Norton motorcycles

I sincerely hope none of you have deposits out there for a new Norton.

Or for that matter have your pension funds invested with Stuart Garner.

Once you see how eye watering the figures are the articles leading up to this make very interesting reading.https://www.superbike.co.uk/article/norton-creditors-report-how-much-money-is-owed?fbclid=IwAR1q-yglfYC0xyFrjbyQkGHdhCvGRPrXatYh4fLZRv9hF_vYVvlrOtYhC38

Cheers

Ian

Makes a good read if you are bored.

I am of the opinion the whole thing was a con from day one.

I have seen pics of bikes that went back to the factory for recalls being stripped of parts to go on bikes coming off the production line.

The man deserves jailing for fraud and theft at the very least.

Cheers

Ian

Agreed if its proven beyond doubt that it was fraudulent and fiddling then deserve all they get

It's pretty mad indeed, I didn't even know there was trouble with Norton till this post. Like [mention]Richzx6r[/mention] says, I feel bad for the folks who invested into the brand.

Makes a sad interesting read for all concerned

lock him up .

But would that really be penance for it, I'd say he should personally pay it all back that would be much much worse

Having read numerous articles now about how Norton was run, It's difficult to understand why the UK press weren't giving out warnings or reporting the real state of affairs. The journalists knew what was going on, yet they remained silent.

A bike magazine ran an article about Norton a couple of months ago. There was a side column by an insider who knew from the start they were in a mess, and detailed failing after failing. The Magazine knew that he knew so asked him for his take on things and yet they didn't write anything critical, as far as I'm aware, in all the years leading up to the collapse.

The British bike press failed in my eyes to act responsibly, and as a result, Stuart Garner lived the high life with his collection of Aston Martin cars, his wildlife park in Africa, and his stately home, all paid for with deposits from hard working people who should have been warned years ago not to touch his company with a barge pole and have now ended up with nothing.

That to me is as big a failing as the con man that Stuart Garner is. So many journalists and associates understood the truth, but not one of them reported it.

Having read numerous articles now about how Norton was run, It's difficult to understand why the UK press weren't giving out warnings or reporting the real state of affairs. The journalists knew what was going on, yet they remained silent.

A bike magazine ran an article about Norton a couple of months ago. There was a side column by an insider who knew from the start they were in a mess, and detailed failing after failing. The Magazine knew that he knew so asked him for his take on things and yet they didn't write anything critical, as far as I'm aware, in all the years leading up to the collapse.

The British bike press failed in my eyes to act responsibly, and as a result, Stuart Garner lived the high life with his collection of Aston Martin cars, his wildlife park in Africa, and his stately home, all paid for with deposits from hard working people who should have been warned years ago not to touch his company with a barge pole and have now ended up with nothing.

That to me is as big a failing as the con man that Stuart Garner is. So many journalists and associates understood the truth, but not one of them reported it.

I am of the opinion that you are spot on !

It seems to me a strange set of affairs that so many people must have known about it but virtually nothing was said.

Cheers

Ian

He’s a conman, really feel for the people who have deposits on bikes, classic Nortons, not really my thing but respect them as a good British bike of the time and understand why they appealed, the rotary engine was kind of cool too.

The modern incarnation was doomed to failure imo, trying to build a V4 superbike with an extremely high price tag just wasn’t a good idea, Aprilia and Ducati make V4 superbikes which are much better to ride, much cheaper to buy and have an extensive dealer network for servicing and parts(ok extensive might be a bit of a reach for Aprilia but they’re certainly miles ahead of Norton there)

They should have stuck to building retro bikes with modern suspension etc and offer an alternative to Triumphs for people who want a British bike. Instead they tried to compete with the big boys whilst not having the resources to do so, similar happened to TVR,which was a shame because their cars are really cool.

the building for tvr is still there dont know if people are still working in it or not

The company closed down in 2006/2007 IIRC, it got sold to a rich young Russian who completely messed things up, think it is now back in English hands and trying to get a new model off the ground and building in Wales.

As much as I think it would be great to see them come back I’m not holding my breath for it being a success given how much better the competition is. It would be great to see Norton come back again too .

https://www.visordown.com/news/general/norton-sold-961-engine-rights-just-going-under

It seems he (Garner) is even more crooked if that's possible !

Cheers

Ian

Great news and a shame in equal measurers

Good news for Norton employees and customers but sad for British manufacturing. Is it just me but I can't help but feel a certain irritation that so many British engineering and technology firms have been bought out by Asian companies. It seems that they are the only ones with the vision to actually manufacture stuff. All we seem to produce are chancers who can make money by blagging and then doing a runner with the proceeds.