Govt. Bailout, Norton Style

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Congratulations, Norton!
In my opinion, clearly different from many, what better business position for you to be in than to have a product that is so much in demand that you simply cannot build them fast enough!

Congratulation on presenting your business model plan to the British government and kudos to them for having the foresight to to realize that making the loan to a successful, expanding British company allows more employment, tax revenue, and helps the great Norton name grow to meet strong demand.

This is a big win for Norton, and a sound decision by the British government.
 
myjota said:
I've seen the new Nortons a few times in the flesh and its a great looking bike. Well out of my price league tho! and I love the old stuff too much. However there has always been a market for these niche bikes even if they only have the performance of a 5k mass produced jap bike - remember how much the Italian/German and even American stuff cost us Brits in the 70s and new old style commandos cost 10k + with 3k performance! The problem is timing really - launching a new bike just before the economic downturn when all the spare cash has just about disappeared is not good marketing sense (ask Jaguar about the xk220).
I hope the co. is'nt doomed but their reputation is getting so tarnished by the false promises etc that public faith might never return. Of cousre if it did go under the prices of these future classics would rocket with the rarity value and I would never be able to get my hands on an affordable secondhand one to "do up".
So good luck to Norton, all their employees and customers and I hope that in the end everyone is happy with their business,jobs or purchases and the great name of Norton is not sullied by yet another calamitous collapse.
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No sure about rocking prices if the company goes bust. Voxan proved that
 
1up3down said:
Congratulations, Norton!
In my opinion, clearly different from many, what better business position for you to be in than to have a product that is so much in demand that you simply cannot build them fast enough!

Congratulation on presenting your business model plan to the British government and kudos to them for having the foresight to to realize that making the loan to a successful, expanding British company allows more employment, tax revenue, and helps the great Norton name grow to meet strong demand.

This is a big win for Norton, and a sound decision by the British government.
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Funny the BRITISH didn't lend the cash.?. Spanish owned bikes?, mayby the Bike will be the New Norton Matador :roll:
 
I know nothing about the bailout situation, or, really much about the bikes, but I do hope they somehow make it. And make it in a manner that is available to most markets. With all of this going on, it's interesting what's going on in the States right now. The Indian revival has been so up and down, and just plain silly it times. It seems now that they have found their savior with the mighty Polaris buying them. Although sucess is never a given, this one has finally got a decent chance. Polaris won't be asking for any money from anyone. From everything I've read about this, they've got really deep pockets.
 
If I made a down payment and was waiting twice as long as I'd been told I'd wait, I would be really pissed off right now. That said, I really hope two things for them, 1. they can start delivering many more of those beautiful bikes, asap, and 2. they come up with a new version of the manx, for a lot less money than their commando.
 
snakehips said:
The real sad thing is though is the people who seem to revel in any possibility of failure. In this thread alone there are traders who openly whore their products through this forum who seem to have nothing better to do than to throw their half stories in about what a mess there in and how they have got it all wrong and how crap the bikes are, I am sure they wouldn't like it done to them and do wonder what Stuart Garner has done to them to warrant it.
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Happily, I am NOT one of those.

I really like the new bikes (can't afford one, and don't want to wait for one), and have repeatedly challenged many naysayers on downplaying Kenny's role in the vision and everything right up to pre-production protoype testing ACTUAL BIKES HE BUILT; also keep reiterating the fact that the new Commando is more an old Commando than the new Bonnie is an old Bonnie. Those arguments are ridiculous when you consider what's between the cases. I can just imagine the criticism if Norton had built the new Commando on a very standard chassis as Triumph has done with the Bonnie; they'd be called worse names than they are already...

I hope they do well after getting thier feet planted and delivering the first major batch to the U.S. where I'm sure they'll sell all they can import.

