Norton who?
Norton Motorcycles is a British bike manufacturer, now owned by TVS Motor Company since the covid era. They have been around for a long time in one form or another stretching to as far back as 1898; wherein there have been thirteen owners so far and give or take at least one bankruptcy in the meanwhile.
Venturing into a new era
Recently, they had announced their intent to expand the range of motorcycles by six new models at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, as they now embark on a new chapter in their history under the leadership of TVS. The upcoming motorcycles are expected to hit markets all across the globe in the next three years. USA, Germany, France, Italy and now even India will be in the primary regions of focus for their global expansion.
Switiching bases?
The current Managing Director of TVS, Mr. Sudarshan Venu recently confirmed that they the new bikes will be manufactured here in India as well; while production at Norton’s new facility in Solihull, UK will also co-exist mutually. The first of the all new products is due to come out in 2025, with plans to begin assembly by TVS in Hosur at the end of next year.
Since the TVS Takeover
Amidst Nortons’ monetary difficulties in the lockdown period of 2020, TVS had announced that they would buy the company for ₹153 crore. Norton has hence met their existing commitments to their customers under the new ownership, which included fully re-engineering the Commando and V4 platforms as well as completion and delivering orders to clients who had made reservations before the acquisition.
Financial woes end
TVS has committed to more than ₹2,000 crore to Norton since their buyout, which will help in supporting the development of these new models and also for their manufacturing facility. The first of the six new models in the upcoming lineup will go on sale by next year, 2025. There is also some news for those who religiously follow and take an intrest in football: Norton’s new Executive Director is Richard Arnold, the previous CEO of Manchester United.
Current Model Line-up
As it stands now, they presently have four bikes in their product portfolio, based on two distinct and vastly different chassis platform and engine architectures that are available for sale abroad, mainly in Europe; the Commando 961 Sport or Cafe Racer, V4CR and V4SV.
The Commando Series
Powered by a 961cc air and oil cooled parallel twin engine with pushrod actuated valves that produces 81 N-m of torque at 6,300rpm and 76 HP at 7,250rpm. A hand welded frame, the billet aluminium clip-on handlebars, front Brembo braking system with carbon discs, an analogue meter console, fully adjustable Ohlins suspension at both ends and a handmade stainless steel exhaust are just few of the exquisite components on a long list of highlights.
The V4 duo
A 1200cc displacement V4 configuration engine does duty on the V4SV and V4CR. It sports titanium inlet valves and eight fuel injectors, two for each cylinder. It churns out 185 HP at 12,000 rpm and 125 N-m of torque at 9,000 rpm. Both get carbon fibre bodywork with kevlar reinforcing on the former. The chassis has a mirror finish and is hand welded. Wheels that are either made of forged aluminium or carbon fibre are available as an option for the duo.
As for the hardware on offer, the bikes sport custom made Ohlins NIX30 fully adjustable inverted 43mm forks made of carbon fibre on the front and also a fully adjustable Ohlins TTXGP monoshock at the rear. Features wise, both the models have a six inch full color instrument console, three riding modes: Wet, Road and Sport, a bi-directional quickshifter with an auto-blipper, a six axis IMU (inertial measuring unit), lean sensitive traction control, wheelie control and keyless ignition.
The new Bikes
Currently very little is known about what segment these new motorcycles will occupy, but it is certain that they will be launched a premium space. While we wait to learn about what sort of bikes lie in store from Norton, it is definetely great news that the locally made machines will be priced relatively less as when being compared to premium imported bikes from other brands.
Moving Ahead
“The new motorcycles will follow the company’s philosophy of Design, Dynamism and Detail”, the spokesperson for Norton stated. All of this bodes well for us, the bike crazed geeks who know what this legendary marque stands for, its past and the good old glory days. We eagerly look forward to the brands’ promising future and what they have in store for us in the upcoming years.
Images source: https://nortonmotorcycles.com/
