South Bay Norton
2101 Pacific Coast Highway
Lomita, CA 90717
Phone: (310) 784-7693
Norton UK is proud to announce the appointment of South Bay Norton, Lomita, California, as their exclusive dealer/distributor for the United States. South Bay Norton is owned and operated by Matt Capri, who also operates South Bay Triumph. Matt brings over 35 years experience in motorcycling, starting with development of the BMW Motorcycle dealer network in the 70's. He has excelled in product development for BMW with the Luftmeister line of accessories and most of the high performance parts for Triumph. He has achieved many land speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats and El Mirage Dry Lakes with both BMW and Triumph and was inducted into the 200mph club in 1993. His knowledge in these areas will be of assistance with Norton growth in the US.
The new 2010 Norton 961 SE Commando pricing has been announced:
MSRP $17,899 for the spoke wheeled 961 Commando SE!
MSRP $19,499 for the carbon fibre wheeled 961 Commando SE!
Cycle World Magazine will soon be road testing the new 2010 Norton Commando.
Watch for it!
THE first Norton motorbikes at a Castle Donington factory have begun rolling off the production line, almost 20 years after they were produced in the UK.
Norton Motorcycles has said it is now set to produce more than 100 bikes a month at its Donington Park factory and could create around 100 jobs.
The last time the famous motorcycle was produced in the UK was back in 1992, when US businessman Ollie bought the firm.
Local entrepreneur Stuart Garner bought the 111-year-old Norton name a year ago and since then has been raising the profile of the Norton brand and equipping the factory.
The company has already sold 200 special edition commando bikes which were made to mark the relaunch of the brand.
It has now secured enough orders to begin full production of Norton bikes.
Mr Garner, who is chief executive of Norton Motorcycles, said: "We are building bikes now. The first bike will be delivered in two weeks' time."
This week, Mr Garner has travelled to France to sign up another distributor for Norton, as he looks to build up a global sales network.
He said: "When we sign up a distributor it boosts volumes, because there's such pent-up demand out there.
"We have 8,000 people globally who have inquired about buying a Commando. We need a distributor and dealership network to service that."
Next month, the company is expecting to boost its profile further when it unveils its 961 Commando and Cafe Racer Commando at the International Motorcycle and Scooter Show 2009 at Birmingham's NEC.
Mr Garner said production on the two bikes would start in spring or summer next year.
He said: "We have got all hands on the pump to make a good stand for the bike show at the moment.
"Once we have done that we will be able to build our weekly volumes. In the next 18 months we want to be making at least 100 bikes a month.
"The progress the company has made over the past year has been awesome. We are well ahead of where the business plan said we would be.
"We have invested millions of pounds and have taken on dozens of people in the last year and the workforce continues to expand. There's a potential for over 100 jobs here over the next couple of years."
Norton has said it plans to more than treble the size of its factory to 30,000 sq ft over the next few years if current demand continues. Mr Garner said he was unconcerned with the recession and competition from Leicestershire's other legendary motorcycle marque – Triumph Motorcycles, of Hinckley.
He said Norton and Triumph occupied two different markets. The entrepreneur, who owns other businesses in the East Midlands, secured a licence to run a Norton racing team early last year from Mr Curme.
One of Mr Garner's businesses, Spondon Engineering, of Derby, had made frames for Norton bikes in the 1980s and 1990s when they were produced in Shenstone, Staffordshire.