I will admit to ONE major criticism: They should NEVER have announced delivery dates in the U.S. till they were done with the EPA, DOT, and whomever else they're still wrangling with. If anything does them in, this will be it.
 
grandpaul said:
snakehips said:
The real sad thing is though is the people who seem to revel in any possibility of failure. In this thread alone there are traders who openly whore their products through this forum who seem to have nothing better to do than to throw their half stories in about what a mess there in and how they have got it all wrong and how crap the bikes are, I am sure they wouldn't like it done to them and do wonder what Stuart Garner has done to them to warrant it.
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Happily, I am NOT one of those.

I really like the new bikes (can't afford one, and don't want to wait for one), and have repeatedly challenged many naysayers on downplaying Kenny's role in the vision and everything right up to pre-production protoype testing ACTUAL BIKES HE BUILT; also keep reiterating the fact that the new Commando is more an old Commando than the new Bonnie is an old Bonnie. Those arguments are ridiculous when you consider what's between the cases. I can just imagine the criticism if Norton had built the new Commando on a very standard chassis as Triumph has done with the Bonnie; they'd be called worse names than they are already...

I hope they do well after getting thier feet planted and delivering the first major batch to the U.S. where I'm sure they'll sell all they can import.

I will admit to ONE major criticism: They should NEVER have announced delivery dates in the U.S. till they were done with the EPA, DOT, and whomever else they're still wrangling with. If anything does them in, this will be it.
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I agree well said. There's one not a few of miles from me and the guy absolutely loves it.

Cash
 
Kind of reminds me of when a US crook screwed £80m out of the UK government, to finance building Lotus designed sports cars in Northern Ireland.
 
rpatton said:
Does anyone know how Kenny made out after all the expense of designing the bike and getting the trademark?
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Like Dave said, let's not ruin the end of the movie! I will say that the entire experience was hard on him, as you might expect.

cheers,
tom
 
I don't really know whats going on at Norton, but I do hope they make it work. I for one would love one of their bikes, in fact they are the only bikes on the market today that I would consider buying, I hope they can get to a point where they can make the bikes more affordable for the rest of the world, 12 - 15 K (GBP) is a bit too much for the average bloke like me to swallow.
Whilst they may not be an updated "real" Commando, they are a lot closer to the real thing than a Hinkley Bonnie (I own a real Bonnie and would not dream of owning a Hinkley model).
It's quite possible that the company is not broke but is just playing the system, yes John DeLorean played a similar game in the early eighties but I don't really think the two companies (Norton & DMC), their directors or the circumstances can be compared. Remember the new Commando is a pretty good bike, the DMC 12 was (and still is) a pretty sh*t car. (although I'd still like one, they're about 5K more expensive than a new Norton :))

Webby
 
snakehips said:
AussieCombat said:
snakehips, are you happy with your bike. Lets hope it's not a rareity.
AC.
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Yes I am and except for a few issues during the purchasing phase I am also very happy with the company.
I think their big downfall will be they are too cheap It cost less for its first service then my EFI bonny did and that included collecting and returning with a 200 mile round trip, and when you look at the parts on them Ohlins suspension, brembo brakes, Omex ecu, Jenvey throttle bodies ,hand built etc all for £12,500 and 20% of that goes to the government I can't see how they can make a profit.
The real sad thing is though is the people who seem to revel in any possibility of failure. In this thread alone there are traders who openly whore their products through this forum who seem to have nothing better to do than to throw their half stories in about what a mess there in and how they have got it all wrong and how crap the bikes are, I am sure they wouldn't like it done to them and do wonder what Stuart Garner has done to them to warrant it.
It will be sad if it goes wrong for them, people bleat on about how the Norton name again will be sullied, by what ? a guy that is building and delivering a fantastic looking motorcycle, by a team of dedicated people at a British plant utilising as many British sourced parts as possible ? perhaps everyone will be happier if someone sticks a Norton sticker on a cheap chinese turd and flogs that? Oh and the performance is ok for £12,500 we don't all need 160+ HP to have fun on a motorcycle after all this is a Norton Commando forum and we all enjoy riding our 50HP machines don't we?
Still all the above is crap isn't it lets face it Stuart Garner is just a crook trying to rob everyone of their deposits :mrgreen:
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Thanks for posting. It's always good to to get the news directly from the horses mouth. Too bad though this incentive money is only about what many INDIVIDUAL investment bankers got personally as bonuses through the US bail out funds. Those are the people who need to step up to the plate and throw some of that easy money around instead of playing the big shot behind their sunglasses, maybe pre-order some Nortons while they're at it.
 
