Friday 18th November 2016

Norton V4 SS and RR: PH2

Norton unveils the most technologically advanced British motorcycle ever built

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There were many that questioned what on earth Norton was doing competing at the TT in recent years, especially as it was doing so with an Aprilia engine. Most assumed it was a publicity stunt, and that Norton was there simply to make up the numbers.

Well here is the real answer - the brand new Norton V4 SS. And no, it doesn't have an Aprilia motor, it has a 1,200cc V4 designed and built by Norton (with a little help from Ricardo) that boasts cutting edge electronics and is housed in a TT-proven chassis. Interested now? Thought so. Oh yes, and it's about the size of a supersport bike!

More than 200hp and a TT-proven chassis you say?

"We wanted to create a bike that's not a lesser spec than the competition, with a V4 is at least where the cream of the market is at today - and then go past that," says Norton CEO Stuart Garner. "We're confident we can go past it with some performance and we can go past it with some handling and the electronics too. But then you get the exclusivity of a British Norton, a V4 that delivers everything with a little bit more swagger than the mass market superbikes out there today, with a hand built finish and exclusive numbers." And by exclusive he means the highest specification model, the SS, will be limited to 200 units and costs £44,000 while the lower(ish) spec RR is limited to 250 and costs £28,000. The bad news is that all SS bikes have already sold out; in fact, they did so before the machine was even officially announced. If you are interested in an RR you had better move fast...

So what's the deal with the V4? The engine has been designed by Norton's Head of Design Simon Skinner (he used to work at Triumph, the 675 triple among his achievements) with help from Ricardo. Yes, that Ricardo. It is a 72-degree 1,200cc V4 (the Aprilia is 65-degree) that makes, according to Norton, over 200hp and 95lb ft of torque, which is more than the RSV4 RF. The inlet valves are titanium and it has a neat idler gear system that turns the cams to keep the engine very compact, which again is different to Aprilia's system. Add to this a full ride-by-wire throttle system and that gives you access to the latest cutting edge technology such as traction control, launch control, cruise control, variable length intakes, wheelie-control and variable fuel modes. And this is all thanks to the SG TT-racer.

SS is sold out, so move quick for an RR

Norton has been quite clever and because it knew a V4 was being developed, it has been using the race bike as a rolling development chassis. The reason it had an Aprilia engine boiled down to the fact it was a match for the format they were designing and was reliable - the more miles covered, the better the chassis data gathered. Last year the TT bike lapped at a very impressive 130.8mph average speed and finished seventh overall in the Superbike TT with Dave Johnson riding; now all this data is in the new road bike chassis.

The V4 SS's chassis is a combination of aluminium tubing and CNC machined parts from aerospace grade billet aluminium that are hand welded together in the factory. According to Norton, it has a similar geometry to the TT racer and uses the V4 as a stressed member, however the road bike's frame is actually 3kg lighter than the racer's. The SS comes with an adjustable headstock and swing arm pivot point and its frame is hand polished to a mirror finish. Matched to this frame is a single sided swing arm that is also CNC machined (from a 70kg block of billet) and weighs just 3.1kg. To keep costs down, the V4 RR will use cast instead of CNC machined parts in its chassis, subframe and swing arm, however it has the same basic geometry as the SS. Add to this Ohlins suspension, carbon wheels and Brembo brakes and it all adds to a pretty impressive first stab at a sports bike! And the choice of pure carbon or the silver TT-rep paint finish is also inspired and really splits opinion.

Norton's back!

So now the crunch question: when will we see the final production bike in the flesh? Norton is starting production of the SS in mid-2017 and the RR will follow soon after. While the first run of 200 SS models has sold out, there are still some of the 250 RR bikes left to be snapped up. Will this be the end of production? Norton is keen on keeping the bike exclusive, but it has not said it will limit production. As Norton's CEO Stuart Garner sums up, "For Norton the V4 is an incredibly exciting bike and opens another chapter in Norton's future..." We can't wait to see what else this chapter holds in store.

The Norton is on show at Motorcycle Live (or the NEC Bike Show as everyone still calls it), which opens this weekend and runs until November 27 at the NEC in Birmingham.

 

CEO Stuart Garner

Head of Design Simon Skinner

[smilo996]

In it's original and non bling livery it looks very very nice.

Hopefully this will spawn a more reasonably priced Superbike in time as well.

[J B L]

I hope they do well and grow but for some reasons I still cannot take Norton seriously. It seems to me that most manufacturers are doing better than them, cheaper and more reliable.

Some of the forums are less than enthusiastics about their track record on the new Commando, namely production delays and subsequent reliability issues.

I'm not sure, if I had the wedge, that I'd sink £45k in an unproven engine developed by a small manufacturer. I keep drawing a parallel with TVR's Speed6.

[graeme4130]

I'm not normally a big fan of this sort of thing, but the £40k version looks cracking in the black carbon, and with >200bhp and 190kg, it's bound to be nuts
Not super you'd get it on many tracks with that exhaust though

[crofty1984]

I wouldn't have one as a gift.
Norton, I hereby challenge you to give me one as a gift. If I keep it, you get to say "I told you you'd like it" to me.
It's a hell of a deal, who do I talk to about what colour I want it in? To, er, you know, let you have the best bet at winning this wager. I'm doing it for you.

