In a dramatic reversal of fortune or pitiful circumstances, old Norton motorcycle owners who had fallen foul of the collapse of the previous Norton ownership, were given another blow to the head as the new head of New Norton motorcycles said they would not be able to help old owners with the many issues and safety points plaguing the V4SS or any other owner who had issues with their bikes or had lost money during the stewardship of former CEO; Stuart Garner
Those of us less informed might be surprised to hear that Norton motorcycles of now, is a brand new company. Parent company TVS from India purchased the rights but actually set up a brand new company, so from their point of view they are not responsible for what went on before, although they had said they would try to fix the issues if they could.
There had been reports and miscommunications recently which may have given the impression that new Norton would be fixing all old bikes and everything would be rosy. In fact in a recent PR blunder, the press were told that old owners could simply swap old machines for new…but that was quickly retracted.
Now the position seems to be that there are simply too many issues to resolve and these bikes cannot be fixed by new Norton or perhaps they really don’t want the responsibility of cleaning up somebody else’s mess?
Now old Norton owners are being redirected back to the administrators BDO to somehow get their money back…but is that likely to happen. Many would say no and they would also point the finger at new Norton after supposed promises and implied statements from the past would have suggested they would have been able to rectify the problems or have their money back or indeed have a straight swap…but that is not to be the case.
Now this unending saga sees no light at the end of the tunnel for those owners affected and their direction towards BDO is still confused. And what do new Norton say…well they say that once the liquidation of the old company is finalised, old Norton owners may get a special deal on new V4s which are still under development and most likely to be available towards the end of the year.
Whichever way you look at this situation, it has not been handled well at all. If right from the offset, new Norton had made their position clear that they would not be helping out old owners affected, then at least there would be a line in the sand. But there has been too much confusion for owners, too many different stories and owners being treated differently too.
When New Norton investigated the V4SS saga they not only acknowledged there were design issues and a couple of severe safety concerns like alleged battery fires and broken oil lines covering the rear tyre in oil but apparently there were another 35 faults with the design that they could not or would not solve…now seemingly stating that they could not source all the parts required to produce a safe motorcycle. But the question is, how can this be the case? Why have they stated a blanket no ride policy on these bikes, without a solution nor anyway for riders to have even the minor issues sorted out and be able to ride them legally on the road, let alone get insurance on them. Now they are mere objects which stand silent with distant memories of a roaring engine and twisting roads.
New Norton are developing a new range of bikes and a new V4. They claim it will be a new design and not based upon its predecessor either. But surely they should have it within their skillset to be able to fix the previous bikes if they can redesign a bike in the first instance.
There are so many confusions at this company and not least many of the unanswered questions on how they still do their business and the people they employ who were also key figures in the assembly, design and manufacture and management of old Norton.
So what now? Well old Norton owners may have refused to swallow this bitter pill and they are back to BDO to try to get some money back which may seem unlikely at this stage. They have products they can’t use and no way to get them fixed until this is sorted out once and for all…if ever?
Do new Norton honestly believe they will get customers for their new V4s from any of the old owners now after so many terse words and conflicting stories…regardless if they have any legal obligations or not?
For the owners it has been and continues to be a nightmare but for new Norton this could be a legacy that keeps potential customers away for a long time yet unless they repair fences that they didn’t even break perhaps.
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