What do we think to the new Nortons
Discussion
Riding impressions from the launch are appearing. Here's a couple:
Bike looks pretty good. Well thought out, nice design touches here and there and interesting philosophy about it being a road bike first and foremost. Not the most powerful of the bunch (still 206 horses!) but the most torque. It looks slim - is it really slim or is it an optical illusion?
Bike looks pretty good. Well thought out, nice design touches here and there and interesting philosophy about it being a road bike first and foremost. Not the most powerful of the bunch (still 206 horses!) but the most torque. It looks slim - is it really slim or is it an optical illusion?
2ndclasscitizen said:
rodericb said:
It looks slim - is it really slim or is it an optical illusion?
Both of those guys are jockeys so would be hard to judge the size of the bike but if it looks small with them it probably is.I'm impressed that there are no visible fairing fasteners on it, it looks really clean. Never really understood why bike manufacturers were lazy with that, except Ducati making a thing out of Dzus fasteners on 916 etc. to look more "race bike".
simonrh1 said:
I thought it looked quite nice when we saw it at the NEC. Anything with 200+ HP and decent road manners is still going to be blindingly quick..
Just a shame it is in such a bland set of colours., doesn't need shellsuit graphics but even the turquoise colour is a bit "meh"
A nice red, like Mazda Soul Red would be, well nice. It's certainly unique in the market with those colour options.Just a shame it is in such a bland set of colours., doesn't need shellsuit graphics but even the turquoise colour is a bit "meh"
I found a bit of light reading:
https://www.mcnews.com.au/simon-skinner-norton-man...
https://www.mcnews.com.au/norton-manx-r-engineerin...
https://www.mcnews.com.au/richard-arnold-norton-ma...
https://www.mcnews.com.au/norton-manx-r-review/
Edited by rodericb on Thursday 21st May 10:30
I really like it as a different alternative to the more mainstream options and the price is more competitive than I was expecting - in line with the other high end sports bikes from Ducati and BMW.
I'm not in the market for such a thing, but I hope it's a success. I've always loved the Norton brand despite its well documented troubles over the years and think it would be great to see them properly back.
I'm not in the market for such a thing, but I hope it's a success. I've always loved the Norton brand despite its well documented troubles over the years and think it would be great to see them properly back.
catso said:
Looks a bit Ducati-ish - an absolute no-no on the 'selfie-stick' number plate that seems to be trendy nowadays and I'm not sure those wheels would last long with those spindly spokes? Claimed stats seem OK, have they actually built any?
Would certainly want a bit more info before committing to buy one.
CSR Performance said:
catso said:
Looks a bit Ducati-ish - an absolute no-no on the 'selfie-stick' number plate that seems to be trendy nowadays and I'm not sure those wheels would last long with those spindly spokes? Claimed stats seem OK, have they actually built any?
Would certainly want a bit more info before committing to buy one.
Today I went to the Norton test ride event at Woodcote and Copse, Silverstone. I booked the Manx R, but got a go on the Atlas straight afterwards too.
For comparison I ride a gen 2 S1000R. The Manx R, I thought would be like a track bike, I've not been on a bike with clip-ons for a long time. The rear end in particular with its hard edges I didn't think would be nice to sit on. But at 5ft8 and 30" inseam, it slot between my legs nicely. New back pain discovered after 10 mins leaning forward, but it was manageable. Once I got used to the way it moves low speed I felt quite at home, the seat and foot positioning was comfy.
I didn't get the chance to fling it around corners on the roads and with the group, but it felt composed at all times. They said keeping it in road mode would be good for the bumps, but I had it in sport most of the time and it was handling everything fine. I did get a chance to leave a gap and pull the throttle back, the engine pulls extremely well and sounds amazing, low speed throttle was a bit on or off. With the pillion seat I feel like I could stick a bag on the back and ride this all day, as long as I've got an open road. Side stand wasn't great to move down, hardly anything to catch your boot on.
The big surprise was the Atlas, I don't have much interest in the adventure bike genre, and with this getting 69hp I was like whatever, but they had a spare slot and offered a go. It was actually really fun dicking around on it, I haven't ever been on a bike like this, and now I see the appeal. Very comfy seating position, easy as pie to ride, this one had a quickshifter which worked fine. Overtaking was funny, actually getting to the end of a few gears and having to shift. The indicator switch was incredibly annoying though, can't feel it click so I'd be not-cancelling or indicating the other direction when trying to cancel. I think I'd miss being able to punch around cars with a flick of the throttle, but £8k new I thought was quite reasonable. Maybe this will start me off down the dad bike route
The event was run pretty well, groups were max of 8, free coffee, cold drink cans and picky bits at the venue. I don't know how the Manx R compares to other £20k 200hp bikes, but I liked it. The naked Manx might be better for me, the engine is just so good, didnt see one there though.
For comparison I ride a gen 2 S1000R. The Manx R, I thought would be like a track bike, I've not been on a bike with clip-ons for a long time. The rear end in particular with its hard edges I didn't think would be nice to sit on. But at 5ft8 and 30" inseam, it slot between my legs nicely. New back pain discovered after 10 mins leaning forward, but it was manageable. Once I got used to the way it moves low speed I felt quite at home, the seat and foot positioning was comfy.
I didn't get the chance to fling it around corners on the roads and with the group, but it felt composed at all times. They said keeping it in road mode would be good for the bumps, but I had it in sport most of the time and it was handling everything fine. I did get a chance to leave a gap and pull the throttle back, the engine pulls extremely well and sounds amazing, low speed throttle was a bit on or off. With the pillion seat I feel like I could stick a bag on the back and ride this all day, as long as I've got an open road. Side stand wasn't great to move down, hardly anything to catch your boot on.
The big surprise was the Atlas, I don't have much interest in the adventure bike genre, and with this getting 69hp I was like whatever, but they had a spare slot and offered a go. It was actually really fun dicking around on it, I haven't ever been on a bike like this, and now I see the appeal. Very comfy seating position, easy as pie to ride, this one had a quickshifter which worked fine. Overtaking was funny, actually getting to the end of a few gears and having to shift. The indicator switch was incredibly annoying though, can't feel it click so I'd be not-cancelling or indicating the other direction when trying to cancel. I think I'd miss being able to punch around cars with a flick of the throttle, but £8k new I thought was quite reasonable. Maybe this will start me off down the dad bike route
The event was run pretty well, groups were max of 8, free coffee, cold drink cans and picky bits at the venue. I don't know how the Manx R compares to other £20k 200hp bikes, but I liked it. The naked Manx might be better for me, the engine is just so good, didnt see one there though.
Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff