Motorcycle Show NEC - 2009.

It’s True….  Dreams do come True….

Since the demise of the Lichfield Norton works in the early 90’s and the Norton name being purchased by the Americans, I had hoped that one day Norton would return once more as an all round Motorcycle manufacturer. It’s taken 15 years, but it has happened.  Stuart Garner digged deep into his pockets and went all in, and purchased the full rights to the Norton name.  And with it the design and development and the prototype of the new Commando.

Our Media Officer was again present at this years Motorcycle show at the NEC representing the Bandit & SV Riders Club, to see not only one, but FOUR  Nortons. Three of which are the new Commando and the fourth being the NRV588cc Norton Rotary which although had technical problems in this years Isle of Man TT.  It certainly faired very well on the Salt Lakes of Bonneville in the USA, where it came close to cracking the 175mph barrier with an amazing 173mph.

I arrived at the NEC and registered with the press office, obtained my press pass, and made my way to Hall 1, where the manufacturers were present.

Upon walking in I was met by the official show photographer Brian, of whom I have known for several years. We made our way to the Norton stand, and at first glance, I froze and my jaw dropped to the ground.  It was Chris “The Stalker” Walker.  Yes Norton have appointed Nottingham’s number one motorcyclist, of who once raced for Suzuki and Kawasaki. Chris has been appointed as the new Sales Manager.

Chris informed me that the 200 Special Edition versions of the 961 Commando was totally sold out.  However it was possible to place orders for the Café Racer and the Sport version at the show.   2010 will be more of a challenge for Norton. Designs have been submitted for the two seat version of the Commando, which may see a design change of the frame.  Also the road version of the NRV588 will be put into production.

Time to start saving the pennies.

Next door to Norton was Triumph, now it has been a rather long time that both manufacturers have appeared opposite each other at a bike show. The 2010 models were present, although some of current models for 2010 share the 2009 colour schemes, a few of the Triumphs did have some nice new paint schemes. One thing that I did notice was that the ST and the Tiger have had their riding positions changed. I am 6ft 5in tall. And last year, I found that the footpegs on both bikes set were too far back, especially on the ST, and I felt cramped. Well this year, it seems as though they have been fitted with adjustable footpegs, as I was in a neutral position, similar to the Suzuki Bandit

At this time the general public had been allowed in, and both the Norton and Triumph stands were soon very busy. I made my way over to the Suzuki stand, as last year Suzuki had the biggest stand with a large rotunda with several bikes on display. This year the main emphasis of the stand was the GSX-R. 2010 see’s the 25th anniversary of this iconic bike. And each model of the GSX-R was present from the 1st version which appeared in 1985 to the very latest 2010 model. And it was clear to see the changes that have occurred over those 25 years.

Suzuki-GSX650F-Bandit John Burton from Banditmania which is based in Lincoln, attended the Milan Motorbike show, and he was told by a representative of Suzuki, that 2010 would see the last production run of the Suzuki Bandit. I approached Ian Austin of Suzuki Motorcycles GB, and asked him if it was true? His response was somewhat of a shock. “Not as far as I am aware”, in an astonished tone. “2010’s model of the 1250 Bandit, has had another tweak”. Which means that the Bandit is on its Mark 5 version. Not including the GT version. “Since the emission ruling that has seen the end of production for the SV1000 and the DL1000 V-Strom, we have full focus on the Bandit and the Gladius”.

Asking Ian, why the Gladius had a small tank, I was surprised to learn that the Gladius 650 has a 15% better fuel economy than the SV650 which has a 17litre fuel tank which is shared with it’s late bigger sister. With it’s14.5 Litre fuel tank, the Gladius can travel further.

Suzuki has a few new models and some great colour schemes, which looking at the paintwork, the quality of finish is a lot better than previous years. The 2010 colour scheme for the Hayabusa is very good which consists of the traditional Suzuki blue overlapping a darker blue. Suzuki has stuck to the Black frames again this year for virtually its entire range.

On behalf of the Bandit & SV Riders Club, we would like to thank the Press Office of the Motorcycle show for giving us Media Accreditation, Chris Walker of Norton for his time and the staff of Suzuki GB for their time.