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Norton Atlas
Boasting 84hp from a 650 twin could the upcoming Norton Atlas be a rational choice for an adventure bike? Very few details as yet and only glimpses of what it will look like:
https://nortonmotorcycles.com/range/atlas/ |
Beaut
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Cheers James |
This was announced in 2018 & supposed to be available in 2019, then they went bust.
Mezo. |
Blimey, riding off into the distance on a Norton 650. I never thought I'd hear those words put together in a sentence again. It feels like I've been transported back 50yrs in some sort of time machine. Back then you'd most likely grind to a halt in a puddle of oil before you got very far, but at least that would be an improvement over buying a Norton these days where you pay your money and the bike never even turns up from the factory.
The byzantine complexity of Norton's 'business model' in recent years may be something the tax authorities are still strugging with, but given their smoke and mirrors track record over the last decade, that bike looks like it ought to be named the Norton Caveat Emptor. Without looking it up I have no idea whether Norton are a. still going in the UK, b. bust with the factory gutted and all the parts sold off c. ticking along while the receiver tries to recover some/any money from some minimal level of activity. d. sold to the Chinese. e. all or none of those. Personally I'd be waiting to see stock in showrooms before even looking twice. |
The new company that arose from the “complex” ownership structure until 2020 is owned by the Indian conglomerate TVS. It would be good to think that they could do something as well as has been done by Royal Enfield.
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So is anything happening under Indian management? If the plan is to 'do an R.E.' you'd have thought they'd be more likely to put the old Commando back into production :rofl: It's all too complicated for me; I tend to prefer my bike manufacturers to actually be producing bikes (said the owner of a CCM!). There's obviously still value in the name (amazingly) and if someone (anyone) can put something into production that has to be welcomed. But please not another company producing 'craftsman made' bespoke one off's for the 'discerning gentleman' (Brough, Ariel etc). |
They are advertising for development staff and have a manufacturing base in the UK (either Donnington or Solihull from memory) - given the locality I wouldn’t be surprised if a few more people left Triumph and crossed over to Norton (as happened with RE that led to the Himalayan and the 650 twin engine / frame). Whether that production facility is for a production bike or as a development facility will be an interesting question - I suspect it will be the latter with production being done in India / around the world.
The rights to the 961 engine were sold to the Chinese - why they want to buy it I don’t know, presumably they will bring it to market far cheaper than Norton could but whether it is marketed as a Norton is anyone’s guess (but a lawyers delight). As TVS have spent £16m on the name I suspect that we will see something in the near(ish) future. The website has been updated recently with the new ownership details so there is some activity but whether that activity involves spanners and milling machines remains to be seen. |
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Norton's history really has been a list of disasters ever since NVT. From over-reliance on a lightly updated but essentially 1960s designed pushrod pre-unit Commando when the competition was making oiltight low-maintenance DOHC fours, to the Le Roux kleptocracy that marketed the Rotary solution to non-existent problems and tried to claw back Norton bikes from museums to cash in, to the Garner scam that left owners, investors and pension funds bereft.
The new engines have allegedly been designed by Cosworth so should be OK, however the big questions about mass production, economics and support are yet to be answered. Given that the latest "Norton" bikes were prohibitively expensive to build and aimed at collectors/investors rather than riders, I suspect much of any future activity will be centred in India, but not in the bargain basement sector that Enfield inhabits. The world doesn't need another Indian-built, 60s-based workhorse, any new Norton will still be sold as a prestige product so not cheap. Unfortunately people seem happy to pay to slap old names on new bikes (cf "Bonneville"). Whether they choose to create an "Adventure" style bike who knows. I daresay they are capable of making a good one. I wouldn't personally buy it though - as I said, buyers will pay extra for the name, which is worth nothing halfway across the Gobi Desert, and Norton is a very long way from having a network of dealers who can support their bikes and spares distribution. |
Are these old names really worth anything or just something to be traded like stamps you can't post and wine that's undrinkable?
Norton has been viewed as weird stuff for old men, an ongoing disaster or simply didn't make bikes for my entire riding career. Blokes (and they are inevitably male) who were teenagers when the rotaries won a couple of races must have at most 20 years of bike purchases in their future while todays 17 year old scooterist have no problem with Korean or even some Chinese brands. I forsee more overpriced tee-shirts for Hipsters and not many bikes. £16M, minus job creation/tax grants, minus talent taken from Triumph is not much to spend when the alternative was an Interceptor clone made in China. Its also a way to have feet in both camps when the IC vs EV stuff really happens, no Harley vs Buell type clash in the showrooms. Andy |
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how can you not strive for Mark III, you are a great fellow, keep it up
(Artur radukevic, manager employee monitoring) |
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