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Jan 28

Norton Motorcycles invests in advanced new factory headquarters

By General Posts

Norton Motorcycles invests in advanced new factory headquarters in Solihull

  • The Norton Motorcycle Co Ltd has moved to a new location in Solihull, West Midlands
  • The new HQ will be a permanent base for all staff and incorporates state-of-the-art design, engineering, manufacturing and quality capabilities
  • Opening of the newly fitted out factory comes after a multi-million pound investment from Norton’s new parent company, TVS Motor Company
  • Commissioning is near completion and opening is expected in Q1 2021
  • Over 50 high quality, new jobs have already been created and more are expected to follow as the business activity grows providing a welcome boost to the local economy.
  • The site in Solar Park, Solihull is the most advanced facility that Norton has ever had

The Norton Motorcycle Co Ltd has announced that the company is moving to a new headquarters. The state-of-the-art production site located in Solihull, West Midlands, will open following a multi-million pound investment by Norton’s Indian parent company, TVS Motor Company. It will be the most advanced manufacturing facility in the 122-year-old motorcycle brand’s history.

The premises will be the central hub for all of Norton operations, providing a permanent base for all staff. The new headquarters will be home to design, engineering, purchasing, sales, marketing, and support teams as well as the skilled production team that is resuming manufacture of motorcycles. Some of the specialist tooling and equipment previously used by Norton has been carried over to the new site in Solihull, but the site is benefiting from substantial new investment.

The new manufacturing facility will make use of modern-day, quality-assured production processes. Skilled technicians will deploy bespoke bike building techniques and state-of-the-art new manufacturing equipment to ensure all bikes are built with great precision and quality, a hallmark of both Norton and TVS Motor Company. Norton will resume production of the Commando Classic model at the Solihull site, building a limited quality to honour customers that had ordered and paid for a deposit on these bikes. Production of the V4SS will commence soon and the full opening of the facility is expected in Q1 2021.

Sudarshan Venu, Joint Managing Director of TVS Motors, said: “The opening of the new headquarters represents a significant step forward for Norton Motorcycles. The opening of this state-of-the-art facility will create the foundations for a sustainable long-term future of Norton. The new bikes will meet the world class standards our customers expect.

“2020 has been a tough year for the world but we are excited to be moving into our new home and we are delighted this has been created by the Norton and TVS teams in just 9 months. This new facility underpinned by strong quality processes will produce bikes truly worthy of the illustrious Norton brand and take it into the future. We are setting out to create a future for the company, our employees, our customers and our partners that lives up to the highest expectations and enable Norton to once again become the real force its history deserves.”

Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, said: “The arrival of Norton’s global headquarters to Solihull is a real vote of confidence in our region as we look to recover from the pandemic. It speaks volumes to the strides the West Midlands has taken forward in recent years that Norton has chosen to come home after more than a decade based outside the region. This investment not only re-establishes our historic partnership with Norton, but will set a world-class benchmark for exceptional motorcycle manufacturing at the heart of our region, creating hundreds of jobs in the process at what is an incredibly challenging time economically.

“This investment also represents the start of an important partnership between the West Midlands and TVS Motors. With Tata-owned JLR also based in the region, the West Midlands has a good relationship with India that we are constantly looking to improve through the West Midlands India Partnership. This investment by Norton exemplifies what exactly we are trying to achieve with the partnership, and I am delighted to welcome the company back home.”

The new Norton headquarters demonstrates the continued investment by parent company, TVS Motor Company. The Norton Motorcycle Co Ltd was acquired by TVS in April 2020. TVS is committed to ensuring the long-term of Norton as a self-sufficient brand, true to its core values and heritage.

About Norton Motorcycles

Norton Motorcycles was founded in 1898 as a manufacturer of fittings and parts to the two-wheel trade.

Norton Motorcycles went on to become one of the most iconic British motorcycle brands, manufacturing famous models such as the 650SS, Atlas, Commando, Dominator, Manx, Navigator and more – constantly innovating in motorcycle technology, with features advantageous for lightness and strength in motorcycle racing. Norton Motorcycles has an unrivalled history in motorsport and the brand name is synonymous with Isle of Man TT racing.

In April 2020, Norton Motorcycles was acquired by TVS Motor Company, India’s third-largest motorcycle manufacturer. Under the leadership of TVS, Norton is based out of a new manufacturing facility in Solihull, West Midlands, building British bikes in England using traditional hand-crafted techniques with modern day machinery for consistently high quality.

Apr 27

Ducati resumes motorcycle production at Bologna plant in Italy

By General Posts

by Pradeep Shah from https://www.financialexpress.com

Production at Ducati’s Bologna factory been reorganized. From an eight-hour shift, the working shifts have been converted to two seven-hour shifts in order to allow a minimum number of people.

Premium bike maker Ducati has announced a steady resumption of production at its Borgo Panigale factory in Bologna, Italy starting today. With the Covid-19 outbreak, the Italian superbike manufacturer had temporarily suspended production at the said plant on 13th March to reorganize production schedules. The company said in a press statement that the gradual improvement in health conditions has allowed the government to enable companies, whose activity is primarily aimed at exports and for firms for which prolongation of the suspension would risk losing the country additional market shares, to resume production.

