Quote:
Originally Posted by Googam
I think this is an opportunity for Bombardier Can Am. Their Spyder is dying & Polaris has made the Indian a viable business. Their dealer network is vast & they have the wear with all to legitimize the Norton name.
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That's kind of what I see in Norton's future. That name is, in and of itself, a valuable commodity in the motorcycling world.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rfuerst911sc
I hear what you are saying but Bombardier is also the company that waved the white flag with the Victory line of bikes . No they did not have the name recognition of Norton but they saw the shrinking market . But I agree with you if they wanted to they could make Norton come back to life.
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It was actually Polaris that had the Victory brand. Once they won the court battle that secured the Indian trademark, the handwriting was on the wall for Victory.
That said, I just shake my head when I look at the badge on these modern Indians that says "since 1903". Bullschitt. They have even gone to lengths to make it abundantly clear that they do not support the previous iterations of modern Indian motorcycles.
The last company's last hurrah was their "Power Plus" engine, developed to meet the requirements of a court settlement wherein they won the rights to the Indian trademark. At the time they won their trademark dispute, they were building bikes with S&S produced Harley Evo motors. The court settlement required they bring out their own design within some specified period of time, and the Power Plus was the hurried, underdeveloped result. They immediately gained a reputation for destroying their bottom ends in about 7,000-8,000 miles. The new, Polaris "Indian", will not touch these things, and has no legal obligation to do so.
So, yeah - "since 1903". Except for those. And except for 1953 until about 2010.
"Norton" may be in danger of falling into that same trap. Whoever winds up with the trademark may not wind up with any obligation to pick up any of the material assets. They may want to start over. I hope not - by all accounts, these new Nortons are fantastic machines. That does not mean, however, that they can be manufactured profitably. Like I mentioned earlier, the latest were over double the cost of a Bonneville, or a Monster, or a number of competing machines. I'm not sure there is a market for that.