Australian Motorcycle News Vol 69 Issue 21

THERE HAS BEEN a noticeable clattering in the Access pages regarding a certain Susie poster. There has been an equal and opposite clattering internally here at Gassit HQ as to whether we should run it again or not. Not least because, since my promise to do so last issue in Access, we realised we may not have the print-happy file… AMCN staffer Pete Vorst and Dep Ed Kel Buckley spent some hours working through prior physical evidence of AMCN – we have used many different forms of publishing in our near-on 70 years of existence – so locating the actual file wasn’t easy. As Pete and Kel scoured old discs, archives and issue files to find it, I pondered the wisdom of running something from another era. Had we gone…

IN A TUMULTUOUS first three months of 2020, motorcycle sales have remained surprisingly stable, with the off-road and ATV/SSV segments actually recording gains. Yamaha has taken over as the market leader, while smaller-capacity and less expensive models are underpinning bikes sales going forward. “The market has been remarkably resilient given the circumstances,” says Tony Weber, the chief executive of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI). “The first three months of 2020 have seen many issues unfolding in the Australian market, with floods, drought, bushfires and, more recently the coronavirus pandemic.” A 2.5 percent decline in overall motorcycle sales is a vast improvement on the 6.1 percent drop for the whole of last year. However, the full effects of the coronavirus ‘deep freeze’ of Australian businesses and population lockdown will…

MODEL Indian (111 c.i.) 2014-19 IMPORTER Polaris Sales Australia Pty Ltd NUMBER OF AFFECTED MOTORCYCLES 2233 ISSUE The gear position switch may provide an inaccurate signal, with an incorrect gear being displayed on the rider display. POTENTIAL HAZARD Incorrect gear indication during motorcycle start-up can cause unintended movement of the vehicle, increasing the risk of an accident or injury. MODEL Indian Chief, Chief Vintage, Chieftain 2014 IMPORTER Polaris Sales Australia Pty Ltd NUMBER OF AFFECTED MOTORCYCLES 487 ISSUE An electrical defect may cause unexpected loss of forward lighting, including high and low beam headlights and fog lights. If this occurs, the High Beam indicator will flash on the gauge cluster. POTENTIAL HAZARD Reduced visibility. MODEL Moto Guzzi V85 TT 2019 IMPORTER PS Importers Pty Ltd NUMBER OF AFFECTED MOTORCYCLES 73…

AFTER FALLING INTO administration in late January amid a growing scandal of undelivered bikes and enormous financial losses, Norton has been snapped up by India’s third-largest motorcycle manufacturer. However TVS Motor Company hasn’t grabbed the whole debt-laden company as a going concern. Instead it’s opted to buy ‘certain assets’ of Norton Motorcycles (UK) Limited and Norton Motorcycle Holdings. But it will transfer the employment contracts of Norton’s 58 existing staff and secure a six-month licence to remain in Norton’s Donington Hall manufacturing facility. TVS hasn’t talked about buying Donington Hall Estates, also in administration and part of Norton Motorcycle Holdings. A purpose-made factory would doubtless be cheaper and more practical. TVS won a bidding process that started with 331 expressions of interest. Eventually TVS won over eight other final offers…

THERE WAS NO doubt that the famous Norton name would survive. The big question was in what form. John Bloor relaunched a similar ‘heritage brand’, Triumph, in the 1990s with just the name and the old factory gates remaining from the original company. Norton’s new owners have bought the business as a going concern. There are plenty of examples of industrial giants from India and China buying and developing heritage brands. In 2008 Indian giant Tata bought Land-Rover Jaguar for $3 billion, making the TVS deal for Norton look like pocket money. After investing several more billions, by 2015 LR-J had overtaken Nissan to become the UK’s biggest car manufacturer. At the moment Norton is much more of a niche product in the market but the potential to use the…

NORTON’S NEW TWIN-CYLINDER engine is ready for production via Zongshen in its Cyclone RX6 adventure bike (pictured) and Cyclone RK6 tourer. Both models along with Norton’s Atlas range were launched onto the Chinese domestic market last September at the China International Motorcycle Trade Exhibition in Chongqing. The Chinese company did a deal to licence-build Norton’s 650cc water-cooled twin – effectively two cylinders from the V4 Superbike engine – back in 2017. Intriguingly, some Chinese press reports suggest Zongshen may also have plans to build a version of Norton’s 1200cc V4 Superbike engine. Stay tuned.…