Norton to race in Lightweight TT

So that means they will be in two different races this year by the sounds of it. Interesting fact about last years senior
" Donald managed a 124mph lap on the first lap of the Senior TT which was the fastest ever lap by a Norton"
http://www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocia...ews/norton-enter-lightweight-tt/#.VMpiOywYG75

Yawn! Another "Norton" with a non-Norton engine. Oh well, at least it lets them go racing.

Ken

Ya just like their first wins with Peugeot engines :roll:

Junk

A very competitive class.
If Nortons can make any real progress here,
then they have really acquired some serious skills and folks to make it work.

No connections with the 961 though.
So either they are planning to have some different engines sometime in the future,
or this is just a complete diversion from their core business.
Just having the name back in racing may be the whole object of the exercise ?

Rohan said:

Just having the name back in racing may be the whole object of the exercise ?

Click to expand...

IMO I think you're right Rohan.

And of course there is the issue with funding and time. Like others have said there is the element of time and cost of R&D, start up then production and sustainment. Essentially, it is more advantageous to use an already developed engine than develop their own while the marque is in the public eye.

Where I think Norton is missing the mark is by not producing their own power-plant, which is what many want to see. This excludes them from some of the other smaller yet important road races such as the NW200 that depending on the class requires a production machine. Riders like McGuinness, Johnson, and Martin don't just show up to the TT with a machine and race. I imagine there is a lot of data that comes from these other races that results in a culmination of "lessons learned" that makes these guys and race teams competitive at the TT.

Nortons racing achievements are part of history, anything which revives the memory can only be good for current sales. Brand loyalty is an important marketing tool. When the commandos were first produced some of us believed that the kids were buying them simply because their fathers had said that Nortons were good bikes. I believe that may of us under estimated just how good the early commandos were.

My understanding is that the Norton in question is in the main home built and only uses a crank and g.box from the orrig motor.

Wasn't it discussed here before, don't the rules say the engine has to be essentially stock. ?
No mention of the cycleparts, which is how teams are building their own bike
and slotting a stock engine into it.