The Prophet

What's going on with our good friends at the new Norton and Indian companies. I find it very difficult to locate any serious up-to-date news on Google or other search engines.

Last I heard, Indian had a Grand Opening and had a few bikes on order. I've heard zero about the new Norton company.

Granted, these are very tough times in which to start a business. Let's hope they can weather the storm, and become extremely successful.

Note to Indian: "Lower your prices!!!"

Note to Norton: "Hurry up, we can't wait forever!!"

Anyone have any updates?

SidecarFlip

Update.........

Dreer owes me $1500.00 that I put down on a new Roadster that never made it to production. I'm not the only one.

Dreer and company are done. Someday, I expect to get a few cents on the dollar for my stupidity.

The New Indian Motor Company (based in Georgia)(at least last time I checked) is doing nothing as well.

One of the big wigs was the owner of the dealership I bought my last Triumph at....he liquidated that dealership. I wish him all the luck...he needs it.

Last I heard, Indian wanted exclusive dealers with facilities built to Indian Motor Company's specifications, selling only Indian Motorcycles and acessories. That may work for HD (for now), but it's a fantasy for a new venture.

I suspect Indian, like Norton, has some pretty unhappy investors.

I'm glad I didn't put some money down on an Indian, but then I wouldn't do that. Nortons and Indians are two entirely different breeds. I'd never be an Indian fan.

The Prophet

I'm no Indian fan either. To each his own of course, but I just don't care for the styling - too retro and "Curvy"(?), and I especially wouldn't care to be pigeon-holed with a bunch of garage trophy RUBs. Too "elitist" for my taste. Having the name brand back out there would be nice though, as we have so few good American brands to choose from. Just do some value Engineering, and get that price point down to a reasonable level ($14K to $22K?)

Norton I might be interested in, but I learned an unforgetable and excellent lesson from my "new" Triumph Bonneville experience: You can't go home again. The idea was that purchasing a Bonneville like the one I had "back in the day" would also link me up with kindred , like-minded spirits as well.

Well... I'd say roughly 1 out of 1000 "new" Bonneville owners are reminiscent of the "good ol' days" of the sixties, the remaining are "new" owners who are trying to recreate something they were born far too late to experience. Triumph Bonneville owners of the 60's, as anyone who was there knows, were good people, hipsters, laid back, cool. Riding, camping out, good people, good friends, etc. I refer here to Bonnevilles only guys, not the remaining Models in the Triumph line. In retrospect, I should have bought a Tiger, or Street Triple.

Original 50's and 60's Triumph guys were NOT "tough guys", outlaws, 1%ers, or anyway remotely near what the 'new age' tries so desperately and embarrassingly to represent. The opposite attitude and character would be correct. Actually, that "tough guy" stuff started later, as in early/mid 70's, fueled by easy money drug sale profits and Hollywood symbolism. Triumph was well on it's way out by then. Altamont is an excellent example of the beginning of the end.

I say this because one has to wonder if a "new" Norton crowd will develop, misunderstanding what the marque means, or represents, and smear the name by making look-alike choppers and cruisers out of a basically decent bike.

Nonethless, at least they have to try, or else sell the name to someone who can commercialize the Brand correctly.

SidecarFlip

You are right about the 'New Bonneville' owners. Different breed entirely. I'm an old Bonneville guy with a new Bonneville as well.

I don't participate with or post on New Bonneville forums as a rule. I find most of them to be 'posers'.

They want to recreate the Paul Newman days in their minds I guess.

The new bikes, while resembling the old bikes...are not the old bike, never will be. That's good in a way and bad in a way. The New Bonneville and it's siblings have lost dome of the flavor, sort of like comparing a Porterhouse to a Ribeye. Meat is meat, it's the texture that's important.

The Prophet

Thanks Sidecar, I love the reference to "texture", very great anology.

After I posted, I was starting to really regret it, as I may have come off like an old complaining fogie, or at worst, an elitist type. I'm not. I was definitely there, as you were, and this new lot is amazingly different.

It could have been a lot of things - generation gap, upbringing, media trash, education, peer pressure. Who know's. You are spot on though, as you see a lot of bike-site avatars now around Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Marlon Brando, James Dean, etc. Who cares about these guys? We definitely didn't back then. My role models were a little bit higher on the scale.

I don't think we are trying to re-live the "golden, olden" days, just wish more riding folks would realize that the original objective was to ride, to have fun, and to support each other unconditionally.

I guess you need to define "ride", "having fun", and "support" for the new age folks. Not all of them mind you, some are absolutely great, but sadly, not too many.

