Goodby Norton
 

Wow - breaking news regarding Norton motorcycles - they have shut their doors and have gone into receivership. Stuart Garner, them and behind Norton's resurrection, is on the run, sought by authorities for a number of crimes relating to Norton's financial difficulties. This is for all the world looking like an elaborate scheme through which he duped investors, buyers, and employees. He's emptied the pension fund, disappeared with investors' money, hasn't paid employees for months, and on and on.

Worse yet, while employees were raising the red flags, it appears some prominent motorcycle publications were running cover for Mr. Garner, continuing to paint a rose picture for Norton, even in the face of what they were hearing from employees and investors. There is even talk of bribes paid to those publications to keep the story alive.

There is not much out there right now, but I did find this:

https://www.visordown.com/features/general/toad-talks-why-you-shouldn’t-believe-all-you-read-paper

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WOW that is messed up . What a great name in the bike industry was hoping they were going to make it. He can run but can't hide they will find him.

Whatever happened to the excelsior Henderson guy?

That sucks. I've always wanted a Norton, although I probably wouldn't have bought the new one. That doesn't mean I don't appreciate them. I was hoping they would be able to make it too. It's amazing how these types of guys can dupe so many people.

Had the 750 Commando back in the 70's. Loved that bike. Such a shame they went under.

So, does a guy take a flyer and buy one brand new on Monday? The website shows only 3 dealers in the US...and only one seemed to have any inventory...which is now shown as "unavailable" so just like that, *poof* Nortons become unobtanium.

I made the mistake of taking one out for a ride from a dealership in '68 or '69. At that time I had my old AJS as my only transportation. I liked that old bike, but I had to hold myself back from buying that Norton. If I had, I'd probably be lucky enough to still have it.

I watched John McGuinness ride the new "Norton" at the Isle of Man TT last year. Best sounding bike out there by far. He couldn't complete a lap, though, it was always something. I was very, very disappointed to learn that the wonderful V4 sound was actually coming from an Aprillia motor in that beautiful Norton platform. Interestingly, he announced last week that he had left Norton and had signed with a Kawasaki team for next year. I doubt he really knew anything, other than Norton had told him they were not going to run the TT this year.

I hope somebody picked them up. We had a dealership about 20 miles from my house, and I did take the opportunity to check them out on a number of occasions. Beautiful bikes, but essentially a $25,000 Bonneville. They offered nothing in the way of performance that one couldn't get for half, or a third, of the price from a number of manufacturers of big twin cylinder, kinda retro bikes. BMW, Moto Guzzi, Ducati, Triumph, and probably one or two I'm missing all offer competing bikes for far less money. Far better supported, too. Oh well, maybe like Ducati, they will pick up a rich benefactor and rise from the ashes. Time will tell.

This at least the 4th time Norton has gone under. Investors buy the name for big money and start over. Kind of like the Indian name.

I visited the Kenny Dreer operation in Portland, Or when he made a great run at making Nortons.

Sooo... Polaris might be looking to buy?

I bought a fistful of raffle tickets for one of Kenny's Nortons at the ALMS, or maybe the CART or IRL race in Portland one year. Beautiful machine, great guy, and probably the real "loser" in all of this. Kenny's passion brought Norton "back". Garner's greed pushed him out and led to where they are today. If there were any justice in this world, Kenny would wind up with what's left of "Norton". He's probably the only one who believes anymore...

^^^ I would think that is the standard for " ordering " a bike that isn't in stock . Any goofball can say I want it but by placing a deposit they have some $$$ in the game . More likely to weed out flakes . Motorcycle dealers are struggling to stay alive , the last thing they want is additional inventory from buyers that say " I changed my mind " .

Haven’t really followed their financial gyrations but believed the same. Certainly not the same company of vintage British fame. A shame to see it go this way, but guessing the name will get revived again...hopefully by someone with an appreciation for the heritage and good head for business (perhaps an oxymoron in this case).

That guy appeared to be Kenny Dreer, out of Oregon. He began by restoring Nortons and selling them as essentially brand new bikes. They were that thoroughly restored.

Then he ran out of parts, having used up pretty much all available NOS. He was forced to start re-manufacturing parts, some of them pretty major parts, like case halves, cylinder heads, etc. Eventually he was making pretty much each and every part himself (through vendors, of course). Once he reached that stage of production, he figured he may as well make some much needed design improvements.

So, in the end, Kenny was making brand new, much improved "Nortons". Then a bunch of old graybeards back in England took notice and said "hey, wait one bloody minute - we own that trademark!".

They sued Kenny out of business and took it over for themselves. I'm not sure of the details, but they wound up in so far over their heads that they eventually hired Kenny to oversee things for them. I'm not sure what their current relationship was before this turn of events, if Kenny was even still around, or what. This whole thing got off the ground on his shoulders, though. I'm not sure how old he is (or if he is even still alive, really), or what his level of interest might be, but it seems to me he would be "the guy". He was once already, albeit no one could say he was "in production" of new "Nortons". They were all bespoke, one-off bikes when he was making them.

Sounds like another industry that’s ripe for being revamped by on-demand, online ordering.

The traditional dealer model is dying - just as it is with autos. In a few years I suspect we’ll see a lot more direct-to-the-public online sales. There’s just too much competition for middlemen who contribute little other than driving up prices to survive. My $0.02.

The United States and Canada dealer networks operate differently than the rest of the world. You go to the dealer, test drive, build & price, deposit, then finalize the paperwork on delivery.

Absolutely. Carvana, True Car, et al. The industry needs to move in this direction and marketing technology is pushing dealers in this way. But they are constantly pushing back to maintain their model of "selling". I use quotes because a lot of dealers still have less-than-clear practices of pricing, back-office markups, broken sales processes.

Many of us strive for the day where you can do the full transaction online and have your vehicle of choice delivered. Dealers would be where you test drive and get service,or buy pre-owned vehicles. Dealers are making less and less on new vehicle sales anyhow and are subsidized by the OEMs. Just wait for the 2018/2019 "New" vehicle incentives by March.

^^^^ So if you don't go to a dealer how in the world are they gonna upsell you on undercoating, fabric protection, paint protection, oh and the best one.............dealer processing fee. That's just crazy talk....

My favorite: Delivery & Prep. Most don't know that this is actually reimbursed to the dealer by the OEM after the car is sold to the customer.

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.