Pierre Terblanche to head design team at Norton

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I don't know if he designed that new ducati diavel that's making the rounds, but it's one of the ugliest bikes i've ever seen
 
The Diavel is not a Terblanche design. He left the company several years ago. I don't like the looks of the thing either, but it's competing with bikes like the B-King and the new Vmax, so it's styled to suit its market segment.

Ron, I think you're being too harsh on the 999! It's true that the styling threw the ducatisti into shock when it came out, but many of us actually came to appreciate its design. It lacks the graceful elegance of the 916-class bikes, but it looks cool in an edgy, futuristic sort of way. A friend described the look as "menacing or sinister". The ergos are said to be the more comfortable than the earlier bikes, but it would still be a one hour motorcycle for me. My 998 was actually more comfortable than my 900SS/CR, but my aging body cannot handle the riding position anymore. There's something wrong with my neck. It's worn out I guess. So my 998 went to a new home and the Nortons remained with me.

It's pretty amazing that LAB has let this long-winded thread that has NO Commando content remain here for so long! I can't believe he hasn't moved it already! :lol:

Debby
 
debby said:
It's pretty amazing that LAB has let this long-winded thread that has NO Commando content remain here for so long! I can't believe he hasn't moved it already! :lol:

Debby
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LAB secretly has a obsession with Ducatis. Rumor is that he has red pajamas with an embroidered Ducati logo. But it's just a rumor. :mrgreen:
 
I don't know about LAB, but a lot of us on this forum are also Ducati owners. Better think twice about those Ducati comments!! :mrgreen:
 
I like my Ducatis , but can't think of a single Terblanche design that makes me say "wow." I appreciate them for what they can do but as I said to some of my fellow old bike enthusiasts recently , motorcycles to me are like girlfriends . It's not enough to simply do all of the right things . They also need to LOOK GOOD while doing them . When the 999 came out I wanted to like it but could not . Aesthetics are very subjective, but the public reacted to the 999 by not opening their checkbooks . And don't get me started on what he did to my beloved 900 SS . That being said , I have contemplated acquiring a used 999 for use as a dedicated track bike . They can be had quite reasonably now due to the down economy , the fact that they aren't current generation design , and weren't that popular to begin with . Lose the front fairing "winglets" with a track fairing and it doesn't look too bad to me .

Ron
 
britbike220 said:
So since I own a duc, I assume I am "allowed" to make duc related comments? :|
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Jeez, next you'll say that you have a Norton so you get to make Norton related comments... :mrgreen:
 
swooshdave said:
Pierre Terblanche to head design team at Norton


Is it the looks or something else you guys don't like? Looks like most Ducatis I've ever seen.
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I don't like the 'transformer' style of most of the new bikes. The aggressive, angular lines just look wrong to me. If I park my genuinely tatty looking Norton next to a line of new race replicas someone invariably says 'nice bike', and nobody comments on the current bikes. I don't have to see through a motorcycle to appreciate it, but I don't want to have to pretend I'm a Ninja Turtle or be some costumed bad assed accountant on a Harly to go for a ride.

Who cares what Pierre has designed until there is a Norton sticker on the tank ?

IMHO

Greg
 
The 999 and 749 series machines are the superbike I would own (749 being the preferred model). I didn't care for the design at first, but it really grew on me. I worked for a Ducati shop for a few years (not as a tech), and the design and tech were light years ahead of the older bikes. Still, I had a blast on my old white framed SS. It was one of the few bikes that reminded me of my Commando, just with a little more power and better brakes.

Will be interested to see what develops with Norton
 
Well it may be hard to make a modern bike look good these days. I would like to see more grace & less "attack mode" mad max styling but frankly, I don't like the looks of any Ducati's since the 750 & 900 S and SS bikes of the 1970's. Some are ok, but not beautiful. But it's all in the eye of the beholder. I have a friend who thinks his Honda CBX and Yamaha SRX should live in his family room. To me they are the ugliest things to come from that little island.
 
"The customer is always right"- and the customer very definitely decided against the styling of the MHR, the 999, the Superstada and the ST models. Ducati nearly went broke until they got new designers and went back to the all-time classic Massimo Tamburini (916 through 998) line with the 1098. That in spite of the fact all magazine testers hailed the bikes for their performance, rideability, and, in the case of the 999, improvement on the 998.
Not only the sales of new Ducatis went down the plug, but even the thesis "these designs grow on you" are contradicted by today's maket values of all these "beauties"- try to sell a 999, an ST or a Superstrada and you will very quickly know what I mean.
As for the Supermono, it was a "Limited Edition" in the 1970s MCN comic mode, where one motorcycle salesman says to a customer:" This is the Limited Edition model. They realized they wouldn't sell before they made too many." Even though Cathcart sang it's praise globally, having been given one to race for free, performance on the racetracks was far from sensational and the model was buried very quickly.
 
ZFD said:
That in spite of the fact all magazine testers hailed the bikes for their performance, rideability, and, in the case of the 999, improvement on the 998.
Not only the sales of new Ducatis went down the plug, but even the thesis "these designs grow on you" are contradicted by today's maket values of all these "beauties"- try to sell a 999, an ST or a Superstrada and you will very quickly know what I mean.
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I think the biggest problem was that they were ahead of their time (JMHO). Look to later Japanese machines, and you start seeing some of the Ducati styling ques. When I was looking at possibly getting a superbike, one of my friends (was racing a 749R so maybe some bias) stated that if you want a pretty bike to look at get the 748, if you want one to ride get the 749. The 848/1098 were a step back in my opinion, but you're right, Ducati did need to do it because the majority of their customers hated the looks and wanted the iconic 916/748 looks.

I still prefer the look of my old '92 SS over the later 99 and up SS models. The later ones were sportier. Today, I am Ducatiless, but am debating a nice ST2 for touring.
 
It's official now - Norton Motorcycles has posted a press release on their web site announcing that Terblanche has joined the team. It will be interesting to see what he comes up with for them.

Debby
 
Who knows, perhaps the Mr Terblanche's designed ducatis will be collectors items in years to come. Just look at the once un-popular Triumph hurricane. Even the Norton Hi rider has a cult following!
 
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