Well, I LUV the new Nortons. Would I sell a couple of my current bikes to buy one ? yes. Would I put a deposit down and wait ... for awhile ??? no. Let me see it in the USA, for sale, and on the road. Then I'll buy. I wish Stuart and New Norton the best, and hope they succeed !!! Besides, I'd really like to compare it side by side with my 1999 Buell Cyclone. :mrgreen:
 
Wow! This all just make me think, Have some of us just given up? In this climate I wonder how could anyone make a go of it? Are we all ........ Never mind, I still want to see this happen. This will happen at some point, But it's going to take someone with guts!!!!!!!! ARGH!!!!!!! :roll:
 
But it's going to take someone with guts!!!!!!!!
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Money more likely. Just for a change. Bloor-style money- 3 figure millions, not lonely figure.
 
I want one but I cant afford one and I hope they succeed. I hope there's tons of them imported in to the USA so I can snag one secondhand in a few years.
 
Its a loan guaranteed for 40% by HM govt if they default, the whole of the amount still though ends up being owed by the company to the bank, the scheme is meant to be self financing through a 3% premium paid at the start by the company (about 20K) or the price of a bike + a Watch.
If they default after around 4 months and they have 30 people to pay, then it works out OK for the government as they have just paid the money to the guys working there via Norton rather than through social benefits.
This isn't a vote of confidence in the industry by the business secretary, its a business deal which gives the MP's in the area a boost (for the moment) in light of all the doom and gloom stories from this industrial area doing the rounds at the moment.

Bigger pockets are needed I think to make this work, (a pity the latest £150M lotto winner wasn't a Norton fan)
 
The timing couldn't have been worse for the global economy to tank when Garner penned the original deal.
 
Gino Rondelli said:
Its a loan guaranteed for 40% by HM govt if they default, the whole of the amount still though ends up being owed by the company to the bank, the scheme is meant to be self financing through a 3% premium paid at the start by the company (about 20K) or the price of a bike + a Watch.
If they default after around 4 months and they have 30 people to pay, then it works out OK for the government as they have just paid the money to the guys working there via Norton rather than through social benefits.
This isn't a vote of confidence in the industry by the business secretary, its a business deal which gives the MP's in the area a boost (for the moment) in light of all the doom and gloom stories from this industrial area doing the rounds at the moment.

Bigger pockets are needed I think to make this work, (a pity the latest £150M lotto winner wasn't a Norton fan)
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Geno. Get the bike around the winners house and a big,big scots grin,plus a few wee dram's ,who knows :roll: ..on a less lighter note...i think the 600k was a bit sad,considering Derby as lost a billion plus order to our German "Friends"..it's like taking £100 off your daughter and giving your son 5p!...puts matters right....eh :!:
 
Gino Rondelli said:
This isn't a vote of confidence in the industry by the business secretary, its a business deal which gives the MP's in the area a boost (for the moment) in light of all the doom and gloom stories from this industrial area doing the rounds at the moment.

A cynical attempt by our Government to drag themselves out of the pooh, having allowed a foreign train manufacturer, Siemens, to win a major order running into billions from a Derby company, Bombardier, thus putting 1400 of Bombardier's workforce into unemployment at a stroke.

However, having got this highly-publicized loan, Norton may then go on to gain other investors and continue the charade.

IMHO, of course :)
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