Norton Saved

  • gidgi
    gidgi
    4 years ago
    Great news For the Iconic British Motor cycle  & the workers at the plant, India plans to save the factory  & continue  to manufacture   these  bikes ...be interesting to see where  TVS  take this company                        https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/indias-tvs-motor-buys-british-norton-motorcyles
  • Krash Kinkade
    Krash Kinkade
    4 years ago
    Have not seen many Nortons out there, they came with a very high price tag.
    But they did look good.
    Hard to say what India will do for Norton. like India seems to have, cleaned up the act of Royal Enfield & kept the price low.
    I think if they can build Nortons to same standard & performance, but with a Royal Enfield Price tag, they will be a winner. if price tag High, I don't think made in India will help sales.
  • Baloffski
    Baloffski
    4 years ago
    Think they are going to build in the UK at the old factory, then no doubt move offshore production to India, cutting costs, but reducing build quality, with a bonus lower price, with a lower price in time to come. 
    NORTON FLYS AGAIN.
  • paulybronco
    paulybronco
    4 years ago
    Quoting Krash Kinkade on 19 Apr 2020 11:24 PM

    Have not seen many Nortons out there, they came with a very high price tag.

    But they did look good.
    Hard to say what India will do for Norton. like India seems to have, cleaned up the act of Royal Enfield & kept the price low.
    I think if they can build Nortons to same standard & performance, but with a Royal Enfield Price tag, they will be a winner. if price tag High, I don't think made in India will help sales.

    Made in India has not lowered the price of HD
  • gidgi
    gidgi
    4 years ago
    Quoting Baloffski on 19 Apr 2020 11:37 PM

    Think they are going to build in the UK at the old factory, then no doubt move offshore production to India, cutting costs, but reducing build quality, with a bonus lower price, with a lower price in time to come. 

    NORTON FLYS AGAIN.

     Yeah Bal thats what I read,  keep UK factory / saved jobs which is a great start ,where they go from there who knows , The Royal Enfield is not a bad looking machine with pretty good quality from what Ive learned   & one could only hope the Norton will keep its classic lines with some models with affordable bikes   & not completely  go down the modern machine market for the Rich
  • brucefxdl
    brucefxdl
    4 years ago
    Quoting Krash Kinkade on 19 Apr 2020 11:24 PM

    Have not seen many Nortons out there, they came with a very high price tag.

    But they did look good.
    Hard to say what India will do for Norton. like India seems to have, cleaned up the act of Royal Enfield & kept the price low.
    I think if they can build Nortons to same standard & performance, but with a Royal Enfield Price tag, they will be a winner. if price tag High, I don't think made in India will help sales.

    saw a 961 at a rally a couple of years ago......straight up on to the burnout block,...bloke next to me said he had another one at home in the shed,even with a spare,not my cup of tea.
  • RossW
    RossW
    4 years ago
    Quoting Baloffski on 19 Apr 2020 11:37 PM

    Think they are going to build in the UK at the old factory, then no doubt move offshore production to India, cutting costs, but reducing build quality, with a bonus lower price, with a lower price in time to come. 

    NORTON FLYS AGAIN.

    Because back in the day, British bikes had such awesome build quality.
  • Krash Kinkade
    Krash Kinkade
    4 years ago
    Quoting Krash Kinkade on 19 Apr 2020 11:24 PM

    Have not seen many Nortons out there, they came with a very high price tag.

    But they did look good.
    Hard to say what India will do for Norton. like India seems to have, cleaned up the act of Royal Enfield & kept the price low.
    I think if they can build Nortons to same standard & performance, but with a Royal Enfield Price tag, they will be a winner. if price tag High, I don't think made in India will help sales.

    Quoting paulybronco on 19 Apr 2020 11:38 PM

    Made in India has not lowered the price of HD

    well the Royal Enfield ( an old gun manufacturer ) has lifted it's game a lot, with the latest batch. even comes with Chrome gas tank, ( like old BSA'a ) & $10k ride away, classic looks & perform ok ( the single cyl army bike a bit slow, but reliable ).
  • imoo6170
    imoo6170
    3 years ago
    Quoting Krash Kinkade on 19 Apr 2020 11:24 PM

    Have not seen many Nortons out there, they came with a very high price tag.

    But they did look good.
    Hard to say what India will do for Norton. like India seems to have, cleaned up the act of Royal Enfield & kept the price low.
    I think if they can build Nortons to same standard & performance, but with a Royal Enfield Price tag, they will be a winner. if price tag High, I don't think made in India will help sales.

    Quoting paulybronco on 19 Apr 2020 11:38 PM

    Made in India has not lowered the price of HD

    Quoting Krash Kinkade on 20 Apr 2020 11:12 PM

    well the Royal Enfield ( an old gun manufacturer ) has lifted it's game a lot, with the latest batch. even comes with Chrome gas tank, ( like old BSA'a ) & $10k ride away, classic looks & perform ok ( the single cyl army bike a bit slow, but reliable ).

    And it seems someone there thinks about what may retain current customers and attract new ones. Small gesture I know but at least someone is trying: 
    Royal Enfield is extending warranty periods for select motorcycles. The three-month extension applies to any motorcycle warranty that expires between March and May 2020.
  • Rains
    Rains
    3 years ago
    Royal Enfield is British only in name - it has been a 100% Indian product for almost 60 years! Licence manufacturing was started in India in 1955 and by 1962, they became 100% locally manufactured - meanwhile the original British company struggled on for a few more years (even making bicycles!) until finally getting dissolved in 1971.
    The Indian made Bullets originally had 'Royal Enfield' badging, then got changed to 'Enfield India' for many years and then after a court battle, they were again allowed to use the 'Royal Enfield' badging. The Indian RE company almost collapsed in the 1990s as lightweight Japanese motorcycles & scooters started getting manufactured in India from the mid-80s onwards and became extremely popular due to their light weights, easy handling, fuel efficiency & high quality while the Bullets were seen as a decades-old crude design of suspect quality that needed lots of TLC. Only hardcore bikers would have the passion to maintain a Bullet.

    Royal Enfield exists today only because of one passionate biker - Siddhartha Lal - the son of the businessman who took over RE in the 1990s. The Eicher group's background was in tractors, but Siddhartha is credited with turning RE around as he made the bikes "cool" again with a whole new generation of bikers - a tough bike real men would ride in a sea of lightweight 100-150cc bikes. 

    The two wheeler market in India is the world's biggest (a peak of 22 Million sales in 2018) and RE have managed to carve out a nice niche with sales of 846,000 in 2018. 
  • Ratbob
    Ratbob
    3 years ago
    Quoting Baloffski on 19 Apr 2020 11:37 PM

    Think they are going to build in the UK at the old factory, then no doubt move offshore production to India, cutting costs, but reducing build quality, with a bonus lower price, with a lower price in time to come. 

    NORTON FLYS AGAIN.

    Quoting RossW on 20 Apr 2020 08:53 PM

    Because back in the day, British bikes had such awesome build quality.

    One of the best laughs I’ve had this year, Cheers Ross.