We should hear the roar of Norton engines on our roads once again as TVS Motor, which has been the owner of Norton Motorcycles since 2020 has just confirmed Norton’s upcoming India launch scheduled for late-2025. This news comes hot on the heels of the recently finalised India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which makes importing vehicles from the UK to India much more affordable. While the FTA covers a lot of notable points across various sectors, the one we need to focus on is the reduction of automotive tariffs from over 100 percent to 10 percent under a specified quota system, which should make importing new vehicles in limited numbers by the manufacturer from the UK much cheaper.
The current Norton line-up comprises the Commando 961–a café racer, the V4CR which Norton calls a Café Racer but is more of a neo-retro take on the classic café racer archetype and the V4SV–a full-blown superbike. The Commando is powered by a 961cc air/oil-cooled pushrod parallel twin with dry sump lubrication that pumps out 80PS and 81Nm. The other two feature a 1,200cc liquid-cooled 72-degree V4 that should produce an estimated 187.5PS and 125Nm.
Back in the days of yore when our great-grandfathers were in the market for motorcycles in the 1950s and 60s, they had the Best of British to pick from, and Norton Motorcycles hails from that era. Norton Motorcycles has seen its share of ups and downs over the years, but its legacy is something else as it was founded back in 1898 as a “fittings and parts for the two-wheel trade” manufacturer. It produced more than one lakh motorcycles during the Second World War. The decent number of vintage Norton motorcycles that can still be found around the country means Indians have not forgotten one of the Best of British motorcycle manufacturers and are likely to be delighted by this triumphant return.
