Lovely, sexy bikes, good technology but still catching up with orders & throwing money by the bucketload into 'heritage' just to survive. Where have we heard that before, I wonder..?
They were allowed to run a prototype within the full formula TT races this year as they were 'Norton', and the bike didn't even finish..
I wouldn't turn one down, but I'm getting a bit fed up of being used as cheap development tester..
Last edited by Stringers Best Mate; 08/06/1410:09 PM.
I wish them well, but can't see it ever being more than a tiny niche product. There was quite an enjoyable documentary on the box a couple of weeks ago about their preparations for the TT campaign.
However, it can't even start to compare with the fantastic effort of John Bloor in relaunching Triumph. That he didn't just try to make a few pastiche replicas of bygone Triumphs (they didn't appear until later) but tried to tackle the overseas competition head on - and succeeded is an amazing achievement.
Lovely bike built with quality components; like Brembo Radial Brakes, Ohlins Gold Forks etc. Those alone would be a fair chunk of the price. (Though not the forks on this bike, a pair of Ohlins FGR300 forks would set you back around £10,500) As for whether there is a commercial market, then that's another question. As for Triumph; they have done well. I own a Bonneville; nice bike, well put together, but built to a price. The Norton is lovely and if I was younger, I could have been tempted. But then, if I was younger, I could also have been temped by a Panigale, or an MV.
This new Norton machine has been on the development workshop floor for quite a few years now. When it was first launched at the NEC I remember thinking that it was one of the most exciting things at the show. You could put your deposit down and get in line and the bikes looked very resolved and sorted.
Then there was some 'road test' around Donnington done by a biking journo on a 'pre-production machine' that was posted up on YouTube and he was putting a positive slant on everything but even he couldn't hide the fact that the engine clearly needed more work, throwing up a few doubts to those with aspirations to purchase at that time, I shouldn't wonder.
From what I understand, it's been a tough journey for the new owners. This bike has cost far more to get to the showroom floors that was expected because although the new engine and much of the bike was already modelled up and simulated in the cad system at the time that the company was formed, the actual work to build, test, develop and productionise was far more complicated and drawn out in practice. Work that had been done had to be virtually completely done again. Hence all the delays, very limited supply of bikes and extra input from outside investors. So, I deduce from the fact that more money is being pumped into the company that the product is much more fit for purpose and profitable in production than in the last few years and that therefore, Norton might just be turned a significant corner in the latest company history. Good luck to them, I say...and stay British!
You know it makes sense! 
