw
 
Yes, £5k is a big draw. But so is being able to get your leg over (queue “Carry On” style jokes).

Seriously, if Norton had bikes for people to sit on their stand would have looked VERY different. I urge SG and co to seriously consider this, it ain’t rocket science, the bikes don’t even need to be ‘real’... they don’t need engine internals, etc, etc.
 
Last edited:
Good idea, some of those 50 somethings would most probably end up buying both, a Norton for the nice days and 5K bike as a hack.
 
I was amazed at the difference between the norton stand and the royal Enfield stand. I couldn’t get near the enfields, the crowds were big, with everyone wanting to throw a leg over. Clearly £5k is a big draw

The Indian manufacturer is interested in mass production, and selling as many units as possible.
SG knows us 50-60 somethings will take whatever he is able to actually produce.
His stand basically says: Norton is alive, here is a sample of our tech, place an order, and wait.
 
Either SG or myself were present EVERY day......just so you know, not sure how many Ducati and Triumph Directors were present.......and we wanted to let people up on the Atlas stand to sit on the bikes but H&S said we didn't fill the form in correctly (!) so couldn't let people up, even if we did all the forms again. At one point they were not going to let us up to put the bikes on........

The stand was the same as last year....
 
Really,
Seeing as NMUK have done this show many times previous it seems that either A, you did not read the exhibitors pack early enough like every other manufacturer who seemed not to have a problem, B, considering the H&S or the shows H&S team would have advised and clarified accordingly on how to complete the form which should not have taken no longer than an hour of anyones time for both the exhibitor or show organiser.

If you consider yourselves as a producer of top end motorcycles with top end prices then a adhering to exhibitor guidance should have been a doodle, just like overcoming the H&S issues in a timely manner - it really does not reflect well on NMUK.

Maybe I am not the only one wondering about the above being such an issue for NMUK in this instance.
 
Back
Top