Norton: Trouble At the (rumor) Mill

NORTON: TROUBLE AT THE (RUMOR) MILL

ROUNDUP

FOR A COMPANY THAT HAS produced fewer than 1000 motorcycles-all rotary-powered-in the last two decades, Norton has attracted a disproportionate amount of media coverage. But it was always thus with Norton and to be fair, a 588cc rotary racer did win the Isle of Man in 1992. These days, newly formed Norton Motors International (NMI) continues to generate more newsprint than product. Even so, Tech Director A1 Meiling insists that production of the company's flagship V-Eight Nemesis remains on track.

Here's how the last two quarters unfolded: Meiling, in an unusual-if-risky ploy to allay growing doubts of a skeptical U.K. press, invited a reporter from the English weekly tabloid Motor Cycle News to his Lancashire-based R&D center to observe the first dyno running of the prototype 750cc Four in July, and its V-Eight sibling in November. While resembling newborns undergoing intensive care, the engines emitted a satisfactory cacophony, and came through their "public" viewing without any bits hitting the fan.

That's it, physically, so far. On the static display side, there was a last-minute withdrawal of the projected machines from last October's Intermot expo in Munich, Germany. This, "in order to commit resources exclusively to production." Norton did regain some of its lost credibility in November at the annual NEC Show in Birmingham, England, with the appearance of a single Nemesis on the Bridgestone tire stand. (Strangely, ostensibly cash-strapped Norton had earlier committed a non-refundable fee of $55,000 for a substantial display of its own.) The red-liveried machine was enthusiastically viewed, but Bridgestone staff admitted that the required safe-for-

224-mph tires "aren't yet in production." Meanwhile, MCN has reported that boxer Mike Tyson will purchase the first production Nemesis, which Meiling initially stated would be ready before Christmas. That date has subsequently been revised to the first quarter of 1999, due to "late-running outside suppliers." No surprise, there.

Meiling refuses to adjust his production schedules or downgrade plans for a six-model range. This is slated to include Nemesis A and B, Atlas, Commando, Manx and International, each incorporating its own engine developed in-house. More recently, Meiling has sprung a seventh model: the "low-tech," ohv, 1640cc Nirvana, aimed specifically at the U.S. cruiser market. All this hardware, coming shortly from a company yet to acquire its main plant, with barely any assembly staff, and without homologation, a mar-

keting plan or any dealers. I thought it diplomatic not to mention tech training.

As if that scenario isn't complex enough, Norton Motors Deutschland (NMD), a legally constituted enterprise located in Bavaria, will commence supplying-albeit in small numbers-its new 650cc, single-cylinder 652SM (Roundup, March, 1998).

Last fall, NMD's Jo Seifert endeavored to broker a deal whereby, having completed an

outstanding commitment of 100 652SMs, his operation was to be sold to NMI. For reasons unstated, NMI executives failed to finish the deal.

Additionally, NMI has endured a bout of musical executives. VP of finance Steve Cieslukowski was replaced by ex-Northwest Airlines exec Mark Ostenberg; Steve's father Bob relinquished his CEO position; and marketing man John Fiebelkorn took over from Steve Swenson. Norton, whose once proud slogan justifiably read, "The Greatest Name in Motorcycling," is currently unsynchronized and remains a tangled web for the foreseeable future. -Michael Jackson