Premium British two-wheeler manufacturer, Norton Motorcycles, is working on a sub-500cc bike for developing markets, including India, and will be the cheapest offering from the brand.
Norton Motorcycles is a popular global brand, which manufactures some exotic motorcycles. It specializes in cafe racers and roadsters, with the Commando 961 Series as its most popular motorcycles.
At the launch of MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800, the officials from the company hinted that a sub-500cc bike from Norton is being planned for developing markets like India. The launch timeline is indicated in early 2021.
Likely to be called as Commando Cub, the upcoming sub-500cc bike from Norton will go against the likes of Benelli Leoncino 500 and the Royal Enfield 650 Twins, which are amongst the most affordable 500-650cc motorcycles.
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The Commando Cub will be sold through Kinetic group’s Motoroyale, which retails Norton bikes in India. The motorcycle will be manufactured in India, which will help in keeping the costs down, in a competitive market like ours.
So, we can expect the upcoming model to be inspired by the bigger Commando, with a classic retro appeal and a cafe-racer styled body. The old-school round headlamp, low-placed clip-on handlebar and the chrome detailing are some of the design bits that we could look out for.
With a lot of premium two-wheeler manufacturers entering the sub-500cc segment, Norton is the latest one to join the queue. Other brands doing the same include Harley Davidson, Ducati and Triumph Motorcycles.
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Meanwhile, Norton is going to bring the Atlas 650 to India first, which comes in two variants – Ranger and Nomad. As guessed, the Nomad a classic roadster, while the Ranger is an off-roading focused bike. Both of them use a 650cc parallel-twin cylinder engine and are likely to go against the Ducati Scrambler 800 and the Triumph Street Series.