Customers who have put in orders for the two new hand-built Norton Atlas 650cc models are set for a long wait for delivery.

The Atlas Nomad cafe racer and Ranger scrambler will not hit the assembly line until early Northern Hemisphere summer 2019.

And even then they will only be built for the UK market, says Norton International Dealer Manager Lee Frankish.

“During late 2019 we will start to plan for international markets with the plan to start building early 2020.”

Meanwhile, Australian distributor, Brisbane Motorcycles, tells us they already have one pre-order and will announce pricing “in the next couple of months”. In the UK they cost £9995 for the Nomad and £11,995 for the Ranger.

Since the Norton Commando 961 starts at £15,995 in the UK and $A29,990 in Australia, we can expect the pricing to be just under $20,000 for the Nomad and just over for the Ranger.

All Nortons are handmade in the Donington Hall factory in the UK, so it will be some time before they are exported in significant volumes.

The Aussie distributors are expecting the bikes at the end of next year. However, that would be difficult since Norton says they won’t be built until 2020 for international markets.

It will be an even longer wait for the Superlight racer version of the Atlas which was unveiled a couple of weeks after the Nomad and Ranger.

TT legend John McGuinness will race one in the Superlight class at the Isle of Man TT next year.

All Atlas models are powered by a 650cc twin engine which is basically half of their coming 1200cc V4.

Long wait as usual

Speaking of which, the Norton V4RR and V4SS were announced more than two years ago yet the first V4SS has only just rolled out of the factory.

All 200 of the limited edition bike were sold at £44,000 each (about $A74,000, $US55,000) when they were revealed two years ago.

None is coming to Australia.

Meanwhile the V4RR will cost £28,000 each in the UK (about $A47,000, $US35,000) and $59,990 in Australia plus on-road costs.

There is no word on when they will arrive, but as usual it should be a long wait.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com