All you need to do is go to any sizable bike gathering, and it's enough to make you wanna give it up. Another sad area is many, many Bike Forums - this one fantastically excluded - that are full of themselves, and full of baloney as well. Let's get back to basics say I.

Again, I'm starting to sound like my old man!

Others thoughts on this?

SidecarFlip

Prophet...

You might find what I'm about to say a bit alien but, that's why I bought a KLR.

Now, I have the Bonnie (my avatar) with the sidecar and I have the big hulking Rocket 3 Classic, which I really like, plus the majority of the posters on the R3owners site (which is the 'other' site that Shawn owns) are all old time bikers and we all get together every year to ride and have fun and I don't mean acting stupid either. None of them is on an ego trip, on the contrary, they are all really down to earth folks, I enjoy them all very much but...

I bought a KLR. It's a diminutive Taiwan made 650 single cylinder dual sport bike. It is so inconspicuous that you never have to wave to other bikers. HD riders never wave anyway because they know it's not an HD and other bikers don't wave because they think you are riding a moped. It real quiet. So quiet that sometimes you don't even know if it's running. It sounds like a lawn mower...a real quiet lawnmower. It's downright fun to ride. I always have a choice of bikes to ride with 3 in the garage but every time I want to go for an impromptu ride, I jump on the KLR. The KLR is like an extension of how I was when I was younger, free, but restrained. The KLR knows it's bounds and makes no pretense about challenging anyone. It's all about passing through time with the least amount of disturbance possible.

I suggest you take one for a test ride. It may open your eyes and it may become your favorite motorcycle.

Finally, in the realm of things, it's very inexpensive.

If you do happen to drop into a Kawasaki dealer and test ride one, please don't be intimidated by the high seating position. The bike is setup stock with an abundance of ground clearance and it's insanely easy to lower the ride height so you can touch the grond flat footed. The bike will feel tiny. It isn't. It's built narrow and the wide bars give a feeling of being tiny but the chassis is very stable and the seat is more comfortable (at least for me) than the stock Bonnie seat ever was. After a few miles, the bike will become almost like an extension of your thoughts, just so long as those thoughts are sedate. It's not a stoplight stormer.

The Prophet

I enjoy "Alien" muses, so never worry over that! The KLR sounds like a great bike. I too enjoy a ride for the pure enjoyment of the sounds, wind, feel, smell, etc. No need for posing or making noise to attract attention to myself.

I'll have a look at the Kawasaki stand for the KLR bike. I've always been considering a smaller bike, like the old Triumph Cub, or a BSA Bantam, just for bombing around on. These would seem like decent project bikes, as the old Bonnies and BSA big bores are way out of a reasonable price range. It's gotten to the point where it MUST be a labor of love, as the cost to restore one of the popular bikes yourself is way more than the purchase price of a totally refurbished one. What's the fun in that?

Hopefully, or maybe, the smaller, less popular old bikes are obtainable? maybe not.

Lastly, one of my problems is that although we live on a small "Hobby Farm" sized lot, we are surrounded by big crop farms and horse stables/farms, as in "out in the country". Good news is just that - we're far from any big cities. Bad news is - we're surrounded by country highways, as in 80 MPH country highways. Anything less than 80, and you get tailgated, and/or passed like a maniac.

In my middle / old age, I find it humourous, and wonder where in the heck these nuevo- rich ex-farmboys are going in such a big hurry with a cell phone glued to the side of their face. Most likely to the next stoplight.

Anyway, we have many sideroads, and twisty "secret" roads I've found in my travels, so no worries. I'll have a look. This time, I'm bringing the camera, so Monday I'll post some pictures of the show if anyone cares.

Thanks.

motowebmaster

Indian was always an interesting motorcycle, but not fun.

Norton would have been a lot of fun, but they should have focused on the mainstream population instead of building for those with more disposable income (back then).

The Prophet

I say, let's keep our fingers crossed, and maybe both entities will see the light, and see that the economic spiral hasn't even started to spin yet, therefore perhaps 2-3 more years of what we are currently seeing. One would think, not a real good market for overpriced garage ornaments.

Reasonable priced, solid, very good quality bikes, with a slant towards higher MPG, will continue to sell, once the ever-increasing second hand market dries up.

On the dark side... something tells me no, they will NOT "get it", and continue to believe in a RUB niche. And they may be right. In this day and age of self-absorbed "what's in it for me" folks, no one wants to sacrifice anything, and selfishness is acceptable. CEO salaries and bonuses continue to soar to get that last dollar before the final collapse. That said... maybe four more years of grief until the bottom totally falls out?

Hold onto your hats, it's gonna be a bumpy ride!

.... Seriously, I truly hope they regroup, re-organise, and see the light. Let's hope for the best.