The first British invasion changed the face of music and, to a lesser degree, society. The second won’t be as spectacular, but tell that to any Norton or Royal Enfield enthusiast and you’ll get a "Blimey!" right in the face.
Norton and Royal Enfield — that is, the revived Norton and the based-in-India Royal Enfield — will be sold in Canada in 2010 and will display their bikes at the Toronto Motorcycle Show in December.
From James Brown, CAO of Norton Canada, directly to CMG: "We will be at the Toronto Motorcycle Show in December, and we will be displaying a Norton Commando 961SE and a Norton Rotary Racer, the NRV588 which set the land speed record in its class at the Bonneville salt flats earlier this year. We will also be joined by Peter Williams, the famous Norton engineer and racer from the 1970’s."
Royal Enfield will be distributed in 2010 by Bullet Motorycles of Edmonton and will display their products at the Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Montreal shows, according to royalenfield.ca.
Four Bullet models will be available in Canada, including an Electra Delux with a chromed gas tank, and a Bullet Military model with, well, a military look. They’re all powered by a 500 cc long-stroke single with hydraulic valves, but get EFI and a modern combustion chamber shape for better power.
We’ll bring you more details on these companies and their bikes as soon as we can. For now, see more about Norton at www.nortonmotorcycles.com and more about Royal Enfields at www.royalenfield.com.
MMIC motorcycle shows take place in Toronto Dec. 11–13, Calgary Jan. 8–10, Edmonton Jan. 15–17, Vancouver Jan. 21–24, Quebec City Feb. 5–7, and St. John Feb. 12–14.
I hope to see the new Norton and Rotary at the Calgary show. It definitely is eye candy.
This again…