New Beginnings – Norton Motorcycles

0601/2011

Norton is a 100 year old motorcycle brand that seemed to have lost its way. Tanya Weaver visits its Donington Park factory to find out how this legend is being reborn.

Norton is a brand that resonates with many people who still feel an immense pride for this quintessentially British motorcycle manufacturer. Founded in 1898 in Birmingham, Norton has a long history of manufacturing both road and race bikes that have stood for performance and excellence. Norton fans, many of whom still own a Norton bike, have certainly not forgotten its glory days and when in 2008 it was announced that the brand was returning to the UK after a recent tumultuous past, there was much talk about the rebirth of a legend.

Norton’s new home is in an industrial unit alongside the Donington Park Grand Prix Circuit in Derbyshire. From the outside, this low key metal shed doesn’t quite prepare you for what you’ll encounter inside: a shop floor filled with about twenty gleaming Nortons waiting to be delivered and a small work force buzzing with activity.

The man responsible for bringing Norton back to British soil is UK businessman Stuart Garner, who purchased all the trademarks and development work relating to the brand in 2008. Norton had been over in the US for the past 15 years where Kenny Dreer, a well-known restorer of vintage bikes, had set up a company in Portland, Oregan, specifically to develop a new Norton Commando road bike. Although a number of prototype bikes had been designed, sadly not one went into production and in 2006 the company shut down. So, having sealed the deal in just four days, Garner bought a 15,000 square foot factory in Donington Park and started to recruit a brand new team to get his new venture up and running.

The first employee to come on board was Simon Skinner, Norton’s new head of design, who had previously been at Triumph for seven years working on many bikes including the 675 and the new Tiger 800. “I was the first employee here and then I nicked a couple of guys from Triumph and other places. We now have a really strong little team, which gives us a fighting chance of doing something really good,” he says.