Bad News For Norton & Fans

[zebraranger]

It doesn't look good for Norton. Straight from the UK, they've gone into bankruptcy: https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/local-news/leicestershire-based-norton-motorcycles-goes-3791796

[gsf12man]

Well, that stinks.

[Roebling3]

Methinx they reached too far. Their race program had to suck up serious funding. Their models are not compatible with the current market in type and price. R3~ 

[chuck peterson]

How do you make a million dollars with motorcycles?....












Start with 2 million....

[Lannis]

Oh no!   Now how am I going to get parts and service for my '75 Mark III?    I'm doomed; might as well sell it!

Wait, what was this company again?   Come to think of it, I've never heard of them .... So I guess we'll go on as we always have ..... 

Lannis

[blackcat]

Oh no!   Now how am I going to get parts and service for my '75 Mark III?    I'm doomed; might as well sell it!

Wait, what was this company again?   Come to think of it, I've never heard of them .... So I guess we'll go on as we always have ..... 

Lannis

Thank the Norton God’s for Andover Norton, and now they have added vintage Triumph’s to their parts supply.

[LowRyter]

Are they going bankrupt or only bankrupt.  How many times before?

[roadventure]

It doesn't look good for Norton. Straight from the UK, they've gone into bankruptcy: https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/local-news/leicestershire-based-norton-motorcycles-goes-3791796

Didn't Norton go out of business in the 1970's?

[rocker59]

Oh no!   Now how am I going to get parts and service for my '75 Mark III?    I'm doomed; might as well sell it!

Wait, what was this company again?   Come to think of it, I've never heard of them .... So I guess we'll go on as we always have ..... 

Lannis

This was Kenny Dreer's company, which was sold to a UK concern.

Tough selling $18000 retro standards with a Guzzi-like dealer network...

[PeteS]

Andover Norton is still offering parts for the vintage twins. It was always easier for me to get parts for my '71 Norton than most of my modern bikes with a good friend and dealer across town selling them.

Pete

[bodine99]

It doesn't look good for Norton. Straight from the UK, they've gone into bankruptcy: https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/local-news/leicestershire-based-norton-motorcycles-goes-3791796

Sucks!! and Mc'Pint called out the CEO cause he has not been paid for the IOM-TT in 2019

[blackcat]

Didn't Norton go out of business in the 1970's?

Norton Villers Triumph went out of business in 1975.

[oldbike54]

 Their business plan was always shaky and under capitalized . The new Triumph company has succeeded because Bloor put up 100 million pounds of his own money and could stand to lose money for years . These guys never had the kind of money to sustain a motorbike company . Just a dose of harsh reality , it isn't 1901 anymore .

 Dusty

[Shorty]

Can't be too many Norton fans able to throw a leg over a seat these days....

[JeffOlson]

I hope they are able to restructure and emerge from bankruptcy administration better able to handle their debts.

[blackcat]

Can't be too many Norton fans able to throw a leg over a seat these days....

I rode mine yesterday, not as fast as the Daytona but enjoyable none the less.

[bad Chad]

About three months back Norton reached out to fans, which I am, and stated they were planning to go public and thus I could invest in Norton, they wanted to know if I would be interested?

I replied yes.  They thanked me and said they would be following up shortly.  About six weeks later I got an email from them thanking me for my interest but they were shelving the idea as they received a very large cash infusion from a single investor. 

[JJ]

First BUELL....then Victory...then MOTUS...now Norton!!  Oh well!!  Who will be next??!!??   

Lannis is right...we all just need to soldier on!

[oldbike54]

First Victory...then MOTUS...now Norton!!  Oh well!!  Who will be next??!!??   

Lannis is right...we all just need to soldier on!

 Sorry if this sounds too blunt , but with the exception of Victory which basically morphed into Indian , Motus and the new Norton were doomed from the beginning .

 Dusty

[bodine99]

I rode mine yesterday, not as fast as the Daytona but enjoyable none the less.

You hiding a 69 Camino in the garage?? SS? BB?

[Huzo]

First Victory...then MOTUS...now Norton!!  Oh well!!  Who will be next??!!??   

Lannis is right...we all just need to soldier on!

And try not to laugh about it..

[blackcat]

You hiding a 69 Camino in the garage?? SS? BB?

It's a 70 el Camino, 396 with a lumpy cam, headers and the largest carburetor on earth, or so it seems.

[drbone641]

Sounds more like a Restructuring, rather than a shutdown BK. Probably part of the “large cash infusion “.

[blackcat]

Con artist didn’t help either.

“When the classic British motorcycle marque Norton slumped into administration on Wednesday afternoon, the news was framed in the habitual way of a standard UK engineering corporate failure.

The 122-year-old brand – famed for roles in the Che Guevara memoir The Motorcycle Diaries and the James Bond film Spectre – had fallen victim to an assortment of overwhelming forces ranging from Brexit, a punchy HMRC pursuing the firm for £300,000 in unpaid taxes, and tough international competition that made it impossible for Norton’s traditional bespoke approach to succeed.

