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It’s impossible to deny that new Norton boss Stuart Garner has got his head screwed on where the development and promotion of his Norton motorcycles are concerned.

We the eager, motorcycle buying public, have been promised a small run of Norton Commando 961 motorcycles later this year, a machine that is largely based on the work carried out in America before the marque was acquired by Garner.

Michael Dunlop will ride the rotary-engined NRV motorcycle in this week’s senior TT in the Isle of Man. Latest news from the Isle of Man is that the team have being carrying out extensive tests in the south of the island, ironing out issues, and still hope to compete.

Not only that but as exclusively revealed in Motorcycle, Sport & Leisure this month:

>> Norton motorcycles have done a deal with Maxsym Engines, who are based in Banbury in the heart of F1 country, and have bought a large shareholding in the company. The plan is to develop parallel-twin four stroke engines. The current ranges of Maxsym engines are 500cc, 600cc and 738cc and there are also plans to develop 1000cc and 1200cc engines. Garner admits that there is already the basis for a Supersport racing bike and later a Superbike.

>> The development of machines around these engines could see production in 2010 or at the latest 2011, how cool is that? It is certainly something that is being eagerly awaited in this household.

>> Norton has an application with the FIM for Moto2 racing and plan to see if they can use the Maxsym 600cc engine to build a competitive machine for that class. Prototype testing is planned for June and the only foreseeable problem is that the resulting bike will be very lightweight and may incur weight penalties to bring it into line with the fours.

Now,hot off the press, Norton are flexing their merchandising muscles and have announced a range of items, which at first glance appear to be both stylish and comparable in price to the merchandise offered by the other motorcycle manufacturers. So if you fancy getting a little bit of the Norton name on your person then why not check out their website by clicking here .

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