arkline
04-19-2006, 10:44 AM
This from my buds at NWNO who follow these things very carefully. Looks like the Dreer enterprise is stillborn, even with great products in the offing:
> Goodbye Norton. Again
> The struggling U.S. motorcycle maker runs out of money and is forced
> to cease production once more
>
> The troubled history of the revived Norton Motorcycles reached
> another fork in the road March 31 when Kenny Dreer's working capital
> ran out shortly before the lease on his Milwaukie, Oregon shop.
>
> It's a one-two punch for the dogged entrepreneur who managed to wrest
> the U.S. Norton name away from non-performing hoarders in 2003 and
> built 50 excellent VR 880 models, which sold for $20,000 each.
>
> These were based on 1970s Norton Commandos, with all their legendary
> shortcomings corrected. Dreer followed up by assembling a small,
> highly skilled crew to design a new bike from scratch.
>
> The result was the 961 Commando, an 80-hp vertical twin first shown to
> the public at Laguna Seca in 2004. It's reviewed favorably in May's
> Cycle World Magazine, whose editor-in-chief David Edwards is a big fan
> of Dreer's efforts and owns a VR 880 himself.
>
> "It's almost confusing," says Dreer ruefully. "A lot of companies go
> out of business because they can't get a product built right, and here
> we have a wonderful product and vindication from Cycle World Magazine."
>
> Dreer intended his 961 Commando to compete with the 1,000-cc Ducati
> Monster, and testers call it a legitimate contender. However, the
> project has been an expensive one, with estimates of $8.5 million
> already spent and a further $10 million needed to begin large-scale production.
>
> Startup costs can be significant. The four prototype 961s sport custom
> crankcases that are estimated to cost $60,000 a set and frames that
> cost $3,000–$4,000 to build. The plastic gas tanks cost $20,000 to
> make, but that includes tooling to turn out thousands more.
>
> As one of the designers observed: "That's the trouble with a startup,
> you run full-speed towards a chasm, trusting the bridge will be there
> when you arrive. It's a shame Kenny never had the money. He had the dream."
>
> Copyright © 2005 Sports Car Market. All rights reserved.
>
> Goodbye Norton. Again
> The struggling U.S. motorcycle maker runs out of money and is forced
> to cease production once more
>
> The troubled history of the revived Norton Motorcycles reached
> another fork in the road March 31 when Kenny Dreer's working capital
> ran out shortly before the lease on his Milwaukie, Oregon shop.
>
> It's a one-two punch for the dogged entrepreneur who managed to wrest
> the U.S. Norton name away from non-performing hoarders in 2003 and
> built 50 excellent VR 880 models, which sold for $20,000 each.
>
> These were based on 1970s Norton Commandos, with all their legendary
> shortcomings corrected. Dreer followed up by assembling a small,
> highly skilled crew to design a new bike from scratch.
>
> The result was the 961 Commando, an 80-hp vertical twin first shown to
> the public at Laguna Seca in 2004. It's reviewed favorably in May's
> Cycle World Magazine, whose editor-in-chief David Edwards is a big fan
> of Dreer's efforts and owns a VR 880 himself.
>
> "It's almost confusing," says Dreer ruefully. "A lot of companies go
> out of business because they can't get a product built right, and here
> we have a wonderful product and vindication from Cycle World Magazine."
>
> Dreer intended his 961 Commando to compete with the 1,000-cc Ducati
> Monster, and testers call it a legitimate contender. However, the
> project has been an expensive one, with estimates of $8.5 million
> already spent and a further $10 million needed to begin large-scale production.
>
> Startup costs can be significant. The four prototype 961s sport custom
> crankcases that are estimated to cost $60,000 a set and frames that
> cost $3,000–$4,000 to build. The plastic gas tanks cost $20,000 to
> make, but that includes tooling to turn out thousands more.
>
> As one of the designers observed: "That's the trouble with a startup,
> you run full-speed towards a chasm, trusting the bridge will be there
> when you arrive. It's a shame Kenny never had the money. He had the dream."
>
> Copyright © 2005 Sports Car Market. All rights reserved.
>