The New Norton

Here we will try to present any scuttle-butt we hear from the company, since, after all, we're the HOME CLUB, with Norton Motors International in our own town......

3/2000

Well guys and gals, you've heard this story before: Past history of Norton's new boss came back and bit him in the ass.....Sorry to say it.  Maybe next time.......

Flash!  Flash!   Flash!  Flash!  Flash!  Flash!  Flash!  Flash!

Nemesis Arrives at Leo's

This afternoon, 1/5/99 I spoke with John Fiebelcorn, the North American Sales manager for the new Norton Motors company based in Plymouth , Minnesota. I had heard that a Norton Nemeses had arrived in the states. Sure enough, the guys at Leo's in Burnsville Minnesota have been negotiating with NMI over the past few weeks and will be Norton's only outlet in Minnesota for the forseeable future. Leo's is about the only bike shop in Minnesota which still exists, that sold Nortons many years ago. We must not forget the loyal Norton guys in Rochester at Wheels unlimited. Norton felt that given Leo's set-up, they would be the most capable shop to handle the entire operation- soup to nuts. Today, they unpacked the bike which was shown at the Birmingham show in England. IT IS A PRODUCTION bike and would run IF it had innards in the engine/gearbox. The castings are numbered production castings. John said that at this stage, the factory needed the pistons etc. for development of the finished product. This bike will stay in Minnesota for 90 to 120 days and ultimately be sent back to the U.K. to be finished. Norton is subsisting on private backers at this point, and it would be lying to say that more private money is not necessary. When the stock was to be released, our economy took a nose dive. John apologizes to all those anxious for new Norton news not forthcoming on their website. They have run into some snags, but he says he'll pass on tid-bits to me to put out to the web. I'll send them to Brit-Iron, NOC-l and the Twin Cities Norton Owner's club website http://www.motorbyte.com/norton     .I'll probably call him for updates the first Tuesday of each month. In response to my question about the rumour of a "Harley Clone", he said that there is a V-twin on the drawing board, "Not a ME_TOO" bike, but this won't really be developed until the other bikes are very well on their way. It might be a competitive price, as the V-8 Commando will probably cost about $23,000.

Our meeting last night 1/7/99 brought more comments, including those of Mike Bedeaux, one of the brothers of the family which has owned Leo's since the 70's.  He was excited.  Norton has so far picked 12 dealers in the US to market the bikes.  He expected the bike to be here about 60 days.  Two Norton engineers have come to Minnesota, and are quoted as saying that the bike had run, but needed to be partly dismantled to get it into the US.  They stated that this bike could be made to run inside an hour.  They have decided to lower the horsepower, as it was unmanageable the way it was.  This is bike #7 or at least engine casting #7.   Mike said the new models will all trickle in through Minnesota first, and he heard that the next one planned is probably the Manx 4-cylinder.  Probably, the single International 600cc will be soon too, for sale at about $9000.  The Nemeses will not be offered in silver as in the adds.  Mike Tysen who reportedly had money down in Los Vegas on a Nemesis has failed to come up with the cash.....  The problem with financial backing is apparently improved, with some heavy hitters on the East coast coming up with some cash.  Mike will keep us posted on anything new at Leo's and can be reached at 1-800-536-7065 or http://www.leossouth.com

Pictures from Leo's :  one    two    three    four      five     six

Raul's comments first hand.....           More comments coming from Leo's .

Greg M.

Monday February 1st 1999.

NORTON'S 750cc Manx superbike has been ridden on
the road for the first time in secret tests. Norton design chief Al Melling says he
topped 100mph in the 10-mile ride near his base in Rochdale, Lancs. He said: "It
has massive top-end and is very revvy. "But I cut the test short because it showed
up some problems we didn't expect." A lack of mid-range was the main hitch.
The bike is now back in the workshop for modifications to the inlet system. Some
shortage of mid-range was shown up in dyno testing, but Melling says there is no
substitute to seeing how the bike feels on the road. He believes more mid-range
torque can be tuned in by fitting the airbox with longer intake trumpets. The
airbox is made from cast magnesium, so this will require changes to the foundry
patterns. He is also tweaking the gears and brakes. He said: "We are still
developing the engine and have new camshafts ready to try on the dyno, but the
test was encouraging." The target for the four-cylinder 16-valve motor is 174bhp,
and Melling is determined it will be competitive in World Superbike competition.
The Manx prototype used the Spondon-designed beam frame which will be used
on a 600cc Norton. Production 750s will have a cast magnesium frame.