TVS-owned Norton’s Future Models Names Trademarked

The first signs of Norton’s revival under TVS’ ownership have finally come to the fore as the British brand has filed for six trademarks for future motorcycles. Electra, Fastback, Navigator, Nomad, Ranger and Combat are the six new names trademarked just a couple of days ago. The Nomad and Ranger names are already in use by Norton as two distinct variants of the 650cc Atlas adventure motorcycle, which are slated for a 2021 global release. What about the rest?

The other four names were used for classic Norton motorcycles at some point. The Navigator was a 350cc bike produced in the early 1960s and the Electra was a bored-out version of the same. The Fastback was the Mk 1 Commando introduced in 1967. On the Mk 4 Commando, Norton introduced a high-performance motor, named Combat, that put out around 66PS in 1972.

These trademarked names are surely going to be part of Norton’s new neo-retro lineup. The old 961cc range, consisting of the Commando and Dominator, no longer exists. Under the previous ownership of Stuart Gardner, the engine plans, toolings and rights were sold off to China’s Jinlang. TVS then would not have access to the same engine to continue production of these models, unless they paid Jinlang to use them, which seems unlikely. Hence, a new parallel-twin engine would need to be developed, which could take a good couple of years.

Still, these are positive signs that TVS wants Norton to grow back to being one of the big names of the British motorcycling scene, just like it was in its heyday.