Ducati says that masks will be mandatory for everyone working inside the factory, regardless of the social distancing. Ducati says that it will be an extremely difficult year but starting up again is still a beginning. The company says that it has a lot of orders for the Streetfighter V4, Multistrada GT and the Panigale V2. The brand adds that the first phase of return will only involve a portion of workers that work on the production lines. The workshop staff will begin first followed by engine assembly workers and starting tomorrow, motorcycle assembly workers will begin working.

The brand also says that the use of smart working will remain mandatory for the employees and only for those who are not in a position to carry out their work from home will be allowed to enter the factory. That said, all resources employed in the commercial, marketing, IT, personnel management, finance, purchasing and logistics areas will be working remotely. Ducati has announced that the production at its Bologna factory been reorganized. From an eight-hour shift, the working shifts have been converted to two seven-hour shifts in order to allow a minimum number of people to be inside the plant at the same time.

Moreover, the canteen will also be active but only with one seat for every four chairs. Ducati says that the technicians that are engaged in R&D activities who cannot do their work from home were already at work as allowed by the specific ATECO code. That said, the engineers of the engine test rooms along with those who carry out motorcycle tests and employees who carry out laboratory testing are all present at Borgo Panigale. The company claims that the delivery of Ducati motorcycles along with the development of new products is very much in place as all designers, project managers, and those in the calculation department will be working remotely.

Jan 13

Building the H-D Juneau Plant

By General Posts

From Woodshed to Red-brick Behemoth in Ten Short Years

We’ve all heard the stories of how Harley-Davidson began life in 1903 in a Milwaukee woodshed on the site of what is now the headquarters of Miller Brewing Company. But with motorcycle production set to jump from around 1000 units in 1909 to nearly 30,000 by 1920, the Motor Company’s industrial digs had to change, and in a big way.

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ARTICLE ON BIKERNET

Jun 20

New details of Zero SR/F set to compete at Pikes Peak

By General Posts

With the 2019 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb quickly approaching, Zero Motorcycles has released new details surrounding the preparation of its new SR/F for the race.

Zero’s internal engineering team, in collaboration with several brand partners including Gates Carbon Drive, Showa, Pirelli Tires, SME Group, Dymag and Hotbodies Racing, have transformed the powerful streetfighter into a full-blown racer for the June 30th event. Come race day, AMA-professional racer Cory West will pit the bike against some of the biggest names in the industry, testing adaptations including an upgraded suspension, handlebar-mounted brake levers, custom rearsets and more.

SANTA CRUZ, Calif., (June 20, 2019) – Zero Motorcycles, the brand that defined the category of electric motorcycles, introduced their most innovative and powerful motorcycle yet with the launch of SR/F earlier this year. Now, Zero’s internal engineering team, in collaboration with multiple partners, has transformed its new streetfighter into a full-blown racer, which AMA-professional racer Cory West will put to the test at the 2019 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on June 30.

“The racing effort for Pikes Pike at Zero is entirely run with internal engineering staff, who mostly commit their lunches, nights, and weekends to the cause,” said Brian Wismann, VP of Product Development at Zero Motorcycles. “No dedicated team members or factory-level budgets here. The bike was built with the support of key suppliers to the Zero production line, plus some clever designs from an engineering team let loose to experiment.”

With 110 horsepower and 140 lb-ft of torque, Zero’s production SR/F already boasts impressive performance stats that challenge competitors representing the biggest names in the industry. Through the company’s “Blue Sky” program, which encourages Zero engineers to explore their creativity and reach for new heights, the SR/F has become an even more formidable contender, thanks in large part to the help of existing brand partners including Gates Carbon Drive, Showa, Pirelli Tires, SME Group, Dymag and Hotbodies Racing.

In lieu of the chain kit typically used for race bikes, Zero engineers opted to stick with the same Gates Carbon Drive belt found on the production model. Their hope is that the smooth delivery of torque from the concentric pivot and constant tension belt will give the SR/F an advantage when pitted against gas bikes, which need to shift and respond to power pulses and surges from internal combustion engines.

In order to upgrade the suspension on the SR/F, Zero tapped Showa for their rare Balance Free Front Fork (BFF) and Balance Free Rear Cushion lite (BFRC-lite) rear shock. The Showa components also serve the dual purpose of adding a contrasting visual accent against the matte black of the bike. Adding utlity and further visual character to the racer, Dymag forged aluminum wheels provide crucial weight savings, plus aesthetic appeal befitting the Pirelli Superbike Slicks fitted to them.

Additional adaptations to the SR/F from Zero’s engineering team include two handlebar-mounted brake levers, which allow for better rear brake modulation while banking deeply into right hand turns – only possible through the clutch-less design of Zero’s direct drive electric motor. Custom rearsets were also designed to accommodate the bike’s unique swingarm pivot, which is concentric with the motor output shaft.

Bringing together the overall concept is designer Tom Zipprian’s custom bodywork, which was 3D printed in-house specifically for Pikes Peak and reinforced with carbon fiber. Large number plates are required per race regulations, and this serves to stylishly accommodate those as well as provide useful data on testing the potential aerodynamic benefits of similar elements that generate downforce.

About Zero Motorcycles

Zero Motorcycles is the global leader in electric motorcycles and powertrains. Designed and crafted by hand in California, Zero Motorcycles combines Silicon Valley technology with traditional motorcycle soul to elevate the motorcycling experience for intelligent, innovative riders around the world.