However, the story is far more complex than that. It is a pile-up that includes hundreds of hapless pension holders, together with unsuspecting Norton customers, staff and even government ministers, who repeatedly endorsed Norton as millions of pounds in taxpayer support flowed into the firm.”

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jan/30/taken-for-a-ride-how-norton-motorcycles-collapsed-amid-acrimony-and-scandal?fbclid=IwAR0ryOyRD3bVpksKtC6Jc4hmyWaV8OHmwTZzetBlxeENe8N3DkCt0KrI89o

[rocker59]

I have always liked the Dreer / Donnington Hall Nortons.  Have wanted one since Kenny Dreer was building them in The USA.

[Motormike]

First BUELL....then Victory...then MOTUS...now Norton!!  Oh well!!  Who will be next??!!??   

Lannis is right...we all just need to soldier on!

You left out Excelsior-Henderson!

[chuck peterson]

Get your alloy version here...OMG that's amazing..

I did enjoy a roommates 850 Norton Interstate...blue w silver trim, left foot shift, upside down pattern just worked so perfectly, releasing the clutch out w your hand, matched releasing the foot shift into a higher gear...your foot and hand were making the same movement as the bike surged under you...awesome

Fact check...right or left foot shift?....right foot cable rear brake, left foot shift

https://newyork.craigslist.org/lgi/mcy/d/east-meadow-1972-norton-vr880-vintage/7066796409.html

[roadventure]

First BUELL....then Victory...then MOTUS...now Norton!!  Oh well!!  Who will be next??!!??   

Lannis is right...we all just need to soldier on!

You left out...

AJW (1928–1977)
Ambassador (1946–1964)
AMC (1938–1966)
Ariel (1902–1970)
Armstrong (1980–1987)
Beardmore Precision (1921–1924)
Blackburne (1913–1921)
Brough (1908–1926)[3]
Brough Superior³ (1919–1940)
BSA (1905–2003)
Calthorpe
Clyno (1908–1923)
Cotton
Coventry-Eagle
DOT
Douglas (1907–1957)
EMC (1946–1977)
Excelsior (Coventry) (1896–1962)
Francis-Barnett (1919–1966)
Greeves
Haden
Hesketh (1982–1984)
HRD²
Ivy (1907–1934)
James (1987-1966)
JAP (1902-1964)
Levis (1911–1939)
Martinsyde (1908–1923)
Matchless (1899–1966)
Ner-a Car (1921–1926)
New Hudson
New Imperial (1901–1939)
Norman
OEC (1901–1954)
OK-Supreme (1882–1940)
Panther
Quadrant (1901–1928)
Quasar (1977–1985)
Raleigh (1899–1967)
Rickman (1960–1975)
Rudge (1909–1939)
Scott (1909–1978)
Singer
Sprite
Stevens (1934–1938)
Sun (1911–1961)
Sunbeam (1912–1956)
Tandon
Velocette (1904–1968)
Villiers
Vincent[5]
Vincent HRD (1928– )[5]
Wooler (1911–1954)
Zenith (1903-1950)

and that is just UK brands....

[JJ]

You left out...

AJW (1928–1977)
Ambassador (1946–1964)
AMC (1938–1966)
Ariel (1902–1970)
Armstrong (1980–1987)
Beardmore Precision (1921–1924)
Blackburne (1913–1921)
Brough (1908–1926)[3]
Brough Superior³ (1919–1940)
BSA (1905–2003)
Calthorpe
Clyno (1908–1923)
Cotton
Coventry-Eagle
DOT
Douglas (1907–1957)
EMC (1946–1977)
Excelsior (Coventry) (1896–1962)
Francis-Barnett (1919–1966)
Greeves
Haden
Hesketh (1982–1984)
HRD²
Ivy (1907–1934)
James (1987-1966)
JAP (1902-1964)
Levis (1911–1939)
Martinsyde (1908–1923)
Matchless (1899–1966)
Ner-a Car (1921–1926)
New Hudson
New Imperial (1901–1939)
Norman
OEC (1901–1954)
OK-Supreme (1882–1940)
Panther
Quadrant (1901–1928)
Quasar (1977–1985)
Raleigh (1899–1967)
Rickman (1960–1975)
Rudge (1909–1939)
Scott (1909–1978)
Singer
Sprite
Stevens (1934–1938)
Sun (1911–1961)
Sunbeam (1912–1956)
Tandon
Velocette (1904–1968)
Villiers
Vincent[5]
Vincent HRD (1928– )[5]
Wooler (1911–1954)
Zenith (1903-1950)

and that is just UK brands....

Yes...and I was just counting in the last few years!!

At one time...before the Great Depression, there were about 250-300 American motorcycle manufacturers in the USA.  After about 1930, just the Big Three - Harley-Davidson-Indian-Excelsior-Henderson were left...and after 1933...just HD and Indian!!

[Devildog]

How financially strong is the Piaggio Group?