Exclusive: Norton Atlas 650 Production Uncertain

Norton Motorcycles has once again announced even more uncertainty over the Norton Atlas 650, which was originally supposed to go into production in 2021. With production postponed indefinitely, now Norton Motorcycles has announced that there's no guarantee that Norton Motorcycles will go ahead with production of the Atlas 650 model. The announcement comes even as Norton Motorcycles is settling into the company's new headquarters, with a new CEO, and a new product plan is being planned, which is expected to be finalised soon.

Also Read: Norton Atlas 650 Production Indefinitely Postponed

Both the Norton Atlas Nomad (pictured above) and the Ranger were supposed to share the same 650 cc engine

"Over the last few months, we have been busy with the move to our new headquarters in Solihull, expanding our team of experts and developing the processes needed to guarantee high-quality production standards. With the arrival of our new CEO, we have also been working on our new product plan and we expect this to be finalised soon," Norton Motorcycles said in a statement.

"Until the product plan is completed, we cannot guarantee that we will go ahead with production of this model. That being said, if we do decide to produce it, we want to be clear that production will begin no earlier than 2023," the statement added.

Also Read: Zongshen Cyclone RX6 With Norton 650 cc Engine Officially Revealed

The Norton Atlas Ranger was to get more suspension travel, and seat height

British motorcycle brand Norton had big plans for a range of 650 cc parallel-twin engine models before the brand fell into financial crisis, and almost shut shop, before being rescued with fresh investment from India's TVS Motor Company. While Norton was acquired by TVS Motor Company in April 2020, and the brand is slowly rebuilding itself, the product line-up and new product strategy seems to be taking some time to shape up. In fact, in late 2020, Norton Motorcycles had even invited expressions of interest on the brand's official website for the Norton 650, but production plans seems to have hit a roadblock for now.

Also Read: Norton Atlas 650 Confirmed For 2021; Bookings Open

The Norton Atlas Nomad is the more road-oriented model but shares the same engine

The Norton Atlas 650 was to be introduced with two models, the Atlas Nomad and Atlas Ranger. Both bikes share a common engine and chassis, with different trim and equipment. The basic engine is a 650 cc parallel-twin with a 270-degree firing interval which puts out 84 bhp at 11,000 rpm with peak torque of 64 Nm. China's Zongshen will probably beat Norton to launch the first model based on the same engine. Norton's 'design and licence' agreement with the Chinese firm allows Zongshen to produce and use the same engine in its motorcycles, and the Zongshen Cyclone RX6 with the Norton 650 engine has already been revealed and is likely to go into production soon.