[Jack_and_MLE]

Ricardo is not a small manufacturer.
They work for a lot of big manufacturer from road car, race cars LMP and other.

I think they developped the transmission for the Veyron as well

Jack

[srob]

Good luck to them!

Personally I think they'd have been better going down the bought in engine route. I know there'd be the usual suspects saying it's "not a real Norton" (oblivious to the fact the 1907 TT winning Norton (which I'm sure they'd agree was a "real" Norton...) had a Peugeot engine ) as I think making your own engine is a hugely risky and expensive business these days, for this volume. I really do wish them well though and I'd love to see them succeed.

As a(n other) anorak fact, Ricardo were more well know for working with Triumph in bikey circles. Harry Ricardo developed the four valve single cylinder engine that Triumph used in the Ricardo Triumph in the 1920s

[pounana]

Can anyone help me understand the mechanical implications of CNC machined vs cast (ref swing arm here)?

I appreciate that casting has some requirements for the mold/material flow, but assuming that the two members were identical, would the material properties be different (other than in finish) for a cast piece vs a billet piece? Seems like a hell of a process to machine away ~95% of your billet just to get a smooth edge here and there.

[dc2rr07]

smilo996 said:

In it's original and non bling livery it looks very very nice.

Hopefully this will spawn a more reasonably priced Superbike in time as well.

+1 to that

[bogie]

I think it looks great. This is the more "reasonable price" model isnt it ? i.e the twenty odd grand version of the sold out £44k limited run of 200

Norton are a premium low volume manufacturer who dont have the resources to compete with the big Jap or Euro brands. Even the largest manufacturers in EU like BMW and KTM are still high teens for a "mainstream" super bike, so a few grand more for a hand built bespoke optioned Norton seems about right

[s3fella]

It's a lot to deliver but I am not sure they can do it.

[jason61c]

Its not 1992, why the hell 'mirror polish' the frame and think its a good thing?

[998420]

pounana said:

Can anyone help me understand the mechanical implications of CNC machined vs cast (ref swing arm here)?

I appreciate that casting has some requirements for the mold/material flow, but assuming that the two members were identical, would the material properties be different (other than in finish) for a cast piece vs a billet piece? Seems like a hell of a process to machine away ~95% of your billet just to get a smooth edge here and there.

Yes, it is all to do with the flow, the grain of the metal, and no doubt more complex factors. A mate does high tech CNC casting with big vacuum dies for the car parts industry and AFAIK they are getting better, but are not close to the best machined from billet stuff

[Fire99]

Personally I'm very impressed. I expected the Aprilia V4 motor to be the basis in a kind of Bimota esque bike with an exotic frame / hardware but with a 'customer' motor.
I think going with their own in-house engine is a ballsy move and though £28k for the RR is still a lot of money, when I see the RRP of an R1 being around the £15k mark from a huge mass-production company like Yamaha, then even that price doesn't seem monumentally excessive.

I don't care about fashion so I think even the polished finish looks outstanding too.

9/10 to Norton in my opinion.

[ZX10R NIN]

Seems they've out Bimota'd Bimota it'll be interesting to see how it rides.

[jason61c]

ZX10R NIN said:

Seems they've out Bimota'd Bimota it'll be interesting to see how it rides.

Wouldn't go that far.

I wonder whats left in the engine, given its 20% larger displacement but about the same power/torque as the RSV4?

[DBRacingGod]

The fist person to say 'Norton Nemesis' gets a poke in the eye from the dead hand* of Al Melling.

• he's not actually dead.

[HighwayStar]

J B L said:

I hope they do well and grow but for some reasons I still cannot take Norton seriously. It seems to me that most manufacturers are doing better than them, cheaper and more reliable.

Some of the forums are less than enthusiastics about their track record on the new Commando, namely production delays and subsequent reliability issues.

I'm not sure, if I had the wedge, that I'd sink £45k in an unproven engine developed by a small manufacturer. I keep drawing a parallel with TVR's Speed6.

McLaren have done very well with their engine devolved by the same 'small manufacturer.' Ricardo do a lot of design and built work for aother companies. The gearbox for the Veyron as already mentioned so they have form and know why they are doing.

[Tango13]

pounana said:

Can anyone help me understand the mechanical implications of CNC machined vs cast (ref swing arm here)?

I appreciate that casting has some requirements for the mold/material flow, but assuming that the two members were identical, would the material properties be different (other than in finish) for a cast piece vs a billet piece? Seems like a hell of a process to machine away ~95% of your billet just to get a smooth edge here and there.

A modern machining centre can move about 3~4kg of aluminium a minute! I doubt Norton are hitting it that hard though. Depending on what grade of aluminium they're using they might have to stop at half time for a trip to the heat treaters for a bit of stress relieving too.

Welding aluminium frames is so 20th century though, if I were to go into bike building I'd be breaking out the glue gun and bonding the frame together.

[bogie]

Never mind about bonded ally, seems 3-d printing your own bike frame is where its going next .....

http://www.morebikes.co.uk/33437/meet-the-dagger-a...

[theshrew]

I love Norton's but cant understand building there own engine, well not until they get themselves up and running more so than they are at the moment. There is a reason other vehicle manufactures use the same chassis and engines.

Good look to them ,I really hope it works out.