Norton actually has new motorcycles in the USA

NorTriDuc · Friday at 11:06 AM

Who’s getting a first edition? Not the general public. Those will be very limited and unlikely not available. I still say many of these display bikes are cobbled together and a bad image for the brand. All brands.

Stephen_Spencer · Friday at 4:01 PM

BritTwit said:
Maybe.
Perhaps the Manx R displayed was a mock-up to just show the basic design of the R.
Still a bit troubling though.
Why not just say that the R on display is the standard model, and have a picture of the First Edition on hand with the list of goodies it will have over the standard model.

Agreed - we won’t fully know what’s going on with model types until they are released for sale. Guess all will be clarified very shortly. Good to see that Norton are moving ahead with exporting to the US though.

Next the road tests. The styling is somewhat devisive - let’s see how they perform.

fid04 · Friday at 8:37 PM

Who buys this stuff ?? All these modern retro bikes are really cringey to me, with their water cooling and fake carburetors, but this is on another level. That's as nice as I can say it.

NPeteN · 2026-01-10T06:41:17-0700

Stephen_Spencer said:
Maybe you were looking at what will be the base model CG? Doubt they are bullshitting about the spec of the First Edition model.

View attachment 123203

So Norton is only going to make a couple hundred quality motorcycles?

They seem self conscious and more than a bit nervous, which is understandable. Time to put up or shut up.

BritTwit · 2026-01-10T13:17:22-0700

fid04 said:
Who buys this stuff ?? All these modern retro bikes are really cringey to me, with their water cooling and fake carburetors, but this is on another level. That's as nice as I can say it.

But that is the best you can reasonable expect from manufactures today, that is if you want a new machine.
Do you expect air cooled engines, CV carbs, straight exhausts, points and condenser ignitions to be offered today with all of the environmental regs?
Governments have made that impossible, for ever.
If you want a true classic, you'll have to build one up from parts for yourself.

City Garage · 2026-01-10T14:22:12-0700

BritTwit said:
But that is the best you can reasonable expect from manufactures today, that is if you want a new machine.
Do you expect air cooled engines, CV carbs, straight exhausts, points and condenser ignitions to be offered today with all of the environmental regs?
Governments have made that impossible, for ever.
If you want a true classic, you'll have to build one up from parts for yourself.

Funny, there were a lot of non-FI bikes coming from the Chinese manufacturers on the floor. Probably easier to do that than an FI that you need support for. Also, not that it's in the same category, but Honda still has a carb on the XR650L, so it's a street-legal bike.

BritTwit · 2026-01-10T17:13:45-0700

City Garage said:
Funny, there were a lot of non-FI bikes coming from the Chinese manufacturers on the floor. Probably easier to do that than an FI that you need support for. Also, not that it's in the same category, but Honda still has a carb on the XR650L, so it's a street-legal bike.

Question is...would you care to own any of them?
I'd rather have a new retro or modern classic, EFI and all.
I'm a carb guy myself, from way back, but have to admit EFI is superior in many ways.
Also discovered TuneECU for tuning my Triumph SpeedTwin.
With a laptop, TuneECU, and a OBD unit, you can download different EFI maps for new mufflers, de-catting, etc.
There are tunes for most brands of bikes, and different accessory parts.
Never have to touch a carb, or jet.

City Garage · 2026-01-10T21:40:42-0700

BritTwit said:
Question is...would you care to own any of them?
I'd rather have a new retro or modern classic, EFI and all.
I'm a carb guy myself, from way back, but have to admit EFI is superior in many ways.
Also discovered TuneECU for tuning my Triumph SpeedTwin.
With a laptop, TuneECU, and a OBD unit, you can download different EFI maps for new mufflers, de-catting, etc.
There are tunes for most brands of bikes, and different accessory parts.
Never have to touch a carb, or jet.

EFI all day if I could. Too efficient to not want it.

Stephen_Spencer · 2026-01-11T06:52:02-0700

NPeteN said:
So Norton is only going to make a couple hundred quality motorcycles?

That’s a rhetorical question, right Pete?

Damn, it’s catching!!

NPeteN · 2026-01-11T07:45:20-0700

Stephen_Spencer said:
That’s a rhetorical question, right Pete?

Damn, it’s catching!!

Not rhetorical, I want answers dammit!!

BritTwit · 2026-01-11T11:56:42-0700

Probably the first editions will be super spec'd models with the highest price tags.
Then the "Everyman" versions will be down spec'd versions with ABS plastic, less expensive cast alloy parts, and suspensions, with more realistic price tags.
With time I'm sure the factory will see what works (sales-wise) and what doesn't, and make the appropriate adjustments.
But, until they start pushing product out the door, they really have no idea what will work with the M/C buyers.

NorTriDuc · 2026-01-11T13:09:39-0700

These new Nortons were not worth the wait.

Stephen_Spencer · 2026-01-11T16:01:22-0700

BritTwit said:
Probably the first editions will be super spec'd models with the highest price tags.
Then the "Everyman" versions will be down spec'd versions with ABS plastic, less expensive cast alloy parts, and suspensions, with more realistic price tags.
With time I'm sure the factory will see what works (sales-wise) and what doesn't, and make the appropriate adjustments.
But, until they start pushing product out the door, they really have no idea what will work with the M/C buyers.

Don’t see them specing down too far from the Fisrt Edition models BT. Think the semi active will likely stay in place; they’ve made a big deal out of the onboard tech+.

They may well shift the carbon bodywork, Akrapovic and (maybe) the carbon wheels to the accessories catalogue to market the standard variant.

There’s only 150 of each First Edition though, many of which are pre-sold apparently - you’d expect that they’d want to give the highest spec machine to key road testers? We’ll know shortly.

NorTriDuc · 2026-01-11T16:15:41-0700

Stephen_Spencer said:
Don’t see them specing down too far from the Fisrt Edition models BT. Think the semi active will likely stay in place; they’ve made a big deal out of the onboard tech+.

They may well shift the carbon bodywork, Akrapovic and (maybe) the carbon wheels to the accessories catalogue to market the standard variant.

There’s only 150 of each First Edition though, many of which are pre-sold apparently - you’d expect that they’d want to give the highest spec machine to key road testers? We’ll know shortly.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but that stock Akrapovic exhaust isnt anything special. Plus, if it’s like all other modern exhaust, the cat will be welded to the rest of the exhaust so it can’t be removed on its own.

For a premium bike model, why didn’t they use Olin’s?

Norton actually has new motorcycles in the USA

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