A Kinetic revolution for Norton

The big news coming out of the second day of the 2017 EICMA was that Kinetic Motors has now partnered with the British cult hero brand – Norton. Norton has been revived a few times and Kinetic hopes to revitalise them achieve the success they rode on in the prime years of British motorcycling.

This initiative is quite different from their other advents with MV Agusta and SWM, as Kinetic are not merely distributors or partners to sell the motorcycles in India. Kinetic has acquired 51 per cent of the shares and will shape the future of the British brand.

When the British motorcycles were ruling the roost, it was hard to best Norton at their game. Models such as the Dominator, Jubilee, Navigator and the iconic Manx were the bikes one would dream of owning. After enduring economic strife, they were out of production on many an occasion. Their current line-up includes the Commando 961 (a traditional British parallel twin motorcycle), Dominator (a hardcore modern café racer version of the Commando) and the V4 RR (a worthy track weapon, gaining fame at the Isle of Man TT).

The acquisition is one to be proud of for Indians all over the world as we are single handedly the saviours of many of their iconic names. Eicher with Royal Enfield is a prime example and Tata’s purchase of Jaguar–Land Rover was pivotal. Mahindra bought BSA, another ailing British marquee, just at the start of the year. Triumph too has sought a partnership of sorts with Bajaj. And now finally Kinetic would be playing a big role in Norton’s future. Feeling patriotic anybody?

The announcement for the Kinetic and Norton partnership is expected sometime in November and what we can tell you right now is that the 961 platform based bikes (Dominator and Commando) will be the first ones to arrive here. Initially, the bikes will be distributed via Kinetic dealerships but manufacturing prospects are being considered as well. The components will be imported from UK, so there will be no compromise when it comes to quality. The JV is also expected to bring out new 650cc bikes, which will be developed cohesively by the both companies.